I'm out after 6 months

[John Becker]

I don't think of 20 degrees as cold either. The Cincinnati temperatures hit 25 BELOW zero back in the late 1970s. It's hit 24 BELOW zero several times since then. So no, I don't think of 20 degrees as cold.

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[Maxx]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps rest of us leave a safety SOC in winter in our calculations. Although getting the wrong estimate on how much range you have left is on Ford but I am glad the cause of you going back to ICE was not the truck breaking down and leave you stranded in the cold (even though the result was the same).

I consider purchasing the lightning one of the riskier purchases I have made. Especially because I keep my vehicles for a long time and owning a battery pack after warranty is a much bigger crapshoot than owning an ICE engine and a gas tank. Tesla is charging $15K+ for much smaller refurbished pack with only 1 year warranty. Paying $15K a year to keep an old car running effectively make BEVs disposable. Even though Lightning cells are not all glued together like Tesla’s and you can replace a module, it is not designed for the owner to easily replace those modules.

Neither battery chemistry and density, nor the pack design is where it should be but the way I look at it, if there is no demand, they will never get there. So we are all helping us get there by taking some risk here. To be honest I have an ICE in driveway and Tesla is opening the network soon so I may not be taking as much of a chance as many.

 

[F150ROD]

After 6 months of driving my Lightning Platinum - I'm out.

Paid $100,000 for it on Memorial Day and received a trade in on Thanksgiving for $64,500. (Other trade in offers were $45,000, $53,000, and $59,000) Not good.

I put 15,000 miles on the truck in 6 months and loved the ride and acceleration of course. Living in Southern Wisconsin, when the meter said I had 320 miles, I could rely on 250; no problem...............in the summer temperatures.

WELL - then the temperature dropped to 20 degrees F (not that cold) and my 320 miles dropped real fast. In the garage the meter said 320 & when it sat out on the driveway, that 320 now said 260 at 100% charge. Driving it to the Audi dealership that was 70 miles away, the range dropped from 320 to 100 miles. Sorry, that doesn't work with me and my job.

Read the Wall Street Journal & EV's have fallen off a cliff in demand. Ford dropped the price of the truck $10,000 6 weeks after purchase, Ford rebated me $6300, but the dealer (Gordie Boucher / Janesville WI) kept $5000 and there was nothing I could do about it, they had a lame excuse. Recently Ford started offering $7500 rebates and that tanked resale further. (Please remember no "green" rebates for this price level.)

I gave it a fair shot. I got caught up in "the hype" of the waiting list and seeing it after 2 years. The dealers aren't good at representing these. Part of it is Ford's fault and some responsibility is with the dealerships as well. (The Illinois Ford dealers won a lawsuit saying they can't be forced into paying upgrades for EV's.) It's still a bit of a mess. The idea is good, but it's time will come down the road.

I'm very lucky I had the money to buy it for cash, take the hit on trade in, and return to Q7's which have treated me well.

Maybe someday I'll be back.

Good Luck! Unfortunately there are still compromises with EV’s. Q7’s are nice and easily tuneable.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

After 6 months of driving my Lightning Platinum - I'm out.

Paid $100,000 for it on Memorial Day and received a trade in on Thanksgiving for $64,500. (Other trade in offers were $45,000, $53,000, and $59,000) Not good.

I put 15,000 miles on the truck in 6 months and loved the ride and acceleration of course. Living in Southern Wisconsin, when the meter said I had 320 miles, I could rely on 250; no problem...............in the summer temperatures.

WELL - then the temperature dropped to 20 degrees F (not that cold) and my 320 miles dropped real fast. In the garage the meter said 320 & when it sat out on the driveway, that 320 now said 260 at 100% charge. Driving it to the Audi dealership that was 70 miles away, the range dropped from 320 to 100 miles. Sorry, that doesn't work with me and my job.

Read the Wall Street Journal & EV's have fallen off a cliff in demand. Ford dropped the price of the truck $10,000 6 weeks after purchase, Ford rebated me $6300, but the dealer (Gordie Boucher / Janesville WI) kept $5000 and there was nothing I could do about it, they had a lame excuse. Recently Ford started offering $7500 rebates and that tanked resale further. (Please remember no "green" rebates for this price level.)

I gave it a fair shot. I got caught up in "the hype" of the waiting list and seeing it after 2 years. The dealers aren't good at representing these. Part of it is Ford's fault and some responsibility is with the dealerships as well. (The Illinois Ford dealers won a lawsuit saying they can't be forced into paying upgrades for EV's.) It's still a bit of a mess. The idea is good, but it's time will come down the road.

