Late to the EV Truck game which one to get?

[Vector327]

In all my research think I'm looking at either a XLT or Lariat trim. The Platinums that are available in my area just seem to be asking too much for in my opinion, not to mention some dealers still have them new in white with not factory discount incentives for a 2025 in 2026.

The things I want are the 360 camera, parking sensors and heated seats. nice to have would be the extra power plug in the bed and frunk.

According to some apps, my most common one way trip will leave me at %9 on standard and 30% on extended with no charging stops. Do you find inconvenient to have a standard batter or find it better to have an extended range battery on long trips so you, don't have to charge as often? Im thinking that after a few hours you are probably stopping for a meal so you would be charging anyways.

Climate control
Is there much difference in range or benefit with the heat pump versions that I believe started in 2024.

Are there any years, trims or options to stay way from or where not worth the money?

Trying to be as informed as possible that since they stoped making them, the used ones do not stick around on the market long.

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[Mach Turtle]

Welcome to the group. I think you're probably an ideal Flash owner, preferably with the larger older battery, but that's mostly based on your description of a long one way trip; it's nice to be able to make it comfortably (I don't consider 9% comfortable with the possibility of cold weather, rain, headwinds, etc.) and the Flash should cover all your needs...unless the fancy tailgate step is just too tempting. An ER XLT would be great too, though those seem harder to find. In older used models at least, you should be able to find any trim with the big 7.2kW inverter; many of us really love those for powering our houses when the utilities go out.

I find the heat pump nice and efficient but a bit noisy. Talk about being spoiled...

 

[Vector327]

Welcome to the group. I think you're probably an ideal Flash owner, preferably with the larger older battery, but that's mostly based on your description of a long one way trip; it's nice to be able to make it comfortably (I don't consider 9% comfortable with the possibility of cold weather, rain, headwinds, etc.) and the Flash should cover all your needs...unless the fancy tailgate step is just too tempting. An ER XLT would be great too, though those seem harder to find. In older used models at least, you should be able to find any trim with the big 7.2kW inverter; many of us really love those for powering our houses when the utilities go out.

I find the heat pump nice and efficient but a bit noisy. Talk about being spoiled...

In my area I have not seen any Flash models come up for sale.

I forgot to ask if anyone found any issues or preference between the 2 types of entertainment screens? I know the complaint of the laggyness of the larger screen.

 

[RickLightning]

You might want to spend some time reading the forum for these answers, often discussed.

Your analysis needs some work. Try ABRP (A Better Route Planner). Range on the highway is between 10 and 80% charge, then you drive again to 10 to 20%, and charge to 80%. So you are using, at most, 70% of the battery.

70% of an 98kWh battery is 69kWh. 69x1.8=124 miles
70% of an 131kWh battery is 92kWh. 92x1.8=166 miles.

With an SR, unless you eat a lot of meals a day, you'll be very fat. We only eat lunch on the road, and almost always pack it, so stopping is for charging and bathroom breaks.

I just did a 5,400+ trip and charged a lot. If I had an SR I wouldn't take the trip.

 

[electricpig]

Much depends on where and how you drive. If you drive 85 on the highway..... Well you are going to be stopping A LOT with either. Efficiency drops FAST with speed. I generally do 70 on the interstate to conserve energy to get around 2 miles/kwh. Say you going 120 miles. At 70 is about 1.7 hours. At about 1.4 hours, but good chance you would have to charge even on a ER. So add that 20 minutes back in.

I have a SR and has been more than enough for my circumstances. I'm usually ready to stop by the time it's time anyway.osy trips within about 150-200 miles. Longer drives all the time, then ERught be more important. But of course it's nice tom have the extra, and maybe that's just what you want to do.

Either way, whatever your preference, is the way to go.

 

[pullinggs]

We have a '23 XLT SR and a '24 Flash with the 131 kW battery.

If your routine trip happens to be just the right distance (the SR has to stop once while the ER can make it without) then the answer is obvious. If you have to make one stop with either one... total wash. Having made some true long-distance drives, once you start talking about multiple stops the ER wins.

I love the SR and I've driven it all over the place. Having said that, there is no situation where you'd wish you had less range available. OTOH, there are times when the extra range makes things MUCH easier.

If your winters are harsh the heat pump will probably yield a positive benefit. While I definitely deal with winter weather here, we never get true butt-numbing cold. After living with both systems for a couple of years... the differences are irrelevant to me.

