A Summary of the first 500 miles since delivery

[nandyd]

I took delivery on June 17 and have put about 500 miles in.
Here is a quick overview along with things that have not been covered by others.

Experience as a first time Truck Owner; but a Tesla/EV owner:

• Woah, sits really high and with so much glass area; the visibility is among the best and much needed for the size
• Road noise is well insulated and bumps don't matter
• Wind Noise is higher than a Tesla and there is buffeting sound from the driver mirror that one can hear
• Range calculation is very straightforward and as long as you don't drive like a maniac (the acceleration will bring the kid out of you lol), you get what is shown live on the meter. I drove at 70 on freeway and got 266
• EV charging network was not that great and wherever we went; the EA ones were definitely further off than Superchargers we are accustomed to. Need morel long distance driving to understand the implication
• B&O sound system on the Lariat ER is so-so; Audio lacks clarity and fidelity. This is across the sound spectrum and hence quite disappointed. Also, very hard to get down to a volume that is not overly loud or low.
• Alexa: Hit or miss; the onboard commands for AC, and other things work great even while driving thanks to low cabin noise; however any search of location - including charging or destination - almost impossible to make it work and hand it over to the truck's navigation, as it misunderstands all the time
• Onboard Navigation: While it looks nice from a graphics POV; the usability is not great. It doesn't understand all accents well; and even when you specify a location, the map doesn't seem to have even my 1 year old house in its database. Ideally, when you search for Starbucks or others; it should show the closest location first and route to it; but it is not always doing that. Worst is EV routing engine; I had 165 miles left and had to drive 115 miles to get home. It would always make me drive 15 miles north to charge and then comeback. I did the drive anyway and reached home with 40 miles left! Interestingly the truck derated to 95% for some reason
• Infotainment: The graphics look great but its a mixed bag when it comes to intuitive use. Truck settings are consolidated but audio, memory settings are all via the profile menu. The truck image cannot be customized to look like your truck and all across the trim/color keeps changing across images in various menus. There are too many clicks required to get to something that should be a quick toggle; ex: Audio source. When in CarPlay the navi guidance is also shown on instrument cluster - a nice touch; but when you want to disconnect it - each time the phone gives a notification the CarPlay turns back on
• Instrument Cluster: This is very unintuitive to use. You have to manage its setting via steering switches and the options are traditional ICE style with some EV-ness added. Would love to see some GUI improvements here
• BlueCruise: It is actually a pleasant experience; but strangely asks you to take over via text and display info first (no audible alarm); so you need to be ready else it could be a safety risk. This happens in sharp turns; construction zones and the former can be unexpected. It is not an annoying nanny system - but you have to be careful when it lets go. The best feature is that you can adjust continually with manual inputs and the truck will not stop you from it but blend both the manual and computer inputs. This is in stark contrast with Tesla Autopilot that fights even when you give a slight input and let's go. The lane merging is also much refined than fear inducing Tesla dual to single lane merges
• Overall Fit and finish: The truck feels well put together; but material quality is meh! The leather is mostly PVC and looks and feels really cheap; the steering cover is actually has a really bad feel and while the dashboard looks great - you may not enjoy touching it as it feels rough. These may be OK for a truck customer I presume; but at 80k people should expect better quality. The overall fit is great - no creaking, panel gaps inside.
• Drive/Ride: Acceleration - straightline is sensational and it smokes almost anything on the road; but on freeway long drives - you will nurse it to get mileage and in city while ride is way better and compliant than any other truck; if you enjoy stable corners at slightly higher speeds; this is not that vehicle. I did expect a tad better shock absorption for freeway unevenness; but it turned out to be bumpy with lots of body roll that we did get tired after the 270 miles we did on one day; in contrast in the Model S we never feel tired
• The Front Signature Light bars are missing some some LEDs when lighted and worst is that it doesn't even feel its ON in the daytime; Cheap and flimsy looking. An aftermarket solution is MUCH needed

Order/Delivery Process:

• Easy and prompt communications through the entire process from Ford
• Being attached to a smaller dealership in a small town actually helped the early schedule
• Dealer is very fair; only charged MSRP. Suggested to not do spray-in bedliner and recommended a local shop
• Truck delivered with full charge and very quick process (faster that Tesla's hahah)
• Build quality is way better including panel gap consistency, etc vs a Tesla
• All the sales folks were super excited about the truck

FordPass app: here is a quick review of that: Not the best, neither the worst.

• Not as instantaneous as the Tesla or integrated
• A lot of features are under many layers of menu that accessing them is time consuming (ex: Charging Setting under vehicle settings vs on the home screen while Maps/Trip Planning or Chargers are under maps-->Charging)
• There are also many errors that come up when you do it; but repeating the same thing again resolves it. Lots of timeout
• Home Screen:
  • Only shows a few features - start; chargers, horn/lights and lock/unlock; No HVAC controls at all!
  • Charge Level and DTE are good
  • My News feed is useful but not that relevant after couple of uses
• Vehicle:
  • Repeats range; but now has location and odometer
  • Status is a tab for Tire Pressure; assume if there are other issues it pops up here
  • Charging: This is a key tab that has some key info and features
    • Charge Settings: This is the only location where you can actually set the target charge rate for the vehicle and it is specific to each charger location (ex: Home you can set for 80% for daily charging, vs a DCFC that you visit often can be at 100%; also lets you set the schedule of charging in relation to energy costs however it is not able to identify the rates even though it got the power company right) This target charge set is ONLY available here and not even on the vehicle (vehicle lets you set one off max target charge)
    • Charge Logs: gives history
    • Blue Oval NW - multiple things here incl plug and charge settings; note: Sharing access gives an error
    • My EV Driving is a nice summary of how you have been burning the juice
    • BackUp Power acts as the hub for all power management
  • Features and Settings:
    • Weird set of things here; HotSpot, Zone Lighting Trailer Check Light, Ford Assistant and Software Updates (that doesnt do anything)
    • Most of these again have sub menus and no long presses in GUI
  • Security & Safety again has tiles for Securialert for scheduled checks on vehicle location, theft, etc and Insure for usage based insurance product
• Service: Lots of menus that seem more ICE catered than EV; 24x7 assistance is here for towing
• Maps: Some key features like send to car
  • Charging location with filters on different aspects (Power, speed, cost)
  • Trip Planner can be scheduled to send a certain destination + charging way points to car and have it preconditioned
  • Never got it to work appropriately