I'm very lucky I had the money to buy it for cash, take the hit on trade in, and return to Q7's which have treated me well.

Maybe someday I'll be back.

Did you buy a truck because you needed a truck and you wanted it to be an EV or were you expecting to make money off of it? If you thought you would make money of of it you bought something for the wrong reason and you didn't really like the truck anyway.

 

[JvlTed]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps rest of us leave a safety SOC in winter in our calculations. Although getting the wrong estimate on how much range you have left is on Ford but I am glad the cause of you going back to ICE was not the truck breaking down and leave you stranded in the cold (even though the result was the same).

I consider purchasing the lightning one of the riskier purchases I have made. Especially because I keep my vehicles for a long time and owning a battery pack after warranty is a much bigger crapshoot than owning an ICE engine and a gas tank. Tesla is charging $15K+ for much smaller refurbished pack with only 1 year warranty. Paying $15K a year to keep an old car running effectively make BEVs disposable. Even though Lightning cells are not all glued together like Tesla’s and you can replace a module, it is not designed for the owner to easily replace those modules.

Neither battery chemistry and density, nor the pack design is where it should be but the way I look at it, if there is no demand, they will never get there. So we are all helping us get there by taking some risk here. To be honest I have an ICE in driveway and Tesla is opening the network soon so I may not be taking as much of a chance as many.

I really like how you pleasantly conveyed through words the positives of our shared experiences. (Do you write for the Atlantic?)

Agreed, we all knew buying this was a risk and each of us did it for a reason; trying to be greener for the planet, saving money on gas, or maybe the fun stuff.

Again, nothing bad to say about the product and I'm sure it's time will come.

Very much appreciate your input.

 

[JvlTed]

Did you buy a truck because you needed a truck and you wanted it to be an EV or were you expecting to make money off of it? If you thought you would make money of of it you bought something for the wrong reason and you didn't really like the truck anyway.

Definitely know the people that make money off vehicles match those who time the market successfully, so not that. My name was on the waiting list for 2 years and nobody can time that.

The vehicle was purchased because it had the better range of most EV's & I was trying to go green for the environment. (Put solar panels on my building and bought an EV; just trying to do my part, no matter how small of an impact it might be.)

Again, the ride and acceleration was awesome and I'm not going down a negative road - there were a lot of great things and a few that I'm sure they're still working on. Having a truck is always handy, but BOY, they are big.

 

[Texas Dan]

Experience really matters. I’m on my 5th EV and every one has been better than the last. My Lightning is by far the best.

EVs are the future whether we like it or not. Those that persevere will be rewarded with finding what works for them. My Lightning works so well I’m thinking about keeping it twenty years or more, I better because it’ll take at least half that long for my finances to recover.

 

[intensifi]

Given you decided to sell, it’s very smart you did it before the Cybertruck announcement.

The potential exists for a big Lightning resale hit depending on the $cost/range ratio.

 

[JvlTed]

That's fine, but you made the decision to take that hit? Glad you're in a position where you can afford to do that. How is that any different that with a normal car you trade in after 15k miles?Not much.

And, the EV demand falling off a cliff, not true. If you'd attend any EV event (as I did in Austin at the EV EXPO), where they dispel these rumors in the face of the media who is spreading them, you would hear the actual numbers, and EVs, they're doing just fine. I work for a group of dealerships and know as well.

My question for you, you claim the range went from 320 to 100. It did on your center readout? Or was that using Ford's Nav which calculates, wind, weather, speed etc? I don't believe it cut it as much as you claim, unless you didn't preheat and were doing 90mph on the way to the Audi dealer.

I have an extended battery too, and I've seen what low temps can do, did you PREHEAT your cabin and batteries prior to taking this trip?

Agreed, every new vehicle takes a hit and I'm okay with that. The numbers were being shared to inform you all & to not complain about the depreciation. The vastness between the offers surprised me a bit.

EV's have a following and there are loyalists. Economists inside of car companies and outside have all agreed they "missed the mark" on projections. Wall Street Journal, Ford, Chevy, and Stellantis have all conveyed the same message; which too me are not rumors. Ford halted 2nd shift production in Dearborn, paused the Blue Oval Battery Park, Chevy is idling Orion Assembly, and Ram is slow to roll out. As Forbes noted in a recent article; these are priced beyond most people's wallet. That's great that your dealer experience gives some insight, but during this trade in event, Fords dealers said their inventories are higher than they have been & that's why trade-in values are lower than usual.

