Top Lightning gripes or dislikes.

[Mike G]

You can just hit the power button and turn the truck off. Shifter moves itself to park.

Well ya learn something everyday...I did not know that...I'm going out right now to try that out.

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[Mike G]

Some states already have a tax to help pay for roads from EVs. I know that Minnesota adds a $75 surcharge onto the annual registration to make up for the fact that EVs don't pay road taxes in fuel purchases.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/168.013#:~:text=Subd. 1m.,tax distribution fund.

Alabama adds $200 per EV over the normal annual tax. Cause they aren't getting any money from their gas tax from me. It's a reasonable amount to me.

 

[Mike G]

My interior lights never come on. Just the dashboard and screen. Is this normal? I didn’t see anything in the manual for it to have them turn on when I open the doors.

Mine came that way...I found a button to turn them back on...I think it was on the overhead console? Maybe? I think it had gotten turned off before shipment.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Mine came that way...I found a button to turn them back on...I think it was on the overhead console? Maybe? I think it had gotten turned off before shipment.

I had this problem too, IIRC it was the overhead console cabin lights, there are switches for driver and front passenger, tinker with them to see if it resolves your problem.

 

[mr.Magoo]

Alabama adds $200 per EV over the normal annual tax. Cause they aren't getting any money from their gas tax from me. It's a reasonable amount to me.

Michigan is doing the same thing, but we have to be the best (worst) at something so they charge $240 extra for the Lightning. Yet, in the same breath they're talking (which is all it'll ever be) about introducing a small EV incentive to make EVs more affordable !?

 

[GDN]

My interior lights never come on. Just the dashboard and screen. Is this normal? I didn’t see anything in the manual for it to have them turn on when I open the doors.

One of the overhead switches will change the lights so they come on with the doors opened. The problem is those switches are so badly placed and labeled you just have to guess at which button it is and keep trying. I think it is a switch by the right hand side light however.

 

[GDN]

Since you mentioned that I thought I'd add that on the Mach-E if you forget to put it in park before hitting the button to shut the car off...if goes into park anyway. The advantage of a rotary knob. vs. a mechanical linkage.

Hang on...somebody else just said that if I shut the truck off with the lever in D it will move to park...heading out to give that a try.

It does indeed do that, but just because it is not a rotary knob does not mean it has a mechanical linkage - it does not. if you pull the trim and lift the console that is just another module with wiring plugged in. No linkage at all, self contained. f

We all have our preferences, but I would never want the knob either. It may not make sense until you use it, but the stalk on the Tesla was simple genius. I know the shifter is the perfect hand rest, but I would have adapted at not having that after a while.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Michigan is doing the same thing, but we have to be the best (worst) at something so they charge $240 extra for the Lightning. Yet, in the same breath they're talking (which is all it'll ever be) about introducing a small EV incentive to make EVs more affordable !?

I understand paying your fair share and the gas tax took care of this sort of. Drive more, use more gas, pay more tax. Vehicle is heavier, it likely uses more gas per mile and you pay more tax. We have a 3 car (two EV, one phev) household with two drivers. We drive a combined 16 to 20 thousand miles per year. At 25mpg, with a 0.369 per gallon tax that would be $295 tax hat we would not be paying if driving 20k miles per year. I have no problem paying that amount. A flat fee to replace this is not fair or right. We are not typical Americans with regards to our driving habits, but a per mile fee is more fair, though more challenging to administer. Let's hope more states do not adopt the flat fee, or if the flat fee is the model then all vehicles should pay it and the gas tax eliminated.

 

[GDN]

I understand paying your fair share and the gas tax took care of this sort of. Drive more, use more gas, pay more tax. Vehicle is heavier, it likely uses more gas per mile and you pay more tax. We have a 3 car (two EV, one phev) household with two drivers. We drive a combined 16 to 20 thousand miles per year. At 25mpg, with a 0.369 per gallon tax that would be $295 tax hat we would not be paying if driving 20k miles per year. I have no problem paying that amount. A flat fee to replace this is not fair or right. We are not typical Americans with regards to our driving habits, but a per mile fee is more fair, though more challenging to administer. Let's hope more states do not adopt the flat fee, or if the flat fee is the model then all vehicles should pay it and the gas tax eliminated.

