Why isn’t the Lightning getting more of the gas F150 market?

[frost22]

Its the dealers and the sales process. Easier to just sell an ICE vehicle to somebody familiar with ICE vehicles than to convert them to an EV.
Even Ford is giving up marketing them. There is just no ROI in competing against their own product.

Key is going to be to market the Lightning vs the Tesla, Rivian, and Chevy/GM trucks. Get market share of the people who already know they want an EV.

Also, its harder than many would realize to close the deal same day when you have to deal with the charging question. Sending people away to research how much its going to cost to wire a charger in their garage and the logistics of hiring an electrician to do it can make it impossible to close the deal that same day. But the salesperson CAN close an ICE truck sale same day, no problem.

I keep noticing Ford EV car ads on TV. Especially during football games. Finally showing off the frunk and pro-power features!

It's got me doing the Leo GIF

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[Calvin H-C]

Gotta love the "resale value" excuse. Especially since realizing years ago that pretty much ANY vehicle will never be worth anything near what you think it should on the resale market, notwithstanding a collectible vehicle kept in good condition. I personally feel that resale value should be last on one's list for choosing a vehicle (or not on the list at all).

The slower charge/refill excuse misses that it generally does not change the time impact on most people's schedules. Unless you can't charge at home, most charging occurs there when the vehicle is not being used. So, filling an ICE vehicle's tank takes more out of one's schedule.

As for fast charging on a road trip, ICE or EV, a rest stop typically takes up a half hour for refilling, stretching one's legs, using the toilet, and grabbing something to eat ( even if for the road). The only difference is that the ICE has the nozzle inserted in the tank, the tank filling, and the nozzle removed in one 5-minute block of time. With an EV, roughly the same 5 minutes is taken to start and end the charge, while the filling occurs while you do the other stuff.

 

[lipnorth]

Very simple. The target F150 driver (and most pickup truck drivers) are probably the most wary of an EV.

I’ve had many pickup drivers make fun of me for my Lightning.

 

[thunderbayterry]

Dealers are pushing people away from the Lightning and toward diesel and gas trucks. A family member of mine was---just this afternoon---talked out of buying a Lightning by the dealer using FUD about towing and hauling. They got annoyed with the dealer and decided not to buy a new truck instead of buying the Lightning or whatever junk the dealer was pushing on them.

I wonder if Dealers are pushing people AWAY from EV's because they are worried about their future. All the maintenance of an ICE is a significant revenue stream - and a Lightning requires a LOT LESS maintenance - Could a Ford Dealer survive if it was ONLY EV? I think they would have to scale DOWN quite considerably. Thoughts?

 

[Rocket808]

Interesting post cbowe. Here's how I see things. We don't have 700 miles of range, but the trucks that do get that range don't have the speed, power, smoothness, quietness, acceleration and so on that we do. They can't wake up with a full tank every day, they can't be fueled at home, and they can't take advantage of the operating cost savings that we enjoy. I've never had a range issue, I've never had an issue charging on my longer trips (~500 miles or so) and the Tesla chargers opening up to us has, by and large, taken away the only reasonable concern which was that you can't rely on EA. Granted, my perspective is a bit skewed as I live in CA and it never gets even remotely cold here, but I find the Lightning meets pretty much all of my needs as is.

Before Tesla though, how many times dogs you have to wait in a queue for an EA charger? Or found that many at a location were broken? That was too many for me.

 

[21st Century Truck]

...I wouldn't recommend for people that take multiple long road trips or people who can't charge at home. And then there is the price.
.

1st bolded recommendation - no. I'm living proof, and I'm not into suffering for suffering's sake. 2d bolded recommendation - yes, very much so.

 

[frost22]

I wonder if Dealers are pushing people AWAY from EV's because they are worried about their future. All the maintenance of an ICE is a significant revenue stream - and a Lightning requires a LOT LESS maintenance - Could a Ford Dealer survive if it was ONLY EV? I think they would have to scale DOWN quite considerably. Thoughts?

