[Updated With First Details] I'm Attending Lightning Official Launch Event

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Ford invited me to attend the Official Launch Event taking place on Tuesday April 26 at 1:30pm at the factory in Dearborn.

I'm so honored and thankful for the opportunity to attend this historic event.

Up until this point, every Lightning we've ever seen has been considered a prototype, so other than President Biden, I've never seen anyone outside Ford that has been allowed to actually drive one. After Tuesday, they're not just prototypes, they're REAL production trucks, intended for real customers, and Ford will be doing exactly what they promised last May, shipping trucks in the spring of '22. Well done Ford. Well done.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get to drive one!

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[DrZoidberg]

If you get to see the lariats could you confirm two tone interior and the ambient lighting situation? Like the door pockets, cup holders, etc.

 

[Sam James]

I’m extremely jealous. Congratulations!

*in my whiniest, pleading tone I can muster*: What’s the deal @Ford Motor Company? How about hooking up some of the folks who were so excited we reserved before your presentation even started?

 

[Bombero1394]

Awesome!!!! If anyone else has a Invite and needs a plus 1, I’m on my way!!!!!!

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

If you get to see the lariats could you confirm two tone interior and the ambient lighting situation? Like the door pockets, cup holders, etc.

Sure thing. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to ask some questions.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Sure thing. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to ask some questions.

Awesome sauce. I know you were at another event recently so I know you're eager get behind the wheel of one and hope you do.

If they have the Lightning Yeti's again , think you can snag an extra, I'll cover postage.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

How about hooking up some of the folks who were so excited we reserved before your presentation even started?

That’s exactly why there will be customers like me at the event.

For almost 40 years, I’ve driven a Ford. When I told them this during an on-camera interview at the NY Auto Show, they were eager to learn exactly what kind of buyer would be so loyal to the brand. My 5 minute interview turned into 20+, and I realized just how much they appreciate their loyal customers.

This wasn’t my first interaction with Ford Corp. When my beloved F-150 broke down last June and I had trouble with the dealer’s service department, they literally called me at least once a week for over 4 months trying to get the dealer to allow them to send an engineer to help them diagnose it.

When I finally gave up and traded it for my Mach-e, they sent me a credit to compensate me for the time I lost. That’s a company you stick with.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Awesome sauce. I know you were at another event recently so I know you're eager get behind the wheel of one and hope you do.

If they have the Lightning Yeti's again , think you can snag an extra, I'll cover postage.

I missed the Brooklyn event because I had a non-profit board meeting to attend, and I really wanted to be able to buy some of that merch. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any Lightning or F-150 merch on sale at the NY Auto Show, but I’m hoping I won’t miss out this time.

 

[beatle]

There is a pile of unanswered questions from this thread:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ema-garage-post-your-questions-requests.9894/

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

There is a pile of unanswered questions from this thread:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ema-garage-post-your-questions-requests.9894/

I was thinking the same thing. I'll jot down the ones they're likely to answer in case I get an opportunity to ask questions.

 

[BuildBackBadder]

How about production numbers?

 

[greenne]

How about production numbers?

I think this would be a good topic to expand upon. I know the car market is crazy now..the EV market is crazier.

However, its really inconvenient for people to puit their life on hold for an awesome EV truck...not knowing if they are going to get the invite next week, next month, next year..2024? I am a June reservation and outside some crazy stroke of luck have no idea whether I will be able to order this fall or next summer(or fall 2023). That really makes the experience stressful.

Can Ford give any better timeline of how many Lightning they will produce in 2022, 2023 and beyond? Any idea how long it will take to convert the 200k reservations to orders?

I hope Ford realizes this process is beyond frustrating....

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I think this would be a good topic to expand upon. I know the car market is crazy now..the EV market is crazier.

However, its really inconvenient for people to puit their life on hold for an awesome EV truck...not knowing if they are going to get the invite next week, next month, next year..2024? I am a June reservation and outside some crazy stroke of luck have no idea whether I will be able to order this fall or next summer(or fall 2023). That really makes the experience stressful.

Can Ford give any better timeline of how many Lightning they will produce in 2022, 2023 and beyond? Any idea how long it will take to convert the 200k reservations to orders?

I hope Ford realizes this process is beyond frustrating....

Production capacity is super important to seeing mass adoption of EVs, and it seems to me that Ford's move to start with the two biggest brands, Mustang and F-150 is an indication that they want EVs to be mainstream as soon as possible.

The fact that they ended up with at least 10 times as many reservations than they can produce in the first year was all the evidence they needed to secure the funding they needed to expand their future production capacity.

From what I understand that expansion already enabled them to at least double their original estimates.

Make no mistake about it. The F-150 is the single most important product in Ford's history since the Model-T. If EVs are the future of the automotive industry, Ford needs the Lightning to succeed. From what we can see, they're off to a great start. I'm so excited to be able to have the truck I love, electrified.

 

[greenne]

Production capacity is super important to seeing mass adoption of EVs, and it seems to me that Ford's move to start with the two biggest brands, Mustang and F-150 is an indication that they want EVs to be mainstream as soon as possible.

The fact that they ended up with at least 10 times as many reservations than they can produce in the first year was all the evidence they needed to secure the funding they needed to expand their future production capacity.

From what I understand that expansion already enabled them to at least double their original estimates.

Make no mistake about it. The F-150 is the single most important product in Ford's history since the Model-T. If EVs are the future of the automotive industry, Ford needs the Lightning to succeed. From what we can see, they're off to a great start. I'm so excited to be able to have the truck I love, electrified.

I agree with all your points. I will be one of the first to reserve a Ford Explorer EV...

In my case I wasn't even in the market for a pickup but once I saw some of the initial reviews of the Lightning I knew I had to have it. I took a ride in one during the road show last year and then I was *REALLY* hooked....

As a consumer its just a tough wait made even tougher having no idea where you are in the line OR how long of a wait you are in for. The prices make this tougher. Not many people can have $60, 70, or 80k just waiting out there with no idea of when they will need it for purchase.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I agree with all your points. I will be one of the first to reserve a Ford Explorer EV...

In my case I wasn't even in the market for a pickup but once I saw some of the initial reviews of the Lightning I knew I had to have it. I took a ride in one during the road show last year and then I was *REALLY* hooked....

As a consumer its just a tough wait made even tougher having no idea where you are in the line OR how long of a wait you are in for. The prices make this tougher. Not many people can have $60, 70, or 80k just waiting out there with no idea of when they will need it for purchase.

As mass production increases, costs will decrease.

The wildcard in this whole thing is the massive supply chain problems we're still seeing since the start of Covid. My local Ford dealer normally has literally hundreds of F-150s on their lot for customers to choose from. When my F-150 broke down last year, they only had about 4, and they were way out of my price range. Just about everyone on the F150Gen14 site reports waiting 6 months or more for their ICE order to be built, so the timeframes on the Lightning are super impressive by comparison.

Thank Goodness, some of the supply chain problems are fading. We are finally seeing toilet paper and paper towels in stock, but yesterday, I travelled to 6 different stores trying to buy Purina Cat Chow because the stores near me have been out of stock for weeks.

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