This is the problem in TX, they want a flat fee for EV's that averages more than most gas drivers pay. I'm all about paying for the roads, but nothing in life is really fair, so it is probably past time to just change to a flat fee per vehicle. If you want to drive it is a part of it. TX already has a bridge fee that gets added to each registration, I think a flat $10. There is a chance many don't drive over the older bridges it is meant to replace, so is that fair? Nothing will ever be fair, but if it is time to revamp, then just make it a flat fee across the board.

 

[skyak]

Remove shifter, add bench seat. Function over fluff. Companies underestimating the manivan market.

 

[JKP]

My interior lights never come on. Just the dashboard and screen. Is this normal? I didn’t see anything in the manual for it to have them turn on when I open the doors.

@smokingtgemeats
Sorry, when I said interior lights I meant all of the dash lights. You can manually dim the dash lights and turn off the screen, but there is no way to turn off all the way. On my XLT, there are also backlights on all of the accessory controls.

I’m guessing the dilemma for Ford is that they want to ensure security of the power usage, therefore requiring the ignition to be “on”. But at the same time, they probably cannot legally dim the dash lights to off while the ignition is on for safety. At a minimum, they should provide a one click “scene” option for charging that turns off the screen and dims lights to minimum. Even better would be to find a workaround to turn off all lights while using the truck as a power point.

 

[VTbuckeye]

This is the problem in TX, they want a flat fee for EV's that averages more than most gas drivers pay. I'm all about paying for the roads, but nothing in life is really fair, so it is probably past time to just change to a flat fee per vehicle. If you want to drive it is a part of it. TX already has a bridge fee that gets added to each registration, I think a flat $10. There is a chance many don't drive over the older bridges it is meant to replace, so is that fair? Nothing will ever be fair, but if it is time to revamp, then just make it a flat fee across the board.

And they can call that annual or semiannual fee registration. No gas/usage tax, but simply a flat fee that everyone pays for the privilege of using the roads. The slippery slope of that leads to every bicycle my garage being assessed a fee, even though I can only use one at a time...

 

[VTbuckeye]

@smokingtgemeats
Sorry, when I said interior lights I meant all of the dash lights. You can manually dim the dash lights and turn off the screen, but there is no way to turn off all the way. On my XLT, there are also backlights on all of the accessory controls.

I’m guessing the dilemma for Ford is that they want to ensure security of the power usage, therefore requiring the ignition to be “on”. But at the same time, they probably cannot legally dim the dash lights to off while the ignition is on for safety. At a minimum, they should provide a one click “scene” option for charging that turns off the screen and dims lights to minimum. Even better would be to find a workaround to turn off all lights while using the truck as a power point.

They can dim or blackout the whole thing. My 2007 Saab 93 had a button that you could push to activate the night panel. This would kill the backlighting on everything except the speedometer (0 to 90). The gauges all went to zero. If your speed exceeded 90mph the rest of the speedometer would light up (I never actually experienced this). There is nothing legal that keeps ford from killing all of the lights.

 

[JKP]

They can dim or blackout the whole thing. My 2007 Saab 93 had a button that you could push to activate the night panel. This would kill the backlighting on everything except the speedometer (0 to 90). The gauges all went to zero. If your speed exceeded 90mph the rest of the speedometer would light up (I never actually experienced this). There is nothing legal that keeps ford from killing all of the lights.

Does anyone know if there are any formal channels to send these “gripes” to Ford directly?

 

[TaxmanHog]

My interior lights never come on. Just the dashboard and screen. Is this normal? I didn’t see anything in the manual for it to have them turn on when I open the doors.

One of the overhead switches will change the lights so they come on with the doors opened. The problem is those switches are so badly placed and labeled you just have to guess at which button it is and keep trying. I think it is a switch by the right hand side light however.

page 127 of the manual

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