Would You Buy A Lightning Again?

[XENOILPHOBE]

I did already, actually I bought my first one, a 23 Platinum, from my original pre-order in the fall of 22. I bought my second one, a 23 Lariat, fall of 23.

They have served me well. A joy to drive, decent features, and has saved me a ton in fuel.

With that said, I also had a preorder on the Cybertruck. The Lightning just became available first, and I needed a truck right then (same for the second one).

If I were shopping today, I would be seriously considering that Cybertruck (now that it's readily available). The appearance doesn't bother me. I actually like it. And FSD is way more mature and capable than BluesClues. I like the built-in roll-up tonneau. I like the oversimplified interior. Way more charging infrastructure. And with a much larger installed base, accessories and community knowledge is a real thing.

I would really have to think about it. Pros and Cons on both sides. I really like the huge frunk on the Lightning. And I kinda like the stealth aspect of it. If you don't know any better, it looks like any other F150 (ish). I like the fact that many F150 accessories just work. But the Lightning also hasn't been supported quite as well, and certainly had some teething issues. I really WANT the Lightning (and Ford's EV push in general) to succeed. It's important that Tesla have strong competition, lest they just run away with it. I say this as a shareholder of both Ford and Tesla. I want them both to succeed.

At this point, I already have my 2 Lightnings, and that will hold me over until something comparable to a SuperDuty comes along to replace my old F350. At this point, it only gets driven a couple times per year to tow my toy hauler. I look forward to heavy towing becoming a thing in the EV world. If I could just buy the Tesla Semi with a bed on it, I would have already done it.

Well stated, you must be my virtual twin, I have stock in both companies and have CT that sitting in the configuration inbox. Ford just had a product first. I wish they had adopted the Tesla OS, then the transition would have been so easy.
things I love about the Lightning:
1. Stealth EV (not a Tesla CT freak)
2. Airplay
3. Silence (no rattles, no wind noise)
4. Sunroof, Steering wheel and turn signal stalks. Tesla's de minimus view of tactical controls got freaking ridiculous, so I abandoned the option to buy my 4th Model S.
5. Waze in dash
6. Frunk and integrated cooler
7. interior volume crushes both my old S and X
8. Ride comfort
9. Utility and onboard power
10. Plethora of aftermarket accessories.

Things I would improve or consider:
1. Adopt the Tesla OS
2. range 400+ miles and performance increases as you move up the trim stack
3. NACS integrated charging and Tesla faster charging architecture.
4. Adopt the Tesla App
5. HEPA Cabin filter (miss that on my Tesla)
6. 20 inch wheels on Platinum with better EV low rolling resistance tires.
7. Fog lights
8. Better quality leather
9. front hitch
10. A Raptor Lightning or a performance model Lightning.

BTUF, this truck would have hit it out of the park if it had the Tesla OS and Battery Architecture. The Ford OS reminds me of my old Blackberry

Sponsored

 

[Smokewagun]

At $100k, no GM would’ve won me over. I’m a peon.

 

[invertedspear]

Well stated, you must be my virtual twin, I have stock in both companies and have CT that sitting in the configuration inbox. Ford just had a product first. I wish they had adopted the Tesla OS, then the transition would have been so easy.
things I love about the Lightning:
1. Stealth EV (not a Tesla CT freak)
2. Airplay
3. Silence (no rattles, no wind noise)
4. Sunroof, Steering wheel and turn signal stalks. Tesla's de minimus view of tactical controls got freaking ridiculous, so I abandoned the option to buy my 4th Model S.
5. Waze in dash
6. Frunk and integrated cooler
7. interior volume crushes both my old S and X
8. Ride comfort
9. Utility and onboard power
10. Plethora of aftermarket accessories.

Things I would improve or consider:
1. Adopt the Tesla OS
2. range 400+ miles and performance increases as you move up the trim stack
3. NACS integrated charging and Tesla faster charging architecture.
4. Adopt the Tesla App
5. HEPA Cabin filter (miss that on my Tesla)
6. 20 inch wheels on Platinum with better EV low rolling resistance tires.
7. Fog lights
8. Better quality leather
9. front hitch
10. A Raptor Lightning or a performance model Lightning.

BTUF, this truck would have hit it out of the park if it had the Tesla OS and Battery Architecture. The Ford OS reminds me of my old Blackberry

Does Tesla make their OS and app available to any other OEMs? It doesn’t really matter since Ford’s system is distributed micro controllers instead of Tesla’s central computer, the Tesla OS would be pretty incompatible. Any layer of translation/abstraction would make it super laggy.

 

[XENOILPHOBE]

Does Tesla make their OS and app available to any other OEMs? It doesn’t really matter since Ford’s system is distributed micro controllers instead of Tesla’s central computer, the Tesla OS would be pretty incompatible. Any layer of translation/abstraction would make it super laggy.

That might help explain why they lose so much money on every EV they sell. Sounds like they should take advantage of the Tesla open source patents, it looks like Ford followed suit and made their EV patents open source as well.

 

[invertedspear]

That might help explain why they lose so much money on every EV they sell. Sounds like they should take advantage of the Tesla open source patents, it looks like Ford followed suit and made their EV patents open source as well.

The idea that Ford loses money on every EV is an accounting myth that factors in things like one time fixed costs of building and expanding factories. Ford knows how business works, they don’t have seed money, they aren’t taking a loss to start up. There is profit per car compared to parts and labor of assembly or else they would be shuttering their EV assembly lines instead of just taking a pause due to demand waning.

Not all software is compatible. Tesla hardware is designed around central control, Ford is designed around distributed control. Taking advantage of anything Tesla offers on open source would require a huge abstraction layer in order to communicate with the dozens (hundreds?) of micro controllers throughout the truck. There’s a huge cost to that, not to mention a ton of opportunities to introduce bugs. The UI would be a hell of a lot better at least.

 

[Pcontrer1]

Let’s be truthful. No BS, no sugar. Would you buy another?
I ask because I still maintain my 2022 Lightning was the best Ford truck I can remember in 40 years. Solid. Yes, teething, but it was new technology. I had issues, but the biggest was range. The standard just didn’t cut it for me. I had to bail after trying to get an ER. Then the bottom fell out 2 weeks later after I got out.
Now, I’m in a position to get back into an ER Flash. Just wondering what you owners have to say.
I an upside down in my current truck, and have enough incentives, tax rebate, and a PCO to right me up. I could save an easy $5,000 plus a year driving a Lightning again. But I’d want to just run it. I’m on the fence. In 5 years, I’d have between 150-200k on it. I don’t think the batteries are an issue. The service intervals thru 200k are literally tiring. Nothing. I think a coolant change at 160k if I recall. The ER would fit my daily driving without issue. Vacations? Eh, maybe. I have concerns at 150-200k, who would want a used EV? New tech with better batteries, quicker charging, longer range would have to kill a used Lightning, right? Am I concerned about these things for nothing? I can’t imagine my 2023 STX will return $20k in five years with 150 on the clock, after its $15k depreciation in six months. So what’s the likelihood a 2024 Lightning will return $20k in five years with all the other tech advancement strikes against it? I can’t find my crystal ball. Thoughts appreciated.

Sponsored