Just a heads up: for F-150 Lightning owners "Ford Motor Company is recalling select 2022 through 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning pickups over an issue with the high voltage battery cells. The defect: in affected vehicles, a manufacturing defect in the high voltage battery cells may result in an internal short circuit after repeated charge and discharge cycles. This is due to production process deviations at the supplier, which may result in the electrodes in the high voltage battery cells being misaligned. The hazards: after repeated charge and discharge cycles, the vehicle could experience an internal short circuit in the battery which could result in a fire. Owners are advised to only charge their Ford F-150 Lightning to a maximum of 80 percent battery capacity until necessary repairs can be made. Affected vehicles: select 2022 through 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning pickups built between March 16th, 2022, and August 14th, 2024." NHTSA 25S18 RCLRPT-25V131-1389.PDF Transport Canada 2025110-FORD Transport Canada Recall - 2025110 - FORD - Canada.ca Sounds similar to Hyundai's (LG) cell production issue back a few years ago.
Yikes. I've been charging to 90%. Sounds like owners will be notified within the next couple weeks if vehicle is in the 1% affected.
I checked on the Ford website yesterday and today and no recall is listed for my truck built December 2022. Also NHTSA website shows no recalls on my specific tuck there either. The NHTSA only list a possible 950 trucks with the issue. Seems like very few trucks are affected. Grateful that mine is not one of them. I have only had one issue with the truck a defective rear window switch. It is covered under warranty but it is not worth my time to take it to the dealer. I rather buy the $50 switch and replace it myself in 15 minutes than drive 50 miles to the dealer and wait all day for them to fix it.
My son sure likes his new XLT Lightning, ...and so do I. I would like to get one, too, but my wife would kill me if I tried to sell or trade in the Solterra. It has become "her" car. I drive the Ioniq 6 and I am not about to give up that one either.
I love the truck but I have always driven sports cars as well. Usually I had an older truck and a newer sports car. This is the first time I bought a new truck. I wouldn't mind having a smaller vehicle but I don't really need two new cars. I have been watching for something I really like but haven't had any tickle my fancy yet. Plus the technology is really changing fast right now. A lot of the newer cars are hitting 400 miles of range and 200 miles in ten minutes of charging. That would be great. The Audi a 6 looks interesting and the up coming Porsche 718 in 2027 might be nice but I would have to wait for a couple of years on those as the are out of my price range new. but I digress and this is off topic.
Well, we have the Solterra for off-road and going to the cabin. And we have the Ioniq 6 for trips. But we were missing a hauler for stuff, incl to the cabin. My son's new Lightning filled that gap. Also will now be using it to tow our boat, to and from the lake. We moor it at our cabin for the summer. Previously, used the Crosstrek for that. It is a 3500 lb boat, so the Lightning will be better suited for that. I also have a Class 3 hitch and wiring harness on my Solterra, but won't be using it to tow the boat. Went out the cabin a few times already with my son in his Lightning. Handled the road pretty well, but not quite as smooth over the bumps and holes as the Solterra. I told him he needs to air down a bit more, and see if that helps. We'll see. The Solterra has a really good off-road suspension, long range with soft on top, and stiff on the bottom. My old Crosstrek wasn't bad either, soft on top, but would bottom out too easily on the bigger bumps/holes, esp if loaded. Not the Solterra, though. The ground clearance on the Lightning and Solterra are about the same, as we have one size over on the sidewall on each giving us about 8.8". The Solterra is also exceptional at climbing steep grades, with its "grip mode" better than the other Subarus (which are pretty good also). We haven't tested how good the Lightning is with that yet, but should be OK for our type of off-roading (not rock crawling). But if something ever happens to the Solterra, I will be looking to buy a Lightning, and would be getting the long range battery, and the Platinum trim. My wife would probably switch over to driving the I6, which she does sometimes. I don't think she will like parking the truck in a grocery parking lot.
