New EV F-150 Lightning

I agree it's the abruptness.... Down here in TX we have been dealing with power outages from time to time in extreme weather since our electric grid is weak. Adding a lot of EVs will make it worse in the near term, and I don't look forward to that one bit. I must say that of all the ones I work with in Tech, the only ones that have bought EVs are the ones that were under the mercy of lube joints that made them wait 2-3 hours for a basic oil change. All the DIY'ers and Car guys I know are nowhere near ready to accept EVs or the value it brings. I agree that EVs are the future (assuming that future is teeming with renewable energy), however the timing and abrupt push by the Govt. is not rubbing off well with most of the people. EVs will live or die depending on what capitalism dictates in the future.

We have hybrid EV.  Chevy Volt 2018.
And a SUV, GMC Terrain 2019.

And Big Bro, of course.


I’m not an expert, but this is my experience.

First thought:  autonomy and charging time.

Really happy with the Volt.
Because it is hybrid.  Enough battery for local driving (about 50-60 miles,  depending the cold weather).
Since we drive it, general fuel consomption is 76 mpg.

One of my son is living at 6 1/2 hours from here.  The Volt is the right car, if no need to carry heavy or wide load.  No stress about recharging the battery.

My daughter and her husband (living just beside our home) just bought a 100% EV Volvo.  They had to stop twice when she went visit her brother.
Almost 8 hours trip…

Second:  Electricity availability

Impossible to go to our fishing camp with an EV, even a Lightning.  No electricity there.
Carry a generator?  Well, if your goal is to generate less CO2 emission, that’s a fail, no?

Third:  Electricity source

Here in Quebec, we have chance that our electricity in almost 100% clean, hydroelectricity.
But it’s rare on Earth.  So how will this electricity will be generated, to ride our cars?  Coal?  Fuel?

My conclusion
Based on my own experience, the cleanest way to drive is hybrid rechargeable.  For now.  Maybe science will optimize electricity stocking and find a way to drive with less power.
But for now, I don’t understand why the builders are dropping the chargeable hybrid solution, such as the Volt.  I don’t see any benefits with a 100% EV.
At least for those who often drive long distance.

I like to think that, with nearly 40 years of use, Big Bro is probably my vehicle with the smallest CO impact, just thinking about all the F-Big-Trucks he saved to build.

Jeff - You've pointed out something I wasn't aware of - the new Lightning doesn't appear to be a hybrid.  The one I thought I'd have purchased had the newest 3.5L Ecoboost engine as well as an electric motor/generator, so you have all the power I currently have plus that of the electric motor.  

I agree with you, the only way I'd have an electric vehicle - with the current battery limitations - is if it was a hybrid.  And that Lightning with the gas engine and electric motor/generator made sense to me.  It could power my house if needed, it could tow as much as my current truck, and it could go as far as a tank of gas will take it and then refill quickly to keep on keeping on.

Some day they'll have batteries that can take me a thousand miles in one charge and I'll be willing to drive one 'cause I won't be going more than about 750 in a day and can accept 250 miles as reserve.  But even then towing is going to cut that distance in half or less, so a truck is going to have to have some serious batteries to do what I have done.

Generally the plug-in hybrids don't have the battery capacity to "power your house".  A full electric might have something like a 200 - 400 mile range while a plug-in hybrid only has a 35 - 50 mile range (on battery alone).  The much shorter range is necessitated by not being able to afford the cost or weight of a huge bank of batteries when you also need a gas engine and transmission.  It might still have a way to use it as backup electricity for an emergency, but it's only so big a battery.

Right.  The previous Lightning had a 7.5KW generator if I remember correctly.  That's not enough to power our whole house, but if we were cautious we'd have enough power to run the furnace and plenty of lights, modem, TV, etc.  But the engine on the truck would have to be running.