I am yet to do a DCFC on the truck yet as my home charging was enough for all the drives I did.

 

[YankeeCP]

Great write up- thanks for sharing

 

[rlbussard]

They should've have totally used Google Assistant instead of of Amazon Alexa. Google Assistant understands so much better than Alexa.

 

[idahospud]

Thank you, I appreciate the time you took to share this info.

 

[Beans]

When in CarPlay the navi guidance is also shown on instrument cluster - a nice touch; but when you want to disconnect it - each time the phone gives a notification the CarPlay turns back on

I was just thinking about how to get feedback to Ford about CarPlay turning on and off. I have Microsoft Teams on my phone, and every time someone sends a message the screen does an abrupt switch over to CarPlay to tell me I got a teams message, and then switches back to the app I was in. The screen refresh and flicker during the switch isn't very appealing and makes me feel like Sync is about to crash, so I'd love to turn that off.

 

[TheRealDlo]

I appreciate the time you took to wrote this

 

[LightningShow]

Thanks for the feedback, very detailed!

I see that people keep mentioning the interior is kind of cheap for an $80k vehicle but it’s probably not cheap for an $80k truck. It’s really a different animal than a $80k sedan. Trucks need to have durable interiors and i think the Lightning (and other optioned up trucks) reflect that. Trucks are also much more expensive to make due to the size and weight (materials). There is less room for expense on interior at the same price point as an $80k sedan.
Not to mention that truck buyers aren’t really expecting fancy materials.

 

[Firestop]

Thank you for taking the time ti share!

 

[nandyd]

They should've have totally used Google Assistant instead of of Amazon Alexa. Google Assistant understands so much better than Alexa.

They are bringing that next year with Google Automotive Services (so Maps, Assistance and PlayStore) would get added along with Android OS: shame our trucks won't upgrade to that. Hope they offer a silverbox switch for us to take it.

 

[rlbussard]

They are bringing that next year with Google Automotive Services (so Maps, Assistance and PlayStore) would get added along with Android OS: shame our trucks won't upgrade to that. Hope they offer a silverbox switch for us to take it.

I can't tell you how bummed about that. I'm hoping someone comes up with a workaround where we can get Android automotive on our trucks. Ford could've easily put the things in our trucks to allow us to be upgraded as well.

 

[nandyd]

Thanks for the feedback, very detailed!

I see that people keep mentioning the interior is kind of cheap for an $80k vehicle but it’s probably not cheap for an $80k truck. It’s really a different animal than a $80k sedan. Trucks need to have durable interiors and i think the Lightning (and other optioned up trucks) reflect that. Trucks are also much more expensive to make due to the size and weight (materials). There is less room for expense on interior at the same price point as an $80k sedan.
Not to mention that truck buyers aren’t really expecting fancy materials.

Fair enough. I want them durable; Some areas where I find design choices strange:
Seats could have been fully made out of PVC (don't call it leather) and made to have a better feel; lowers the cost and is vegan - that way you get best of both worlds.
Then on those wooden trims; they are so tacky looking - why not choose something better - the Maverick has better sense of color coordination;
On the dashboard and door panels - it looks like soft touch plastics - but they are rough, grainy and not that soft to touch. Even Kias have soft touch materials where your skin/body touches or rests.
Little things like these in key customer touch point area vs other "durable" areas would have made a huge difference. i do enjoy the fit and finish vs the Tesla; didn't have any panel gap issues.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Could you tell me if the park assist button is a dummy or does it still actually still park itself?

 

[DrZoidberg]

Thanks for the feedback, very detailed!

I see that people keep mentioning the interior is kind of cheap for an $80k vehicle but it’s probably not cheap for an $80k truck. It’s really a different animal than a $80k sedan. Trucks need to have durable interiors and i think the Lightning (and other optioned up trucks) reflect that. Trucks are also much more expensive to make due to the size and weight (materials). There is less room for expense on interior at the same price point as an $80k sedan.
Not to mention that truck buyers aren’t really expecting fancy materials.

It's cheap for an $80k truck. My 21 ICE F150 Laria 502A felt nicer than the Lightning Lariat ER. I feel like it has cheaper materials and the mis matched of material color and texture just adds to that as well.

For $80k, granted they aren't EV's, every other truck in the class has a better material feel and some for almost 10-15k cheaper.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Could you tell me if the park assist button is a dummy or does it still actually still park itself?

Haven’t used it in Lightning but if it’s like our 2020 Explorer, it parallel parks well. I tried it several times in a vehicle dense urban commercial district. No complains but I’m quicker than it is.

 

[CRAIGC540]

Ford had to cut cost somewhere to get the price down, your 21 ICE F150 Laria 502A with more premium interior can't do what the lightning can do being all electric. Would you rather be paying 120 grand with premium interior or get into first generation electric F150 for 80 grand? The interior is great for what you get in the total package.

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