Proof at least one 2022 Lightning has achieved "built" status. [Update: now "shipped"]!

[sotek2345]

Narrator voice : he did, and he drove it.

Holy crap. This thing is amazeballs.

Come on - you need to give us more than that!

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[GoGoGadgetTruck]

Did you notice how many miles were on the odometer?

between 80 and 90 miles - I asked about that, and the salesdroid said that it was because of the dealer staff driving it and a couple of customers had already driven it after seeing it out in front.

as you can see in the pictures, they are prominently showing the truck in front of the dealership, in one of the two outside show spaces, so it's definitely positioned to drive interest and engagement.

he said that Ford was really encouraging them to have all sales folks drive it and know it so that they can talk about it with some knowledge and experience.

also, interestingly, he said that he never accompanied someone on a test drive before, especially for a $40K vehicle, but that the dealership considered all Lightnings to be "premium" vehicles and as such an escort was required for all test drives.

I also asked why the web site only showed two orders when they had like 5 Mach-E orders, and his opinion was that it was a combination of the market feeling out the truck and geography. I don't quite buy that second part but I do buy the first part.

 

[GoGoGadgetTruck]

Come on - you need to give us more than that!

well, I only got to drive it for about 7 miles or so, about half Interstate and the rest 35-50 MPH, so I wasn't able to glean that much, but here goes:

• The torque and acceleration are crazy. I knew intellectually what to expect from owning a Mach-E, driving a rented Tesla Model S, and driving a PHEV before (although one not tuned for performance, but instant torque is still instant torque), but it's not the same as actually feeling it move. Chirping the tires on such a beast had me literally giggling.
• The Pro seats, despite being manual adjust and vinyl, were actually really nice still. I was comfortable in them immediately (unlike say a Bolt, where the first time I sat in one I was like "nope, could never drive this car").
• The Pro lacking the 360-degree camera was a real bump for me. I don't know how much confidence I'd have trying to park etc. without it. But that's really my personal experience coming in and would not apply to everyone of course.
• The smaller Sync 4 screen in the Pro was just fine. It's not the 4a screen but it's not bad either. I did like the manual buttons underneath and do wonder if Ford would have success offering that package on the higher trims as well.
• The dashboard LCD cluster is pretty nice - I played with it a bit, and was happy. It's definitely a step up from the minimalist Mach-E instrument cluster.
• Road noise was lower than I expected given some early things I had read. I can't say for sure compared to the Mach-E what it's like since I'd have to drive it a lot more, and in similar conditions, and that just wasn't something I was really focused on that much. But I think most people would be happy with it. As the salesdroid said, we were talking at a normal conversational level and had no issues doing so.
• I didn't play with the sound system at all so I can't talk to that in any way.
• The folding shifter is cool. But you have to remember to not have something in the little hole (I had the keyfob there but the salesdroid caught it in time!).
• The "automatic shift to Park when you open the door" thing is REALLY cool and kind of insane to watch.
• I didn't play with the frunk at all although I thought of it, I just didn't think of it at the right time. I was honestly too excited to be completely thinking straight.
• I didn't push the handling that much, and of course there was no BlueCruise on the Pro, so I can't talk to those pieces.
• Did I mention that it's stupidly fast?

I realize that this is not "professional YouTube review" quality or anything but again I didn't really have the chance to do anything like that.

 

[sotek2345]

well, I only got to drive it for about 7 miles or so, about half Interstate and the rest 35-50 MPH, so I wasn't able to glean that much, but here goes:

• The torque and acceleration are crazy. I knew intellectually what to expect from owning a Mach-E, driving a rented Tesla Model S, and driving a PHEV before (although one not tuned for performance, but instant torque is still instant torque), but it's not the same as actually feeling it move. Chirping the tires on such a beast had me literally giggling.
• The Pro seats, despite being manual adjust and vinyl, were actually really nice still. I was comfortable in them immediately (unlike say a Bolt, where the first time I sat in one I was like "nope, could never drive this car").
• The Pro lacking the 360-degree camera was a real bump for me. I don't know how much confidence I'd have trying to park etc. without it. But that's really my personal experience coming in and would not apply to everyone of course.
• The smaller Sync 4 screen in the Pro was just fine. It's not the 4a screen but it's not bad either. I did like the manual buttons underneath and do wonder if Ford would have success offering that package on the higher trims as well.
• The dashboard LCD cluster is pretty nice - I played with it a bit, and was happy. It's definitely a step up from the minimalist Mach-E instrument cluster.
• Road noise was lower than I expected given some early things I had read. I can't say for sure compared to the Mach-E what it's like since I'd have to drive it a lot more, and in similar conditions, and that just wasn't something I was really focused on that much. But I think most people would be happy with it. As the salesdroid said, we were talking at a normal conversational level and had no issues doing so.
• I didn't play with the sound system at all so I can't talk to that in any way.
• The folding shifter is cool. But you have to remember to not have something in the little hole (I had the keyfob there but the salesdroid caught it in time!).
• The "automatic shift to Park when you open the door" thing is REALLY cool and kind of insane to watch.
• I didn't play with the frunk at all although I thought of it, I just didn't think of it at the right time. I was honestly too excited to be completely thinking straight.
• I didn't push the handling that much, and of course there was no BlueCruise on the Pro, so I can't talk to those pieces.
• Did I mention that it's stupidly fast?

