Tesla Owner with a 2023 Ford Lightning XLT Long Range (Impressions/Review)

[Flipper]

Coming from a Tesla as well. I have to say after driving a model 3 for 6 years I'm not missing it much. Yeah Tesla software is better but I'm impressed at what ford has done here. This is a reaaly quite and smooth riding vehicle. This is a quick vehicle for sure but it's not as planted as a tesla. I really love the frunk of this truck and the fit and finish is really good. I'm coming from a 2007 Superduty Diesel so this is really an upgrade for me. I have yet to tow with this but will very soon. I also don't like carrying a keyfob. The Tesla is hardly drivin after getting this because it's that good.

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[transmutated]

I always road trip my 23 XLT ER with an A2Z adapter and rarely use anything but the Tesla Superchargers; it's a peach.

I really like the white and black. Same color scheme as my model y.

 

[transmutated]

Coming from a Tesla as well. I have to say after driving a model 3 for 6 years I'm not missing it much. Yeah Tesla software is better but I'm impressed at what ford has done here. This is a reaaly quite and smooth riding vehicle. This is a quick vehicle for sure but it's not as planted as a tesla. I really love the frunk of this truck and the fit and finish is really good. I'm coming from a 2007 Superduty Diesel so this is really an upgrade for me. I have yet to tow with this but will very soon. I also don't like carrying a keyfob. The Tesla is hardly drivin after getting this because it's that good.

Yeah, not sure how much my y will get love. I’ve got FSD and I’m on fence for trading mine in since Tesla is letting that move to another car and getting an x for my wife. Would sell her 2022 model y maybe? Dreamy truck, just can’t look to closely at the convenience and entertainment stuff I have on the Tesla that doesn’t exist on the truck.

 

[Kit2874]

Yeah, the phone as a key only for Lariat Trim is honestly annoying.
I have an XLT to.

And another thing is trying to be nice here.. The outright mutilation of the app for your phone from the old one to the new one is damn near criminal... Why they took trip planning away from the new app is beyond me..

 

[hturnerfamily]

I'll give you some 'tips' for overcoming some of the lower trim 'shortcomings'...with my PRO $39.974 model...

- I added LCC(Lane Centering), with a replacement wiring harness and Radar in the front bumper(search for my thread here about that...fun!)
- adding LCC gave me the same/similar capacity and ENJOYMENT that most have with their Blue cruise, since I have now found that adding a small 1lb wrist weight velcroed around the steering wheel defeats the constant 'Alerts' on the driver screen, allowing you to drive HUNDREDS of interstate miles with no further interaction. WHAT A PLEASURE!

- I keep a keyfob in the center console 24/7. That's where it LIVES. I then use my FordPassAPP to Lock/Unlock/StartClimate anytime I wish, from anywhere, and the truck is ready to DRIVE the moment I enter. I NEVER carry a keyfob. My wife can also just jump and drive, and never needs to worry about keeping a 'keyfob'(whatever THAT is!)... it's simple, and easy.
- I keep the 'skeleton' emergency physical key from the keyfob hidden below the frame, just in case.

- I have installed a SECURIkeyPad(the Ford wireless Lock/Unlock keypad) in my ChargePort door, hidden from view, but there for those times when the 'cellular' connection takes too long with the app, or doesn't connect at all.

 

[transmutated]

Alright, so slight update. I found that my truck does have lane keeping and centering. There are so many buttons, learning what they all mean is a whole process. Also found that it has the fancy trailer package which would have been useful for when I was towing that uhaul and had to go in reverse to back into some tight spots

Truck is currently at the dealer to get a new key setup/made and mykey removed. Love the truck a bit more everyday. Managed to get it parked in the garage as well which makes me feel better for the upcoming winter since I don’t have the fancy heat pump and keeping the battery warmer should help with efficiency when leaving the house.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Wow- that’s a custom fit.
My love affair with my Lightning has gotten a second wind since cybertrucks have started popping up around here. I love the low-key look of the lightning.