I much prefer the smaller screen with physical buttons.

Best of luck, and you're gonna love the truck.

 

[Mal106]

I have a '25 Flash. It has a middle battery at 123 KWH. Tough a bigger battery is always better, I don't have a problem with range. I like physical buttons but I quickly got used to the big screen. The heat pump noise is seldome heard and never bothers me. I also like the stealth and simplicity of no light bar in back and would be fine with no light bar in front. I've had sunroofs and don't need another. I liked the tailgate step in my last 150 but the aftermarket step is fine though seldome used. If I were looking today, I'd look for a '24 Flash for the big battery and tailgate step but easily settle for what I ended up with.

 

[K6CCC]

When I was looking to buy a Lighting (around Christmas 2024), I spent quite a while looking at the options. I specifically did NOT want a sunroof so that totally ruled out a Lariat or Platinum. I did want the 131 KW ER battery and I did also specifically want the 9.6 KW PPOB. I settled on the 24 Flash with the ER battery and 9.6 KW PPOB and have been very happy with it. BTW, the tailgate pull out step is really nice I with my 67 year old body I use it regularly. I am glad I have the bigger battery. Although I don't do a lot of long distance road tripping, I do spend some time in the South western deserts - some of which are also charging deserts. Would anything I have done be possible with the smaller battery? Yes, but a few legs would have been a bit nerve wracking...

 

[TonyCO]

I love my 24 SR XLT. 99% of the time it is perfect. I like the buttons for temperature control and the 12’ screen is fine. My 24 month lease is coming up in December. I signed the deal for this truck to be cheap and figure out if I’m an EV guy.

Now that Ford ****** up and decided to abandon this truck I’m mad. I wish I would’ve leased an ER Flash. I would buy it out in a few months and be happy. Like I said 99% it’s all good, but IMO range anxiety is a thing. I love this truck and it works for me, but I’m still always thinking about 210 range. Absolutely get the ER.

ITS A MUST IMO.

 

[Joe Dablock]

Get an ER, no matter how good the SR deal, get an ER.

 

[djwildstar]

In all my research think I'm looking at either a XLT or Lariat trim. [...] According to some apps, my most common one way trip will leave me at %9 on standard and 30% on extended with no charging stops. [...] Is there much difference in range or benefit with the heat pump versions that I believe started in 2024.

Welcome to the group and (hopefully) welcome to the truck!

In terms of battery size, nobody ever complained about having an extended-range truck instead of standard-range, so but the reverse is not true, if you can find one and can afford it, extended-range is the way to go. In general, I prefer not to plan trips where I would arrive at my destination or at a charger with a state of charge below 15%. I will sometimes push it a little below that if it makes a significant difference in trip time (and if I have plenty of en-route charging options).

There are two potential issues with planning to drive down to the single-digit percentages:

1. State of charge is an estimate, so once you're down to 9% or below, you don't really know for sure how much range you've got left. There are plenty of reports on this forum and other places of trucks suddenly dropping to 0% and 0mi from single-digit percentages.
2. Planning to arrive at a low state of charge means that you will need to drive precisely to plan and need weather than is as good or better than the app assumed. One segment of over-speed driving (many apps assume you will never exceed the posted speed limit) or a stiff headwind can easily cut percentage points off your range.

To me, it sounds like an extended-range truck would be ideal for your most-common trip. A 30% range buffer is comfortable, and will let you drive faster than the planning app assumed for at least some parts of the trip. In general, the ER battery is better for road-tripping: remember that the Lightning loses a lot of range at highway speeds -- on a long road trip, you'll get roughly 2 1/2 hours between charging stops with an ER battery, and roughly 1 3/4 hours with an SR battery. So for my typical road trip (just a shade under 500mi) an SR truck would add two charging stops or somewhat over an hour to my trip.

What planning app did you use?

I personally drive a Lariat, because I wanted BlueCruise in addition to the 360-degree camera, parking sensors, and heated seats. In my humble opinion, the Flash trim is the ideal sweet spot for you -- it has the extended-range battery and the features you want, without having to step up to the Lariat trim price point. New Flash trim trucks are getting hard to find, and unlike 2023 XLT and Lariat, there aren't many coming off of leases yet (next year will be when the 3-year 2024 leases expire).

