Live Thread: 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum review

David S. Wallens said:

I was just talking to JG about the Lightning: For the most part, it’s just strangely normal–like, it looks, feels and drives like a regular F-150.

I think this is one of the best things about it.  For years, the EV's and hybrids were made to look like spaceships. Im glad many of them are now basically indistinguishable from ICE vehicles.

I rode in Tom's lightning for a quick hardware store trip. Its really nice. Just as comfy as a normal F-150(no shade there, I'm quite "at home" in a modern F-150 crew cab) but also silent, smooth and stupid fast!  There is a whole lot to like about it. 

So, how normal the Lightning is:

Our dog is short enough to take a shortcut that clips beneath the corner of back bumper and, for a minute I thought, Be careful of the hot muffler!

I'm still waiting on an actual work truck with a long bed. I'm reasonably certain they will never build it when they can sell gussied-up fancy ones for $90k. 

Fueled by Caffeine said:

The boys on Reddit are saying there can be had for under $50k brand new. dealers just want to move them.   I think this truck would cover 95%+ of my usage.   I could rent something for the long or big tows. 
 

cheapest in this thread is some crazy $39k deal. 
 

https://www.reddit.com/r/F150Lightning/s/egpQ35SYZ1

I truly doubt a Platinum Lighting can be had for $50K brand new.  Looks like a lot of those posts are XLTs (and have deducted the tax incentive)

Apples to apples. 

This counts as truck stuff, right?

And, JG, know how I made fun of the step and that little handle? I was just kidding. Totally works. :) 

Oh yeah, the step is sooooo easy to mock. But it's also one of my favorite features. 

ddavidv said:

Expensive to buy, and expensive to sell. Massive depreciation. https://www.cargurus.com/research/price-trends/Ford-F-150-Lightning-d3147

I don't know that depreciation rates for the Lightning (or any EV) are significantly different than their ICE counterparts. A huge reason for above average depreciation recently is that prices are returning to more normal levels after the mania of 2022. This happened for most vehicles over the last few years. Ford raised prices on the Lightning by $20k between early 2022 and early 2023, so they actually saw crazy appreciation over that year. Most of that was capitalizing on a frothy market and not indicative of normal trends. As demand cooled, MSRP has been cut a few times, and each cut to MSRP results in significant depreciation of used models. It's going to take a few boring years of relatively normal supply/demand to determine if Lightnings or EVs in general are really depreciating faster than ICEs, or if this large depreciation is just values returning to where they would've been without the bubble of 2022 pricing.

This is my 2023 standard range Lightning XLT.  After incentives i paid $46k for it brand new (after the $7500 tax rebate and with 0% financing!).  It has heated seats, power pedals, nav, etc.  I couldnt have purchased a gas version with the same gear for less.  Meanwhile it has blinding acceleration (for a 5k lb truck, I got a 4.6s 0-60) and is insanely quiet.  I replaced an older RAM 2500,  and i agree that this truck is BIG.  But leaving the house with a full tank every day is appealing and getting north of 50 mpg(e) doesnt suck either.  I am 100% pleased with the truck and if I had it to do over would buy it again.

In reply to Loweguy5 :

As JG and I were discussing yesterday, it is a good looking truck.

The Lightning goes away tomorrow, so I just topped it off–which meant returning to our local Electrify America station since we don’t (yet) have a fast charger here at the house. (I’m going to keep calling it a station. #sorrynotsorry).

I’d call this one of my favorite EVs for the simple fact that it doesn’t “feel” like an EV. Pretty much everything you touch feels traditional: the shifter, the door handles, the HVAC. It even creeps forward when you let off the brakes–just like a gas truck. I’d put the Lightning up there with the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, BMW i4 and Porsche Panamera as my favorite EVs. 

I see why Tom likes his so much. Smooth, comfortable ride. No faults with the streering, the brakes. It is a big truck that you can refuel at home. 

My one big issue is just the size of the thing. It’s a giant truck that still has a small-ish bed. I get that’s what people want but, like its gas-powered cousins, the F-150 Lightning is big.

And you notice that bigness when pulling into a busy EA station. The fact that the filler is on the driver side doesn’t help. Park too close to the pump, and you can’t really open the door thanks to the hose. (Yes, I’m totally using gas station lingo here.) 

Solution? I’d love to try an EV Maverick if/when it ever comes to market. 

David S. Wallens said:

Solution? I’d love to try an EV Maverick if/when it ever comes to market. 

That's the dream isn't it? EV or preferably PHEV Maverick would get my money really fast.

EV Maverick or Ranger size truck would be amazing in my opinion. 
I spent a few hours behind the wheel of Tom's Lightning the past 2 days and it has been possibly the most comfortable highway vehicle I have ever driven. Like David said, it just feels like an f-150 from behind the drivers seat, no gimmicky controls just all the buttons you would see in a gas powered car. The big difference is it's way faster and way quieter. 

Chris, on the way back, ride in the back. It’s huge back there–like, bigger than my first apartment. To get this much legroom on an airplane, you’d need to be flying private. 

So, the tailgate ladder.

Without it, not sure I could gracefully get up and down. Credit the fact that trucks have gotten so big with the fact that I’m not blessed with height. 

Press the button, and the ladder magically springs from the tailgate. 

And so does the handle, too.

View from the top.

To retract, just 1 and 2.

And then just slide the handle back into the tailgate.

One (small) thing, and maybe I’m being picky: just one knob for both fan speed and radio volume.

That's one reason I bought an XLT . Still a giant screen, but normal radio and HVAC buttons underneath it. And yeah, the back seat is huge. I sleep in it on road-trips. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I think there’s more room in the back than the front. Like, they should put the steering wheel back there. 

Big back seats is a thing for F150s. My 2012 gas burner is huge too. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

My Lightning has CONSIDERABLY more room in the back seat than our 2011 Expedition.  Who'd a thunk it?

David S. Wallens said:

One (small) thing, and maybe I’m being picky: just one knob for both fan speed and radio volume.

No, you aren't being picky.

I just don't get it--excessive legroom in a back seat that a truck shouldn't even have, but it won't carry a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

In reply to Berck :

If you don't think trucks should have back seats, you are well and truly out of touch with the truck marketplace. Even my wife's work buys crew cabs (or whatever the term is for a four door) because they carry more crew. 

In reply to Berck :

I drive a truck with a 5 1/2' bed. I'm a carpenter. I carry 4x8 sheets all the time. 
 

Would it be better for me to have 2 1/2 more feet of vehicle that I don't need?