The Briefing Room
General Category => Economy/Business => Topic started by: PeteS in CA on May 25, 2021, 05:22:47 pm
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Ford's electric pickup truck isn't ready for the heartland
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/05/25/fords-electric-pickup-truck-isnt-ready-for-the-heartland-n392312 (https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/05/25/fords-electric-pickup-truck-isnt-ready-for-the-heartland-n392312)
Ford’s launch of its new electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck received a serious boost when President Joe Biden became the unwitting spokesperson for the new “green” vehicle this week. The ethics of a sitting president providing free advertising for one company over its competition is a serious question, but there are other issues with the new brand that Ford will need to address. Pickup trucks remain popular in America, even among people who rarely do anything that would require that sort of carrying capacity. But the trucks doing the real work tend to be located in rural, agricultural areas. How well will the F-150 lightning perform out on a ranch? It sounds like they can haul heavy loads well enough, but many in the target market aren’t so sure that the restrictions imposed by the vehicle’s recharging requirements will make the practical. (NBC News)
The technology “isn’t quite there yet,” said Tim Esterdahl, a long-time pickup owner in Nebraska who frequently posts about trucks on YouTube.
“My problem with a truck like Lightning is the trade-off you have to make in rural areas where there’s no real infrastructure,” he told NBC News. The more weight loaded into the bed, the bigger the trailer you’re towing, the more the range drops.
While Esterdahl said he likes electrification and owns a Ford F-150 PowerBoost, a conventional hybrid version of the truck, he said taking the Lightning to “the family’s favorite camping site” would likely mean detours and hours of charging. That’s not going to work with a young family onboard, he said.
Gee, what farmer doesn't want to has his/her pick-up battery go dead when a quarter or half a mile away from any sort of building (let alone a charging station!)?!
This is the stupidity of goobernment subsidies. Inferior products get built because gooberment makes it profitable. Meanwhile, the money needed for research that might lead to an economically viable product got diverted into producing inferior crap.
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Gee, what farmer doesn't want to has his/her pick-up battery go dead when a quarter or half a mile away from any sort of building (let alone a charging station!)?!
A half mile ain't so bad. The last time I broke down hard, it took me three days to get back to pavement.
Pickups, bikes and snow machines, you just can't mess around. All of em take you far, far beyond a comfortable walk back.
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What will happen is this. Ford will see an early sales frenzy to your "Urban Cowboy's" and green wienies. These are people who never set foot out in the country much less ever leave the paved roads 35 miles from their homes. Ford will think this will spell sales like they haven't seen since Lee Iococa convinced Hank Ford to build the Mustang.
The real buyers of Ford trucks, people who actually get their hands dirty and work for a living are going to stay away from the POS in droves. Biggest winner here will be Ram Trucks and maybe Chevy. But knowing GM...they will e'f it up royally. Because if anything is true about GM it is they will fix anything that isn't broken.
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What will happen is this. Ford will see an early sales frenzy to your "Urban Cowboy's" and green wienies. These are people who never set foot out in the country much less ever leave the paved roads 35 miles from their homes. Ford will think this will spell sales like they haven't seen since Lee Iococa convinced Hank Ford to build the Mustang.
The real buyers of Ford trucks, people who actually get their hands dirty and work for a living are going to stay away from the POS in droves. Biggest winner here will be Ram Trucks and maybe Chevy. But knowing GM...they will e'f it up royally. Because if anything is true about GM it is they will fix anything that isn't broken.
GM f'd themselves with me with the Obama bailout that screwed stockholders royally and rewarded the UAW. I'll walk before I drive a GM product.
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The entry model starts at $39,974 MSRP (commercial-oriented). More-equipped mid-series (XLT) starts at $52,974 MSRP, offering additional comfort and technology. MSRP starting at $39,974 up to around $90,474.
https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/2022/
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The entry model starts at $39,974 MSRP (commercial-oriented). More-equipped mid-series (XLT) starts at $52,974 MSRP, offering additional comfort and technology. MSRP starting at $39,974 up to around $90,474.
https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/2022/
@thackney
Their desiginated market is Urban Cowboys that like to play "Dress up" on a Sattidy Night and go visit cowboy bars.