For 2022-2023 model years, Ford built the XLT with either standard-range or extended-range batteries. So if you're looking at picking up a used truck coming off of lease, the extended-range XLT might be a good choice for you. The VIN is a reliable indicator of the battery size -- for 2022-2023, look for a "V" in the 8th place of the VIN to indicate an extended-range battery.

From all reports, the heat pump does not make a significant difference in range or efficiency. It made a difference for Tesla vehicles because their pre-heat-pump thermal design was pretty poor, and the overall thermal redesign to add a heat pump made a huge difference. Ford's thermal design is already good, so adding a heat pump doesn't change things that much.

 

[Marc]

I'm extremely happy with my 2023 Lariat LR! I have the 100 amp internal charger. My truck has been updated multiple times over the air and I love it. The charging speed has increased with updates over the years. This is the sweet spot in my eyes where they still have the higher levels of equipment that the newer vehicles have lost. I live in the south so the heat pump is a non-issue.

 

[ElectrifyingMe25]

In all my research think I'm looking at either a XLT or Lariat trim. The Platinums that are available in my area just seem to be asking too much for in my opinion, not to mention some dealers still have them new in white with not factory discount incentives for a 2025 in 2026.

The things I want are the 360 camera, parking sensors and heated seats. nice to have would be the extra power plug in the bed and frunk.

According to some apps, my most common one way trip will leave me at %9 on standard and 30% on extended with no charging stops. Do you find inconvenient to have a standard batter or find it better to have an extended range battery on long trips so you, don't have to charge as often? Im thinking that after a few hours you are probably stopping for a meal so you would be charging anyways.

Climate control
Is there much difference in range or benefit with the heat pump versions that I believe started in 2024.

Are there any years, trims or options to stay way from or where not worth the money?

Trying to be as informed as possible that since they stoped making them, the used ones do not stick around on the market long.

I have a '23 XLT, SR.

I love my truck. It has many great features. It's great to drive. I plan on keeping it as long as I can.

I hope some day someone offers up a replacement battery with 500 miles of range that weighs as much or less than a SR battery.... the SR battery is heavy enough.

As you drive your new truck... you'll always wish for a little more range. I'd probably recommend an ER... and adaptive cruise control (ACC).... which can be added to a XLT.

Best of luck.

 

[Carieth]

In all my research think I'm looking at either a XLT or Lariat trim. The Platinums that are available in my area just seem to be asking too much for in my opinion, not to mention some dealers still have them new in white with not factory discount incentives for a 2025 in 2026.

The things I want are the 360 camera, parking sensors and heated seats. nice to have would be the extra power plug in the bed and frunk.

According to some apps, my most common one way trip will leave me at %9 on standard and 30% on extended with no charging stops. Do you find inconvenient to have a standard batter or find it better to have an extended range battery on long trips so you, don't have to charge as often? Im thinking that after a few hours you are probably stopping for a meal so you would be charging anyways.

Climate control
Is there much difference in range or benefit with the heat pump versions that I believe started in 2024.

Are there any years, trims or options to stay way from or where not worth the money?

Trying to be as informed as possible that since they stoped making them, the used ones do not stick around on the market long.

If your regular trip ends at 9% on a standard battery, I’d lean extended range. The extra buffer makes road trips and winter driving much less stressful.

 

[topher10]

I have a 24 Flash: 131 Kwh battery, pro power onboard, tow/haul option, bed liner. Its the perfect spec for me. Primarily daily driver/around town, with 3-4 out of town trips (~180 miles one way) a year (hunting/camping/family). I have done one very long trip, and plan another soon.

ER vs SR - The decision depends completely on how you will drive. If you are only driving around town, SR is great. Fill it up nightly at home. If it's only an occasional out-of-town trip, SR is fine. If you frequently drive out of town, take many longer trips a year, or expect to tow, then ER will be helpful. If you tow a lot, you should consider an ICE truck.

I love this truck very much. Fast, quiet, cheap to operate, frunk, onboard power, huge rear area with rear seats folded, etc. I like the big screen, didn't want a sunroof, and don't care about leather seats.

The only real negative is charging speed, not the range. I don't mind stopping every few hours to charge. But it takes over 40 mins 10% to 80%. My long trip (to visit my daughter) is 806 miles and 5 charge stops. That means 12h of driving plus an extra 2hrs of charging. Sitting at a random charger for extended periods gets old. If you then tow, it makes it almost unfeasible.

So other than very long trips and towing, I love it.

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