2022 Ford Lightning Discussion

[CP]

I知 not seeing any advantage to bi-directional charging.  That is, unless you have an off-grid cabin or something similar.  What I知 I missing?  Why would Ford add the extra cost and complexity?

[kselkhunter]

I知 not seeing any advantage to bi-directional charging.  That is, unless you have an off-grid cabin or something similar.  What I知 I missing?  Why would Ford add the extra cost and complexity?

It functions as backup power for your home.   The Lightning is expected to be able to provide the average home backup power for 3 days, or up to 10 days if power is rationed. 


So saves you the cost of buying a backup generator for when the power goes out....which can get quite expensive for a whole house backup generator.     

[lamrith]

Ohh. Also worth noting.  Battery size came up and it was said battery size would be announced soon and that it should be in the 115-125kw range.

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[CP]

I知 not seeing any advantage to bi-directional charging.  That is, unless you have an off-grid cabin or something similar.  What I知 I missing?  Why would Ford add the extra cost and complexity?

It functions as backup power for your home.   The Lightning is expected to be able to provide the average home backup power for 3 days, or up to 10 days if power is rationed. 


So saves you the cost of buying a backup generator for when the power goes out....which can get quite expensive for a whole house backup generator.   

I understand all that; I just don't see this feature selling many trucks or swaying a buyer from truck A to truck F.  But maybe that's just me.

So it powers the house for a few days, then I'm out of power and I have a dead truck.  Still need backup power.

 

[Stein]

I think a lot of people could find value in that, power is usually out a couple hours to a day or two in most cases and that will keep you going.  During the outage, drive the other car to the store for your ice cream.

It's not much extra cost or complexity really, I'm surprised it has taken them this long actually as they have been talking about it for quite a while.  PV inverters have been bi-directional forever, same general technology in the charger.

Next step will be a home microgrid where you have the truck, a generator, PV, maybe extra batteries depending on what you want to do.  A big part of the country is tired of going without power when storms or fires happen.

I don't see it as being the thing that sells the truck though, just an added benefit.  They won't have any problem selling those trucks, they are desperately trying to make as many as possible before the competition catches up.

[royalhntr]

Anyone else make it to a Lighting event at Wildwaves?  I was a big underwhelmed by the consumer event yesterday.  Truck looks great and the ride along was great, but that was it, the rest was all stuff seen before and no presentations or speaking.  Staff was there but no push or promo of the vehicle.

The Pro event today was another thing.  It was all presentations, much info we have heard before, but some tidbits not known here and there.  Def felt like a better experience.  The ride alongs were different too, as they had one trailer pulling a 5000# trailer.  It pulled it like it was not even there, even up the slop in the parking lot.  No data on towing range yet but they are working on building data and a towing curve.

The bidirectional power is sounding better.  They had partnered with Sunrun initially, but it sounds like Ford is changing direction and bringing the install service inhouse and have bought a company to handle the consumer and fleet side charging installs.  I hung around after that presentation and asked about what made it different and needing special installer and the guy said that was just to provide a one stop solution for the customer.  Any licensed electrician could install the bi-directional 80A charging setup.  That is great news imho.

Speaking of bringing inhouse, it also sounds like they are bringing more and more things inhouse.  I have a feeling the whole chip and other shortages has really chaffed their hide.  They even said they are bringing battery production inhouse.

Interesting note, the 4 lightnings on this tour are all handbuilt prototypes, hence no public driving.  These things HAUL bigtime.  Even in the rain today the awd was hooking up and screaming around the course.

I attended yesterdays pro presentation. The ride along was impressive as was the trailer towing. That truck is so fast for the general public to be driving. Its a 6500 lb missile. That's basically an f250 crew cab diesel that can do 0-60 in 4.4 or 5.4 depending on who you ask. I was able to drive the new f150 responder, that is a great well balanced truck.

I was on the fence about the lightning until yesterday. I would probable shell out the extra money for the bigger battery for the extra power. I still can't believe how well it handled the autocross course, it felt more planted than the PIUs they let us drive.

[lamrith]

I知 not seeing any advantage to bi-directional charging.  That is, unless you have an off-grid cabin or something similar.  What I知 I missing?  Why would Ford add the extra cost and complexity?

It functions as backup power for your home.   The Lightning is expected to be able to provide the average home backup power for 3 days, or up to 10 days if power is rationed. 


So saves you the cost of buying a backup generator for when the power goes out....which can get quite expensive for a whole house backup generator.   

I understand all that; I just don't see this feature selling many trucks or swaying a buyer from truck A to truck F.  But maybe that's just me.

So it powers the house for a few days, then I'm out of power and I have a dead truck.  Still need backup power.

 

True enough.  I know the power company I have I we rarely have an outage that lasts more than 24hrs.  Only time it was longer was a few years back when the feed lines for the entire puget sound went down a number of years back.  For me 3 days would be way more than needed.    Folks could also lower their power consumption, it could last longer as the 3 day estimate was based on 30Kwh a day.  Drop back to just keeping fridge and a few lights going

Anyone else make it to a Lighting event at Wildwaves?  I was a big underwhelmed by the consumer event yesterday.  Truck looks great and the ride along was great, but that was it, the rest was all stuff seen before and no presentations or speaking.  Staff was there but no push or promo of the vehicle.

