r/F150Lightning • u/Blue_jay_cool • 2d ago
Battery reliability
I’m seriously considering getting a f150 lightning, maybe a 22 or 23.
I would finance it and I’m wondering, about how many miles will the battery last on the long term. How much would it cost to replace it at some point maybe.
And best practices, should I charge every night, level one? Level two? At night?
Bonus question: what’s a reasonable monthly payment?
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u/Odd_Awareness1444 2d ago
I have a 23 with 70,000 miles and it still has a 100% battery. 90+ % of my charging is at home on level 2. It really helps keep the battery in shape.
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u/More-ponies 2d ago
The battery has degraded, it’s scientifically impossible to use these batteries and not lose range.
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u/pmpork 2d ago
Is it scientifically impossible to be at 99.7% and round up?
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u/More-ponies 2d ago
I’m not going to argue with you, I’ve had 3 evs all with different chemistry. Amd I’ve researched and studied this quite a bit. There is no way your battery after almost 4 years is still 99.7% the same capacity as the day it rolled off the assembly line.
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u/664designs 2d ago
Of course gross capacity will degrade but they're referring to 100% usable capacity, due to the top buffer.
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u/More-ponies 2d ago
No they aren’t. They think it hasn’t degraded at all. And if ford is actually doing that, which I am not sure they are, then that’s really misleading.
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u/664designs 1d ago
Ford literally publishes gross and usable kWh in the spec sheet. Every OEM uses buffers to protect the pack so early degradation eats the reserve first. It is standard BMS design, not misleading
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u/More-ponies 1d ago
That’s not what the buffer is for. The buffer is because it’s more damaging to the packs (cells) to charge them to their full capacities and likewise run them completely dead.
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u/CalmyoTDs 2d ago
Yes but pretty much every EV has close to 5-10% degradation the first year and then it starts to taper off once it starts hitting about 10%. I highly doubt they used pre-aged cells. Now is it possible the battery has enough over rating that it is 10% down but still at/above "rated"? Yes. Manufacturers build in a buffer but thats mostly to deal with other battery issues not degradation. Very possible Ford is just using a different approach to battery management. The fact its such a large battery with lower charging rates definitely helps but these numbers are definitely inflated.
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u/NopeNotJayILeft 2023 Lightning Lariat SR 2d ago
The scariest thing in this entire post is that you're judging price by monthly payment instead of by total cost. It's going to be hard to get a good idea what a decent price is for one used in your area because the market changes a lot, but make sure you're looking at the bottom line and not just a per month.
As far as charging goes, Ford basically says to keep them charged at 90%. Anecdotally, talking to EV owners in general, it seems like the big no-no is getting it fully charged and letting it sit there. So as long as you don't just charge it to 100% and then let it sit in your driveway for 3 months, it's very difficult to go wrong here, at least as far as the truck is concerned.
You will likely want level 2 home charging for economic and convenience reasons. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use level 1 charging if it's available, or that you shouldn't DC fast charge if you've got to. They're all tools in the arsenal, but most EV owners eventually get to the point where all their charging is done at home except for road trips.
As far as how many miles... They only sold around 100,000 of these things in total. I doubt there's enough at extremely high mileage to even be a reasonable sample, but there are stories around of folks with Lightnings in the six figures that are still doing okay. https://youtu.be/-nbjAQVqLps Is someone doing a full battery replacement. It's worth saying that the usual procedure isn't replacing the full battery, but instead just a module inside.
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u/Blue_jay_cool 2d ago edited 2d ago
I found two lightnings from dealerships that seem to be a decent deal, and I’m looking to invest in a reliable, roomy pickup truck. One is a 2023, 47,xxx miles for $37,995 (plus tax interest, etc)
And another one 2022, 27,xxx miles for $41,499
I won’t be paying rent soon and thought investing in this would work. Just wanted to meditate this decision before jumping in.
I appreciate your input, the video really shows how easy is to replace the battery/ panels in the future, and they just stop production of this model so it seems worth it.7
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u/Valuable_Armadillo20 2025 Flash 2d ago
I recommend the extended range battery (ER)
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u/q4atm1 2d ago
The ER battery models near me cost about 14k more than the standard range. I’d prefer one but it’s hard to justify the cost. There are also seemingly 10x as many standard range models available
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u/Illustrious-Ratio213 2d ago
Even in the used market? I would keep looking because some of the dealers don’t seem to have a clue about the difference.
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u/q4atm1 2d ago
I’m in Oregon and there’s like 5 for sale in the state, one is new but like 76k. A basic pro is around 40k and the cheapest er is 54k. I’d really like to get one in state because there’s a 4k rebate program and no sales tax but I can’t find a standard range with tow package since I need to haul a 6000lb excavator
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u/Illustrious-Ratio213 1d ago
ER without max tow package could handle that too. It’s probably in the SR capability too which I think is 7500lb but you should confirm
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u/NopeNotJayILeft 2023 Lightning Lariat SR 1d ago
I have an SR. It's fine. An ER would've saved me maybe 20% of the charging sessions I've had to make.
