what's your disappointment so far on what Ford Lightning has to offer

[playjack]

This is not about ADM or possible not getting your lightning this year but instead the f150 lightning buying options/packages are out and they are maybe as "simple" as they can come up with - less variations to allow faster production. Obviously marketing has a huge influence for the groupings of features per package and of course profits is one of the main driving force if not the only for the decision and I totally get that.

My gripe is I was planning to buy the base XLT Canadian version (Canadian Lightning don't come with PRO & our lowest is an XLT variant that comes with Ford Co-Pilot 360 Assist 2.0, heated front seats, power down tailgate, LED box lighting with zone lighting, 20-inch dark carbonized gray aluminum wheels, rain-sensing wipers, and Ford’s 9.6-kW Pro Power Onboard generator system & SR battery ~C$ 68K or US$56.4K back in May 20, 2021 Motor1.com article) but can't get a moonroof without buying a more expensive Lariat and worse an upgraded ER Lariat too. For a bloody moonroof & have to spend another C$36.5K or US$30.4K!

Another issue I have with the available option with moonroof is the heavier extended range battery. Based on my usage, no plan on towing & mostly city driving within 100 miles tops, i really can live with SR battery and don't need to lug around an extra 200 lbs ER battery of which will only add to my everyday loadings and in essence consume more energy than if SR. Not sure how much additional energy/cost a 200 lbs extra weight for the ER battery will incur but I feel this is still a waste & lessen the environmental savings of an EV. EV is the future for its arguably low environmental impact. But having to always carry an unnecessary load and the presumably higher carbon foot print of an ER Lariat perks compared with a simpler XLT, this in someway nullify the low environment impact at least in my case. So much with the "green" effect of EV F-150 Lightning! Not sure but looks like it may have more impact on environment with F-150 Lightning than F-150 ICE if i have to get a moonroof. In the end, I will likely have to give up the moonroof :-( Can't wait for what other manufacturers can offer on an EV pick-up. Hope Chevy will offer moonroof without going too far up.

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[Sun Devil]

My gripes would be the low allotment of Lightning Pro's. (Don't get me started about not having the option for an ER on the Pro to consumers.) But then to get an ER, you are looking at a whopping $32,500 for an XLT ER!!!

If you were asking about what do I wish the Lightning had that isn't offered at all, then my wish list would be 400 mile range and much faster charging like the Silverado EV.

 

[sotek2345]

Would have loved a 2 tone paint option, or some type of Lightning graphics package - but that is all doable after market

 

[Lime Green]

Also agree on the low allotment of Pros. I have an order for 2 Pros through fleet sales and I have been told I won’t see them in ‘22, probably well into 2023.

For my personal Lightning purchase, my biggest disappointment is the lack of ability to configure. It’s an overall thing regarding all trims and we’re all feeling it. I understand Ford has done this to streamline production as they ramp up this first year. That is understandable, but I think it really pushes customers to spend more than they would normally want or need to. It’s also losing them some customers. Sure they’ll sell every Lightning they can build for the next several years, that’s great for them, but it’s still not good to push customers away. Forcing the extra $9500 tech/convenience package on the XLT with the $10K ER battery upgrade is really anti-consumer.

I’ll be ordering a Platinum for my personal truck. I’d prefer the Lariat, but I do want the nicer seats, rear seat heaters and nicer sound system that only comes on the Platinum. I would still do the Lariat if it were up to me, but the wife has spoken and Platinum it is because she wants the two-tone seats with the light grey and the other comforts I mentioned. Lariat Lightning has two-tone black and dark grey seats. Even though they’re just called “black”. Saw it at the Ford road show event and they looked nice. Actually the Lariat interior looked understated and plain for a Lariat. I kinda liked it. …I’m not wild about the badge design on the seats in the Platinum, which is the same on the ‘21 and ‘22 ICE platinum trim.

The 22” wheels have to go…. So I’ll be selling those as soon as I can get proper 20’s (or 18’s would be my preference). Will also do the power-deployable running boards, but won’t configure the truck with them for late availability. I’ll swap them out later so I don’t do anything else to delay getting the truck. We’ve both agreed on Smoked Quartz for the color.

Hopefully I’ll be ordering this next wave or in wave 3.

 

[Silenze]

The only thing i want that is missing from the pro is siriusxm and running boards. Mostly the running boards.

 

[F150ROD]

For me bundling up everything into packages is terrible and also not having the ER on the Pro for Retail

 

[FordLightning]

My gripes would be the low allotment of Lightning Pro's. (Don't get me started about not having the option for an ER on the Pro to consumers.) But then to get an ER, you are looking at a whopping $32,500 for an XLT ER!!!

