Reserving a Lightening tonight.

old abe

Well-known member
I read elsewhere online speculating that real target market for all electric trucks that the manufacturers have in mind is municipal government fleet trucks for things like city maintenance or parks/rec departments where the usage is low miles and the vehicle can get charged overnight and weekends, often in a climate controlled garage. Any retail sales are just icing on the cake.

Along with many local businesses, contractors service trucks, eh!
 
Along with many local businesses, contractors service trucks, eh!

I think the kicker though is when government mandates itself through "green" initiatives they force themselves into a marketplace with limited options, and there sits Ford with the only practical "green" option so far. Others are sure to follow, but being first to any market is critical, you don't necessarily need to be the best, just the first. Companies will still have conventional proven options from other manufacturers at a lower price for the time being.
 

snobuilder

Well-known member
Congrats on your new truck. I don't see it as virtue signaling at all because you don't seem like the planet saving type.
Too bad the intro of semi long range E trucks is being targeted at such a limited economic base.
Having so much tech and features puts them out of reach for many.
A no frills basic truck for work and commuting would get the public on board much faster if that is the goal of the new world order of things.
But having a status symbol in the garage will never change.
 
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heckler56

Active member
Thought I would revisit this post as we seem to be talking autos on the Electric Snowmobile post and that just isn’t fair to the original poster.

One year results on my EV ownership as of this week. Here are some numbers to consider.

Distance driven = 4,264 miles
Kwh consumed = 1,986kwh
Home charging cost = $319. Now this is based on my electric rates “blended” to include meter and misc fees on my utility bill to a factor of 0.16 cents per kwh.

Home charging EVs shine. Should you drive and hook up at commercial chargers and the costs go up dramatically. This is why many studies say EVs lose the cost advantage if you charge outside your residence.

My former suv from Audi would likely work out to a blended 20-22mpg. With that I would have consumed roughly 213 gallons of fuel. It ran on premium fuel at what cost? Maybe $3.50 a gallon? So my fuel would have been $745 for the year plus an oil change at about $140. In total somewhere above $900 operational cost vs $319…
 

timo

Well-known member
So your saying if you charge your vehicle at a commercial charging place whether that would be a shopping center parking lot or a wayside rest area on the turnpike you also pay for that??




Thought I would revisit this post as we seem to be talking autos on the Electric Snowmobile post and that just isn’t fair to the original poster.

One year results on my EV ownership as of this week. Here are some numbers to consider.

Distance driven = 4,264 miles
Kwh consumed = 1,986kwh
Home charging cost = $319. Now this is based on my electric rates “blended” to include meter and misc fees on my utility bill to a factor of 0.16 cents per kwh.

Home charging EVs shine. Should you drive and hook up at commercial chargers and the costs go up dramatically. This is why many studies say EVs lose the cost advantage if you charge outside your residence.

My former suv from Audi would likely work out to a blended 20-22mpg. With that I would have consumed roughly 213 gallons of fuel. It ran on premium fuel at what cost? Maybe $3.50 a gallon? So my fuel would have been $745 for the year plus an oil change at about $140. In total somewhere above $900 operational cost vs $319…
 

heckler56

Active member
So your saying if you charge your vehicle at a commercial charging place whether that would be a shopping center parking lot or a wayside rest area on the turnpike you also pay for that??
You will pay. Some places are free and usually they are no better than a house outlet, maybe replace a couple miles for an hour of charging. Some Tesla’s have free nationwide charging at a Tesla charger.

I opened a app and looked around at my local chargers. One showed a 65kw charge and the rate is $12 per hour. Assuming it charges 65kw in an hour that would be 0.18 cents kwh.
 

timo

Well-known member
You will pay. Some places are free and usually they are no better than a house outlet, maybe replace a couple miles for an hour of charging. Some Tesla’s have free nationwide charging at a Tesla charger.

I opened a app and looked around at my local chargers. One showed a 65kw charge and the rate is $12 per hour. Assuming it charges 65kw in an hour that would be 0.18 cents kwh.
hmmm interesting.
I just assumed "someone else" was paying for it when it wasn't plugged in at your house.
Drove the I80 turnpike to Ohio over xmas holidays, saw lot of Tesla charging stations,,, they weren't there 12-24 months ago.
 

ICT Sledder

Active member
Thought I would revisit this post as we seem to be talking autos on the Electric Snowmobile post and that just isn’t fair to the original poster.

One year results on my EV ownership as of this week. Here are some numbers to consider.

Distance driven = 4,264 miles
Kwh consumed = 1,986kwh
Home charging cost = $319. Now this is based on my electric rates “blended” to include meter and misc fees on my utility bill to a factor of 0.16 cents per kwh.

Home charging EVs shine. Should you drive and hook up at commercial chargers and the costs go up dramatically. This is why many studies say EVs lose the cost advantage if you charge outside your residence.

My former suv from Audi would likely work out to a blended 20-22mpg. With that I would have consumed roughly 213 gallons of fuel. It ran on premium fuel at what cost? Maybe $3.50 a gallon? So my fuel would have been $745 for the year plus an oil change at about $140. In total somewhere above $900 operational cost vs $319…
The monthly cost upside of electric vehicles will need to get a heck of a lot higher than $50/mo for the general public to find the multitude of downsides palatable. Besides, cost is not even what is holding EV's back from larger adoption rates by the buying public.

