Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer • Hacker News Board

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#61

Post by master_crab » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:33 PM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #56

kevinsundar wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's coming: https://www.gearpatrol.com/cars/a40217409/new-apple-carplay/

Thanks for the link. I had no idea CarPlay was not only planning to go in that direction, but have already done the work to make it happen, and are fairly close to releasing it soon. Their car manufacturer partnerships look pretty solid as well. Still, late 2023 as of now seems a bit far out. But I don't think that majority of car manufacturers will manage to get to the CarPlay level of quality for their own in-house…

You got there in the end ;)

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#62

Post by treesknees » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:40 PM UTC

subsubzero wrote: post #51

I don't know if its just me but electric trucks/cars and the buying experience there is one giant pit of frustration. I want to buy a electric truck, was thinking of a Rivian, but good luck getting one in the next 2-3 years. And if you do manage to get one watch out for your axel coming apart! [1], maybe I will get a lightning, looks like same leadtime issues, 2 years+ wait and they are totally changing the brain(fro…

What you're asking for just doesn't exist yet. The marketing teams at these companies are clearly doing a great job selling these vehicles as reliable simple alternatives to ICE-powered, but that's just not the case.

Ignoring all of the supply-chain issues from the pandemic lockdowns (shipping, chip shortages, labor shortages, etc.) you're still purchasing new technology that will take years to iron out the quality problems. I've friends who work in the automotive industry in various engineering roles and none of them are driving brand-new platforms because they know better. Just like the software world, manufacturers will take all of the maintenance data from dealerships and use it to improve the design and production. If you're OK with being the beta tester filing bug reports in this relationship, by all means, buy an electric truck.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#63

Post by 7952 » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:41 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #58

7952 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Just look at the appalling forward blind spot on a lot of trucks and SUVs. Or the way cars have become taller at the expense of aerodynamics.

People like sitting higher up, or do not like being seated lower, or so much lower, than others. It might also be safer to be in a higher up car in the event of a collision. Pretty much all the families I know with young kids and toddlers has a full size SUV. Every time I ask why they did not get a minivan such as Odyssey or Sienna, every response is they like SUVs and do not want to sit lower in the minivan. Even th…

I know two couples who both started out with small efficient cars. And then had to upgrade because they could not fit a stroller in the back. It feels like car companies just want to have skews that are intentionally compromised to push people into the next tier. When most people just need a compact sedan.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#64

Post by lotsofpulp » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:44 PM UTC

7952 wrote: post #63

lotsofpulp wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People like sitting higher up, or do not like being seated lower, or so much lower, than others. It might also be safer to be in a higher up car in the event of a collision. Pretty much all the families I know with young kids and toddlers has a full size SUV. Every time I ask why they did not get a minivan such as Odyssey or Sienna, every response is they like SUVs and do not want to sit lower in the minivan. Even th…

I know two couples who both started out with small efficient cars. And then had to upgrade because they could not fit a stroller in the back. It feels like car companies just want to have skews that are intentionally compromised to push people into the next tier. When most people just need a compact sedan.

Yet most people who can afford to, choose to buy larger vehicles than they need.

Car manufacturers are not shaping people’s desires, they are simply delivering them what they want.

A Corolla/civic continues to be available for purchase. Yet people want to sit higher up, so you see the vast increase in sales for RAV4/CRV.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276506/change-in-us-car-...

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#65

Post by rnk » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:53 PM UTC

subsubzero wrote: post #51

I don't know if its just me but electric trucks/cars and the buying experience there is one giant pit of frustration. I want to buy a electric truck, was thinking of a Rivian, but good luck getting one in the next 2-3 years. And if you do manage to get one watch out for your axel coming apart! [1], maybe I will get a lightning, looks like same leadtime issues, 2 years+ wait and they are totally changing the brain(fro…

There's one thing you can do to have a shot at getting a rivian quicker. Spec one out that matches the current launch edition (4 motors, don't get the ocean coast interior, get the tonneau cover) and you might just get one. People have gotten them in a couple of months, but they are lucky. Go to the reddit.com/r/rivian forum and read people's descriptions. What seems to happen is they have some ready for a location and someone at the last minute drops out and they can't find someone so they can go way down the list quickly.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#66

