Will the Lightning support a snow plow?

[LightningShow]

It’s not a plow truck but it should work fine for property maintenance.

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[Yellow Buddy]

The Lightning has the best 4 wheel drive system of any F150. It is perfect for plowing.

Not to mention the extra weight and frame reinforcement.

If you want to lose access to the frunk, destroy your $80k vehicle, and kill your range, have at it.

If it supports a plow, I would gladly destroy my $40,000 Pro as the payback would be pretty quick. Plows and snow pushers can be disconnected as well for the remaining 8 months of my year.

 

[GarageMahal]

If you want to lose access to the frunk, destroy your $80k vehicle, and kill your range, have at it.

I passed on ordering an $80k vehicle... twice. Nothing wrong with one but at that price I would buy something else.

I am waiting until I can buy a truck to do truck things at a better price.

 

[GarageMahal]

There are plenty of trucks out there at a better price point to do truck things...just not EV yet! But hang on, the Chevy Avalanche is coming, but the initial price for the first to be delivered starts at $100k

Not really sure why you hang out on an EV forum when they are still a bit expensive just to tell us they are too expensive...and you turned them down twice

Oh I want a Lightning and will happily buy an XLT for $60k but I am not willing to pay much more for a toy. I completely see the value at $80k for some but to me the price to performance ratio is much better on a Pro or XLT.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

I'm wondering if we will be able to get a front hitch for the Lightning.

There are several plows including the Meyer Home Plow that work with a front receiver.

 

[Lucky EV]

I wouldn’t use a Lightning as a plow truck for business I.e. plowing others for money but just for my own dooryard and 3000 ft drive. Plowing with the tractor is slow and it’s got no cab.

 

[JRTN34]

I use a snow blower, so I don’t know anything about plows. If you’re only doing your own driveway would a rear hitch mounted plow work? Seems like it would answer most of the concerns raised and could be easily removed when not in use. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/trailer-hitch-snow-plows-are-a-thing/

 

[schoon81]

I'm also curious if anyone has found a compatible front receiver hitch (class III or IV). This would be ideal for a basic at home plow.

 

[PV2EV]

This was a question on the Reddit discussion yesterday (thread somewhere on this forum). The answer was an emphatic NO.

 

[GarageMahal]

I'm also curious if anyone has found a compatible front receiver hitch (class III or IV). This would be ideal for a basic at home plow.

I have not found anything on a front receiver hitch yet. Hoping to have a truck delivered by the end of the year and will see what I can figure out when I can spend some quality time underneath it.

Pretty sure it will need a supplemental battery (or two) to buffer the draw but otherwise I think a plow will be find for light duty use assuming we can fine a reasonable way to attach one.

I am hoping to use the receiver hitch for a winch primarily but I sure do miss having a snow plow. The snowblower works find but it was much nicer to be in a heated cab with tunes.

 

[RickKeen]

Professional plow trucks get beat up because plowing quickly means ramming into snow banks at higher speeds and backing at higher speeds. There is the constant risk of hitting something a lot harder at higher speed than intended such as an unexpected concrete curb hidden under the snow, or a snow bank that looks soft, but turns out is a solid lump of tons of ice. Also quite common to back into signs, poles, curbs, buildings, dumpsters, other vehicles.

A lot of pro plow trucks also have a salt spreader added in the back. Or at the very least, carry bags of salt to manually clear sidewalks. If you think your vehicle corrodes from the salt from the road, imagine being the vehicle that puts the salt down

Then there is the repeated change of direction from forward to reverse and back to forward at maximum torque on the drive train (limited by traction).

The Lightning will fare about the same as any other truck on those first set of factors, but the simpler drive train might actually be more durable on the constant direction changes - no transmission constantly shifting in and out of reverse, and no transfer case.

The high torques available will be a great advantage for constant direction changes and slow speed, high load of pushing snow.

But as mentioned, battery range will be a limiting factor. In the pro plowing business, the day might be a lot longer than an 8 hour shift - you make money getting the snow removed the day it falls, not the day after that. Stopping to wait for your truck to charge will cut into profitability.

 

[GarageMahal]

Professional plow trucks get beat up because plowing quickly means ramming into snow banks at higher speeds and backing at higher speeds. There is the constant risk of hitting something a lot harder at higher speed than intended such as an unexpected concrete curb hidden under the snow, or a snow bank that looks soft, but turns out is a solid lump of tons of ice. Also quite common to back into signs, poles, curbs, buildings, dumpsters, other vehicles.

A lot of pro plow trucks also have a salt spreader added in the back. Or at the very least, carry bags of salt to manually clear sidewalks. If you think your vehicle corrodes from the salt from the road, imagine being the vehicle that puts the salt down

Then there is the repeated change of direction from forward to reverse and back to forward at maximum torque on the drive train (limited by traction).

The Lightning will fare about the same as any other truck on those first set of factors, but the simpler drive train might actually be more durable on the constant direction changes - no transmission constantly shifting in and out of reverse, and no transfer case.

The high torques available will be a great advantage for constant direction changes and slow speed, high load of pushing snow.

But as mentioned, battery range will be a limiting factor. In the pro plowing business, the day might be a lot longer than an 8 hour shift - you make money getting the snow removed the day it falls, not the day after that. Stopping to wait for your truck to charge will cut into profitability.

Really well said! I know all my friends who plow often work 20+ hours straight after a big snow.

I do think it might end up the perfect truck for the home or business that plow for less than a couple of hours per snowfall.

 

[ThunderStruck]

Ford finally issued a statement on the snow plow topic, at the end of this video:
https://blog.snowplownews.com/is-an-electric-f-150-right-for-plowing/
Thanks for getting them to do it, Snow Plow News!
"Currently on the Lightning electric vehicle, right now, not set up with a snow plow package, but we'll see where we head with that... Customers may go on their own and do add-on accessories and other equipment. We are very specific about what we've tested and what we recommend, and we do advise customers to stay within those specifications and recommendations."
Sounds like Ford's lawyers coached their spokesman well.
Over the past 15 years, I've used 3 different trucks to plow my own driveway, and none of those have been "set up with a snow plow package" from the truck manufacturer, but they all worked perfectly well.
As I see it, the next steps are the job of us, the truck owners, and the plow manufacturers and dealers. I myself am planning to order my Lightening, and work on finding a plow that works with it while paying somebody else to plow my driveway in the meantime.
I'm confident we'll know more about how it works in the next few months when the snow starts falling and Lightning Plow pioneers try this out!

 

[sotek2345]

I use a snow blower, so I don’t know anything about plows. If you’re only doing your own driveway would a rear hitch mounted plow work? Seems like it would answer most of the concerns raised and could be easily removed when not in use. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/trailer-hitch-snow-plows-are-a-thing/

I built myself one of these out of wood and a drop hitch a couple years ago. Works OK for clearing the end of my driveway but I wouldn't do much more than that with it. Way cheaper than the purchased versions. I haven't really used it much since I got an electric snowblower for a great deal off of Amazon ($120). Used it more often when I was just shoveling everything.

Should work just as well in my Lightning as my ICE F150s.

 

[ThunderStruck]

So just checking back on this now that the first Lightning owners have gone through a winter with it. Anybody had any luck mounting a plow on one???

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