I realize that this is not "professional YouTube review" quality or anything but again I didn't really have the chance to do anything like that.

Was Battery state of charge available in the gauge cluster as number?

 

[DHK]

well, I only got to drive it for about 7 miles or so, about half Interstate and the rest 35-50 MPH, so I wasn't able to glean that much, but here goes:

• The torque and acceleration are crazy. I knew intellectually what to expect from owning a Mach-E, driving a rented Tesla Model S, and driving a PHEV before (although one not tuned for performance, but instant torque is still instant torque), but it's not the same as actually feeling it move. Chirping the tires on such a beast had me literally giggling.
• The Pro seats, despite being manual adjust and vinyl, were actually really nice still. I was comfortable in them immediately (unlike say a Bolt, where the first time I sat in one I was like "nope, could never drive this car").
• The Pro lacking the 360-degree camera was a real bump for me. I don't know how much confidence I'd have trying to park etc. without it. But that's really my personal experience coming in and would not apply to everyone of course.
• The smaller Sync 4 screen in the Pro was just fine. It's not the 4a screen but it's not bad either. I did like the manual buttons underneath and do wonder if Ford would have success offering that package on the higher trims as well.
• The dashboard LCD cluster is pretty nice - I played with it a bit, and was happy. It's definitely a step up from the minimalist Mach-E instrument cluster.
• Road noise was lower than I expected given some early things I had read. I can't say for sure compared to the Mach-E what it's like since I'd have to drive it a lot more, and in similar conditions, and that just wasn't something I was really focused on that much. But I think most people would be happy with it. As the salesdroid said, we were talking at a normal conversational level and had no issues doing so.
• I didn't play with the sound system at all so I can't talk to that in any way.
• The folding shifter is cool. But you have to remember to not have something in the little hole (I had the keyfob there but the salesdroid caught it in time!).
• The "automatic shift to Park when you open the door" thing is REALLY cool and kind of insane to watch.
• I didn't play with the frunk at all although I thought of it, I just didn't think of it at the right time. I was honestly too excited to be completely thinking straight.
• I didn't push the handling that much, and of course there was no BlueCruise on the Pro, so I can't talk to those pieces.
• Did I mention that it's stupidly fast?

I realize that this is not "professional YouTube review" quality or anything but again I didn't really have the chance to do anything like that.

Great synopsis, thank you!

 

[GoGoGadgetTruck]

Was Battery state of charge available in the gauge cluster as number?

I don't remember!

but a look at the owners manual suggests the answer is "no".

 

[sotek2345]

I don't remember!

but a look at the owners manual suggests the answer is "no".

That is such a weird thing to not have....

 

[KevinC]

• The Pro lacking the 360-degree camera was a real bump for me. I don't know how much confidence I'd have trying to park etc. without it. But that's really my personal experience coming in and would not apply to everyone of course.

I'm thinking with the Tow technology you'd get that 360 degree Camera right?

 

[adoublee]

well, I only got to drive it for about 7 miles or so, about half Interstate and the rest 35-50 MPH, so I wasn't able to glean that much, but here goes:

• The torque and acceleration are crazy. I knew intellectually what to expect from owning a Mach-E, driving a rented Tesla Model S, and driving a PHEV before (although one not tuned for performance, but instant torque is still instant torque), but it's not the same as actually feeling it move. Chirping the tires on such a beast had me literally giggling.
• The Pro seats, despite being manual adjust and vinyl, were actually really nice still. I was comfortable in them immediately (unlike say a Bolt, where the first time I sat in one I was like "nope, could never drive this car").
• The Pro lacking the 360-degree camera was a real bump for me. I don't know how much confidence I'd have trying to park etc. without it. But that's really my personal experience coming in and would not apply to everyone of course.
• The smaller Sync 4 screen in the Pro was just fine. It's not the 4a screen but it's not bad either. I did like the manual buttons underneath and do wonder if Ford would have success offering that package on the higher trims as well.
• The dashboard LCD cluster is pretty nice - I played with it a bit, and was happy. It's definitely a step up from the minimalist Mach-E instrument cluster.
• Road noise was lower than I expected given some early things I had read. I can't say for sure compared to the Mach-E what it's like since I'd have to drive it a lot more, and in similar conditions, and that just wasn't something I was really focused on that much. But I think most people would be happy with it. As the salesdroid said, we were talking at a normal conversational level and had no issues doing so.
• I didn't play with the sound system at all so I can't talk to that in any way.
• The folding shifter is cool. But you have to remember to not have something in the little hole (I had the keyfob there but the salesdroid caught it in time!).
• The "automatic shift to Park when you open the door" thing is REALLY cool and kind of insane to watch.
• I didn't play with the frunk at all although I thought of it, I just didn't think of it at the right time. I was honestly too excited to be completely thinking straight.
• I didn't push the handling that much, and of course there was no BlueCruise on the Pro, so I can't talk to those pieces.
• Did I mention that it's stupidly fast?

