F-150 Lightning - EV

So with charging stations being in a typical car parking space, how does this work in a pickup truck and you’re towing? You’re expecting the driver to unhook the trailer to charge?
Actually, Tesla Supercharger locations tend to have some trailer-friendly stalls where you can just drive through, so you don't have to reverse or unhitch the trailer.
 
Actually, Tesla Supercharger locations tend to have some trailer-friendly stalls where you can just drive through, so you don't have to reverse or unhitch the trailer.

Except in Freedomland the forced standard of All Chargers Must Use a Standard Plug isn't a thing here. So Tesla is separate from everybody else. Their ever expansive network is pointless for a non-Tesla person.
 
So Tesla is separate from everybody else. Their ever expansive network is pointless for a non-Tesla person.
Same here. Same plug, but only Tesla allowed.

however, other operators also design their HPC stations with pull-through / trailer setups…
 

... he estimates 150+ kWh battery (literally "140-200"), but on super wobbly assumptions. Which seems crazy, shouldn't be possible at the prices quoted.
 
I didn't realize the 230/300 range numbers were bassed on carrying a 1,000lb payload. ?
 
I didn't realize the 230/300 range numbers were bassed on carrying a 1,000lb payload. ?
Well, to be fair - and I honestly wonder why MKBHD doesn't mention this - weight doesn't have that much of an effect on range for an EV (ofc it does, but it's not as crazy as is made out here, where a 300mi range minus 1000lb turns into 450 or something). That's also why I'm rather doubtful of the battery assumptions.

I do wonder how long until someone tries to use all of the AC sockets with proper loads and realizes that it won't work :p Yes, 9,6 kW is very beefy, but still, with those 100 bloody sockets I can easily see someone overdoing it by just not thinking about it.
 
The initial deployment is likely aimed at people who only tow occasionally in small trips and want the electric for commuting use. Some garages near my office downtown have put EV-only spots with chargers in prime parking spots, so the guy-who-doesnt-actually-need-a-truck-but-is-in-love-with-the-image can commute into work, grab one of those spots, commute back, and have plenty of range to tow his jetskis to the local lake on weekends without having to bother with charging along the journey.

You don't need more than a Ford Fiesta to tow a jetski though.
 
Well, to be fair - and I honestly wonder why MKBHD doesn't mention this - weight doesn't have that much of an effect on range for an EV (ofc it does, but it's not as crazy as is made out here, where a 300mi range minus 1000lb turns into 450 or something). That's also why I'm rather doubtful of the battery assumptions.

Yeah, if there's a lot of starting and stopping, it'll have a much bigger impact than it would have once up to highway speeds...where a truck's CoD won't be doing it any favors anyway...

I do wonder how long until someone tries to use all of the AC sockets with proper loads and realizes that it won't work :p Yes, 9,6 kW is very beefy, but still, with those 100 bloody sockets I can easily see someone overdoing it by just not thinking about it.

He mentioned "tools that aren't normally battery operated" and "table saws." That perked my ears a bit, because while I know there are cordless table saws, I can trip my home's circuit with my plug-in table saw when I'm really stressing it. Then again, that's a 10" saw, and most jobsite saws are smaller...so maybe it is possible...can a single plug on the F150 output 1500 watts+?
 
The only socket that I could make out some rating stated 120V/20A - so that’s 1/4 of the total power available already :D
 
Wonder if we’ll see these in Europe now that they’ve fixed the one issue many Europeans have with US pickups: fuel economy.

I grew up with the family vehicle being a 4x4 hilux, but being Finland it was an atmospheric diesel with horsepower output somewhere in the 70’s. Top speed with 4x4 engaged was around 100km/h. I also remember never having a proper trunk for stuff.

The F-150 Lightning fixes all of these things. I want one.
 


I knew trucks and vans would be a better place to start.
 
Wonder if we’ll see these in Europe now that they’ve fixed the one issue many Europeans have with US pickups: fuel economy.

I grew up with the family vehicle being a 4x4 hilux, but being Finland it was an atmospheric diesel with horsepower output somewhere in the 70’s. Top speed with 4x4 engaged was around 100km/h. I also remember never having a proper trunk for stuff.

The F-150 Lightning fixes all of these things. I want one.

The ford will be 80" (203cm) wide. How does that compare to the vehicle you think it'd most likely replace?
 
The ford will be 80" (203cm) wide. How does that compare to the vehicle you think it'd most likely replace?

Google tells me a bog standard Ford Transit is 83.2” wide. Its competitors are probably very similar.

Not saying the F-150 will replace a Transit but that’s one of the bread and butter vans that keep Europe running and drivers don’t have any issues with them being too big.
 
How are "pre-production" production vehicles different from...I guess "production" production vehicles?
 
How are "pre-production" production vehicles different from...I guess "production" production vehicles?


Pre-production vehicles are the ones they build to refine the production and find any problems that need to be fixed.
 
Let's take a random automotive manufacturer.

It will normally go like this:

- Design of car
- Engineering
- Matching Design and Engineering and making compromises
- Developing parts and dependencies
- Start checking for space conflicts in 3D with other parts
- Start developing special tools - again with available space for assembly in mind

Once this is done, car will enter a slow manual build up process, where maybe 10-20 cars are being built, slowly, in a specialised factory by hand.
This is to make sure the dependencies fit, tools work etc.. During this process, tools and assembly steps are verified, put in order etc..
These cars will run first road tests, those are the ones you often see with some fake headlights etc....

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After that, you bring the car to the plant and send the first pre-runners down the line. Those cars are almost series level of development (so all parts on that will go onto customer cars. Those cars will be used for extended testing, crash testing etc.....Normally, I'd expect a manufacturer to run at least two, normally three phases of these cars, during each phase shift new engineering solutions/part levels etc will be introduced based on previous experiences. Let's say the center console has a rattle in Pre-phase 1, so they change the clips for Pre-phase 2 and verify again.

The last phase cars are on customer level, these cars are also used for press events, motor shows etc.

Now since the cars from last phase are de facto customer level cars, but built before start of official production, you CAN upgrade them to customer spec (mainly software or removal of diagnostics). This is perfectly fine, UNLESS you just sell them to customers without doing that.

But what manufacturer would DO THAT
 
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