Lift Kit on Lightning.
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I've never ventured into lifts, but I do know the rear suspension is coils and not leafs, so you may need a modded or custom kit to make it happen day 1. I'm sure there will eventually be aftermarket kits, but there could be issues with HV wiring. You may likely have to replace some of them if they need to be longer to accommodate the lift.
I've wondered the same thing. That's where the Rivian, Hummer, Silverado are appealing. They all have adjustable air suspension. Big reason why I'm hesitant on getting the Lighting. I think Ford missed the boat on that one. Revised version, which they said will be a ground-up redesign as an EV to be released in 2 years will likely have it. The current Lightning unfortunately, is just a conversion of an ICE vehicle to an EV and misses out on many of the things that EV's generally benefit from. If Ford had done the Lightning more like a Raptor, then would have been a no-brainer for my styling preferences.
Could you elaborate on said things?
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I'm with you and to me it looks like the new lightning is even lower than a regular F-150. Of course if you go back to the original lightning in the 1990's that was a street truck and I think it might have actually been lowered so this kind of resembles that.
But that said I'm through with modding trucks and paying a fortune for big mud tires. It's money down the tubes. Money that can be used on the next one... that will probably have adjustable air suspension and sit higher up.
What I'm more concerned about is that from the pictures on the website it looks like there's quite a bit of gear hanging down near the rear axle. Supposedly 8.6" ground clearance but it looks lower in the pictures.
The renders on the Build & Price seem lower than actual pictures of real life Lightnings. I think they’re trying to show ride height with full 2,000 lbs of payload or something. It’s odd. I’d base your expectations on real photos, as it looks like an average F-150 ride height in those.
I think any mods for a lift or bigger tires will be guaranteed to kill the already pitiful range. If you don't pull a lot or major road trips that will be a moot point though - just pull in and charge each night.
I'm excited to have this truck, but am truly afraid of what we might miss out on as early adopters. I'm afraid of battery issues without better cooling and I'm afraid Ford could be making an albatross here knowing it will design updates in 2 years when they move to the new factory.
I'm excited to have this truck, but am truly afraid of what we might miss out on as early adopters. I'm afraid of battery issues without better cooling and I'm afraid Ford could be making an albatross here knowing it will design updates in 2 years when they move to the new factory.
Being the owner of two Tesla's and reading all I can about battery management, etc I'm on the fence with a few things. I've noted them other places, but the first is something as simple as the gear shifter. I'm on the fence, do I applaud Ford for leaving it because it is familiar and people like to rest their hand on it, or do you have to scratch your head for them leaving something so clunky and costly in the way. I know it is motorized, but Ford has also said the truck will put itself in Park if you leave open the door and leave the seat. Will it physically move the shifter to do this? Why add the complications, just remove it or change the way it functions. I'm sure my love for Tesla and the things they have simplified are showing through, but you just have to wonder, is this only step one and in two years will there be bigger updates that leave these first two years of trucks as albatrosses.
I’m with you on the shifter. I don’t care for it either. I don’t recall where it was mentioned, but F-Series customers have been surveyed and they want the shifter. I suspect it will eventually go away or be minimized.
I like the knobs in other Ford vehicles, but apparently that’s a turn off to many truck buyers.
2021 Mustang Mach E First Edition, 2016 Nissan Leaf, 2003 Toyota Tacoma, F-150 Lightning Lariat ER
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2021 Mustang Mach E First Edition, 2016 Nissan Leaf, 2003 Toyota Tacoma, F-150 Lightning Lariat ER
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3,832 Posts
I just had the chance to climb in and out of one and it felt like the height of a standard F-150 to me.
The F-150 Lightning for 2022 and at least 2023 is simply an existing F-150 with all the drivetrain components removed and replaced with the electric drivetrain (motors, batteries, etc). It is still an old styled body on frame truck with separated mounted bed. All the new trucks, Rivian, Hummer and Silverado were designed from the ground up to be EV's. Note that none of those have a separate bed, they are all incorporated into to the rest of the body. Ford has stated that they are designing an all new EV truck. Last I read, was originally slated for 2024. Whether they make that time frame or not is to be determined. But, it will certainly be a far superior EV truck to the current offering and will make the existing F-150 Lightning pretty obsolete when it comes out. Many of the big manufacturers have done similar conversions with their cars to meet federal guidelines. But in each case, they were basically compliance vehicles. Until Tesla proved that there is a market for EV's, none of the big manufacturers wanted to develop them. Now, times have changed and they all realize they have to. A small start up company has a 10 year head start on all of them thanks to Elon Musk making the investment. There will very unlikely be any new models offered that are the same as their ICE counterparts. The F-150 is probably the last one. There are so many advantages to an EV that can be taken advantage of when designed from the start as an EV. Manufacturers are significantly limited in what they can do with a conversion.
2021 Mustang Mach E First Edition, 2016 Nissan Leaf, 2003 Toyota Tacoma, F-150 Lightning Lariat ER
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Ford has committed to building the F-150 Lightning as a part of the Gen14 F-150s for MY2022, 2023, and 2024. The soonest Ford might release a new version of the Lightning would be MY2025.
The best information at this point indicates there will be a refresh of the Gen14 F-150 in MY 2025:
Ford has indicated it will produce a "next-generation electric Ford F-Series model, which will ride on its own dedicated platform" at the new Blue Oval City facility in Tennessee. Construction has not begun on that facility.
Whether Ford will produce the new electric F-150 for MY2025 is still subject of speculation.
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One of the photos that I remember right off the bat is the photo shown on the configurator that Cutler03gt has for their avatar. If you look around the rear axle, and of course this just might be some artificial drop shadowing, but it looks like there's some stuff there. But your photos do not show anything there and if my memory serves me it has the same ground clearance as a Toyota Tacoma TRD Offroad that I used to have which had no difficulty with ground clearance although the seating position was low to the ground. About the height of a typical minivan or large crossover.
Probably more likely as it will take them till 2024 just to get through the orders they have probably. Then, they'll probably put us through this whole ridiculous pre-order process again. So, 2025 will mean 2026 or 2027 for most. I have to say, I miss the days of going to the dealer, test driving a vehicle I liked and taking it home that night. This 2-3 year wait for cars takes away what benefits dealers provided. I have a truck on order, in production and haven't spoken to the dealer once. What good are they?
2021 Mustang Mach E First Edition, 2016 Nissan Leaf, 2003 Toyota Tacoma, F-150 Lightning Lariat ER
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Those aren’t photos on the colorizer, they’re all computer generated images.
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