MME CR1 traded to Lightning Pro ER

[B177y]

After 1 year and a couple weeks of owning my CR1, I traded it in yesterday for a Lightning Pro ER Max Tow. More accurately, I traded my MME and sold my trusty old 2001 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed V10 on a private sale, so it was more of a consolidation from 2 vehicles to one that can do both things reasonably well.

Yes, The MME depreciated a ton. The Lightning was eligible for the IRS and Washington State incentives, I can do the Ford First Responder incentive, and it was slightly discounted from MSRP with the 0% 60 month loan, so it didn't hurt as much as it could have.

I loved the CR1 and really thought that I would drive it until the wheels fell off or until my teenage son finally took it away from me because I was getting too old. I started looking into the Lightnings late this summer after using my old F350 to tow our family travel trailer for three different trips over summer break. I used to love driving the F350, but after driving the CR1 as my daily driver, the F350 felt so.... unrefined? Yes, I was now completely spoiled by the MME.

I researched my usual towing trips in ABRP with the Lightning settings and the shorter range seemed to be where I stop for breaks while towing anyway. The F350 had a range of about 200-250 miles with a full 35 gallon tank at 6-7 MPG while towing, vs the Lightning 100-150 miles between charges while towing. Realistically I was stopping to fuel the F350 when it was 1/2 to 1/4 of a tank anyway, which is about equal to the 150 mile charge stops anticipated in the Lightning. Usually two or three of of summer trips are to my kid's soccer tournaments with other families and are easily reachable with the 100-150 range of the Lightning. Since I just came home with the Lightning yesterday, I do not have any firsthand experience with towing. There are plenty of reports on this forum and the experience of others will hopefully translate to a similar towing experience for me. All of your towing reports and advice also helped me to make the decision to go with the Lightning as my only vehicle to do everything.

I will truly miss the MME. It was an excellent driving experience for me. I road-tripped in it every chance I could. My last trip I had the A2Z Tesla adapter and it was flawless. My only service issue with the MME was a 3-month wait for a charge port replacement due to no parts available. This is well documented in my posts on the macheforum.com (sister site to this site). It was undriveable for the entire 3 months while it sat at the dealer waiting for the part to arrive. Regardless, I still put 17,400 miles on it with 9 total months of operation (12 months 3 weeks of ownership).

The Lightning Pro is much lower tech-wise than the MME. Small screen, no PAAK, no BlueCruise, no adaptive cruise, no heated steering wheel, and no glass roof. I do appreciate that the Pro has more knobs and switches to control the basic functions of volume, climate control, frunk release, etc... Some of the tech and options from the MME I will miss, and some I was never a fan of anyway. No deal killers either way for me.

The tow-tech package and max-tow on the Lightning are truly amazing and I can't wait try it out on the trailer. The F350 had a tow hitch and a 7-way plug... The Lightning has an amazing array of towing technology that I still need to read through to learn how to operate. The 10,000 lb towing capacity of the Lightning is actually the same as the 2001 F350, which was considered "industry leading" at the time for a 1-ton truck.

On the almost 100 mile drive home from the dealer yesterday, I did appreciate the added cabin space and softer ride of the Lightning over the MME. My entire family of 4 agrees on these points and they actually commented about it on the way home. They got to experience the drive to the dealer in the MME and the drive home in the Lightning, so it was an easy comparison to make.

A shoutout to the internet sales team of Paul, John, and Johnathan at Kendall Ford in Marysville, WA for making the trade and purchase easy and professional.

This will be cross posted on macheforum.com with edits where appropriate as a farewell and thank you to the users of that forum for their education and assistance provided.

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[Ford Motor Company]

After 1 year and a couple weeks of owning my CR1, I traded it in yesterday for a Lightning Pro ER Max Tow. More accurately, I traded my MME and sold my trusty old 2001 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed V10 on a private sale, so it was more of a consolidation from 2 vehicles to one that can do both things reasonably well.

