The F-series isn't the most popular vehicle in America because there are only two types of buyers. Roughly, the answer to "who is a truck person?" is "everyone."
You unintentionally make my point. If "everyone" is a truck person then no one is a truck person.
Majority of people who own trucks do not use it as a truck... rather it's used like a glorified car or SUV. That clearly makes for two types of truck buyers, with two types of needs and wants.
An electric truck is not for professionals - it's for your office commuter who likes the idea of a truck. The Lightning fits that person perfectly, even if it's not a "good truck" by truck standards.
The problem was Ford billed it as a worksite truck for professionals.
Could you elaborate? It sounds like you're trying to suggest that towing an RV is the only use for a truck? But then you mentioned worksite, and the Lightning is very well suited for that (says my next-door neighbor, who operates a small construction company, and is quite happy to be electrified and not spending $1500/month fueling a gas-powered half ton).
I am specifically talking about your urban/suburbanites that commute daily in their trucks, and use the bed once or twice a year for small home projects.
The rest of the year, a car or SUV would be more than sufficient. The point isn't that these people should not have a truck, the point is they do not need a truck and therefore the factors that influence their purchase are different than professionals that use the truck and bed often.
It's the same with anything - take kitchen knives for example. A professional is going to be looking for something very different than an amateur home cook.
The F-150 Lightning was billed as a jobsite, professional's truck. However, it's much better suited for the other type of truck buyer in the US.
> says my next-door neighbor, who operates a small construction company
He's probably not driving 2+ hours to a worksite out in the middle of no where, hoping there's a charging station in the next-door field.
The Lightning only gets a claimed 230 miles range after all... 320 with the extended battery with an unloaded bed. Your average F-150 boasts 700+ miles range, for comparison.
Glad it works for him - but the Lightning really isn't suited for that type of work.
> I am specifically talking about your urban/suburbanites that commute daily in their trucks, and use the bed once or twice a year for small home projects.
The very definition of truthy. Sounds good, even without a shred of evidence to back it up.
> A professional is going to be looking for something very different than an amateur home cook.
I guess. The home cook might be inclined to buy an absurdly priced knife. The pro and competent home cooks both will reach for a basic Victorinox knife for everyday use.
> He's probably not driving 2+ hours to a worksite out in the middle of no where,
Most work trucks are driven around town. There's a niche for people who travel hundreds of miles in a day, but it's not the most common use case at all. The Lightning works great for >90% of all the usual things trucks get used for.
> The very definition of truthy. Sounds good, even without a shred of evidence to back it up.
This is comical. It's not even a real dispute to assert most truck owners don't use any of the truck functions. Owning a truck in the US is more of a status symbol than anything.
> I guess. The home cook might be inclined to buy an absurdly priced knife. The pro and competent home cooks both will reach for a basic Victorinox knife for everyday use.
You unintentionally make my point again.
> Most work trucks are driven around town. There's a niche for people who travel hundreds of miles in a day, but it's not the most common use case at all.
For a work truck, loaded with gear and whatever in the back, the Lightning is objectively a poor choice. It's range is awful, and no working truck is going to acceptably sit at the local Walmart for 3 hours charging mid-day either.
The Lightning is for a very particular type of truck buyer - the ones that don't actually need a truck but want a truck.
There's nothing wrong with that... but recognizing there's different types of buyers and products in the market should not be controversial.
Buy this truck that's more expensive and arguably less good because I told you to.
It's not your money. When you have to resort to telling people they don't need a specific product with no valid reasons other than your own subjective take, you've lost. This is why the lightning will die.
I want a good reason why I would pay more for this. And no, the slight gain in being "eco-friendly" doesn't do it for me. If I cared about that I wouldn't buy a truck whether it was EV or ICE because they're both far worse for the planet than a smaller vehicle or public transport.
The majority of truck owners do is it as a truck, they just don't use it all the time as a truck. Since vehicles are ridiculously expensive most people aren't going to purchase a separate vehicle to do none truck things.
If you buy something as useless as the f-150 lightning and try to pull your RV/boat/etc. somewhere thinking it can go any decent distance hauling stuff, you're gonna have a lot of regret.
This is so weird from a non-American perspective. Almost all of these luxury truck-shaped vehicles never see a speck of dirt, and are used to carry one person and maybe a grocery bag.
People drive every day in oversized vehicles with dangerously poor visibility just because they might need to carry a larger item once in a while, even though their crew cab models have barely more cargo space than hatchback. Not to mention that large items can be ordered with delivery, and trucks/vans can be rented for occasional use.
Even for work purposes pickup trucks seem niche. The pickup form factor offers less carrying capacity than a same-length van, less flexibility in using the same space for carrying both people and cargo, and has worse options for secure storage.
Your argument for having a massively oversized EV is that people won't actually use it for what it's supposedly intended for?
What's weird is trying to market something to someone spending $60k+ on a vehicle by saying you won't really use it for its intended purposes (which it can't do well) anyway so shutup and buy it.
"Buy this lesser truck that's more expensive than its ICE version."
But, I want to spend MY hard earned money on a vehicle that can do actual truck things.
"NO, you do not need an actual truck so spend $90k on this EV truck that can't go very far while towing."
Wouldn't it be better to just buy a car if I don't actually need a truck?
"No, buy this overpriced EV truck."
Solid marketing strategy. The ONLY thing ev's have an advantage at right now is the idea that they're better for the environment. By almost every other measure they're a worse product. Until they fix the issues with range they're not competing with cheaper, better ICE vehicles.
Majority of people who own trucks do not use it as a truck... rather it's used like a glorified car or SUV. That clearly makes for two types of truck buyers, with two types of needs and wants.
An electric truck is not for professionals - it's for your office commuter who likes the idea of a truck. The Lightning fits that person perfectly, even if it's not a "good truck" by truck standards.
The problem was Ford billed it as a worksite truck for professionals.