Can't buy a vehicle if it is going to strand me

[Joe.....Montana]

Point taken. I want a truck to do VERY BIG IMPORTANT TRUCK STUFF. Like mulch, toilet paper at Costco, boat towing short distance, getting the Christmas tree. Oh, and because I want one. My Ridgeline does all these things well. My kids call it the Barbie Dream Truck though and mock my manhood. We have a Highlander hybrid that we can keep for the trips with she-who-must-not-be-stranded.

We have a Highlander Hybrid and Lightning. We use the Highlander for long/quick roadtrips (just covered 1300 miles in 2 days of driving, 2 days of hanging out. Can't beat 32 MPG going 84 mph.) For shorter roadtrips or on ones we can take our time we use the Lightning. My wife typically uses the Lightning for commuting to work (her drive is longer) and absolutely loves it. Right now I am working on some projects around the house and I "need" the Lightning (primarily because I want to drive the truck). Each morning my wife leaves for work she asks if she can take the Lightning and then complains when I say no. Like you would, I use the truck to haul lumber, dirt, mulch, dump runs, etc. and it is perfect. Each day burn about 20-30% of range and each night I plug it in and it's back to 80% (level I set it at).

I would not want the Lightning as our primary roadtrip vehicle (we have a 9 year old and 4 year old) but absolutely love it as an option and as a truck.

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[dajohn3]

Long time lurker with occasional questions and posts. Closer everyday to pulling the trigger on an EV truck. Found a '23 untitled dealer demo with 2k kms on it for a pretty good deal. Except it is 3000km from me on the other side of the country. Probably would have it shipped but am entertaining a road trip to get it. (with NACS adapter).

I have followed the high voltage battery issue that a not-small-number of users seem to have developed. I would be excited to be driving an EV with all the benefits and understand the downsides about range/charging/winter. My ultimate issue is this: I can't spend $$ on a new car that is going to run the risk of stranding me. While that is a theoretical risk with any car, I wouldn't be worried if I was going to pick up a Toyota highlander or a replacement honda Ridgeline, or any other ICE car. I do a fair number of road trips through the year, and this would be an excellent family vehicle. But if I end up stranded, in the middle of nowhere, a million miles from home, and have to get towed to a dealer and sit for weeks with parts and all the horror stories I've heard about this. And if it hasn't happened to you yet, a real and uncertain risk of it happening over the life of the battery, even if it is warrantied.

Lots of great stories on here of successful long distance road trips. I'm on a tight leash here, maritally and financially, to buy a reliable vehicle that we will enjoy. I would lose any credit in the marriage bank if we end up stranded roadside in Moose Jaw. (no offense to people from Moose Jaw, I'm sure it is lovely, just making a point).

Am I stupid to buy a Lightning if I am not willing to run the risk of this happening?

I found that buying the F150 Lightning with the 98KW battery pack was the biggest mistake that I have ever made. Nothing but charging and range issues along with the dreaded towing of the truck 2 times because of running out of juice before making it to a charging station. Ford has refused to buyback the truck and I have just received notice from the BBB that Ford doesn't intend on doing anything to satisfy my issues with the truck. The last issue with my truck Is that I get two entirely different charging results while charging to 100 percent away from large metropolitan areas than while charging at home. Example: 185 max range away and 234 range while at home. No one will ever see this difference on the road unless you charge to 100 percent at each location like I did. Imagine the time I wasted to charge it away from home to 100 percent at 2.5 hours of charging time. I did this because I wasn't sure if my truck would make it to the next charging station 117 miles away while driving freeway speeds. I drove at 77 mph and had 24 percent left on the range display when I got to the charging station. So what you can glean from this information is that the 98KW F150 Lightning's true range on the freeway is 185 or less not the 240 that Ford is advertising. So they have misrepresented their Lightnings capability and will expect you to just suck it up.

I would not recommend anyone to buy a ford lightning with a 98kw battery pack because you will not be satisfied with the results you get on a long trip. You can expect to fast charge for 44 minutes to 80 percent and 66 minutes to 90 percent and will only be able to get a range of a little over a 100 miles while driving freeway speeds and not all charging stations are operational or have any working chargers. It is not fun to wait for someone to tow you to a charging station and it really bites to not have air conditioning while you wait. My last wait time was 4 hours in the Texas heat so you can imagine how uncomforable I was by the time they towed me and then having to wait 66 minutes to charge to 90 percent so I could make it to the next charging station 91 mile away was just like icing on the cake. You can expect to add 5 hours for every 550 miles you drive to accommodate your charging times as compared to a gas or hybrid vehicle. You won't be able to tow anything very far so expect the distance you can tow to be around half of that you can drive empty. Don't be fooled by the range display and your miles per KWH because that is just a placebo to make you think that you are getting your money's worth out of your truck. But the decision to buy one is all up to you so go with your gut! My gut is telling me that I would have been happier with getting a real truck that has fuel readily accessible while you are on a long trip.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I have only been stranded/sort of stranded by two cars. My 91 civic twice with failed distributor coil both times. A Kia EV9 on an extended test drive. My wife was stranded in her 90 Beretta.

No drivetrain issues with the lightning in 11k miles, though there was some corrosion in the plug for the tailgate that made the power tailgate fail. I spent a couple months with a tailgate that might or might not open.