Yes, The MME depreciated a ton. The Lightning was eligible for the IRS and Washington State incentives, I can do the Ford First Responder incentive, and it was slightly discounted from MSRP with the 0% 60 month loan, so it didn't hurt as much as it could have.

I loved the CR1 and really thought that I would drive it until the wheels fell off or until my teenage son finally took it away from me because I was getting too old. I started looking into the Lightnings late this summer after using my old F350 to tow our family travel trailer for three different trips over summer break. I used to love driving the F350, but after driving the CR1 as my daily driver, the F350 felt so.... unrefined? Yes, I was now completely spoiled by the MME.

I researched my usual towing trips in ABRP with the Lightning settings and the shorter range seemed to be where I stop for breaks while towing anyway. The F350 had a range of about 200-250 miles with a full 35 gallon tank at 6-7 MPG while towing, vs the Lightning 100-150 miles between charges while towing. Realistically I was stopping to fuel the F350 when it was 1/2 to 1/4 of a tank anyway, which is about equal to the 150 mile charge stops anticipated in the Lightning. Usually two or three of of summer trips are to my kid's soccer tournaments with other families and are easily reachable with the 100-150 range of the Lightning. Since I just came home with the Lightning yesterday, I do not have any firsthand experience with towing. There are plenty of reports on this forum and the experience of others will hopefully translate to a similar towing experience for me. All of your towing reports and advice also helped me to make the decision to go with the Lightning as my only vehicle to do everything.

I will truly miss the MME. It was an excellent driving experience for me. I road-tripped in it every chance I could. My last trip I had the A2Z Tesla adapter and it was flawless. My only service issue with the MME was a 3-month wait for a charge port replacement due to no parts available. This is well documented in my posts on the macheforum.com (sister site to this site). It was undriveable for the entire 3 months while it sat at the dealer waiting for the part to arrive. Regardless, I still put 17,400 miles on it with 9 total months of operation (12 months 3 weeks of ownership).

The Lightning Pro is much lower tech-wise than the MME. Small screen, no PAAK, no BlueCruise, no adaptive cruise, no heated steering wheel, and no glass roof. I do appreciate that the Pro has more knobs and switches to control the basic functions of volume, climate control, frunk release, etc... Some of the tech and options from the MME I will miss, and some I was never a fan of anyway. No deal killers either way for me.

The tow-tech package and max-tow on the Lightning are truly amazing and I can't wait try it out on the trailer. The F350 had a tow hitch and a 7-way plug... The Lightning has an amazing array of towing technology that I still need to read through to learn how to operate. The 10,000 lb towing capacity of the Lightning is actually the same as the 2001 F350, which was considered "industry leading" at the time for a 1-ton truck.

On the almost 100 mile drive home from the dealer yesterday, I did appreciate the added cabin space and softer ride of the Lightning over the MME. My entire family of 4 agrees on these points and they actually commented about it on the way home. They got to experience the drive to the dealer in the MME and the drive home in the Lightning, so it was an easy comparison to make.

A shoutout to the internet sales team of Paul, John, and Johnathan at Kendall Ford in Marysville, WA for making the trade and purchase easy and professional.

This will be cross posted on macheforum.com with edits where appropriate as a farewell and thank you to the users of that forum for their education and assistance provided.

Congrats, Bill! We'd love to see a pic of your new F-150 Lightning! And if you'd like to get to know your Lightning a little better, we'd love to set you up with a Guided Virtual Tour. If you're interested, please send us a DM and we'll provide more information.

 

[RickKeen]

My '22 Pro has Max Tow + Tow Tech, but I have never actually used the core of the Tow Tech package. I wanted it because that gave me the on-board brake controller (which I have used). At the time, If the brake controller was just part of Max Tow package, I would have skipped the Tow Tech package had I found a Pro configured like that.

The automated reverse steering with the trailer seems like more work than it is worth to setup and calibrate all my trailers.

Tow Tech also added the 360 view and cameras to the Pro which I do use a lot in parking lots (when not towing).