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Alright, so slight update. I found that my truck does have lane keeping and centering. There are so many buttons, learning what they all mean is a whole process. Also found that it has the fancy trailer package which would have been useful for when I was towing that uhaul and had to go in reverse to back into some tight spots

Truck is currently at the dealer to get a new key setup/made and mykey removed. Love the truck a bit more everyday. Managed to get it parked in the garage as well which makes me feel better for the upcoming winter since I don’t have the fancy heat pump and keeping the battery warmer should help with efficiency when leaving the house.

Your garage parking looks very similar to mine...before I purchased the Lightning I measured it out...had to remove one of my workbenches...but definitely worth it.

 

[Ferroxide]

I'm a Lightning, Noob.(6/21/24)...but researched EV's prior to buying for over 9 months. I LOVE it! I had a 2001 F150 Super Crew XLT for 24 years and am happy with decision to go with an EV truck. The Flash is the mid Trim for 2024 and much more reasonable than the Lariat in price. I just wish Ford would look at bigger picture and lower pricing a bit to reach a larger audience. I think if they did more folks would give the Lightning a try.

 

[watson123]

Grab this adapter to charge at Tesla station, use discount code "FORD" I think:

NACS (Tesla® Supercharger & NACS 3RD PARTY DC CHARGERS) to CCS1 Adapter | 500A | 1000V | DC | 12 Months WarrantyNACS to CCS1 Adapter Only	1	$197.00

Tesla superchargers with a *thin* hose will work, the thicker hose won't work. Look on your Tesla app for "Charge my other EV" to locate a station. Works great, pay same price

Electrify America is cool, you get the hang of it. Their monthly membership brings the cost down quite a bit to around 39 cents KWh. Yeah it's a PITA the first few times you use it. Open the app, plug it in, find the Charger number, swipe 'start charging." Doesn't work 100% of the time for me.

 

[astrand1]

Hello new friends, recently bought up a Lightning cause I really want a truck and not interesting in this first edition Cybertruck or any $100k truck honestly I scooped up a used XLT Lightning with 11k miles on it for doing truck stuff mostly. My wife and I both have Model Ys and love them as we go into our 4th year of EV ownership. Even with the tow hitch, I've struggled to make the best use of it because I don't wanna rent a trailer every time i need one and while the storage in the Y is great for boards...it's hard to move sheets around. So I'm living my biggest truck dreams with this used truck. Wanted to give my hot takes coming from Tesla land and lean on the community for any work arounds to the issues I may be having.

On the second day of owning the truck, I rented a uhaul trailer and helped move a storage unit for my parents which was 2 hours each way with a 6X12 covered trailer and driving at a constant 65 got 1.4 mpkwh loaded and 1.5 mpkwh unloaded

So the things I don't like first:

• The screen is actually nice in the XLT, but the void of third party apps like we have on the Tesla is shameful. No entertainment while charging or chilling in the ride is really weird. Beautiful screen...with super limited functionality. Entertainment is standard on ALL teslas.
• No phone as key as a standard option. It's not even an option unless you get Lariat with some extra trim level. Again, standard on all Teslas. This seems really weird to put behind a trim and model barrier.
• If you have 1 key, which is all my truck came with, don't add mykey...and try to remove it. OOF. Apparently I don't have the "admin key"? Who knows. I would have expected that to be requisit to add mykey but now I've limited what all my truck can do to the default profile? I don't know. Would love some community help here or else I'm bringing the truck to the dealership to get a new fob and remove the mykey nonsense.
• Route planning is stressful with the Ford interface. I can easily enough create a route, but I have no idea what % of battery I will have when I arrive at a charging station. Perhaps it is, but I'm just not used to the interface? On the dash, it shows how much range I have left and how far away I am from my destination...is that my final destination or the charging stop? I didn't pay enough attention I suppose because my charging stop was at my destionation effectively. It just wasn't immediately clear.
• After the truck was dropped off since it was delivered from out of state, my wife promptly sat in the truck and started pushing buttons She found the button that stows the gear shifter and pressed it a few times. Needless to say, it got stuck in park. It was this forum that some one recommended buying a 10mm wrench and keeping that in the frunk to disconnect the 12v battery and reconnecting it, which in fact did the trick. Thanks for that lil nugget of information because that fixed this. Will never touch that button again
• Didn't realize that bluecruise is a feature of higher trims. I wasn't buying the truck for smart features, but while road tripping with the trailer, it would have been nice to flip on auto pilot and roll. But I don't have the million dollar truck so I'm left holding the steering wheel like a peasent I suppose Autopilot is standard on all tesla models and is great for highway driving!

