What’s your exit plan for the truck?

[kstype]

Mine is to squeeze the door handle and step out…

But seriously - I have never purchased any vehicle worrying about the resale value…it’s a tool to get work done and let me conduct the activities of my life.

We traded in our 2005 Chrysler Town and Country with 348,000 miles on it when the engine started having issues - so you can say that I run them until the wheels fall off (regretting that we exchanged it 2020 for a 2016 Town and Country and the transmission had to be replaced at 85,000 miles ).

I traded in my 2011 Mercedes R350 which I owned on the Lariat ER…I am coming up on the 2 year mark with my 2023 Lariat ER and it is still by far the most trouble free vehicle I have ever had and I LOVE driving it every day - I still look for excuses to do so - I have 56,975 miles on it as of this post and every one of them has been phenomenal.

And the cherry on top is the great community of other owners I have had the privilege of encountering through https://www.lightningclubsofamerica.org/, and I look forward to more relationship building with them!

Sponsored

 

[csukoh78]

I’m curious what your thoughts are for when you plan to trade or sell the truck?

Drive it till the wheels fall off?

Trade at 100k miles, when the warranty is done?

Trade in at 90k miles?

I’m just learning about the front end of buying/living with an EV, but I don’t know what folks are doing on the back end.

Is there “best time” to move onto another?

I’d rather not be buying a new vehicle every few years.

This is a million mile truck. The batteries and motors will last longer than the seats. No reason to ever get rid of unless it's a personal preference.

 

[Chillguy]

I just bought $95K stickered 2023 Lightning Platinum for $75K with 0% financing so I'm stoked beyond comprehension. It is the best and nicest vehicle I ever had and I owned Lexus, Porsche and S500 among the others... I get giddy driving it every time. I added some mods and the truck just reflects me. I feel very safe driving my family around too. Ford pushed next generation of Lighting from 2025 to 2028 (maybe even later!) now so I'm thinking THAT would be my signal to perhaps start looking around. Having 8 year warranty on the battery puts me at ease although I owned 4 BEVs before since 2012 and I never had an issue. Never even once changed brake pads in 12 years...

 

[srspring551]

A million % better than any vehicle I have ever owned. I will drive it until it falls apart or I die (I'll then Will it to my daughter)

 

[swajames]

No exit plan. Planning on keeping mine for a long time. Extended warranties on these are cheap and can be bought for $50 over cost so mine is covered for a long time, I'm still at 100% state of health on my battery, and my truck being a 2022 had no deletes . I have solar, so charging is readily available. This one's sticking around for a while.

 

[Icruz101]

I’m curious what your thoughts are for when you plan to trade or sell the truck?

Drive it till the wheels fall off?

Trade at 100k miles, when the warranty is done?

Trade in at 90k miles?

I’m just learning about the front end of buying/living with an EV, but I don’t know what folks are doing on the back end.

Is there “best time” to move onto another?

I’d rather not be buying a new vehicle every few years.

My plan is, “wheels fall off”. Initially I planned to just try the technology for a short time; that is to say before the warranty runs out. I personally am so saddened by the devaluation of the vehicle initially, however I love it so much I’m going to wait till the axles are flat before I get rid of it.

 

[invertedspear]

I bought an 06 F150 in 2010, drove it till the engine stared having issues in 2022. Got a MME, but didn’t like not having a truck. I had the Lightning reserved since day 1, so traded to it as soon as I could which was nov 23. I think this will do better than the 16 years my old truck made it. I’m in it till the wheels fall off.

 

[Dino]

I plan on keeping it for at least ten years. The combination of the 9.6kw PPOB, 98 kw battery, and my home solar system makes my Lightning XLT extremely useful for years to come. Plus to be able to drive whenever I want to is the icing on top, a great driving vehicle.

 

[chl]

At 74 yrs old, I might keep my 2023 Pro until I have ceased to exist - knock on wood.

I replaced a 2001 Ford Ranger XL (given to a grandson for college driving) with the Lightning.

But I still have, and occasionally drive, a 2012 Nissan Leaf bought in Dec 2011 with 10 out of 12 bars left = about 80% range/battery, low mileage (telecommuting cut my driving way down), and it's still a good local driving vehicle for tight spaces that the Lightning would have problems with, low to zero maintenance, and beats the -bleep- out of buying gasoline and supporting big oil.

So car dealerships probably hate me a little bit - they don't make money off EV maintenance and I keep vehicles "until the wheels fall off" - BTW, never had THAT happen and I hope it never does, either!

Of course I do send the dealerships new EV buyers now and then by being an advocate for driving electric, so I am not all bad.

 

[G-Zeus]

Drive the out of it

 

[chl]

I don't know for sure but I'm guessing the truck wouldn't work with a module removed. Voltage would be too low. At least that how it works on our off gird solar battery bank. Batteries are in series, not parallel.

See the video at:



for a detailed breakdown of the battery modules/cells set up in the lightning.

To get the cells (under 4 volts each) up to a terminal voltage of 450volts (hey they don't call it a High Voltage battery for nothing) there have to be cells in series obviously.

However, to get the capacity up to 131kWh ER or 98kWh SR, the cell series have to be in parallel too.

So it is actually a combination of series and parallel connections.

"...Series
Connects the positive terminal of one cell to the negative terminal of the next cell. This increases the voltage and efficiency, but not the capacity.

Parallel
Connects all the positive terminals together and all the negative terminals together. This increases the capacity, but not the voltage..."

 

[dmalonecentral]

I plan to get out of this truck as quick as possible and get a CyberTruck.

 

[potato]

I think I'm on team wheels fall off, based on past vehicles, but I'm kind of in uncharted waters. This is the first one I've ever bought brand new.

 

[3rdGuy]

Driving mine til the wheels fall off.

 

[anewbe]

I’m curious what your thoughts are for when you plan to trade or sell the truck?

Drive it till the wheels fall off?

Trade at 100k miles, when the warranty is done?

Trade in at 90k miles?

I’m just learning about the front end of buying/living with an EV, but I don’t know what folks are doing on the back end.

Is there “best time” to move onto another?

I’d rather not be buying a new vehicle every few years.

Who can say? I will use it until the operating costs become excessive. That may be at 100K miles or further. I kept my last F150 to 270K and traded only because the suspension was wearing out and the cost to replace was greater than the value of the truck.

Then again, something really cool and better may be available in a couple of years and I can't resist!

Sponsored