Any Issues With Road Rage or Hecklers?

[TheBigBezo]

I have my order in, but one thing I was curious if people have had any issues with is getting heckled for an electric F150 or encountering road rage while driving. I live in the deep, deep south in a very young, urban town. This isn't a knock on the south, I've lived in farming communities, folks there were humble and kind, but where I'm at now is the wild west sometimes. Very young area, lots of Testosterone... I've never had an issues in my Ranger, but my friends with Model 3s get some trouble (coal rolling and so on). I've encountered teens and young guys trying to run each other off the road in their pickups more than once. I guess, with the lightning being the first electric full sized pickup to hit the market, has anyone had people give them trouble on the road or in parking lots? I just want to drive to/from work, but my area isn't the greatest.

Sponsored

 

[Ostrichsak]

I make my own decisions on what's best for me and pay little attention to what others think of those decisions. Least of all some room-temperature drain on society acting like a lunatic in traffic. I've got better things with which to concern myself.

 

[Tony Burgh]

No problems. A whole lot of questions on how I got one though.

 

[RickLightning]

Coal rolling is something rarely seen in much of the country. When you drive an EV, you will get different reactions depending on where you are, that is for sure. You'll also find things like charging spaces being ICE'd more in some parts of the country than others. We also don't have people trying to race us. Likely you won't have any issues, because so many are clueless they even exist.

 

[queuewho]

I had people treat me pretty poorly in my 4 years of model 3 ownership. Many attempts a coal rolls, plenty of aggressive actions, needless blocking, etc. The thing is, a model 3 sticks out like a sore thumb on the road. This truck is pretty incognito.

 

[Joneii]

Most people don’t realize that it isn’t a regular F150. Those who do are more likely to ask you questions about it. There are some who seem to doubt the efficacy of an electric truck, but that doubt disappears after you take them for a ride. Except long distance towing, it out shines the competition in almost every way and people will recognize it if they give the Lightning a chance.

 

[Jif1025]

I’ll second that most people don’t even realize it’s electric. Those who do usually want one, so aggression has been non existent for me so far-

 

[khatch]

When I view comments on EV related articles, there are a lot of people that are anti EV. I probably shouldn't read them but it has made me wonder if people might vandalize EVs or be rude on the road. So I appreciate the OP's question and the responses.

What exactly is coal rolling? Google says it's a modification to a truck to make it smoky but I'm getting the impression from this post that it's something deliberate, perhaps spewing smoke on your car?

 

[Theo1000]

In my neck of the woods almost everyone knows what it is. Often times I come out of the store at there is someone taking a picture. Tons of people want one for sure..... ...not had any issues and I travel to the more colorful parts of small town America....

Only time I got coal rolled was in my Volt once many years ago. Strangely enough I was using the ICE when I got coal rolled, the incongruity of it all made me laugh so hard the coal roller rolled down his window and said 'u madd bro' or something similar. True story....

 

[PV2EV]

When I have to drive South through the small town to get to the big city (instead of the small city North of us), I get a number of trucks revving their engines (mostly Dodges).

The two that chose to do so at the light at the end of town, have been left in my dust! One clearly had his jaw hanging is surprise. Another tried to roll coal at me and I just punched it.

 

[hturnerfamily]

in 6,000 miles, sometimes while towing my camper, I've had two instances where one man pulled up next to me in a 45 mph zone heading out of town and was smiling and waiving out of his 'regular' older F150, wanting to know where he could 'get' one... the other was on 60mph divided highway speeds where a fellow in a sports car on my right stayed right beside me for quite a while, I could tell he was 'looking'... he then sped up, looked out his window back at me, and gave a BIG THUMBS UP!

most other folks are basically oblivious to the 'Lightning' feature of this truck. They don't miss the tail pipes. They don't miss the missing gas tank cap. They don't pay attention to the charge port 'badge'... they just aren't that 'interested' in trying to somehow see your 'new' truck that they didn't realize WAS a new truck, other than it's really shiny : )

The only others that have 'noticed' my Lightning are from the police community - a nice cop pulled up next to me while in Chattanooga on the outer edges of a Lowes store, just to chat. Another sheriff deputy pulled up next to me, while charging at a Chargepoint in Rome GA, just to chat, though mainly about the camper I was pulling. He hardly noticed the 'Lightning'. Interesting.

A few others have 'noticed' me at a CHARGE STATION, of course, though many folks look at you as though you must have made a 'mistake' parking at an EV Station...hmmmm. And, frankly, that's the way I like it.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Coal rolling is something rarely seen in much of the country.

Happened at the North East Lightning meetup this past Sunday.

Older couple 50's+ in a jacked up PSD powered Expedition decided to send a message with blast of black exhaust as 10 Lighting owners and spouses/SO's were milling about talking about our trucks, mod plans, experiences, etc...

The above is probably my only negative experience, I've had many more folks, give thumbs up, stop in the middle of the parking lot anywhere and give a excited shout out and even start a conversation about my experiences with it.

This morning we were finishing up breakfast, heading out to the Lightning an older couple 60's+ were sitting in their old passenger van having coffee, the gentlemen struck up a conversation with the Mrs. as she was walking by, we ended up with a 15 minute talk about our experiences, these folks were probably not going to be buying one due to the cost of the truck and their budget, but they were certainly kind and intrigued by the Lightning.

 

[Oneand0]

I have had couple trucks waste a few bucks of gas and coal roll me in my Model Y when I had it. Nothing but thumbs up and people looking , or asking questions in the Lightning. Most don’t even know.

 

[vandy1981]

The only time anyone has noticed our Lightning is when we've been charging it or loading something into the frunk.

 

[Regular150]

Crew at the Waste Management transfer station stopped what they were doing, safely, and looked all over it. Guy in the 40 ton front end loader stopped and chatted. Curb weight in was at Max Towing(that's my story).

Sponsored