Best value “spec”: Long term cost of ownership

[speedy123]

Although my brain tells me to wait another a couple of years and let models with newer technology come out, more competition, better charging, and overall hopefully lower price points; I am still kind of obsessed with the current lightning and still thinking about pulling the trigger on one.

I would be buying rather than leasing. I am in Canada so Foord options is not available, I like the look of that program.

I guess my thinking is, if I’m going to dip my toe into the EV world, what is going to be my overall lowest cost of ownership, given initial purchase price, and depreciation. I can order really anything from a base pro, to an ER pro, all the way up. I’d like to spend as little as possible and I do get a significant tax credit where I live of up to 10 K for Pro SR or XLT SR.

I assume any ER will depreciate more slowly than an SR but will that EVER hit a tipping point where the long term residual value outweighs the steep initial cost?

Total conjecture I know, but what do we think a Pro SR will be worth in 5 years of average mileage? A Pro ER? Both versions of XLT and Lariat? Platinum?

Heart tells me that if I can get a pro dirt cheap with the tax refund on SR, then that is probably the best value I am ever going to see regardless of depreciation. It still is missing a few things I want, some can be added, not sure about others, still just really struggling to make a use case for SR. I live in cold Canada and do want to be able to occasionally take a longer road trip, do I just get the small battery and rent a vehicle for longer road trips, pony up the money now for ER, or just wait this whole thing out until the latest and greatest appears down the pipe.

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[RickLightning]

Ford Options is no more.

Nobody has a clue as to future values. It's like pulling numbers out of your butt.

I have 2 EVs, both ERs. I would never buy an SR due to the impact of the cold, and I don't live in Canada.

 

[captcory]

For me the value is in the PRO SR, but I'm not concerned about the cold here in Florida.

 

[Jseis]

We traded off our 7 year old Flex Limited which dropped the Lariat ER to well under 60K but the prior order was option rich and $650 over 80K. Rats. No EV credit.

Probably keep it 10 years. Could save us scads in fuel. Say $16,000+ in 100K miles. I’ll save about $4K+ this year alone. I figure even if I lost 10-15% of battery I’d hardly notice it. Our Mach E is super efficient averaging 4.1 mi/kwh and it’s a killer scoot around town rig. It’s got 50K on it with 94% battery SOH.

 

[bmwhitetx]

I can order really anything from a base pro, to an ER pro, all the way up.

You guys are fortunate in Canada. Here you could never order an ER Pro unless you were a fleet (5+ orders) and they recently closed down the SR Pro order banks again. Good luck on your decision.

 

[GunRack]

Apparently the 74k out the door SR XLT high trim I bought a year ago is worth 45k on KBB. Bummer since I still owe 65 on it.

 

[hturnerfamily]

- no more oil changes

actually, no reason at ALL to go into a dealership or shop - unless you need tires.

simple.

the low cost of ANY maintenance on EVs is the LONG-TERM value, not just the vehicle cost... and this doesn't even account for the massive difference in 'fueling' this baby.

now, whether you WANT, or 'need', leather interior or blue cruise or 'fancy' extras is totally up to you... even the ER battery option is not a 'need'... if they had another HD ER battery, with 30% more miles than even the current ER option, many would say that this would be the 'only' truck anyone should get... oh well. If the SR battery pack was the ONLY option from the get-go, I'll bet there'd be little difference in sales... most any owner is going to adapt to the power they have available, if that's the only option they have.

get you an old Nissan LEAF and drive that for a while - you'll understand what I mean.

 

[Ventorum94]

Although my brain tells me to wait another a couple of years and let models with newer technology come out, more competition, better charging, and overall hopefully lower price points; I am still kind of obsessed with the current lightning and still thinking about pulling the trigger on one.

I would be buying rather than leasing. I am in Canada so Foord options is not available, I like the look of that program.

I guess my thinking is, if I’m going to dip my toe into the EV world, what is going to be my overall lowest cost of ownership, given initial purchase price, and depreciation. I can order really anything from a base pro, to an ER pro, all the way up. I’d like to spend as little as possible and I do get a significant tax credit where I live of up to 10 K for Pro SR or XLT SR.