Things I don't like that are out of Ford's control, but guilty by association I suppose:

• Stopped and charged at my first ever Electrify America while I appreciated the trailer friendly pull through charger...it was a train wreck. The charger didn't work. I called them, they rebooted it, had me plug and unplug what seems like a dozen times when suddently it started working.
• Electrify America is expensive. Coming from Tesla land, high is over .40 kwh, .30something is typical. This charger was nearly .60 pkwh. OOF

Now for the awesome stuff:

• Towing was DREAMY over what I've done with the Model Y. Model Y was great and all, but the Lightning was champ. Wasn't sure what to expect concerning range, but the internet would have you believe I was going to tow 10 miles and be out of juice. I was happy with the range for the job I was doing and wasn't concerned with with my range.
• Super comfortable drive! Man this truck is smooth! Absolutely love driving it!
• APPLE CAR PLAY IS EXCELLENT! Tesla needs to stop playing games and make it happen.
• Can't wait to get my Tesla Supercharger adapter to use that network! This will ROCK. 4 years of charging my Tesla's while road tripping and I can count on 1 hand where I've had to wait for a charger to be open OR had a failed charger.

Workarounds I've got:

• I'm using a bluetooth obd device in conjuction with a better route planner + apple car play to DIY a smart trip planner that I've got some confidence in. The ford app didn't seem like it would tell me when I have a sufficient charge to carry on or anything like that. This more closely reproduces the intelligence that I've come to expect with Tesla and range calculations concerning weather, etc. I don't have a lot of confidence in whatever the ford app might be doing. Doing this setup with Apple Car Play is a great combo! Maybe I'm just doing Ford wrong? Am I missing anything?

This is where I am with the truck after owning it for 70 something hours and taking it on a good sized road trip with a trailer. The truck really is awesome. No regrets. I loved the used price, the smooth ride, and the range is better than expected. I find myself missing the standard features that I've come to expect from Tesla that are only available in higher trims on the Lightening...ie phone as key, lane keeping, bluecruise, etc. I'm sure some other stuff will come up as time goes on, but aside from the 12v problem concerning the shifter getting stuck in park, I'm really excited about the truck otherwise.

What are some recommendations from the community for new Lightening owner? I've got charging handled since we've got two Teslas already. But yeah, hunting for any other workarounds that other Tesla users have done or what everyone else thinks is useful. Thanks

Yeah you don’t need mykey. That’s really for if you have a teenager to help control their driving.

 

[transmutated]

Yeah you don’t need mykey. That’s really for if you have a teenager to help control their driving.

Yeah, most def a life lesson learned. I’ve got a few extra fobs now so it’s not a big deal. Easily turned on and off if done accidentally.

 

[RyZac]

Yeah, the phone as a key only for Lariat Trim is honestly annoying.
I have an XLT to.

And another thing is trying to be nice here.. The outright mutilation of the app for your phone from the old one to the new one is damn near criminal... Why they took trip planning away from the new app is beyond me..

Didn't realize this was only Lariat and above.
Old habits still have me grabbing my fob most of the time. I've also setup and confirmed door code and password start would allow me to drive in case of no fob or phone.

 

[Jakester]

Yeah, most def a life lesson learned. I’ve got a few extra fobs now so it’s not a big deal. Easily turned on and off if done accidentally.

I went to the beach recently left everything in frunk and locked with door lock and unlocked with security code wouldn't lock if fob was in cab.

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