They're fine for an around town car, if that is all you need a vehicle for. For literally any other use, battery technology and charging will need to improve by an order of magnitude for them to make sense, and neither of those considerations are experiencing the break-through necessary to make it happen any time soon. Tesla kinda sorta makes the best of the current situation in that regard, but it is still a distinct sacrifice as a consumer even for a Tesla buyer.

Personally, I'm also irked that every. darn. electric. vehicle. needs to scream "look at me in the electric car" to everyone else. It's one thing when it is a purpose built vehicle, but completely another when it is simply an EV version of an existing vehicle. The new EV F150 is a case in point. The most widely-sold vehicle in North American needs all kinds of aesthetic modifications (of absolutely zero utility) in order that the virtue signalers will take them up. Silly.
 
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old abe

Well-known member
The monthly cost upside of electric vehicles will need to get a heck of a lot higher than $50/mo for the general public to find the multitude of downsides palatable. Besides, cost is not even what is holding EV's back from larger adoption rates by the buying public.

They're fine for an around town car, if that is all you need a vehicle for. For literally any other use, battery technology and charging will need to improve by an order of magnitude for them to make sense, and neither of those considerations are experiencing the break-through necessary to make it happen any time soon. Tesla kinda sorta makes the best of the current situation in that regard, but it is still a distinct sacrifice as a consumer even for a Tesla buyer.

Personally, I'm also irked that every. darn. electric. vehicle. needs to scream "look at me in the electric car" to everyone else. It's one thing when it is a purpose built vehicle, but completely another when it is simply an EV version of an existing vehicle. The new EV F150 is a case in point. The most widely-sold vehicle in North American needs all kinds of aesthetic modifications (of absolutely zero utility) in order that the virtue signalers will take them up. Silly.
Perhaps you hang on, and get ready, eh! It's a coming like a strong storm! No doubt about that!
 

ICT Sledder

Active member
Perhaps you hang on, and get ready, eh! It's a coming like a strong storm! No doubt about that!
The flood of EV offerings, yes. It is being forced on us by the government, rather than by the consumer choosing what they consider to be the best fit for themselves.

The technology of range and recharging convenience similar to what we all know with gas vehicles? Not a chance. There's no indication of this unless it is the worst held tech secret in our society.
 
good stuff guys. i am not for or against. have a 2010 tundra and i get the maintenance the upkeep but the price of an F150 Lightning is $70-80k because who buys the scaled down version at $55k...i dont live in my vehicle like some do so maybe easier to cost justify. what does insurance look like? more safety features so might be less than a gas truck..i would save average cost of ownership on is $1500 per year. oil changes, upkeep, tires, etc.
 
G

G

Guest
When mine arrives I am going to keep track of every expense. And then I will share it - good or bad - with all on this site and anybody else that wants to know.
 

whitedust

Well-known member
When balance is found between ice and EV the public will decide what is best for them. 1 size doesn’t fit all. Good luck to all you early EV owners! As everyone else I’m interested in operating costs and convenience of infrastructure. I can wait no sense of urgency at all my current ice fleet is fine for me. I have little doubt EV engines will perform its all about range ,charging infrastructure and longevity of batteries
It will be interesting to see the future of electric vehicles after the midterms. A more discreet strategy may come that more realistically supports the switch to EV other than impossible cold turkey approach of the current administration.
 

euphoric1

Well-known member
heckler56, what is and is there a towing capacity? and how does this affect miles/charge? Just curious as to if you were a utilitarian pick-up truck user or just a pick-up truck driver with the numbers you shared with us and again what does actual "use" of a truck do to those numbers if you had. and the clear cost savings is substantial depending on what one is doing with it and those are obviously here and now numbers, but....10 years down the road when batteries may need replacement or who even knows what life span is on wheel motors but would be curious at that time what those numbers factored into the cost to operate will show then? Very interesting numbers heckler56 and we are in the infancy of all of this yet.
 

old abe

Well-known member
The flood of EV offerings, yes. It is being forced on us by the government, rather than by the consumer choosing what they consider to be the best fit for themselves.

The technology of range and recharging convenience similar to what we all know with gas vehicles? Not a chance. There's no indication of this unless it is the worst held tech secret in our society.
Whoa! You're saying the Government is forcing all the vehicle Co's, producers , to build these vehicles, eh? Just the F 150 Lightning orders alone, without including any of the others, say that's nuts, wishful thinking! Good luck with that! This fire started long before Brandon arrived. I'm thrilled that the US companies are leading, and on the top of the page on this. Not, as once again, "chasing" the foreign producers product!
 

garageguy

Well-known member
I was at a busy gas station sledding with 5 people two pumps were down there was starting to be a line for gas took us 20 min. To get all our sleds gassed up. All this time there is a Chevy Volt parked in front of one of the two remaining pumps. It's acuppants were busy shopping in the gas stations with there masks on. They came back out, got in there electric car and when we were leaving the driver of the car was busy reading a map. There is a separate parking area for cars of all types but these fine folks needed to park in front of a gas pump and make sure they got noticed.
 

snobuilder

Well-known member
When your batteries get used up your EV will be junked....then Us taxpayers will have to pay to get rid of all those tons of batteries.
 
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