Time to buy or wait?

[Tundra]

Congrats ... level 2 / 220 VAC will do you well for charging. The Ford mobile charge adapter comes with plug ends for both 110 and 220 VAC. The level one is very slow - about 2 miles/ hr ... the level 2 is about 6 times faster! I will likely sell my Charge Station Pro because the mobile adapter works so well.

At the moment I am going to slow boat it over 110, which will work for how I used my previous truck (not as often). Once I can get the electrician out they are installing a separate metered circuit that can support a 48amp charger.

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[Ride_The_Lightning]

At the moment I am going to slow boat it over 110, which will work for how I used my previous truck (not as often). Once I can get the electrician out they are installing a separate metered circuit that can support a 48amp charger.

I had the same approach, but luckily I found a 240v outlet in my garage (previously used for a window type AC unit). I purchased a reasonably good plug adapter and hooked up an Emporia charger… on the modest 20 Amp circuit I am able to get 3.8 Kw charging, which is 3 times faster than the mobile charger on a regular plug. More than enough for my daily commute and occasional longer drives. Depending on what is available in your garage, there may be cheaper options than a 48A setup.

 

[Tundra]

I had the same approach, but luckily I found a 240v outlet in my garage (previously used for a window type AC unit). I purchased a reasonably good plug adapter and hooked up an Emporia charger… on the modest 20 Amp circuit I am able to get 3.8 Kw charging, which is 3 times faster than the mobile charger on a regular plug. More than enough for my daily commute and occasional longer drives. Depending on what is available in your garage, there may be cheaper options than a 48A setup.

I don't have a 240v outlet in the garage (unless I built a "poor mans distro" ); and if I want the cheaper electricity pricing I need the separate metered circuit installed. I do have 1-2 conduits running to the garage from the main, so I am hoping it won't be too expensive.

The Emporia is what I have been looking at though, it looks like a nice unit.

 

[Ride_The_Lightning]

I do like the Emporia charger, highly recommended!

 

[Losi]

I do like the Emporia charger, highly recommended!

Same! No problem with mine thus far, very easy to setup and use.

Edit: one thing I have noticed, and it can be annoying, is that the Emporia and FordPass apps don’t like to talk to each other. When I visit the Emporia app, I get kicked out of FordPass and receive an email requiring me to change my password. I’m sure there’s a workaround but I haven’t delved too much into it (I don’t use the Emporia app much).

 

[THX1138]

Congrats ... level 2 / 220 VAC will do you well for charging. The Ford mobile charge adapter comes with plug ends for both 110 and 220 VAC. The level one is very slow - about 2 miles/ hr ... the level 2 is about 6 times faster! I will likely sell my Charge Station Pro because the mobile adapter works so well.

I like to have a standby in my garage. I had a juice box for my previous EV. The juice box failed and I used my mobile charger, while waiting for the juice box to be repaired.

 

[Grease Lightning]

I don't have a 240v outlet in the garage (unless I built a "poor mans distro" ); and if I want the cheaper electricity pricing I need the separate metered circuit installed. I do have 1-2 conduits running to the garage from the main, so I am hoping it won't be too expensive.

The Emporia is what I have been looking at though, it looks like a nice unit.

Any NM 12 awg dedicated 120v circuit can be a 20 amp 240v circuit with a swap of the breaker and plug.

Quick and painless way to get to a 16 amp evse to charge your Lightning.

 

[flyct]

Any NM 12 awg dedicated 120v circuit can be a 20 amp 240v circuit with a swap of the breaker and plug.

Quick and painless way to get to a 16 amp evse to charge your Lightning.

It’s rare that there is a DEDICATED 120v circuit in a garage.

 

[Grease Lightning]

It’s rare that there is a DEDICATED 120v circuit in a garage.

Depends on your area and builder. We get a lot of them here for additional fridges/freezers or for a compressor.

…. And any circuit can be dedicated if you remove the downstream outlets

 

[Tundra]

You should buy a used ER XLT or Lariat. I have seen weekly posts by someone saying "I am out". Typically they failed to do research before buying electric and are shocked by how much deprecation is built into their purchase (much of which is driven by higher interest rates, and doesn't reflect the truck in any way). I bet you could strike a deal in the low 50's/high 40's for something with <10k miles.

