71–80 of 1001 posts
I'm sure this image is heavily photoshopped, but it looks like they're trying to make a center console that's half touch screen, half physical controls. I wonder what that will look like in reality. https://www.ford.com/is/image/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_u...
Yuck! I don't look forward to this in my future lifetime of vehicles. I'll have to wait for "dumb" electric vehicles.
I guess the fact that's it's electric is a good step. But it seems insane to me that we don't do more to discourage massive consumption of what should be utility vehicles. I'm willing to be 80% of people buying an f150 or similar never have been and never will be building contractors or lumberjacks.
Unfortunately compact pickups aren’t really a thing any more. As a homeowner and a parent this would be a great vehicle for me — having the utility of a truck bed. Not everyone that owns a home does work on it themselves but trucks are very useful. Today my only options are rent a truck or put a trailer hitch on my van and pull a trailer when I need to haul stuff. That’s so much more hassle.
I guess the fact that's it's electric is a good step. But it seems insane to me that we don't do more to discourage massive consumption of what should be utility vehicles. I'm willing to be 80% of people buying an f150 or similar never have been and never will be building contractors or lumberjacks.
1. Take a bunch of trash/old furniture/whatever to the dump
2. Move furniture
3. Pick up materials for a home renovation like 16 foot long baseboards, drywall, a few dozen boxes of laminate flooring, etc. (no need to be a professional construction contractor here)
4. Tow a camping trailer
5. Much, much more
I'm literally using my truck tonight to pick up ~500 square feet of flooring material, which is saving me ~$300 in shipping costs. The truck itself only cost me $3,700 to begin with, and between this and several other home improvement projects it has saved me ~$2,000 in shipping/moving/other costs so far in just the two years I've owned it. And I'll be saving a bundle in shipping costs on new kitchen cabinets in a few months as well. That's before you get into the convenience factor of not having to rent/borrow a truck anytime you need to move something big.
I'm curious, with the advent of electric what's the advantage of a truck vs. a minivan for a lot of situations? IIRC there were literal space constraints before which is why a minivan couldn't tow like a truck, but since the motor and batteries sit underneath the car, couldn't one build a van/minivan with just as much power as this? If that's the case, other than hauling very tall objects, why get a truck? A minivan…
I suspect the first is rarely used. The second is paraded as a feature, for reasons which escape me.
I have no idea if this’ll be lightning or a lead balloon, because a significant amount of pickup truck buyers do it for the machismo. Which sounds like some city-slicker talking down to the cheap seats, except, I grew up in a town named Farmington. (Go Farmers.) I know pickups. I know the people who drive pickups. My dad sneers at fancy new pickups because he used to shove a good 700 pounds of mink pelts in a pickup,…
My concern with the Lightning (and EVs in general) is range anxiety. I can fill up my F150 in what 3-4 minutes. How long before I can go 400 miles on a charge? What happens during an extended power outage, can I carry 100 miles worth of range in a portable container that's as easy to handle as 5 gallons of gas?
None of these concerns have anything to do with this vehicle making me feel more manly ;)
The aspect I'm most curious about is towing range. I have a 5000lb travel trailer that I tow about 200km away a few times a year. I'm pretty sure I'd be out of luck with a vehicle like this. It has the ability to pull the trailer with ease, but most preliminary estimates are that range would be two digits with that sort of load. In my current vehicle I do stop for gas midway, but it would be an entirely different sit…
I can't imagine that the F150 would be good for long haul trailers... just so much energy involved moving weight around.
I'm curious, with the advent of electric what's the advantage of a truck vs. a minivan for a lot of situations? IIRC there were literal space constraints before which is why a minivan couldn't tow like a truck, but since the motor and batteries sit underneath the car, couldn't one build a van/minivan with just as much power as this? If that's the case, other than hauling very tall objects, why get a truck? A minivan…
Based on utility, most minivans beat all SUVs in tasks not involving going off-road. Minivans definitely beat pickup trucks for moving people, and often for moving stuff -- but not always.
Purchasing a vehicle in the USA is only partially based on function, for most people. Price and culture figure in a lot more.
It's great to see the best selling vehicle in the US be zero emissions. It's wonderful. But this truck will be very heavy, very tall, and very fast. Drivers are already the leading killers of children, and more and more people are being killed while walking and cycling. I'm very worried about the effect of making this vehicle even faster and heavier. Hopefully reduced deaths from pollution offset this.
Don't forget that electric vehicles are almost silent.
So according to this[1] it looks like the motors and batteries are in the bottom of the car like in other EVs. Which makes me wonder: What's under the enormous hood in front? Is it just empty space? [1] https://www.ford.com/is/image/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_u...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget that electric vehicles are almost silent.
Most car noise comes from the wheels, at speed, on highways.
I would have though it would be in the city, if only for the fact that I practically never see pedestrians on country roads where I live. There can be cyclists, though.
In the city, though, most car noise is clearly the engine. Source: traffic outside my window. I clearly hear the engine noise or the exhaust if it's a scooter or motorcycle.