Kyle from Out of Spec Drives The Lightning

[MilliM]

I have a R1S deposit from 4/19 (LE preorder) and a Lightning deposit from the reveal event that I converted to a deposit/order on a Platinum on 3/30/22. Alleged May/June delivery window on Rivian, but obviously that’s not happening. Build week of 5/30 on Lightning and “Blend” date of 6/3.

I’ve never owned a truck, and not counting my dad’s 64.5 Mustang that is now mine have never owned a domestic car. Ever since 4/19 I’ve been obsessing over the R1S, loved the first drive event. When I put my deposit down for the Lightning it was a hedge and didn’t think I’d actually follow through.

Fast forward to a Joshua Tree camping trip with my twins this past March. Something clicked. In addition to our XC90 being loaded to the gills with just the three of us (similar size to R1S not including frunk), we got a ride to another campsite in someone’s full size GMC. I thought to myself how nice all that space was, and how pleasant it was all-around. That experience, plus all the uncertainty around Rivian timing, drove me to place the Lightning order.

Since then I’ve been increasingly more excited about the Ford. The Lightning is nowhere remotely as cool as the R1S. Nor will it off-road like the R1S. Nor will it handle like the R1S. That said, I live about 5 miles from Rivian HQ and my commute is two right turns, a left and a straight shot on the freeway for about 7 miles. My opportunities to do “adventure” or “spirited” driving will be few and far between, and I’m sure the Lightning can likely handle any trail that I would realistically throw its way (I doubt I’d do anything crazier than the drive Ford did at the winery).

We do, however, suffer from power outages in my part of OC due to either high winds/fire risk, or excessive grid demand. We have solar but no battery backup. The V2H and 9kw of power with the Lightning would give me a peace of mind that, unless I get a ton of battery backups for the house, I don’t have today.

I totally get that it’s not for everyone, and I may end up hating driving a full size pickup, but I have yet to find a review where people didn’t load heaps of praise on the Lightning for what it is and what it can do.

TLDR - if I was more adventurous and cooler I’d be more excited about the R1S, but I’m now a practical middle-aged guy in suburbia that might genuinely find the Lightning a better fit.

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[junkanoo]

my deposit is for an R1S. we need a vehicle that can carry four adults and our two large dog crates inside. Through work I have access to a Ford F-250,F350, and an F550. The F series is a great line of trucks but they are utility vehicles unless optioned way up to Platinum prestige Lariat or whatever dumb name they use. A base lightning,as others have stated, is not in the same class as a Rivian. Even when well optioned it will have parts that look and feel cheap on a $30k vehicle never mind a $70k vehicle. we used to refer to the less expensive dealer optioned cars as “strippers”. this referred to them being stripped of all the nice options and details (the opposite of the other type of “stripper“ I guess….. ) Personally the interior design and fit/finish is important to me- that’s where my family and I spend our time interacting with the vehicle. I want and will pay for it to be as nice as possible. I saw my first Rivian up close this weekend and it looks and feels amazing. I have not seen the Lighting but I am pretty confident it looks and feels cheap by comparison. for me the most attractive thing about the Lightning is the 9KW poster output ( it can power my remote off grid cabin) and the potential for lockers and Apple CarPlay

Yes, but it's a vehicle that you neither want nor need. But, the Ford Lightning will be much less an outlier in Maine than an Audi RS5 owner such as yourself.

I'm of the mindset that those that ever use the word "prestige" when discussing trucks really don't want a truck to be a truck.

 

[CharonPDX]

I read an article today that said that folks don't cross shop the F150 and R1T - they cross shop the R1T and the Mach-E which I thought was kinda wild, but then I realized it was true for me. I looked at the Mach-E seriously as well as the EV6. I had my finger on the button to preorder a F150 and realized I would never want to drive one.

LOL. I bought a Mach-E to replace a BMW i3 a few months ago after ruling the Mach-E out as "SUV+truck replacement" last year.

And I absolutely am cross-shopping F-150 Lightning and R1T. Have preorders for both, with R1T now finally due soon, Lightning pushed out to 2023 model year of unknown timing. My use case will be "towing a travel trailer" plus daily commuter. There are things about both I like, but in the end, I'll only keep one. Probably drive the Lightning for a month just to see if it happens to be better than the Rivian for our main uses, but most likely will end up selling the Lightning. Off chance could keep the Lightning and sell the R1T. (If it were possible for "random people" to get the Lightning Pro with the big battery, rather than the big battery Pro only being available to fleets, we'd get the Pro+big battery. But since the XLT+big battery is only a couple thousand less than a Lariat+big battery, and the Lariat includes a lot better stuff, we'll end up getting the Lariat.)

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