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Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

electrek.co

501–510 of 1001 posts

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wahhh I bought my car to make a statement and now it makes the wrong statement and I am self-conscious about it!!”. I I read it exactly the opposite. Somebody bought a car not because they were making a statement but just because they thought it was cool, only to find out later Elon was a nazi nutjob, and they don't want people to think they bought it because they share the same views.

Then sell the car. Putting the sticker on the car won't make you look good in the eyes of either Elon fans or Elon detractors.

Selling the car is complicated by market conditions and tariffs which could make the cost of a replacement and/or the terms of the sale much worse. We can cut people some slack for making a stupid purchase under very different circumstances. They're already being punished by owning the shitty car as it is.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#502

Judging from how many people seem surprised by my open frunk at the grocery store, saying things like "I had no idea Ford made an electric truck!" I think they could have done more to market it. I sometimes wonder if they really wanted to sell a lot of them.

I remember when tesla was young and elon talked about selling electric cars through dealers. He said it would not work, they would not be advocates, they would prevent sales.

And I think that is spot on.

I also suspect internally the thinking is that the f150 lightning costs more to make than sell, which means it won't get strong advocacy.

Thing is, I'm 100% certain years of tesla vehicles cost more to make than they sold for, just in the nature of developing new things.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes doing business involves taking risks. Avoiding EV fomo when the market wasn't there was a good calculated risk.

You give them credit for taking a risk on hydrogen but not the manufacturers who took a risk on EVs? Interesting.

No, because the manufacturers who took a risk on EVs, at large, did it due to FOMO and investor pressure after seeing Tesla balloon in the stock market.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You give them credit for taking a risk on hydrogen but not the manufacturers who took a risk on EVs? Interesting.

Also conveniently ignores Toyota's quality slipping to shit in recent years

Toyota and Lexus are still the most reliable cars on the planet.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think the timing of the Cybertruck starting deliveries roughly aligning with when Elon got heavily involved in politics That and also it's just a bad product. >That said, even though it's not to my taste, I do admire that they dared to do something different and took a big gamble on it. A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one edit: agree there's a market…

> A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one The modern US pickup truck isn't built for utility. It's a $60,000 four-door lifted luxobarge with leather interior and a short bed. It signals (perceived) wealth while preserving working-class alignment. It can also be justified by way of having to pick up used furniture for TikTok refinish and flip projects or bim…

I'm looking forward to the Telo-- if they get to market. It's absolutely all about utility. It will be interesting to see if people only want pickups as a fashion statement or if a weird, very practical vehicle can win.

(Same bed-size as Tacoma; midgate that folds down to hold a full sheet of plywood; seats 4 people comfortably; same length as a Mini Cooper SE).

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think the timing of the Cybertruck starting deliveries roughly aligning with when Elon got heavily involved in politics That and also it's just a bad product. >That said, even though it's not to my taste, I do admire that they dared to do something different and took a big gamble on it. A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one edit: agree there's a market…

> A pickup truck should just be max utility, especially if you're a manufacturer making your first one The modern US pickup truck isn't built for utility. It's a $60,000 four-door lifted luxobarge with leather interior and a short bed. It signals (perceived) wealth while preserving working-class alignment. It can also be justified by way of having to pick up used furniture for TikTok refinish and flip projects or bim…

It never stopped being possible to order a bare bones F-150 with a 8ft bed. Might not have the tradeoffs that many people are looking for, but difficult to argue something like that has less utility than a mini truck that can't drive on the highway.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which EV can go 600 miles with one charge, or with so little charging? How much does that car cost? Are you assuming, that every charger on the way is 200kW?

Lucid Grand Touring can do it in one charge (that lasts ~45 minutes). Expensive, but it could do it. I did Shreveport, LA to Pesos, TX as an example. If you're OK with 2 charging stops, an Ioniq 6 or a Tesla Model 3 will work just fine. Also, charging speed is irrelevant to how many stops you need. Most chargers are >150kW these days, though. If you truly want to minimize charging stops, you'd be better served chargi…

> Most chargers are >150kW these days, though.

Nite that many cars can't charge that fast. And if they can, it's usually only for the very lowest SoC of the battery, say below 20% charge.

When buying, look at 20-80% charging times. Don't get dazzled by peak charge rate.

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#509

I thought the F-150 was cancelled because their aluminum supply caught fire? https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69147125/ford-f-150-light...

And they announced the next version of the Lightning last month. People don't like that it isn't purely BEV, but I don't see the big deal.

  Unlike a traditional hybrid, the F-150 Lightning EREV is propelled 100 
  percent by electric motors. This ensures owners get the pure EV driving 
  experience they love — including rapid acceleration and quiet operation — 
  while eliminating the need to stop and charge during long-distance towing. 
https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/next-ge...

Re: Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales

#510

It's a shame the Lightning got discontinued. As an EV owner, it sucks that the main thing holding the technology back is misconceptions and misunderstanding, rather than actual practical matters. People think EVs are cars with tanks of electrons, and run aground the same way you would if you thought horses were cars full of hay. It's a different transport tool that gives the same results, you just have to know how to…

Yes, I've had conversations with ice owners and the misconceptions are enormous in their minds.

Practically speaking¹, normal people could buy a tesla and drive it like a gas car, except with a full tank of gas every morning. They could still drive across the state once a month to grandma's and they could supercharge if range got low.

This is due to a couple things that were not in place for early EVs.

- teslas have a lot of range/battery compared to early EVs

- superchargers are in many locations, have plentiful charging spots, and are reliable

- teslas have a good UI to navigate and charge

[1] 99% of the time. If you're an apartment dweller in the artic circle with a supercharger 2000 miles away, please scroll onwards.

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