 

[B177y]

Congrats, Bill! We'd love to see a pic of your new F-150 Lightning! And if you'd like to get to know your Lightning a little better, we'd love to set you up with a Guided Virtual Tour. If you're interested, please send us a DM and we'll provide more information.

Here you go! Pictures or it didn't happen....

 

[21st Century Truck]

Here you go! Pictures or it didn't happen....

Congrats, and welcome!

 

[CD4TNF]

Very interesting to hear your EV road tripping stops were lining up with the F350's stops. Congrats at the purchase! The Lightning is so comfortable for every day and long distance trips.


I'm curious about the next generation and how they relate to cars. The Mustang has this brand nostalgia because it's what some younger folks grew up with. Do you think that will happen to the current generation of kids growing up with the MachE and Lightning?

 

[Pioneer74]

Here you go! Pictures or it didn't happen....

Did the dealership sell it to you with the Lariat wheels and tires?

 

[B177y]

Very interesting to hear your EV road tripping stops were lining up with the F350's stops. Congrats at the purchase! The Lightning is so comfortable for every day and long distance trips.


I'm curious about the next generation and how they relate to cars. The Mustang has this brand nostalgia because it's what some younger folks grew up with. Do you think that will happen to the current generation of kids growing up with the MachE and Lightning?

My boy will be able to drive in 3 years. Your question is interesting to think about. He really doesn't seem to have any interest in the mechanics of a car. He likes cars, he liked the MME, but I think he likes the way cars look. If we see a Corvette or some sort of exotic car he gets super excited. There's a cyber truck in our small town, and all of the 13-year-old boys love it. He liked the truck too, but I don't think they're like the previous generation where they were really *IN* to cars.

 

[B177y]

Did the dealership sell it to you with the Lariat wheels and tires?

Everything is exactly how it came to me from the dealer. The sticker had the wheels listed in the section of stock equipment for the Pro.

See next post....

 

[B177y]

Did the dealership sell it to you with the Lariat wheels and tires?

Just checked the sticker again and the wheels are in the "OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT/OTHER" category, but there doesn't seem to be any charge for them?

 

[Pioneer74]

Interesting. I wonder if all ER optioned trucks require the 20" wheels and tires and it's part of the package.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Here you go! Pictures or it didn't happen....

Thank you for sharing! What a beauty.

 

[B177y]

Very interesting to hear your EV road tripping stops were lining up with the F350's stops. Congrats at the purchase! The Lightning is so comfortable for every day and long distance trips.

Sorry for a second post to reply to your first point, but I don't want to make it sound like the Lightning and the F350 will be equal in towing. I will be stopping more with the Lightning for sure, but I hope to merge our "regular" stops into the Lightning's forced charging stops.
The ABRP predicted charging stops while towing with a 1 MPK as a reference consumption pretty much lined up with rest areas and food/fuel stops in the F350 for a trip that we do yearly. When pulling the trailer we usually have our 2 dogs, 2 kids (sometimes with their friends), my wife and myself. If we need to, my wife will drive her car as well to accommodate bodies and dogs. With that many moving parts, there are lots of stops happening no matter what rig is bring driven. I am hoping to merge those stops into charging stops with the Lightning.

 

[RickKeen]

Just checked the sticker again and the wheels are in the "OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT/OTHER" category, but there doesn't seem to be any charge for them?

I see you have the Pro with the SSV Package - Special Service Vehicle. Typically the package used for Police Vehicles. That is one way you can get a Pro with the ER battery.

I didn't think the SSV Package upgraded the wheels and tires. Did you get heavy duty cloth seats in the front?

 

[B177y]

I see you have the Pro with the SSV Package - Special Service Vehicle. Typically the package used for Police Vehicles. That is one way you can get a Pro with the ER battery.

I didn't think the SSV Package upgraded the wheels and tires. Did you get heavy duty cloth seats in the front?

Yup, cloth in front, vinyl in back for the perps ....ummm.... I mean the kids....

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