I realize that this is not "professional YouTube review" quality or anything but again I didn't really have the chance to do anything like that.

These chirping tire comments do have me concerned a bit as the influencers mention it as well. I had a front wheel drive Kia Niro EV and the front tires not being able to handle the torque without chirping threw water on much of the fun. With the AWD Kia EV6, the vehicle is totally planted and way more pleasant to push.

 

[sotek2345]

These chirping tire comments do have me concerned a bit as the influencers mention it as well. I had a front wheel drive Kia Niro EV and the front tires not being able to handle the torque without chirping threw water on much of the fun. With the AWD Kia EV6, the vehicle is totally planted and way more pleasant to push.

It has been awhile since I have driven a vehicle that can't chirp (really spin) the tires. Heck, I would say that if a vehicle can't do that it is under powered! Almost any F150 can pretty easily spin their back tires in 2WD mode and unloaded.

 

[GDN]

It has been awhile since I have driven a vehicle that can't chirp (really spin) the tires. Heck, I would say that if a vehicle can't do that it is under powered! Almost any F150 can pretty easily spin their back tires in 2WD mode and unloaded.

I disagree in an AWD EV - if you are chirping a tire you are losing power and the drivetrain is not well tweaked. There is tweaking they can and should do. If they are getting good power or the right power to all 4 wheels, they won't spin with the weight of this truck, it should just move on down the road a little faster. Don't make excuses for lack of better engineering.

 

[sotek2345]

I disagree in an AWD EV - if you are chirping a tire you are losing power and the drivetrain is not well tweaked. There is tweaking they can and should do. If they are getting good power or the right power to all 4 wheels, they won't spin with the weight of this truck, it should just move on down the road a little faster. Don't make excuses for lack of better engineering.

Sorry, I still disagree. the drive train should be tuned for maximum acceleration in a high traction environment. Anything less than that and you are giving up potential power. We haven't seen anything about tires chirping on a prepped surface.

If you want to eliminate any wheel spin in a reduced traction situation, how far do you go - should maximum power be reduced so there there is no spinning in the rain, on snow, on ice?

 

[GDN]

Sorry, I still disagree. the drive train should be tuned for maximum acceleration in a high traction environment. Anything less than that and you are giving up potential power. We haven't seen anything about tires chirping on a prepped surface.

If you want to eliminate any wheel spin in a reduced traction situation, how far do you go - should maximum power be reduced so there there is no spinning in the rain, on snow, on ice?

If you've got a wheel that spins you are not tuned, you are losing traction and not getting maximum acceleration - you have already given up potential power.

Very few to none of these trucks will be driven on a prepped surface, that isn't important. Every day driving is important. We've heard the wheel chirps everywhere, including myself in a car show ride along.

You don't reduce max power, you make sure it is perfectly balanced.

 

[sotek2345]

If you've got a wheel that spins you are not tuned, you are losing traction and not getting maximum acceleration - you have already given up potential power.

Very few to none of these trucks will be driven on a prepped surface, that isn't important. Every day driving is important. We've heard the wheel chirps everywhere, including myself in a car show ride along.

You don't reduce max power, you make sure it is perfectly balanced.

The only way to reduced the chirping would be to reduce power to the front motor, or at least ramp it up slower. If they used a larger rear motor that might have helped (at a higher cost), but as is, the only way to eliminate the chirp is to reduce power.

 

[GDN]

The only way to reduced the chirping would be to reduce power to the front motor, or at least ramp it up slower. If they used a larger rear motor that might have helped (at a higher cost), but as is, the only way to eliminate the chirp is to reduce power.

Maybe its the rubber itself not being sticky enough, I truly don't know how to solve it, but it seems something is amiss. Could the power be applied slightly slower during the first half second of full throttle to the from motor? Not sure, but it just seems something could be tweaked to harness all of the power vs slipping a tire.

I need to be real, I'm only about saving the tire and being the first person off the green light, I doubt I'll have a problem with that.

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