The only reason I suggest the ER battery is that, unlike you, I believe that the truck will be fine for a 14 hour drive. Yes, you will need to charge a few times, and at 14 hours, with added charging times, I would plan that trip as am overnight with a stop at a free destination L2 charger (hotel or something). That would leave you with as little as one charge stop on either side. Otherwise your use case (home charging, solar etc.) is perfect for a run-about SR EV truck.

I found a deal on a new Pro, which after haggling/rebates it is well under $40k. I pick it up on Tuesday!

It is SR, but realistically I have a 52 mile round trip commute, that is what I drive most of the time. I work an opposite schedule as my spouse, so we are not able to travel a lot. The ONLY road-trip I have done in the last year was a few hours away, and we would need to stop to charge once, in a place we always stop to eat/walk around anyways. As long as I can get 140 miles out of the range in winter, for 99.99% of the driving I do this vehicle will be perfect.

So essentially it is a commuter vehicle that can haul our kayak/skis for our seasonal weekly outings, carry wood, haul audio equipment, and that can handle deep snow; I live out in the sticks, it can be a few days before the area is plowed out, and the street I live on sometimes is not plowed at all, sometimes there are weeks where our car is not a usable mode of transportation. Having a truck is great out here!

For the time being if we took a longer road trip, we would either plan on making a lot more stops and seeing the scenery (our dog would probably appreciate the extra areas to sniff around) or we would simply take our ICE car or fly.

With my electricity costs the Lightning should be 1/3 the cost to drive compared to my Honda Civic (which gets around 40mpg)! And the Civic is already so MUCH cheaper than my diesel truck. The amount of money I am going to save on maintenance and fuel alone should pay for this truck entirely over the coming 8-10 years. That is pretty incredible! And other than few less bells/whistles over my previous truck it is an upgrade in some capacities.

As far as depreciation goes that is a given, the technology is developing rapidly and has yet to be fully standardized, we are probably sometime out from hitting a point of diminishing returns on battery technology.

Yes, I am sure there may be a new EV in 1-4 years that can fast charge in minutes. Maybe in 4-5 years there will be one that can go 700-1000 miles on a charge, and maybe it could slow charge wirelessly at home too. That all sounds great and it would be more convenient for many drivers. Once this truck is paid off in 3-4 years I could replace my civic with one of those things, however even then that does diminish the usefulness of this vehicle for commuting/hauling/snow beasting or mean that the Lighting would not be worth owning.

I am looking for a reliable vehicle I can drive into the ground. I purchased my Civic new almost 12 years ago, is has over 200k, and it has been a fantastic vehicle, I don't plan on replacing it any time soon - it is still a great and reliable car to drive. With a minimal amount of maintenance my Civic is a happy camper. I am hoping for a similar experience with the Lightning.

 

[Grumpy2]

Congrats on the Pro!! You may want to check out those empty? conduits to the garage, I used 120 volt charging my Pro for a few months, and it is slow to charge back to 85% even in my mild temperatures.
I picked up a Emporia for $299 on a flash sale on Amazon a while back and it works great and I appreciate the info on their app.

 

[PA Lightning]

I found a deal on a new Pro, which after haggling/rebates it is well under $40k. I pick it up on Tuesday!

.

Since you are picking it up next year, are you taking the tax credit in 2023 or getting the point of sale tax credit?

 

[Maquis]

…. And any circuit can be dedicated if you remove the downstream outlets

Not if there are upstream outlets.

 

[Grease Lightning]

Not if there are upstream outlets.

So don’t put it on a circuit with upstream plugs or remove them? Wire nuts and a blank plate. Problem solved

 

[Tundra]

Since you are picking it up next year, are you taking the tax credit in 2023 or getting the point of sale tax credit?

Due to the solar panels which we installed this past year and their associated tax credits we do not have the tax liability to take advantage of the $7,500 credit; so I was about to purchase the Lightening without the credit this past week, I checked in with my accountant one last time the night before I was going to purchase, and we realized that with the Point of Sale method in 2024 acts to transfer the tax liability from the purchaser to the dealership, meaning as long as you are below the income limit and the vehicle qualifies that you DO NOT need to have any tax liability.

The dealership I am working with was not quite sure how this worked yet, but after telling them this was a condition for the sale they are making it happen. We will be their first customers taking advantage of this through them.

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