F-150 Lightning will be one and done stopgap in Ford's EV plans

[Yellow Buddy]

You mentioned you don’t care what the truck looks like as long as it’s functional. I was wondering if you really meant it.

That wasn’t me.

Maybe I am crazy, but the Silverado with its midgate and the R1T with whatever the hell they did with its lights/front end are not traditional looking trucks. The Lightning looks like a truck, the Cybertruck looks like something from the future, Silverado and R1T aren't quite sure which of those two they want to be.

If you replaced the face of the R1T with a ford face the rest of it really is a traditional truck. Not a full sized truck, but nothing from the A pillars back screams not a truck. The skateboard platform isn’t the thing that causes the R1T to look like Baymax from Big Hero 6.

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[GoGoGadgetTruck]

They said early on that this version would get a complete make over with a dedicated frame in 2025.

Just in time for a 3 year Options plan to expire.

 

[tls]

I would fully expect the future trucks to look different, but still like pickup trucks. You adapt or you die. The F150 has been adapting quite well. My first Ford truck over 40 years ago looked and rode nothing like my 2015 Lariat. I think Ford knows what it’s doing, no Cola fiascos. Steady modification rate moving forward.

Honestly I wish they would back off on the small-man-syndrome styling and return the hood height and other body details to something sensible and safe like the trucks I grew up driving in the 1980s and 1990s. I *love* my 2020 F150 and I cannot wait to get my Lightning but the high hood and massive bodywork are flat out dangerous and unnecessary and I hope they abandon this fake-F450 stuff sooner, not later.

Nobody in my life is complaining I am not well enough equipped (maybe they are just being polite). But I do not need a truck with stupid fake oversized bodywork to compensate, I need a dependable half ton Ford to move firewood and lumber and tools...

 

[Roy2001]

Maybe I am crazy, but the Silverado with its midgate and the R1T with whatever the hell they did with its lights/front end are not traditional looking trucks. The Lightning looks like a truck, the Cybertruck looks like something from the future, Silverado and R1T aren't quite sure which of those two they want to be.

My guess for the future (based on nothing really substantial), is that they will have a new, ground up / unibody, full size EV truck revealed around 2025, but that they will also continue to build the body on frame version (called the Lightning today) for traditionalists and fleet users - as long as they can get enough batteries.

Unibody? I doubt.

 

[OnTheGround]

Been lurking for about a year, decided to register and post finally because I’m almost hoping a Ford exec sees this.

I’m only here BECAUSE this is an F-150 that happens to be electric. That’s what appeals to me. I’m willing to rush into the purchase before I think I’m ready to drop $50k-$60k because I don’t want an expensive skateboard platform “unibody” electric truck, and I’ve been very much interested in owning both a pickup and an EV for years now, this seems like a perfect marriage of the two desires (I’ve also said for years that if I buy a Ford it’ll be a pickup, and if I buy a pickup it’ll be a Ford).

I was reading that statement from Farley today and it just felt…. Tone deaf to me. It seems to me that the “unfortunate” fact that the Lightning is just an electrified F-150 is exactly why it’s so popular. I dunno, maybe that’s just me. That said, with this in mind I’ve been hoping to hold out for announcements on other electrified body-on-frame vehicles such as the Expedition and Ranger. Now I’m thinking those aren’t coming and I’m glad I got the F-150 reservation when I did.

That said, I intend more and more to follow through with ordering my Lightning when the chance is offered, and like others here I hope I can upgrade the battery in 10 years because based upon Farley’s comments I think I’ll want to keep it forever when I get it.

Hi everybody!

 

[Regular150]

Honestly I wish they would back off on the small-man-syndrome styling and return the hood height and other body details to something sensible and safe like the trucks I grew up driving in the 1980s and 1990s. I *love* my 2020 F150 and I cannot wait to get my Lightning but the high hood and massive bodywork are flat out dangerous and unnecessary and I hope they abandon this fake-F450 stuff sooner, not later.

Nobody in my life is complaining I am not well enough equipped (maybe they are just being polite). But I do not need a truck with stupid fake oversized bodywork to compensate, I need a dependable half ton Ford to move firewood and lumber and tools...

I don't think in 40 years of F150s they changed all that much. Crumple Zones for crash ratings, but not all that different.

 

[FordLightningMan]

That wasn’t me.