The Pro event today was another thing.  It was all presentations, much info we have heard before, but some tidbits not known here and there.  Def felt like a better experience.  The ride alongs were different too, as they had one trailer pulling a 5000# trailer.  It pulled it like it was not even there, even up the slop in the parking lot.  No data on towing range yet but they are working on building data and a towing curve.

The bidirectional power is sounding better.  They had partnered with Sunrun initially, but it sounds like Ford is changing direction and bringing the install service inhouse and have bought a company to handle the consumer and fleet side charging installs.  I hung around after that presentation and asked about what made it different and needing special installer and the guy said that was just to provide a one stop solution for the customer.  Any licensed electrician could install the bi-directional 80A charging setup.  That is great news imho.

Speaking of bringing inhouse, it also sounds like they are bringing more and more things inhouse.  I have a feeling the whole chip and other shortages has really chaffed their hide.  They even said they are bringing battery production inhouse.

Interesting note, the 4 lightnings on this tour are all handbuilt prototypes, hence no public driving.  These things HAUL bigtime.  Even in the rain today the awd was hooking up and screaming around the course.

I attended yesterdays pro presentation. The ride along was impressive as was the trailer towing. That truck is so fast for the general public to be driving. Its a 6500 lb missile. That's basically an f250 crew cab diesel that can do 0-60 in 4.4 or 5.4 depending on who you ask. I was able to drive the new f150 responder, that is a great well balanced truck.

I was on the fence about the lightning until yesterday. I would probable shell out the extra money for the bigger battery for the extra power. I still can't believe how well it handled the autocross course, it felt more planted than the PIUs they let us drive.

you were there for the PI event before hand?  I came in just as that was ending around 12:15, those rigs were scooting around the course quick!  I have been sold on the Lightning for a while, the ride along just cemented it in even more.

[royalhntr]

Yes I did both events. They wouldn't pull out the 3.0 ecoboost PIU because it was raining. Two years ago I drove one in the rain and it was a handful. They must have had an incident at some point directing that decision. That car is great for state patrols getting up to highway speed but overkill for city use. An Explorer ST would be a fun SUV for sure.

The guy driving the Lightning on the quick course is really good, so is his buddy I didn't see there this time. They took us for a ride in a piu that had me wondering how we didn't roll over.

Did the Lighting presenter tell your group the front trunk was good for putting a dead deer in because you can wash out the blood with a hose? I thought that was great.

[lamrith]

Yes I did both events. They wouldn't pull out the 3.0 ecoboost PIU because it was raining. Two years ago I drove one in the rain and it was a handful. They must have had an incident at some point directing that decision. That car is great for state patrols getting up to highway speed but overkill for city use. An Explorer ST would be a fun SUV for sure.

The guy driving the Lightning on the quick course is really good, so is his buddy I didn't see there this time. They took us for a ride in a piu that had me wondering how we didn't roll over.

Did the Lighting presenter tell your group the front trunk was good for putting a dead deer in because you can wash out the blood with a hose? I thought that was great.

HAHA no he didn't, hunting was not brought up in our group.  I was impressed with the lightning driver as well.  you could tell he knew the truck well they way he threw it around.

[CP]

I think a lot of people could find value in that, power is usually out a couple hours to a day or two in most cases and that will keep you going.  During the outage, drive the other car to the store for your ice cream.

It's not much extra cost or complexity really, I'm surprised it has taken them this long actually as they have been talking about it for quite a while.  PV inverters have been bi-directional forever, same general technology in the charger.

Next step will be a home microgrid where you have the truck, a generator, PV, maybe extra batteries depending on what you want to do.  A big part of the country is tired of going without power when storms or fires happen.

I don't see it as being the thing that sells the truck though, just an added benefit.  They won't have any problem selling those trucks, they are desperately trying to make as many as possible before the competition catches up.

Okay, I can see how a giant, self-propelled, Goal Zero Yeti might come in handy.  Especially if it can tow my boat and haul a load of firewood. 

If it痴 not much extra cost, great.  But as a stock owner, I hope Ford is doing their market research and not just throwing every feature they can think up into this.  I壇 like to see them selling these trucks for a profit.     

[Stein]

It may also take road hunting to a new level, much easier to sneak up on something than rolling an aftermarket turbo wheel up the road.

[royalhntr]

They told us you can set the truck up to shut down the aux power outlets before you don't have enough energy to get you back home. It also remembers all your trailers and can calculate range over a given path, perhaps after you have travelled before, or maybe a cloud knowledge sharing thing  The towing package supposedly can show your tongue weight thresholds at the rear tail led tailight segments so you don't go over. It only has 9 inches of ground clearance so hopefully they end up offering a more off road capable version in the future.

[CP]

I may have been completely wrong in Poo Pooing the bidirectional charging feature.  After talking to a resident of Palm Springs, where they have to deal with frequent blacks-outs, rolling brown-outs, and time-of-use rate plans, he convinced me that this feature is a big deal and it痴 just going to get bigger. 

According to him, the lowly Nissan Leaf is popular there because it is one of the few EVs that has this feature and EV owners there will not be buying a new vehicle without bidirectional charging. 

[Stein]

We get pretty spoiled with abundant, reliable and cheap power up here.  It's even virtually all renewable unless you go by the definitions in Olympia.

If you had TOU pricing it would be a slam dunk, especially if your employer charged for free.  Charge it up at work, drive home, discharge during peak during dinner, back to charging at cheap rates overnight, do the same in the morning and then repeat.

Only question would be what does all that extra usage do to battery capacity life?

[CP]

Yep, paying these rates would suck.