For the range on the drive to the dealership = normal 75mph interstate driving (did you read the license plate?). The truck was sitting outside in 20 temps hours before leaving. I was monitoring the gauge on the left on the dash above the steering wheel. Rarely did I use the Ford "app map".

For pre-heating, I've only heard of that being necessary on your way to public charging. Only having the truck since Memorial Day, I was not put into that mindset. I knew about "starting" (pre-heating the cabin as you put it) the truck before leaving but it hasn't been cold enough to do that yet and the Lightnings warm up pretty fast.

Nice to see you're so passionate about your vehicle.

 

[JvlTed]

Right now EVs really work best for analytical minded people that like numbers and data and enjoy planning and calculating everything all the time. If you are not that kind of person and you EVs may not be right for you.

Good analysis on your part and I'm science minded. Unfortunately my schedule changes based on customers, but I made it work and it did when it was not cold.

When the temperature dropped, the game changed and I could no longer predict the outcome.

 

[JvlTed]

Given you decided to sell, it’s very smart you did it before the Cybertruck announcement.

The potential exists for a big Lightning resale hit depending on the $cost/range ratio.

Thank you and again, my intent was to inform all of you of my experience for you to consider future decisions.

 

[kbuicker]

Ah, OK... well there it is! That's where you missed the mark, missing the pre-heating would've made a HUGE DIFFERENCE and if you would have used it, it probably would've have impressed you. It's less work on the truck/vehicle to get up to temp, and instead uses it's power for driving, not warming occupants/batteries.

That is funny: I was actually at the EV EXPO with people from Ford as an owner/advocate . In fact, ALL of the automakers were there (it was a huge turnout). Wall Street Journal, yes, they were there, and actually at the dinner table with us... and I'm sure Forbes etc were there as well. The guest speakers were telling them the truth, straight to the media, so their biased EV poor-sales theories and truth-manipulations might be massaged a little more towards a positive future for EVs instead of scaring consumers. I actually had some negative Nancies sitting right behind me, it was interesting to hear their complaints and reactions to reality.

 

[TaxmanHog]

For pre-heating, I've only heard of that being necessary on your way to public charging. Only having the truck since Memorial Day, I was not put into that mindset. I knew about "starting" (pre-heating the cabin as you put it) the truck before leaving but it hasn't been cold enough to do that yet and the Lightnings warm up pretty fast.

When you have the opportunity to drive a BEV in the future, consider the pre-conditioning procedures [Departure Timer] while plugged in for both extreme hot and cold driving conditions, it has a substantial impact on long drives.

We have a thread started by the Administrator on behalf of the MoCo to educate us newbies about what to do, along the thread we have several examples of the impact

I and others commenting on this thread want to ensure others looking in who are undecided about taking the plunge into the world of EV's know what they're getting into, from the successful operations point as well as hearing from folks like yourself where it's not worked out.

 

[TheWoo]

Ah, OK... well there it is! That's where you missed the mark, missing the pre-heating would've made a HUGE DIFFERENCE and if you would have used it, it probably would've have impressed you. It's less work on the truck/vehicle to get up to temp, and instead uses it's power for driving, not warming occupants/batteries.

That is funny: I was actually at the EV EXPO with people from Ford as an owner/advocate . In fact, ALL of the automakers were there (it was a huge turnout). Wall Street Journal, yes, they were there, and actually at the dinner table with us... and I'm sure Forbes etc were there as well. The guest speakers were telling them the truth, straight to the media, so their biased EV poor-sales theories and truth-manipulations might be massaged a little more towards a positive future for EVs instead of scaring consumers. I actually had some negative Nancies sitting right behind me, it was interesting to hear their complaints and reactions to reality.

Pre-heating only benefits range when done while plugged in. The batteries don't precondition when remote started if not plugged in, I don't believe, and even if they did, you would be using power to precondition in that instance.

I precondition when I can, but it's far from a magic cure.

 

[kbuicker]

Pre-heating only benefits range when done while plugged in. The batteries don't precondition when remote started if not plugged in, I don't believe, and even if they did, you would be using power to precondition in that instance.

I precondition when I can, but it's far from a magic cure.

Yes, correct. This is what I said.

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