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@thackney
Their desiginated market is Urban Cowboys that like to play "Dress up" on a Sattidy Night and go visit cowboy bars.
I think so. There is a very large market buying trucks that never leave pavement, unlike mine, every day, at home and at work.
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I wonder how far one of those electric F-150's will go towing a full-sized 5th-wheel RV behind it...?
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I wonder how far one of those electric F-150's will go towing a full-sized 5th-wheel RV behind it...?
About 150 mile with a tail wind.
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I wonder how far one of those electric F-150's will go towing a full-sized 5th-wheel RV behind it...?
@Fishrrman
Not to mention towing an equipment trailer with a backhoe on it.
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@Fishrrman
Not to mention towing an equipment trailer with a backhoe on it.
No problem, just find room on the back hoe trailer for the generator.
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No problem, just find room on the back hoe trailer for the generator.
@GtHawk
Or maybe get a pair of VERY long heavy gauge jumper cables made,and fire up the backhoe and let it recharge your truck as you drive?
Kinda turn it into a perpetual motion machine until you run out of diesel fuel.
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@Fishrrman
Not to mention towing an equipment trailer with a backhoe on it.
Well that's where I went too... But technically speaking... Nobody is pulling a backhoe around with an F150 :shrug: :whistle:
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GM f'd themselves with me with the Obama bailout that screwed stockholders royally and rewarded the UAW. I'll walk before I drive a GM product.
Nah. I drive GM, but they were all built before Obama, 2000 or earlier.
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@thackney
Their desiginated market is Urban Cowboys that like to play "Dress up" on a Sattidy Night and go visit cowboy bars.
If you had any idea how successful that gambit was with picking up chicks... me? I'll stick to my old beater cars.
I used to haul almost anything that could be hauled in a pickup truck in my station wagon, back when it worked a few years ago. (Eventually it wore out.) But the ladies were never all that impressed.
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@GtHawk
Or maybe get a pair of VERY long heavy gauge jumper cables made,and fire up the backhoe and let it recharge your truck as you drive?
Kinda turn it into a perpetual motion machine until you run out of diesel fuel.
The electric vehicles are not using a 12V battery.
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Nah. I drive GM, but they were all built before Obama, 2000 or earlier.
"Cash for Clunkers" killed the supply of those golden oldies!
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GM f'd themselves with me with the Obama bailout that screwed stockholders royally and rewarded the UAW. I'll walk before I drive a GM product.
Same.
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The electric vehicles are not using a 12V battery.
@thackney
Oh,well,I am certain there is some sort of device that can be connected between the two to create the juice you need. Yeah,it might cost more than your pu,but you can't have everything,right?
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"Cash for Clunkers" killed the supply of those golden oldies!
@Wingnut
Not as much as buttholes,mostly uptight women,and their GD zoning laws.
Young people looking for their first cars,or young couples needing a second car for the wife used to have no problem finding affordable used cars in their neighbors back yards they could use,but those days ended with the appearance of the yuppies.
Back when I was able to work only off and on,I had no trouble finding several good running cars for free by looking into back yards as I rode around,or just asking friends if they knew anybody that had a car in their backyards they wanted to get rid of. Back then LOTS of people would rather give their old car away to someone that needed it than to sell it for junk.
That is no longer an option for most people. Your Homeowners Organization own your house,your land,your cars,and your freaking soul,and you have nobody to blame for this but YOU.
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@thackney
Oh,well,I am certain there is some sort of device that can be connected between the two to create the juice you need. Yeah,it might cost more than your pu,but you can't have everything,right?
It is just too great a difference in the power output. You could get something to increase the voltage, but it would be like trying to jumpstart your car with a couple double AA.
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Another example of the urban provincialism that adds stupidity to the already foolish economic program of the left. Electric vehicles are great in urban areas where travel distances are short, adequate infrastructure to easily build convenient charging facilities exists and tail-pipe emissions are actually a potential health problem. Out here in the Great Plains, not so much.
The same for that other enthusiasm of the American left, light-rail. I enjoyed walking from my apartment to the station, taking SEPTA to the University station and walking to the math building at U.Penn on my second sabbatical. I could work on research, read a novel, get through my e-mail on the train, rather than devoting my attention to driving. Would there be any point in building a light-rail system in Kansas? Nope. It needs urban population density to make sense.