If you were asking about what do I wish the Lightning had that isn't offered at all, then my wish list would be 400 mile range and much faster charging like the Silverado EV.

Lack of flexibility with options is my biggest frustration. Biggest things I miss compared to the Chevy are faster charging, 400-mile range, ground up new with mid-gate (pretty cool). I actually like the concept of a newer and better looking Avalanche.

But like always, Chevy decided to make the price $100K+, add 24" wheels, and make it almost is ugly as the early generation Avalanche with all the cladding. It only looked decent in the last year or two of production.

 

[PA Lightning]

Also agree on the low allotment of Pros. I have an order for 2 Pros through fleet sales and I have been told I won’t see them in ‘22, probably well into 2023.

That is interesting. Was that for retail and fleet sale Pros or just fleet sales.

 

[Lime Green]

That is interesting. Was that for retail and fleet sale Pros or just fleet sales.

Nothing special or interesting about it. Just that there’s lots of commercial fleet orders and no way they’ll get to them all before the end of next year. Just like many retail orders will never get to order a ‘22 and supply is still expected to be constrained in ‘23 and beyond. We don’t know how they’re balancing between fleet orders and retail, but we do know that the Pros, especially with ER battery, will be more constrained and for retail they’re attempting to push more customers to Lariat/ Platinum (as evidenced by the pricing) and are probably doing more to prioritize those builds. They have already warned us that as retail waves are invited, certain trim availability may become restricted and they will allow customers to defer to 2023. Fleet orders are invited differently….

 

[PA Lightning]

Nothing special or interesting about it. Just that there’s lots of commercial fleet orders and no way they’ll get to them all before the end of next year. Just like many retail orders will never get to order a ‘22 and supply is still expected to be constrained in ‘23 and beyond. We don’t know how they’re balancing between fleet orders and retail, but we do know that the Pros, especially with ER battery, will be more constrained and for retail they’re attempting to push more customers to Lariat/ Platinum (as evidenced by the pricing) and are probably doing more to prioritize those builds. They have already warned us that as retail waves are invited, certain trim availability may become restricted and they will allow customers to defer to 2023. Fleet orders are invited differently….

Maybe I did not express myself sufficiently. You indicated that your dealer told you not to expect your Pro fleet orders to arrive in 2022.
When the order banks opened for retail customers, it appears that there we a certain number of each model of the Lightning that would be built in 2022. When the number of orders exceeded availability, the customer would be deferred until 2023. I was curious if your dealer's statement also applied to retail orders, since the charts seem to imply that a certain number of Pros would be built and delivered in 2022

 

[Lime Green]

Maybe I did not express myself sufficiently. You indicated that your dealer told you not to expect your Pro fleet orders to arrive in 2022.
When the order banks opened for retail customers, it appears that there we a certain number of each model of the Lightning that would be built in 2022. When the number of orders exceeded availability, the customer would be deferred until 2023. I was curious if your dealer's statement also applied to retail orders, since the charts seem to imply that a certain number of Pros would be built and delivered in 2022

I’ve only been talking with the fleet sales department at this dealership, which is separate from their retail department. My retail order for my personal truck is at a different dealership. So I don’t know where they stand with retail deliveries. I’m not sure specifically what you are asking for here. Of course Ford is building and delivering Pros in 2022 for both fleet and retail. Several people on this forum have reported that they placed an order for a Pro in wave 1. And it looks like you’re one of them? If you already have a Pro order confirmed, I think you have little to worry about. Lots of fleet orders will not see their trucks until sometime in 2023. Same for retail reservations That was already known as people/companies continued to place reservations for both fleet and retail alike.

We know that they are prioritizing higher level trims to some degree. We don’t know how many of each, we don’t know how many fleet orders will be fulfilled vs. retail orders. Ford does not even know how many trucks they will be able to build this year. We do know that the Pros are constrained compared to originally planned as they prioritize the higher level (higher profit margin) trims. The constraints seem to be due to parts availability. While knowing the Pro is more constrained or seeing a smaller allotment than initially hoped for, I‘m betting that by the time they finish taking all retail and fleet orders, the Pro will still be the dominant trim, followed by the Lariat.

This dealership has fleet orders for a lot of trucks. At one point I know it was over 400 trucks and final order tally could be over a 1000 for all I know. We’re somewhere in the middle of that. Ford has told them outright that they can not fill all those orders in 2022. In fact, probably won’t be able to deliver half of them.

