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Ford F-150 Lightning: Fast Truck, Slow Computer

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

#361
I've always been of the opinion that automobile manufacturers have no business writing software. They just don't have the capability (currently) to do a good job.

What they should have done is deliver kick-ass hardware in-tandem with CarPlay and Android Auto, and make THAT software first-class citizens.

Every manufacturer is investing as little as they can on in-house (or off-shore) software teams to write crappy UIs on pretty crappy hardware, and meanwhile we're sitting in our cars with computers in our pockets with enough calculating power to send a rocket to the moon.

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

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s an interesting observation that I hadn’t considered. My enthusiasm for EVs has been pretty unmitigated previously. I still think climate is important enough that dealing with the safety stuff is probably tractable and also the lesser evil, but it’s good to have line of sight on it.

Unmitigated ? Are you not worried about the infrastructure impact of doubling the weight of most classes of vehicle?

I'm not really. The vast majority of infrastructure degradation is because of trucks which weigh 100 times as much as cars. Their weight will be decreasing by a much smaller factor.

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

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can understand the large screen, but really, it should just be a normal external screen your phone can output to. CarPlay is so good (and far safer) because it doesn't just mirror your phone's landscape view, but presents a driving-specific experience. Not-mirroring has another advantage in that your phone can still be used (by a passenger, of course) to do whatever while CarPlay continues to do its thing.

Can’t you just add a “driving mode” that changes the view or displays a different view to the phone? If you externalise the smarts, all you need is external input and output support which all exists. Then any car can have better GPS. This way, I need a car that specifically has this extra cruft and probably can’t get upgrades easily. It’s the car equivalent to a smart TV.

Android Auto was available as an app without need any hardware, but it's gone.

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

#365

Why are dealerships in the mix at all for Ford EVs? Seems like a good time to start selling direct to consumers over the web.

Ford is not allowed to sell direct to consumers in I believe 48 states because they already have dealers. They're apparently planning on spinning off their electric division into an entirely new company to get around those laws, but remains to be seen.

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

#366
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…

This influenced our thinking: https://jalopnik.com/parents-just-buy-the-damn-minivan-15975...

The Sienna is great for kids and I've managed to fit 4x8 sheets in it.

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

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even with those statements, I think Ford is seriously sugarcoating the issue. It seems that the F-150 Lighting is basically a vanity vehicle at this point. To be fair, that (vanity vehicle) is probably at least half of the F-150 market today anyway. I don't have a problem with Ford putting on a show to make money. But if The Verge is going to work in a Ford showroom, they should at least be up front about it.

The lightning is for mall crawling. It's not really a serious truck if you do legit truck stuff that involves travel aka blue collar workers that often travel to jobs.

Is it? I'm not in the demographic that would buy one, but it seems that for a contractor that doesn't tow tons of stuff or drive long distances it would work well, especially with the outlets.

Maybe I'm missing something but say a landscaper or a carpenter, wouldn't it work for them? What kind of scenarios would involve towing heavy loads?

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

#369

As much as Tesla's stock prices is inflated a lot of people dont appreciate just how behind the other car companies are when it comes to electric cars. Non tesla fast charging is an absolute disaster, likewise most/all of these companies havent figured out how to update software without plugging in a usb stick at a dealership. Maybe electric cars will be more like Apple/Samsung in terms of market share then the curre…

> Non tesla fast charging is an absolute disaster Doesn't seem to be. Tesla's chargers have been behind the curve versus others with lower speeds, still only 400 volts, and only supporting one brand of car. Tesla is at least slowly starting to support other brands: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y33AArvMUQ But Circle K, Gridserve, Ionity, etc. are better charging stops with faster chargers: - Circle K: https://ww…

Not my side of the pond, but clicking around on Gridserve I'm only seeing a maximum charge rate of 60kW. I haven't found a Circle K above 50kW. Ionity has chargers that go to 350kW.

For comparison, Tesla superchargers are 150kW or 250kW.

That metric shouldn't be interpreted linearly. You only really saturate a charger for the first few minutes of a charge when fairly depleted. Above 15% to 40% of your battery capacity the charging rate slows down (depending on what sort of battery you have).

As an example, a 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition can use 350kW chargers. Going 20% to 80% on a 350kW is 31 minutes, and on a 150kW is 32 minutes. That's negligible. If you start lower than 20% then there is a bigger difference, but I picked 20-80 because it might match a person that exclusively uses non-home chargers. Data from chart in: https://insideevs.com/news/567714/lucid-air-fast-charging-co... (Also, I suspect a real 20-80 test might show a bigger difference. The 0-20 part of that charge probably heated the battery up more on the 350kW.)

Use cases matter a lot. The only time I use a supercharger is when I'm driving more than the range of my car in one trip, 900km is typical of a driving day for me. I'll stop 3 or 4 times at super chargers. Other than that I just charge off the regular old wall outlet in my garage.

But if you live in a place without garages you will use chargers a lot and care about where they are located. I have to say a lot of the US superchargers are in odd places, like no bathroom available at night. Most of the rest are in the far corner of some enormous parking lot of an enormous grocery store. By the time you hike to the store, find a bathroom, buy a snack, and hike back to the car you are mostly done charging.

Which brings me back to the parent post… "Location!" I absolutely prefer a Circle K with a supercharger. Short walk, open 24 hours, grab a snack, and back to the car with time to check email and maybe HN before heading back to the road.

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

#370

I've always been of the opinion that automobile manufacturers have no business writing software. They just don't have the capability (currently) to do a good job. What they should have done is deliver kick-ass hardware in-tandem with CarPlay and Android Auto, and make THAT software first-class citizens. Every manufacturer is investing as little as they can on in-house (or off-shore) software teams to write crappy UIs…

Well, not every manufacturer. There is one notable automaker that has, is still, and will continue to invest enormous sums of money on the software.
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