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I wonder how the automakers would figure the best way to charge me when my 4x4 is stuck out in the middle of a muddy pasture when the batteries emptied the charge?
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"Cash for Clunkers" killed the supply of those golden oldies!
It hurt. It sure messed up the used parts market, too (not so much as a license plate bolt could be salvaged and sold from vehicles sold as clunkers, and they were crushed).
As an aside, the program meant valuable space in salvage yards was taken up by vehicles that could not have any parts removed, like filling store shelves with stuff that could not be sold. Of course, the Gubmint took their sweet time getting around to buy up the stock from the yards, and it drove at least one I know of out of business, because they were not allowed to stack the vehicles that were doomed to be crushed.
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I wonder how the automakers would figure the best way to charge me when my 4x4 is stuck out in the middle of a muddy pasture when the batteries emptied the charge?
About $100 to roll the wheels, $2.50 a mile, and then hourly to charge it....
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About $100 to roll the wheels, $2.50 a mile, and then hourly to charge it....
I was thinking a portable windmill, but your answer is more likely.
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@thackney
Oh,well,I am certain there is some sort of device that can be connected between the two to create the juice you need. Yeah,it might cost more than your pu,but you can't have everything,right?
Shoot, out in the sticks? Some enterprising redneck will figger out how to git er done with Ryobi battries from over to the Home Depot.
And you think I'm joking.
And then your buddy will be braggin how he can get by with just 30 of the De-Walts.
And there won't be a drill battery to be found anywhere.
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Another example of the urban provincialism that adds stupidity to the already foolish economic program of the left. Electric vehicles are great in urban areas where travel distances are short, adequate infrastructure to easily build convenient charging facilities exists and tail-pipe emissions are actually a potential health problem. Out here in the Great Plains, not so much.
The same for that other enthusiasm of the American left, light-rail. I enjoyed walking from my apartment to the station, taking SEPTA to the University station and walking to the math building at U.Penn on my second sabbatical. I could work on research, read a novel, get through my e-mail on the train, rather than devoting my attention to driving. Would there be any point in building a light-rail system in Kansas? Nope. It needs urban population density to make sense.
@The_Reader_David
Oh,the left knows that very well. It is irrelevant to them because they plan on moving everybody not essential to farming,logging,etc,etc,etc into "partmints" in the city close to where they are assigned to work,where they can keep a close eye on them. Since they can walk or catch buses to work,they won't need cars.
Private cars will be for the ruling class only.
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Love my F-150, but it will never be run by a battery.
And honestly, I think Ford is stupid thinking there will be a sustainable market for this shit. We who like driving this love the gas guzzling power.
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I wonder how the automakers would figure the best way to charge me when my 4x4 is stuck out in the middle of a muddy pasture when the batteries emptied the charge?
LOL... I have a feeling AAA Membership fees are going to be going up in the future.
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Love my F-150, but it will never be run by a battery.
And honestly, I think Ford is stupid thinking there will be a sustainable market for this shit. We who like driving this love the gas guzzling power.
Honestly, I believe there will be a sustained market for this. It won't be you or me, but there are a lot of folks whose pickups never leave pavement and never drive past 300 miles at a time.
And I could be tempted by the hybrid version with 7.2 kW of electric power available for tools and the like. That part I could make real use of. During the Feb Freeze, a few reports of people keeping power in the house with them.
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Honestly, I believe there will be a sustained market for this. It won't be you or me, but there are a lot of folks whose pickups never leave pavement and never drive past 300 miles at a time.
And I could be tempted by the hybrid version with 7.2 kW of electric power available for tools and the like. That part I could make real use of. During the Feb Freeze, a few reports of people keeping power in the house with them.
I don't see anyone enjoying the roar of "cushman cart" rolling down the road as a selling point. I still stand this is a fad, and real rednecks like us are the target core customer. And it will be us who buying these things in the forseeable future.
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Love my F-150, but it will never be run by a battery.
And honestly, I think Ford is stupid thinking there will be a sustainable market for this shit. We who like driving this love the gas guzzling power.