I assume any ER will depreciate more slowly than an SR but will that EVER hit a tipping point where the long term residual value outweighs the steep initial cost?

Total conjecture I know, but what do we think a Pro SR will be worth in 5 years of average mileage? A Pro ER? Both versions of XLT and Lariat? Platinum?

Heart tells me that if I can get a pro dirt cheap with the tax refund on SR, then that is probably the best value I am ever going to see regardless of depreciation. It still is missing a few things I want, some can be added, not sure about others, still just really struggling to make a use case for SR. I live in cold Canada and do want to be able to occasionally take a longer road trip, do I just get the small battery and rent a vehicle for longer road trips, pony up the money now for ER, or just wait this whole thing out until the latest and greatest appears down the pipe.

I wouldn’t spec anything lower than XLT 312A, for the simple reason that this is the lowest spec that includes modern Driver Assistance capabilities: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centering (not just Lane Keeping), and Speed Sign recognition. Any lower spec (Pro and base XLT) has driver assistance tech that’s a decade behind the times- not good for future expectations and future resale.
And, if you wait for a 2024, you just might get a Bluecruise-capable truck, at any trim level!

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Although my brain tells me to wait another a couple of years and let models with newer technology come out, more competition, better charging, and overall hopefully lower price points; I am still kind of obsessed with the current lightning and still thinking about pulling the trigger on one.

I would be buying rather than leasing. I am in Canada so Foord options is not available, I like the look of that program.

I guess my thinking is, if I’m going to dip my toe into the EV world, what is going to be my overall lowest cost of ownership, given initial purchase price, and depreciation. I can order really anything from a base pro, to an ER pro, all the way up. I’d like to spend as little as possible and I do get a significant tax credit where I live of up to 10 K for Pro SR or XLT SR.

I assume any ER will depreciate more slowly than an SR but will that EVER hit a tipping point where the long term residual value outweighs the steep initial cost?

Total conjecture I know, but what do we think a Pro SR will be worth in 5 years of average mileage? A Pro ER? Both versions of XLT and Lariat? Platinum?

Heart tells me that if I can get a pro dirt cheap with the tax refund on SR, then that is probably the best value I am ever going to see regardless of depreciation. It still is missing a few things I want, some can be added, not sure about others, still just really struggling to make a use case for SR. I live in cold Canada and do want to be able to occasionally take a longer road trip, do I just get the small battery and rent a vehicle for longer road trips, pony up the money now for ER, or just wait this whole thing out until the latest and greatest appears down the pipe.

I know people who have been waiting for hydrogen (10+ years now) or for EV tech to flush out (7+ years) and some of them are still waiting. I jumped in and haven’t regretted it one bit. I think you’re doing the right thing.

As for value proposition, there is none. And this is from a guy who did a spreadsheet when ordering my Pro on projected resale values etc.

Rule of thumb, most basic spec will generally lose you the least. That doesn’t mean it’ll fit what you want need.

I recommend you think about all the times you’ve filled up your gas tank more than once in a day. If you can’t think of any, you likely are ok with a SR Pro. If you can think of the times you’ve taken trips where you’ve needed to fill multiple times, get an ER.

As for resale, the book values don’t seem to allocate a whole lot to a ER vs a SR of the same trim. I’ve seen that with used Teslas as well, there’s a difference but it’s never large enough to cover the price difference.

 

[jdmackes]

I wouldn’t spec anything lower than XLT 312A, for the simple reason that this is the lowest spec that includes modern Driver Assistance capabilities: Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centering (not just Lane Keeping), and Speed Sign recognition. Any lower spec (Pro and base XLT) has driver assistance tech that’s a decade behind the times- not good for future expectations and future resale.
And, if you wait for a 2024, you just might get a Bluecruise-capable truck, at any trim level!

Now, you can add those features into a Pro or lower speced XLT though. I added ACC to my Pro and it's fantastic, but if you're not at all handy or don't feel like dealing with it then I agree. ACC is really great, made a 900 mile drive so easy on me.

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