Post by Mountain_Skies » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

bayindirh wrote: post #25

codazoda wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happens in every car I own. Chevy. Kia. Ram. I agree the phone should do everything. The equivalent of an old aux cord (maybe via BT) would be enough. My Kia does have CarPlay, which is very nice for maps and audio, but that’s all I really use. It still has all kinds of issues. My wife plugs in her phone (cable) and it takes over, then suddenly mine wins it back, she flicks some stuff on her screen to get it bac…

Then, I invite you to drive a Renault Taliant which has no screen and delegates everything to your phone. Plug it in and fix your phone to the supplied mount, open nav. Your phone is a throttling, OLED dimming, overheating fireball from all the processing it has to do with the summer sun beaming onto it, broiling and killing it in the process. I don't recommend this. The car has a terrific iPod interface built into i…

That model probably wouldn't be legal in the US where all new vehicles are required to have a video screen for a rearview camera. Since they're already required to have the screen for that purpose, it ends up being used to eliminate other controls.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#67

Post by rnk » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

treesknees wrote: post #62

subsubzero wrote: post #51

I don't know if its just me but electric trucks/cars and the buying experience there is one giant pit of frustration. I want to buy a electric truck, was thinking of a Rivian, but good luck getting one in the next 2-3 years. And if you do manage to get one watch out for your axel coming apart! [1], maybe I will get a lightning, looks like same leadtime issues, 2 years+ wait and they are totally changing the brain(fro…

What you're asking for just doesn't exist yet. The marketing teams at these companies are clearly doing a great job selling these vehicles as reliable simple alternatives to ICE-powered, but that's just not the case. Ignoring all of the supply-chain issues from the pandemic lockdowns (shipping, chip shortages, labor shortages, etc.) you're still purchasing new technology that will take years to iron out the quality p…

I'll agree with that. Yet I alsonever want to buy anything from an enforced middleman again. First I avoided that with Tesla, and now I did it with Rivian. It does have some bugs, so did my last car I bought 20 years ago form a major manufacturer.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#68

Post by rnk » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:55 PM UTC

cpwright wrote: post #49

olivermarks wrote: post #36

Right now automotive UI's and sw are in the equivalent of pre iphone era mobile phone jankyness, just good at one or two things with a ton of cruft that doesn't work well. We all know BEVs are fast - even a 1960's UK electric milkfloat is amazingly speedy from standstill - but I'd say Ford are years away from their BEVs being viable and reliable, not least due to lack of charging network. The lousy towing performance…

The lousy towing performance probably doesn't matter. 75% of truck owners tow one time a year or less. I've had my F-150 for 8 years 45,000 miles, and it's seen a trailer 3 times for a total of less than 400 miles. I'm close to being in the market for a new truck, and the biggest deal breaker for me with the lightning is the 5.5' box instead of the 6.5' box. Weighing over 6,000 lbs also means you can't register it as…

There were news articles that they revised this law for the rivian and presumably the f150ev. At first people ran into this weight / registration issue.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#69

Post by rnk » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:56 PM UTC

NotYourLawyer wrote: post #42

rektide wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's a vibrant ecosystem around Android with wonderful third party support, with a rich platform & ecosystem already well known & loved by many developers & consumers alike. Where-as QNX is a toolkit for building one-off custom appliances that no third party will ever see or improve or enrich. One is a dead end stuck in a niche, the other realized it had to create more value than it captured. And generally…

Android is cheaper because it hoovers up the “owner’s” data.

That may be, but it wins because it's vastly better than all the alternatives, except tesla or a few other leading 'new car companies' like rivian.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

#70

Post by rnk » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 8:58 PM UTC

causi wrote: post #24

master_crab wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“If you want to plot out a route with accurate range estimates and an effective charging strategy, you have to use the built-in nav” I saw that phrase in the story and came here to comment and saw this thread. I think we should be honest with ourselves about recent history: Apple and Google will be quicker to roll out functionality for EV specific navigation (i.e. chargers) in their apps then car manufacturers will b…

I also dont want to spend $xxx a year on map updates from manufacturers when Apple Maps are free (I understand I’m not the customer with Google even if their mapping product is great) and better I visibly jerked in my chair reading that from remembering all the GPS devices I relied on for years that happily bricked themselves after the company stopped supporting them and their internal maps "expired".

Tesla gave free map updates. It seems everything is much better if you just move away from the legacy automakers for ui.