How the Lightning Stacks Up Against the 2-Motor Cybertruck and Rivian R1T

[Dinozero]

Agreed. The ICE F-150 pretty much sold me on an EV version as I was all in on the Cybertruck.

I traded in a Model 3 for an F-150(XLT 2.7 EB) after I was impressed with everything about the truck on my test drive.

It’s funny when you see others following the same thing you did.

I had a 2018 Model 3, wanted a larger vehicle and knew electric trucks were “awhile away” and got a 2021 F150 XLT.

the lightning has been my ideal car so far. Everything I loved about my 3, and my truck.

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[Henry Ford]

Well, I kind of have to disagree with you on the premise that most folks are probably doing City driving most of the time.

That's not my premise at all. My premise is that an EPA range that includes city driving is useless and shouldn't be published unless it's along side highway range.

 

[TomB985]

The article is wrong about the Ford.
The fact that it looks like an F150 fools a lot of people into thinking they just bolted a battery and a couple electric motors into an F150 frame. Not at all what the Lightning is

Its actually a ground-up EV design that shares very few parts with its ICE look-alike. About the only thing shared with the ICE F150 is the cab frame, glass, some parts of the interior, and the front suspension.

The frame is specific to the Lightning.
All the exterior skins, box, tailgate, bumpers, lights are specific to the Lightning.
The rear suspension is new.
The front hood, fenders, bumper, lights, frunk are all new.
The wheels are new.
The dash and center console is all new.

.

You should watch the Munro Live YouTube tear down videos. It’s a lot closer to the ICE F150 than you’re giving it credit for. Much of the parts listed on Ford and other part websites cross over as well.

 

[Dinozero]

That's not my premise at all. My premise is that an EPA range that includes city driving is useless and shouldn't be published unless it's along side highway range.

I can't argue that having city driving and hwy driving side by side wouldn't be an improvement.


Which.. isn't that why the sticker gives two figures for MPGe? Like 60 MPGe HWY and 80 MPGe City?

Unfortunately on the "range" section they only give 1 top line number. They should probably just report it like 400 miles City & 260 Miles HWY.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Its a frame. Its specific to this vehicle model. Because they re-used the cab and parts of the bed and the front suspension, sure the frame has to be compatible with those. But those things are only remotely related to ICE vs. BEV. There are no ICE engine mounts. There is a differing shape to accommodate the battery. There are mounts for the electric motor/axle units. There are changes for the independent rear suspension. There are crash-protection features for the battery. The crash protection for the front is entirely start over design without the engine, etc.

If you are referring to the fact that Tesla uses a structural battery pack bolted in the middle of their vehicles instead of a frame, sure its not like the Tesla.

I was referring to Ford taking the ICE frame and adapting it to work as an EV frame within the F-150 design. They didn't design the frame from the ground up, they designed the frame to fit a standard configuration (5.5' bed) from it's ICE counterpart and adapted various portions to work with the EV infrastructure on a modified ICE chassis. Yes, the frame of the Lightning is unique to the Lightning, no argument, but the dimensions and general structure came from somewhere. I'd be surprised if they started from a blank canvas.

I, personally, think it's brilliant. Ford sells a modified variant (EV) of the best selling vehicle in America. How's Chevy, GMC and Ram doing on their EV truck adventures? Ford made a smart, strategic move to electrify their flagship and create a nice intermediary gap for those looking to buy an F-series (but are afraid or "anti" EV). Their next vehicle will hopefully showcase everything they learned in the Lightning, with the refinements hopefully gained of not having to follow conventional ICE vehicle engineering confinements.

Looking at the latest efficiency comparisons between Chevy, Ford and Tesla trucks; the Lightning holds it's own just fine. Design refinements over the years on the best selling platform, in my opinion, allow better efficiency numbers than one might expect for a vehicle this size (think active air dam, active shutters, hood styling, bumper offset...etc.).

Yes, Ford just cut capacity at their plant. I blame that more on buying conditions and used vehicle saturation more than I would demand.

Ford has jumped out and taken the lead in truck electrification over their traditional ICE competitors. They've positioned themselves as the market leader, in my opinion, again (and if Ford was worried; the company I'd be most concerned about if I was Ford is Rivian).

 

[RickKeen]

You should watch the Munro Live YouTube tear down videos. It’s a lot closer to the ICE F150 than you’re giving it credit for. Much of the parts listed on Ford and other part websites cross over as well.

Yep, I have.
Sure, there are shared parts.
But its a disservice to call it just an F150 with an electric motor swapped-in. That implies that various EV-specific things were not re-engineered from the ground up. That there are compromises left over from it being based on an ICE vehicle. There are not a lot.

I think of the Lightning as being F150-compatible in regards to accessories, and F150-look-alike in regards to the basic appearance and configuration.

Could Ford have made a smaller, more efficient truck like Tesla, Rivian, and Chevy to get more range out of the same size battery? Sure. But then they lose the huge comfort advantage the F150 has in regards to its ginormous interior and back seat.

To me, the biggest compromise was keeping the huge front hood from the ICE. I would have gone more the direction of the Tesla with a much smaller front and traded some that length for a mid-sized bed. But that is my preference and lots of people love the huge frunk, so not clear that was a bad choice for the market.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Yep, I have.
Sure, there are shared parts.
But its a disservice to call it just an F150 with an electric motor swapped-in. That implies that various EV-specific things were not re-engineered from the ground up. That there are compromises left over from it being based on an ICE vehicle. There are not a lot.

I think of the Lightning as being F150-compatible in regards to accessories, and F150-look-alike in regards to the basic appearance and configuration.

Could Ford have made a smaller, more efficient truck like Tesla, Rivian, and Chevy to get more range out of the same size battery? Sure. But then they lose the huge comfort advantage the F150 has in regards to its ginormous interior and back seat.

To me, the biggest compromise was keeping the huge front hood from the ICE. I would have gone more the direction of the Tesla with a much smaller front and traded some that length for a mid-sized bed. But that is my preference and lots of people love the huge frunk, so not clear that was a bad choice for the market.

I think it’s your terminology. The F-150 Lightning; what Ford themselves called it, is NOT designed “from the ground up”

It very much IS an adaptation of the F-150, one that took a significant amount of re-engineering. That doesn’t mean it was a simple battery and motor swap (a la Ford Focus EV) but it does mean it’s based off the existing ICE vehicle. Farley himself admitted the same, and stated the way they made it affordable is by reusing as many parts as they could to achieve scale quickly.

The Gen2 is ground up, ours certainly is not, and there are a LOT of compromises in comparison to other electric trucks - at least in my opinion. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a fantastic truck - it is - but let’s be honest with ourselves here. The Ford Lightning is akin to Teslas original Roadster, not the Model S.

 

[Maxx]

It seems like CT beats Rivian for sales in March. Which should not be a surprise since they are still going through 4 years of reservations. CT is almost twice R1T.

What is interesting is that Lightning sales in the same period is almost 3 times CT.

https://insideevs.com/news/719919/tesla-cybertruck-beat-rivian-r1t-registration-march/

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Whenever I drive the Lightning around town and look at ICE trucks I'm amazed that Ford built a FULL SIZE electric pickup as quickly as they did (I know, F150 is there thing). It's not a $90,000 Tacoma'ish or a $100,000 Space Mobile. The Lightning simply blends in as a full size truck. (I'm sure this fact has been shared extensively, but alas, I'm new to the club.)

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