I think we lost the other thread about EV’s but tomorrow I’m going to drive a Lightning Flash. This is Upstate, and I don’t think I’ll get the deal that I want but I do think I’ll be able to find a good deal on Long Island. This should be fun. I’m offering a low price because I don’t think the Lightning is selling very well anymore and I’m basically willing to take it off of the dealers hands.
I’ll let you know how it goes and tell you what I think of the Lightning Flash tomorrow
Interested. If Ford could match the financing I have on the current gasser 150 I’d make the swap.
(That thread should be in the next batch import…fingers crossed anyways.)
We don’t need a huge truck, but we have tested a bunch of EVs: Bolt, Mach E, Ariya, Equinox EV, EV6, and Ioniq 5. No teslas (quite intentionally). Thinking of making the leap, just not sure when. Seems like, the longer we wait, the lower the prices get …
My wife has a Mach E. She really likes it (how it drives, quick acceleration, comfortable) but her only complaint is the charging infrastructure. She does a lot of traveling for work so she’s often searching for public chargers which comes with its challenges.
It failed for lack of an opening rear window. I’m really surprised that one isn’t available but it’s something that I’ve used in all my smaller trucks and they’ve all had longer beds than the Lightning. When I pick up long stuff, I just slide it through the window and across the bed if it’s longer than 8 ft.
It’s kind of ridiculous that I’d be driving this huge pick up and if I can’t carry anything longer than 8ft.
But wow, is it nice to drive. It has all the comfort, all the power, and all the handling you could ever imagine. And every convenience you could ever imagine.
But it is huge for no reason other than to be huge. I think the non opening window is a deal breaker, but it’s by far, far the nicest thing I’ve ever driven.
The price so far is just over $58,000. I know I can do better if I want to.
Can you put in an aftermarket slider? It may not be nearly wired and conveniently opened from a dash switch.
I am honest-to-God shocked that’s not available on any Lightning that isn’t a Platinum in 2024. It used to be.
We didn’t think of it until we were on the way home in my wife’s Rav4. We had stopped at HD and I picked up a bundle of 8 ft 1x2’s. They were inside going from the shifter to the tail gate. My wife asked how I would carry long stuff and I thought about the non-opening rear window. She called the salesman and he said it’s not available.
I looked all over online when I got home and it’s no good. Next week I’m going to look at the KIA ev9. I’ll measure but I bet I can get 10 ft stuff inside and it has roof racks if I need to tie anything on-top.
You of course are missing the big picture. This gives your the reason/excuse that you now must buy a trailer to be able to transport those items back from the store…
I do get it, Owned a Dodge Grand Caravan - it could fit full 4x8 sheets of plywood/sheetrock in the back. 10 ft lumber down the center. It was awesome to load that thing up.
Now, the handful of times that I need, I have it delivered, or rent the truck or trailer from the store as needed. I did not stop my purchase for something that I just need once twice a year. I considered the other items that I love to use daily.
I think the EV9 comes with roof rails in the mid tiers and racks only in the top tier. The lowest tier doesn’t get the rails, otherwise that is what I would get (the long range version). Around here EV9s are being advertised for $15-$20k under MSRP.
You do realize you can put the tailgate down on a pickup truck right? That allows you to put longer items in the box the few times you need to. They also make bed extenders that connect into the hitch receiver. Those are great for the once in a while lumber hauling. That seems like a much more solid option than having the long items half in the truck and half in the bed. Easier to secure and no worries it will slide into the windshield if you brake too hard or get rear ended.
I do understand what you are saying. I’ve driven small pickups since 1984 when I got my first Ford Ranger. I did side work and built my house using those small trucks and I know how to get the most out of them.