 

[Newton]

I have the opposite experience, I have an EV6 and a Lightning and we love them both - but given a choice my wife will always take the Lightning. We have the standard range and have probably road tripped it more than most owners, certainly more road tripping than I thought. It has been fine here in the PNW even in places where looking at the charge map you would think ”no way!” We are fortunate to be retired and spend time at AirBnBs where we prefer the ability to charge - even off of a wall plug. It has worked with no anxiety so far.

I have nothing against the EV6, it charges so fast that you don’t have time to hit the restroom and unlike the Ford I get way more than the advertised range. It has a heat pump and the software is a touch better than the Ford. That said, the Lightning is way more comfortable and is the one we chose unless I’m going somewhere with difficult parking or feel like driving a sports car instead of a boat.

 

[Newton]

I would not recommend anyone to buy a ford lightning with a 98kw battery pack because you will not be satisfied with the results you get on a long trip. You can expect to fast charge for 44 minutes to 80 percent and 66 minutes to 90 percent and will only be able to get a range of a little over a 100 miles while driving freeway speeds and not all charging stations are operational or have any working chargers.

That has not been my experience at all. This is a recent trip, we were not pushing them range because some of our stops were also shopping trips. The truck was absolutely stuffed on the way home and she shows up with a giant hanging plant of some sort….

 

[speedy123]

I had a Pontiac in the 90’s that had a gas gauge stuck on empty. It was the original Guess-O-Meter. Ran out of gas more than once. I think it gave me excellent preparation for Lightning ownership.

 

[JRT]

You need to look at the areas you plan to travel and see if there are reasonable charges. Reasonable for me is Tesla v3 and v4, and 150 and up other chargers. Screwing around in Walmart parking lots with 4 chargers and far too many Chevy Bolts hogging them is not a good time and not fun family time.

My Mach-e had 27k miles and developed unsolvable issues that the dealership never fixed. I had decided I was done with the ridiculous large screen set up and no way I'd go SR, so my 23 XLT ER is only option I consider. So right now I would not buy a new 24 Lightning because they don't have an ER XLT and I don't want to move to a Flash because I do not want a single point failure screen.

 

[Newton]

Honestly it is not that hard - I have not heard of anybody going dead at more than 10% state of charge, I think it is usually around 5%. This is kind of a unique problem to the Lightning (most EVs go to zero with no problem) but it is what it is. For me, going from 83% to 14% is 159 miles so that is what I plan for. The max range of my e-Golf is120 miles (this was the longest range they ever made) so this is not a big disappointment.

Range is dependent on speed, so if you have to go 80 mph and plan to go long distances then I’d be worried. Otherwise just drive reasonably or even a bit slow if you go on a road trip. Nobody will run into you.

 

[Comarley]

If you look at any online car forum you will decide not to buy the car.

This! I never think to check out the forums until after I buy the car. Then I’m like, “what the heck did I just do?!?”

 

[marc_hanna]

I just bought a 23 Lariat ER back in May in Calgary and drove it 4,800 kms to. Ova Scotia. Out of the gate it had a DC charging issue that took the dealer almost a month to fix, so I had to delay the trek. While I was waiting for it, I got the NACS to CCS adapter so I could use Tesla stations. The only areas where charging was an issue was Winnipeg and Sudbury, but even then, it was a minor inconvenience. There’s a Ford dealer in Winnipeg that has a whole bunch of DC stations, but they are all blocked by vehicle inventory, so if you intend on charging there you should call ahead.

 

[WilliamRobert]

I have 11,000 miles on my lightning and 20,000 miles on my last mach-e (totaled)and 250 miles on my new mach-e. I haven't had any problems with my EVs, the ride is smooth and the acceleration is something you will never experience in a ice vehicle. I've had my EVSE set up in my garage since 2018, when I bought my Chevy Volt, not having to make the trip to the gas station is the best part and the cost to drive is 1/10 of gasoline. . . . Once you go electric you won't go back to the ice.

 

[loveurdj]

New cars break.

 

[speedy123]

I just bought a 23 Lariat ER back in May in Calgary and drove it 4,800 kms to. Ova Scotia. Out of the gate it had a DC charging issue that took the dealer almost a month to fix, so I had to delay the trek. While I was waiting for it, I got the NACS to CCS adapter so I could use Tesla stations. The only areas where charging was an issue was Winnipeg and Sudbury, hut even, but even then, it was a minor inconvenience. There’s a Ford dealer in Winnipeg that has a whole bunch of DC stations, but they are all blocked by vehicle inventory, so if you intend on charging there you should call ahead.

This is pretty much my same route back to NB. Except your story gives me pause, hope your issue didn’t happen enroute

 

[hturnerfamily]

ANY vehicle can leave you 'stranded', but that's NOT the vehicle's 'fault', it's the DRIVER's fault.

Period.

Not sure what you are concerned about - planning for 'fuel' when driving ANY vehicle is just part of the everyday equation. I'll bet that not a SINGLE Lightning Owner on this forum, or anywhere, has ever been 'stranded'. Low on 'fuel'? Yes. Stranded? No.

 

[marc_hanna]

This is pretty much my same route back to NB. Except your story gives me pause, hope your issue didn’t happen enroute

No. It happened the first time I DC charged in Calgary. The truck had only ever been charged on an AC charger at the dealer. They could clear the fault, it would then DC charge again, but then fault again after a random amount of charging. AC charging worked fine, but you’re never going to get across country in a reasonable time.

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