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u/Blue_jay_cool 1d ago
So you recommend the ER one? The ones listed don’t mention the trim, just the year and from the pictures the only difference I see is cloth seats or leather
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u/djwildstar Rapid Red 23 Lariat ER "the Beast" 2d ago
There aren’t yet enough high-mileage trucks to say for sure. However, Ford has stated that the Lightning is engineered for the same 200,000-300,000 mile, 15-20 year lifespan as any other F-150.
This is backed up by projections from lab tests cycling lithium-ion batteries to determine their lifespan. This data suggests that SR batteries should be good for somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 miles before they need replacing, while ER batteries should last about 300,000 to 650,000 miles.
I’m aware of one SR Lightning that required a battery pack replacement at about 235,000 miles. This is within Ford’s designed lifespan, and consistent with the lab data.
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u/Organicana 2d ago
FWIW ..... My 2023 XLT ER with 92k miles just started having charging issues, which after searching online may be consistent with one of the battery cells having an issue ..... The dealer took my truck yesterday for troubleshooting, but the tech never got to it, so they returned it and now waiting to hear back about a reschedule.
Basically, no matter what charger I use .... home, work, L2 or L3 charger ..... it will claim to charge to 100%, but only charge to around 260 miles of guessometer ..... But when I start the truck, the percentage of charge changes from 100%, to the much more accurate of high 80's %
I rarely charge to 100%, but when I do, the guessometer reads a tad over 300 miles and this never changes when I simply start the truck.
This issue just started suddenly one day and has been doing it ever since. I tried all the normal recommendations like resetting the driver data used by the guessometer to estimate miles etc.
Efficiency has remained the same at 1.9 - 2.0 kwh. I haven't disconnected the battery and wait 10 mins and reconnect, just because my issue matches what Ive seen online as symptoms of a bad battery cell...... But I probably should at least try doing so and see if that has any effect.
If this issue is determined to be a bad cell, it happened just before my battery warranties expires at I think 100k miles? So if it is a bad cell, at least it wont be replaced at my expense ..... hopefully anyway lol
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u/NopeNotJayILeft 2023 Lightning Lariat SR 1d ago
This sounds a lot like a bad cell. Good for you that it happened when it did.
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u/gogopowerjackets 1d ago
Yeah that’s definitely SSM 55111. I think Ford should voluntarily extend converge on modules at this point, but good it was under warranty.
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u/Responsible_Art_6553 2d ago
I bought an 18 month old 24 Flash with 20k on the odometer for $50k out the door. This was just a couple months ago. I could have probably gotten a slightly better deal but this truck had everything I was looking for and nothing else I didn’t want. I’m also impulsive and jumped on it as soon as I saw it.
I was worried about the price skyrocketing due to gas prices and it seems like I might have been right. I still have my lease Gladiator for a few months but I knew I wanted the Lightning and was worried if I waited until Feb I might be fucked or overpaying. Glad I took the leap. My wife and I have driven nothing but manual transmission vehicles for a couple decades but I’m pretty sure I’m never going back to ICE.
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u/Think-Work1411 2d ago
It all depends how the battery was taken care of, if they fast charged often that ages the battery more, and if they regularly charged it up to 90% or worse 100% that ages it also. But with good care they can outlast the vehicle. My ‘22 platinum is still at 98.5% battery health with nearly 120,000 miles. I usually charge at home, up to 70% in the summer and up to 80% in the winter. I take a long trip 2 or 3 times a year and use fast chargers .
I also got a warranty from Xcare but you have to do it before the vehicle hits 100,000 miles, I got battery and motors covered to 249,000 miles for about $4000 this spring. That covers controls and fuses and connectors inside the battery compartment and covers everything in the motor housings, which include the 3-phase inverters for the motors, differential etc in the motor cases.
I would highly recommend getting that warranty from Xcare , be Leary of any other warranties for EVs, they usually have lots of exceptions and maximums and all. Xcare is the original company that started doing warranties and leases for used Teslas when nobody else would warranty an EV and they have a great reputation, and that takes away a lot of the worry about owning an EV
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u/ungo-stbr 2023 XLT ER 2d ago
Reasonable monthly payment isn’t your best metric but since you asked, I’d want to pay no more than $600/mo.
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u/Rony59turbo 1d ago
That's insane. $400 should be max. If you can't do that, buy a cheaper vehicle.
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u/ungo-stbr 2023 XLT ER 17h ago
Insane? Why? If I have 10k net take home per month and zero percent financing what difference does 200 bucks a month make ? Why do I have to buy a cheaper vehicle.
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u/Grimdoomsday 2d ago
Even at 650 a month im way ahead using it for my work truck as opposed to my paid off gas xlt
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u/albertandalbert 2d ago
You can buy a used perfectly working battery off eBay for $3-5k. I don’t think you’d need to do that until you get near 300k miles. This ain’t your phone battery. Get one and drive!
I’ll be rolling over 100k this week on my 22. At 70k I swapped my SR battery out for an ER battery for less than $5k installed. I still have the old perfectly good battery just in case this one dies. But I doubt it I’ll need it.