Extended warranty coverage. I just got one as my 36k warranty is ending and I'm keeping this truck for awhile. Those headlights and tail lights get $$$$. $2500 is well worth it compared to those parts failing out of warranty coverage. (Just be sure to get the light coverage)

 

[21st Century Truck]

Extended warranty coverage. I just got one as my 36k warranty is ending and I'm keeping this truck for awhile. Those headlights and tail lights get $$$$. $2500 is well worth it compared to those parts failing out of warranty coverage. (Just be sure to get the light coverage)

I agree. I learned this lesson back on my 1st Prius (the Flintstone wheels Prius) back in 2002 or 2003, when its ECU the central electronic brain for that car fried itself about 17 miles short of the end of the warranty. The dealership clucked about it but replaced that critical electronic $970+ part for free.

This repeated again later, with different parts each time but all electronic components, on my 3d Gen Prius and on my 2015 Ford Fusion.

The ever-increasing electronics on our 21st Century computers-on-wheels which we still call "cars" that make the extended warranties worthwhile now.

 

[flyct]

Very simple. The target F150 driver (and most pickup truck drivers) are probably the most wary of an EV.

I’ve had many pickup drivers make fun of me for my Lightning.

Same here. If you really want to be made fun of go to this forum https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum311/ 99% of posters are EV haters that come over from the Diesel Super Duty Forum side. .

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I wonder if Dealers are pushing people AWAY from EV's because they are worried about their future. All the maintenance of an ICE is a significant revenue stream - and a Lightning requires a LOT LESS maintenance - Could a Ford Dealer survive if it was ONLY EV? I think they would have to scale DOWN quite considerably. Thoughts?

That's my guess. Dealers typically make around 50% of their income on maintenance. EV maintenance is very minor, so I suspect that's a big part of it.

I also believe there's an identity issue. My nearest Ford dealer is mostly a truck dealer and has been strongly anti-EV. They'll sell the rare Mustang Mach-E (didn't offer a Mustang Mach-E until 2023), but I have never seen a Lightning on their lot or on their website. I may just not be looking at the correct time, but I believe it's more than that. Their "EV Technician" didn't know what to do with our Mustang when we brought it in for the HVBJB recall replacement. Our second-nearest dealer doesn't offer EVs at all. We ended up having to bring it to a dealer 90 minutes away (the dealer from whom we purchased it in the first place--they were the nearest authorized EV dealer at the time we ordered the Mustang Mach-E). I think these dealers have taken on an identity that doesn't include supporting EVs.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

1st bolded recommendation - no. I'm living proof, and I'm not into suffering for suffering's sake. 2d bolded recommendation - yes, very much so.

With about 33,000 miles of EV road tripping (our typical road trip is ~500 miles one way), I agree. We sold our last ICE because road tripping in an EV is so much more pleasant and the ICE was just sitting and gaining years but not miles. We decided to sell it to someone who would actually use it.

 

[Calvin H-C]

Extended warranty coverage.

Also, the maintenance/protection package. It covers the wearables that the extended warranty does not cover, and it pays for the routine service visits.

It also includes brakes, but Ford requires the pads to be down to at least 3 mm. Spoiler alert: my FFE didn't have it's front pads down to that before the maintenance plan ran out

Dealerships will get paid for those visits by Ford, so they do a nice job of competing for you to bring it to them.

 

[Joe Dablock]

Regarding dealers talking people out of EV’s, I think they have read the tea leaves so to speak. The EV’s might go 100k miles without even a brake job. With no oil changes, there is no opportunity to look the vehicle over and suggest this or that maintenance. Once the majority of vehicles are EV’s, the dealer maintenance shops are going to be quite quiet! Also, both my MME and my Lightning get software updates/recalls while sitting in my driveway.

 

[Malimal]

1st bolded recommendation - no. I'm living proof, and I'm not into suffering for suffering's sake. 2d bolded recommendation - yes, very much so.

So you take multiple long road trips..

I guess it could work if you don't mind stopping every couple hours. Which I did on our long road trip. One thing I was missing was the Tesla adapter. the nearest regular charging station at our destination was 30 minutes away.

 

[broncoaz]

Same here. If you really want to be made fun of go to this forum https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum311/ 99% of posters are EV haters that come over from the Diesel Super Duty Forum side. .

I routinely engage in EV and solar related threads on shooting forums. Talk about getting made fun of...at a minimum it usually devolves to questioning one’s sexuality.

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