Well, my chevy has run on electric... I drove it up on a trailer one time with the starter. It was not an epic experience. :laugh:
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I don't see anyone enjoying the roar of "cushman cart" rolling down the road as a selling point. I still stand this is a fad, and real rednecks like us are the target core customer. And it will be us who buying these things in the forseeable future.
And I think the pure gasoline power will always be there for that target customer. But this all electric extends their market reach to others. my 2¢, worth nothing more
cheers
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Love my F-150, but it will never be run by a battery.
And honestly, I think Ford is stupid thinking there will be a sustainable market for this shit. We who like driving this love the gas guzzling power.
@catfish1957
I can tell you precisely what Ford,GM,and all the other auto manufactures are thinking is "The government is guaranteeing our profits to make these things,so we are going to make them."
Anybody that doesn't think these manufactures aren't getting YUGE tax breaks as well as cash incentives to produce battery-powered cars and trucks just ain't been paying attention.
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Honestly, I believe there will be a sustained market for this. It won't be you or me, but there are a lot of folks whose pickups never leave pavement and never drive past 300 miles at a time.
And I could be tempted by the hybrid version with 7.2 kW of electric power available for tools and the like. That part I could make real use of. During the Feb Freeze, a few reports of people keeping power in the house with them.
@thackney
I agree. When the dust settles,it will be mandatory for half-ton pu's to be battery powered. I suspect diesel will remain king for a long time for the long-haul rigs,but battery-powered is the MANDATED "wave of the future" for we peons.
For one thing,it's a way for our political masters to keep us close to home and traveling around causing them trouble. For this reason alone I am predicting there will never be such a critter as a car or truck that can travel as fast as far as today's autos and trucks travel. Making sure travelers have to stop at designated recharging points is a good way to keep track of who is going where,and if they took any time-outs to get there.
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And I think the pure gasoline power will always be there for that target customer.
@thackney
Yes,and that "targeted customer will be a government official or immediate family member,and will have a permit to own a gasoline powered car or truck,and will have the "proper papers" to fill it up at a government gas station.
Rules and laws are for little people.
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Yes,and that "targeted customer will be a government official or immediate family member,and will have a permit to own a gasoline powered car or truck,and will have the "proper papers" to fill it up at a government gas station.
Rules and laws are for little people.
I do not think it will be that way in my lifetime. But I suspect taxes and price adders with exception for specific use will make it very similar without the "proper papers" required.
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Love my F-150, but it will never be run by a battery.
And honestly, I think Ford is stupid thinking there will be a sustainable market for this shit. We who like driving this love the gas guzzling power.
Considering somewhere between a third and a half of the fleet pickups I see in the oil patch are Fords, I wonder how long they think that will continue while they pimp a battery operated pickup?
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Considering somewhere between a third and a half of the fleet pickups I see in the oil patch are Fords, I wonder how long they think that will continue while they pimp a battery operated pickup?
@Smokin Joe
And the answer is,"For as long as the goobermint gives them tax breaks and guarantees they won't lose money by doing so."
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Considering somewhere between a third and a half of the fleet pickups I see in the oil patch are Fords, I wonder how long they think that will continue while they pimp a battery operated pickup?
Folks will just shuffle off to a F250.
Kinda how it goes anyhow. Were I to buy a new truck today, I would not be looking for a half ton. Heck, I don't think I would stop for an average 3/4T... Maybe a heavy with trailer package and overloads...
Yup, to get what I expect out of a truck, I would have to start in 1T and work my way up from there. This ain't so different.
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Folks will just shuffle off to a F250.
Kinda how it goes anyhow. Were I to buy a new truck today, I would not be looking for a half ton. Heck, I don't think I would stop for an average 3/4T... Maybe a heavy with trailer package and overloads...
Yup, to get what I expect out of a truck, I would have to start in 1T and work my way up from there. This ain't so different.
There are a lot of F250, F350s out there, everything is higher than stock, has a cowcatcher, and about half of the 1-tons are steel flatbed work trucks. Duallys abound.
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There are a lot of F250, F350s out there, everything is higher than stock, has a cowcatcher, and about half of the 1-tons are steel flatbed work trucks. Duallys abound.
Exactly the same up in here... Half-tons ain't really been part of the work force since the square-bodies went away.