Lightning Pro Standard Range Battery Review by Out of Spec Kyle

[GoodSam]

There must be some seat covers that make vinyl seats breathable?
Like this? https://smile.amazon.com/INCH-EMPIR...refix=cloth+breathable+,automotive,147&sr=1-2

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[PA Lightning]

If the vinyl seats do not work out, I think Katzkin leather covers are a good option. A lot of the fellows throw them on their ICE F150s and are happy with them.
I hope the vinyl will be fine.

 

[Easycamper]

50/50 weight distribution. That’s a good tidbit. Unusual for a pickup truck.

 

[rdr854]

Pro ERs at the auctions in 2 years will be going for crazy money.

Crazy money is relative, and I doubt that fleets will be refreshed every two years unless it is a rental. And, in that case, I would not be surprised if they are beat beyond belief. As far as normal fleets, I think those companies will hang onto their trucks as long as they are serviceable. This because of inflationary pressures that we have not seen since the mid 1970s or so. In that economy, I can remember when governments stopped buying vehicles to refresh or add to their fleets.

 

[Nick Gerteis]

If the vinyl seats do not work out, I think Katzkin leather covers are a good option. A lot of the fellows throw them on their ICE F150s and are happy with them.
I hope the vinyl will be fine.

I borrowed a new-ish ICE F150 XL with vinyl seats a few weeks ago and I thought it was just fine. Nothing like the sticky plastic I used to burn my skin on growing up back in the 70s. More like halfway between that and leather.

 

[astricklin]

Crazy money is relative, and I doubt that fleets will be refreshed every two years unless it is a rental. And, in that case, I would not be surprised if they are beat beyond belief. As far as normal fleets, I think those companies will hang onto their trucks as long as they are serviceable. This because of inflationary pressures that we have not seen since the mid 1970s or so. In that economy, I can remember when governments stopped buying vehicles to refresh or add to their fleets.

I would say that they will need to hang onto them longer to realize the cost savings of gas/maintenance vs initial investment for the Bev, however this is probably not the case as the lightning in Pro trim is cheaper than an equivalent equipped XL.
So who knows, 2025 when the next gen trucks arrive we may see a flood of pro er show up at the fleet auctions.

 

[rdr854]

I would say that they will need to hang onto them longer to realize the cost savings of gas/maintenance vs initial investment for the Bev, however this is probably not the case as the lightning in Pro trim is cheaper than an equivalent equipped XL.
So who knows, 2025 when the next gen trucks arrive we may see a flood of pro er show up at the fleet auctions.

The replacement schedule for my local government is approx 140,000 miles. I suspect that as long as the body and battery are in good shape that the EVs might get an even longer life cycle.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I think the argument about whether Ford advertised the 'Pro' at $39,995 to get attention, and yet somehow 'knew' they weren't really going to build 'but a very few' might be a little over the top. ANY company with ANY product, especially if it has different 'levels' of that product, are going to capture attention by promoting the most 'affordable' 'entry level' option/vehicle/type that they will offer. Now, that in itself does not mean that they BELIEVE that that is going to be the major draw, they may actually believe that most orders will be from drivers who want MORE than what the 'base' model will have... so, if they base their own commodity purchases ahead of time on only the 'base' items needed, they may find that the 'Platinum' mac-daddy model is quickly sold-out instead. If you are a business, then you take the opposite route, you plan for the MAXIMUM return-on-equity, not the least.
I get that those who have been 'left out' of the ability to order a LIGHTNING PRO for the 2022 model year are frustrated, I would be, too... I'm even frustrated it has taken so LONG for the whole process to come to fruition(even though, as of this moment, we are only 'hoping' that deliveries will hit dealers in a few days,,, but, who really knows), and at times lost patience, myself. But, then I put everything into perspective by saying to myself that: "It is only a truck". "it is not something my life NEEDS". "my life doesn't change if it doesn't arrive", etc.
So, our complaining is really just a factor of our available 'time' to give to this exciting, but irrational, time in our lives. 5 years, 10 years, maybe only 2 years, we'll look back and maybe just laugh at our own ridiculousness about this whole 'argument'. Our impatience is driving our own frustrations.

It's just a truck.

 

[PV2EV]

Also Farley was clear they would be steering people to the Lariat, which is what happened to me, eyes wide open, but still a bit tweaked about it.

 

[astricklin]

My feeling on the whole price thing concerning the Pro trim.
Chevy has stated that their starting price for the Silverado EV is estimated to be $39,900. I would imagine Ford wants to stay competitive with their starting price so they will keep it at $40k until Chevy increases their pricing.

 

[sotek2345]

My feeling on the whole price thing concerning the Pro trim.
Chevy has stated that their starting price for the Silverado EV is estimated to be $39,900. I would imagine Ford wants to stay competitive with their starting price so they will keep it at $40k until Chevy increases their pricing.

We don't know if Chevy will hold that pricing given the current inflation, or exactly how stripped it will be. Could be a 100 mile truck with hand crank windows and no A/C for all we know.

 

[Blainestang]

We don't know if Chevy will hold that pricing given the current inflation, or exactly how stripped it will be. Could be a 100 mile truck with hand crank windows and no A/C for all we know.

You're right that we don't know what it will be by the time that it comes out, but as long as Chevy doesn't announce a price change (which they have no reason to since that version is still a ways out), Ford still has a reason to keep the Pro price where it's at.

But if they DO keep the price there, the Pro will probably still be very limited. There's no reason to sell a bunch of retail Pros when they could sell a bunch of retail Lariats instead.

One possibility, in my mind, is that they offer a Pro+ (or similar name) that comes with a $5k-$8k option package, and they may actually make some of those... while still selling just a handful of the $39k Pro so they can say it exists.

 

[Blainestang]

So, our complaining is really just a factor of our available 'time' to give to this exciting, but irrational, time in our lives. 5 years, 10 years, maybe only 2 years, we'll look back and maybe just laugh at our own ridiculousness about this whole 'argument'. Our impatience is driving our own frustrations.

It's just a truck.

It's a "first world problem" to some extent to not be getting a 2022, but it's not just a loss of time.

It's very possible that the price goes up on the Pro for future years. It's also likely to have a smaller or $0 tax credit. Between the two, it could be a $10k difference between a 2022 and a 2023, not to mention the cost of driving a gas car/truck in the meantime or of having to buy an intermediate vehicle if you can't wait.

And like Kyle said, it's arguably the best value of ANY vehicle currently for sale. No EV comes close. No gas truck comes close, certainly not a gas F-150 that would be many thousands more expensive to buy and then many thousands more to own. Point being, it's not possible to just go buy something comparable, either.

Also, while Ford's push for selling Lariats and Platinums makes business sense, and they may not have known at the outset that they'd only sell hundreds of Pros for 2022, they certainly could have been more transparent along the way when that became clear.

Then there's the surprise of letting people jump the line at the 11th hour with dealer prioritization, allowing people with later reservations get trucks for, effectively, thousands of dollars cheaper than earlier reservation holders.

So, I think there's some justified frustration with the way Ford handled this, and the cost is more than just time.

 

[astricklin]

We don't know if Chevy will hold that pricing given the current inflation, or exactly how stripped it will be. Could be a 100 mile truck with hand crank windows and no A/C for all we know.

I mean sure, they could. But realistically they are going to make it competitive with the Ford. And just like Ford marketing has made a huge deal about the base price, Chevy seems to be making a pretty big deal out of it too and has it everywhere that you see the pricing. No real mention that the first edition truck will be $105k. And only in one place does it say "in the future" there will be the full range of pricing including $50k-80k+

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