The maximum rear overhang with a flag is 4 ft. With a 5’5’’ bed, your max legal lumber would be 10 ft. I needed 1 length of 2’’ pvc pipe recently. I went to Lowe’s, opened my back window, shoved it in and drove away. Same with lumber up to 16 ft
What I don’t like with the Lightning is the lack of truck functionality. Here you have a 21 ft long, 8 ft wide, over 6 ft tall, 8000# truck that’s not made for carrying things. You can’t put anything in the bed without lowering the tailgate, the top of the bed is almost at shoulder height for a 6 ft man. With the tailgate down, the bed is above my belly button. That’s a long way to lift cut/unspilt firewood, wood pellets or large rocks. Those are some of the things I’ve carried in my Nissan last year.
Driving the Lightning was really great and it was easy to fall in love with it, but the lack of any real truck functionality really makes it just a giant luxury car with no truck lid.
I own a 2019 F150 XLT SuperCrew. So…pretty much the same dimensions as a Lightning, minus the extra weight of the battery pack.
I suppose it is helpful that I am 6’3" with long arms, as I can manage to put stuff in and remove from the bed without the tailgate, although it does take a little effort. For firewood, it gets loaded with a bucket, and then removing is by lowering the gate and backing up on our downhill driveway.
But…yes…it is really just a full size SUV that happens to have an open bed for when I want/need it. Like, going to the dump. Or when we race direct and I need to go drop aid stations without making a mess inside a vehicle.
If we had not gotten $15K on the hood of it and 0% financing on it (hooray, buying at the start of the pandemic), we wouldn’t have it. And if we lived somewhere other than where we do, I probably wouldn’t have the truck, either.
I just sent an email to the local auto glass shop asking about installing an opening rear window.
Still thinking about the Lightning Flash!
You must go to the dump a lot! 
A lot of people here in my little Upstate town go to the dump every week. Before all of us city people moved in this was one of the poorest towns in NY (and it was surprisingly Republican). You can pay (expensive) for pick up or you can take it to the dump for $4 per big black bag. I take it to the dump or take it back to Long Island. That’s why I prefer to small pick-up to the Rav4 Prime.
So far the answer from 2 dealers is ‘‘no’’ on the pass through window. It looks like I’ll be waiting for a Tacoma Prime.
A back rack would solve your problem. Also, the new trucks with the rear slider I would be very hesitant to slide things through. It’s not like the old trucks where the bottom of the window there was solid metal or plastic rail there to support whatever you’re carrying. Now it’s just glass.
I use my rear slider the same way you do, but on a newer truck there’s no way in hell I’d take that chance. A back rack is probably cheaper than replacing that whole rear window contraption.
Also, my good friend just bought an f150 lightning, and it died on him randomly while going through an intersection. Just completely lost power, including power steering and power brakes. He’s lucky he wasn’t killed. Got the truck to a stop, turned it back on and it ran fine… That doesnt instill a whole lot of confidence. I’m not sure how comfortable I’d feel towing something with one.
I hear you on the size of modern pick ups. I have a 2016 titan xd. It’s a large truck, and the tailgate is just above my hips (I’m the same height as you).
It’s a pain in the ass to take stuff out of, then hop up in to the bed (which is no small task either…) to move everything else to within arms reach, hope back down, unload that etc.
The 5’5’’ bed really irks me. It’s such a big truck, but it’s not made for carrying stuff. It’s all style and no function.
And forget about towing. It sucks the battery dry.
I don’t want to criticize it. It’s just not for me.
If you think of it as an electric Ford Expedition with an open trunk instead of a third row (especially if you put a cover on the bed) it makes more sense.
Not a lot of sense…but more sense.
To the person who asked – I have a fully loaded bed that goes to the dump 2X per week. We’ve been getting rid of a ton of stuff and either trashing it, recycling it, or bringing it to the swap shop.
Yeah, the 5’5" bed is an issue for me too. And unfortunately it’s much too common on modern trucks. I have a full quad cab with a 6’8" bed and it is a LOT of vehicle to navigate so I can see the appeal of making it smaller as most families who buy an F150 really don’t need all that bed length.
It’s an interesting vehicle as its the first real electric truck (sorry, Elon) but it falls short in a lot of areas where you just need a truck to do truck things.