We’ll see how it goes for both fleet and retail Pro orders over the coming weeks. I’ve seen some in retail wave 1 have ordered Pros. It will be interesting as we get to wave 4, 5 and 6 to see which trims are no longer available to order.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

The only thing i want that is missing from the pro is siriusxm and running boards. Mostly the running boards.

siriusxm shouldn't be missing. What the higher up models add is the "new" next gen siriusxm with fancy features. But standard sirius xm should be there if i'm not mistaking.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

Top 4 1/2 Ford blunders:

1. Pro should have ER option for everyone not just fleet.

1.5 ER is way over priced considering it only adds 30 miles of range. I don't think that 30% more battery cells really costs $10k. That would mean the standard range battery would cost $23,331 alone.

2. Battery charging options on pro should have same capabilities as higher end models. If you name ur level 2 charger Ford Charging Station "Pro", it should charge a damn Lightning Pro model! Also, the pro takes 10 hrs to charge regardless of 48 amp or 80 amp because of the way its wired. Jesus Christ ford! and the $30 dollar wiring harness and have it charge the same way as the ER.

3. Since day one, they've advertised and embedded into everyone's brain that the Lightning can power your home. Make that capability available across the board. Sure the SR battery won't last as long, but i should still have the option to since ford programmed my brain that this truck has the capability.

4.Tying together upgrades. Don't make me have to pay $19.5k more for the XLT if i want ER when you originally told me ER is ONLY $10k more for 70 miles! Dont make me have to upgrade to the 9.6kw onboard power for almost $2k because i only want to add the $895 max tow package. STUUUUPID!

Honorable mention. XLT pricing wayyy to large of a price gap from Pro model. Should start at $45,999 for base XLT with only having a small amount of upgrades differentiating the two models.

 

[SteffanG]

Top 4 1/2 Ford blunders:

1. Pro should have ER option for everyone not just fleet.

1.5 ER is way over priced considering it only adds 30 miles of range. I don't think that 30% more battery cells really costs $10k. That would mean the standard range battery would cost $23,331 alone.

2. Battery charging options on pro should have same capabilities as higher end models. If you name ur level 2 charger Ford Charging Station "Pro", it should charge a damn Lightning Pro model! Also, the pro takes 10 hrs to charge regardless of 48 amp or 80 amp because of the way its wired. Jesus Christ ford! and the $30 dollar wiring harness and have it charge the same way as the ER.

3. Since day one, they've advertised and embedded into everyone's brain that the Lightning can power your home. Make that capability available across the board. Sure the SR battery won't last as long, but i should still have the option to since ford programmed my brain that this truck has the capability.

4.Tying together upgrades. Don't make me have to pay $19.5k more for the XLT if i want ER when you originally told me ER is ONLY $10k more for 70 miles! Dont make me have to upgrade to the 9.6kw onboard power for almost $2k because i only want to add the $895 max tow package. STUUUUPID!

Honorable mention. XLT pricing wayyy to large of a price gap from Pro model. Should start at $45,999 for base XLT with only having a small amount of upgrades differentiating the two models.

1. ER is not just more battery cells. They also include the 80A charger and im sure there is more cooling systems involved as well to cool more cells. ER also gets dual onboard chargers for L2 so that is an additional cost as well. There are also a few other things that the ER gives as well.
2. Larger battery naturally will charge faster. It isn't a limit of the wiring harness but rather how much current the cells are able to take in. Charging the SR battery at the rate of the ER battery could overheat it and damage the cells.
3. The SR battery can power your home, you just need to buy the 80A charger for that.
4. Clearly they don't want to sell XLT models so they put it as a price that people aren't going to be likely to choose it.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I know that Ford never promised this, but with a vehicle this large and having dual chargers available, why couldn't they be available on both left and right fenders. DC charging on one side is fine, but AC charging at home and in the community would be great if it didn't matter which side of the vehicle was parked towards the charge cable. I have multiple plug in cars and multiple charge cables in my garage with 100 amp service to the house. It wouldn't work to have 2x48amp or even 2x40 amp charging for me. We have 2x30 amp charging. It would be nice to plug in each of these to a separate charge plug to get 60 amp charging or to be able to charge the xc40 or xc90 while the lightning is also filling up. I am not sure that the batteries are big enough. It's not about having 230 or 300 miles of range in moderate weather. It's that 230 becomes 0.65 to 0.7 (80 percent down to 10 to 16 percent) less another 20 to 30 percent for cold weather traveling (not 30F cold but single digit F sometimes). Now 230 is 110 on the highway. 300 becomes 150. The ER battery not only gives you more range, but gives you more kWh at higher speed, so faster charging. You can also go deeper into the battery with the same range remaining. I'd like a bigger big battery. Though it may not be as efficient, I do like that the lightning and regular f150 share bed dimensions so accessories are cross compatible. Next generation can have 800+volt architecture so that charging can be even faster when road tripping.

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