If you replaced the face of the R1T with a ford face the rest of it really is a traditional truck. Not a full sized truck, but nothing from the A pillars back screams not a truck. The skateboard platform isn’t the thing that causes the R1T to look like Baymax from Big Hero 6.

Back in the day, R1T would've been called a butter face. Though I don't think that term is allowed to be used anymore.

 

[tls]

I don't think in 40 years of F150s they changed all that much. Crumple Zones for crash ratings, but not all that different.

I haven't measured, but I park next to a mid 90's F250 at my gym and its hood is noticeably lower and easier to see over than mine. Which matches my recollection of having to be _aware_ of the high hood and restricted front visibility learning to drive in my dad's 80s truck, and the trucks I drove through the 90s and 00s, compared to _super careful_ with my 2020.

Maybe the 20 year gap where I only had cars and vans skewed my perception. But especially in an EV that giant hood is purely cosmetic and I'd be happier not having to peer over it quite so hard.

 

[Kev12345]

Gen2 should look more aero which will probably mean a shorter more sloped frunk.

 

[Regular150]

I haven't measured, but I park next to a mid 90's F250 at my gym and its hood is noticeably lower and easier to see over than mine. Which matches my recollection of having to be _aware_ of the high hood and restricted front visibility learning to drive in my dad's 80s truck, and the trucks I drove through the 90s and 00s, compared to _super careful_ with my 2020.

Maybe the 20 year gap where I only had cars and vans skewed my perception. But especially in an EV that giant hood is purely cosmetic and I'd be happier not having to peer over it quite so hard.

The big difference is the number of two wheel drive pick-ups back then. The 4x4 versions were harsh and steering, suspension and handling was significantly less desirable 30 and 40 years ago. But a 1987 crew cab 4x4 was a monster with a hood you could party on.

The height of pickups on the road is more of a byproduct of the significant growth in 4wheel drives as a percentage of sales.

 

[SteffanG]

Honestly I wish they would back off on the small-man-syndrome styling and return the hood height and other body details to something sensible and safe like the trucks I grew up driving in the 1980s and 1990s. I *love* my 2020 F150 and I cannot wait to get my Lightning but the high hood and massive bodywork are flat out dangerous and unnecessary and I hope they abandon this fake-F450 stuff sooner, not later.

Nobody in my life is complaining I am not well enough equipped (maybe they are just being polite). But I do not need a truck with stupid fake oversized bodywork to compensate, I need a dependable half ton Ford to move firewood and lumber and tools...

It all has to do with crash safety. If you look at a lot of cars, the door panels have gotten higher and higher over the years all due to the fact that the higher the panel goes the better the crash safety is. Hence the reason very low cars have tiny side windows.

 

[Easycamper]

I’m only here BECAUSE this is an F-150 that happens to be electric. That’s what appeals to me.


I was reading that statement from Farley today and it just felt…. Tone deaf to me. It seems to me that the “unfortunate” fact that the Lightning is just an electrified F-150 is exactly why it’s so popular. I dunno, maybe that’s just me.

My thoughts exactly. I hope they don’t mess it up with the second Gen

 

[RonTCat]

Almost every vehicle is one and done. Designs constantly evolve. It's like not buying the first iPhone or Blackberry because it was one and done.

 

[FordTough98198]

If you look at the front of any Ram, F-Series or Chevrolet / GMC they all have big, beefy, oversized proportions because that’s what sells a “full sized” “capable” truck. Don’t expect Ford to abandon that thought process entirely. They aren’t looking to be dethroned from the top spot and they have plenty of people out there who survey customers and know what consumers want… people aren’t buying F-series trucks because they are a “better deal” than the others, they buy them because Ford makes a truck they want. Just my two cents. I just don’t think we should read too far into this coming “change.”

 

[sotek2345]

If you look at the front of any Ram, F-Series or Chevrolet / GMC they all have big, beefy, oversized proportions because that’s what sells a “full sized” “capable” truck. Don’t expect Ford to abandon that thought process entirely. They aren’t looking to be dethroned from the top spot and they have plenty of people out there who survey customers and know what consumers want… people aren’t buying F-series trucks because they are a “better deal” than the others, they buy them because Ford makes a truck they want. Just my two cents. I just don’t think we should read too far into this coming “change.”

Yeah, that is all true. But GM does the same and take a look at the Silverado EV.....

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