PB to Lightning

[chirocksout]

Would like to hear peoples experience, opinions, thoughts, suggestions on moving from a Powerboost (2021) to a Lightning (Flash.2025)

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[Porpoise Hork]

Depends on how much truck stuff you do vs just driving around town with it. If you do a lot of truck stuff and like the 600+ mile range then keep the PB. If having at best a 250 range on is not an issue, don't do a lot of truck stuff and have a L2 charger already installed then get the Lightning.

 

[BILDOZER]

I would make sure your servicing dealer is competent to work on the Lightning. Just because a dealer is certified doesent mean that they are good. Also, if you travel out in rural areas and have a issue you might be S.O.L. and if for a headache getting your issue resolved. An example would be if your in the midwest on a trip and have a issue, good luck! Years ago people ran into the same issue with the Mercedes Sprinter when it first came out.. Not many dealers in the rural midwest town servicce departments would touch them. Just food for thought, YMMV<

 

[Goldeneye36]

I ended up in a PowerBoost because the Lightning didn't live up to expectations. Until there is a significant change in the tech in the Lightning that increases it's capabilities I wouldn't consider one vs the PowerBoost.

 

[tsigwing]

I would make sure your servicing dealer is competent to work on the Lightning. Just because a dealer is certified doesent mean that they are good. Also, if you travel out in rural areas and have a issue you might be S.O.L. and if for a headache getting your issue resolved. An example would be if your in the midwest on a trip and have a issue, good luck! Years ago people ran into the same issue with the Mercedes Sprinter when it first came out.. Not many dealers in the rural midwest town servicce departments would touch them. Just food for thought, YMMV<

Unfortunately that same argument applies to the PB.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Unfortunately that same argument applies to the PB.

Unfortunately that same argument applies to all ICE only powered Fords.

 

[gh8toes]

Would like to hear peoples experience, opinions, thoughts, suggestions on moving from a Powerboost (2021) to a Lightning (Flash.2025)

I will NEVER buy an EV. Why limit yourself to how far and how long you can drive. Then, if you live in a cold climate, there are even more limitations. Resale value on EVs is falling as the fad wears off and people realize they aren't all cracked up to be what they thought they were. You are also limited to where you can take it for service if needed.

 

[B177y]

Take all of the anti-Lightning comments from this forum and contrast it with all of the "best vehicle ever" comments the Lightning forum. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

[RealityCheck]

Take all of the anti-Lightning comments from this forum and contrast it with all of the "best vehicle ever" comments the Lightning forum. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

I agree completely. I previously had a Lightning (2023 XLT LR) as an assigned vehicle for work. I now have a 2022 PB XLT as my personal truck.

The Lightning did everything better than the PB except road trips and towing. It rode better, handled better, was quieter, and had phenomenal power. Road trips could be challenging depending upon the destination. The charging time usually wasn’t the issue (stops can be nice), but charger reliability and availability proved to be a pain. To be fair, I didn’t have an adapter that allowed me to use Tesla Superchargers until the end of my time with the truck. That likely would have improved the road trip experience significantly. I towed cargo and dump trailers on occasion and these significantly degraded range - from roughly 260 miles to more like 120.

The PB does not have the same challenges with road trips or towing. Granted, towing decreases the range of any truck, but likely not by 50+%. Plus, when you start with a range of roughly 600 miles, even a significant decrease won’t present a problem.

The upshot: if you do most of your driving locally (or have a good charger network in the areas you need to travel) and don’t often tow, the Lightning will be great.

 

[B177y]

In my view, @RealityCheck has the comparison 100% correct.

The only truck I can compare to my Lightning is the old 2001 F350 V10 that I sold when I got my Lightning. My Lightning is better in every way compared to that F350, and has the same hauling and towing capacity that it did. Not surprising since the F350 was 25 years old when I sold it. The towing range of that V10 was only a little bit more than the towing range on my Lightning. The F-350 was easier to fill up with gas then it is to pull into most charging stations while towing. The ability to charge my Lightning at almost every charging network really has made road tripping in the Lightning a non-issue. The towing distance is really the only shortfall for me. But I also based my purchase of the Lightning on most of my trips pulling my travel trailer fall within the towing range from my house. If I was cross country towing, then a PB or an ICE truck would be the better call.

For daily driving, the Lightning wins hands down. I will put over 40,000 miles on my Lightning just in this first year of ownership. Most of that is on rural highway and freeway. The V10 would have bankrupted me if I had to use it in that capacity.

EDIT:
Here is a post from someone trading in a Lightning for a power boost to get the opposite perspective:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...raded-in-the-lightning-for-power-boost.28498/

 

[HammaMan]

The upshot: if you do most of your driving locally (or have a good charger network in the areas you need to travel) and don’t often tow, the Lightning will be great.

Charging is fairly moot having access to the supercharging network. They're everywhere.

Now lack of legs and if towing, suddenly the 30-50 miles between reliable chargers becomes an issue. Sub 40 weather sucks for EVs, somewhat mitigated if it can stay plugged in. The GM medium range trucks are better EVs than the lightning (sans noisy mid gates, but if that's something you utilize it may be worth it) . Larger faster charging batteries.

Not a fan of GM, but given all variables right now, if I were to get an E truck, it wouldn't be the lightning. Ford's batt performance was good for 2021, but it's obsolete still being sold today.

Here's a 15 minute charging test......

2 Lightnings make up the 2 lines on the bottom. If you're never going to go further than 1 charging stop, it might not be an issue.

 

[Goldeneye36]

Don't get me wrong, I loved the idea of the Lightning and had a reservation during the initial launch. Unfortunately, during the 2 years it took for my turn to come the price on the configuration I wanted (ER XLT) had ballooned to over $80k and I had learned in the interim about possible range issues (especially when towing) and the expensive modifications needed to my house's electrical system to support the fast charging and home battery backup (the feature I was mostly buying the truck for). So it really came down to price in the end. The PB does almost everything I wanted from the Lightning and cost $20k less for the same trim so that's the direction I went.

 

[Tigmd99]

Anyone who can afford it and want EV TRUCK should get Cybertruck. Yes, towing limited range same as all EV truck. BUT the key difference is FSD. With FSD, Tesla is above everyone else in the EV world…and the separation is astronomical.

Blue Cruise 1.4, which I have, sucks. Not even in the same universe as FSD. I now see the foolish automotive media bias against Tesla. Diving anywhere where sun is in front or just to the side of front will confuse BC1.4 like a drunken driver! And if the lane markers are faded, get ready for some emergency maneuvers! I am surprise Ford release such a horrible driver assist!

Now, I love my PB for what it is. But anyone who wants just an EV would be foolish to buy anything but a Tesla.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Tesla's are absolute shit...

Got a couple neighbors who have them. One with a Model X and the other a cybertruck. The build quality on both is horrible. I've seen better build in Chrystlers and Land Rovers than in either of these Teslas. Interior parts fall off, or rattle excessively. The Model X only has 15K miles on it and sounds like it's 20 years old. Both have been in/out of the shop for warranty issues more often than not. Each time the owners have said it was an absolute nightmare getting Tesla to honor their own warranty and and actually perform repairs. These are both 100K vehicles too which makes it an even bigger slap in the owner's faces. The guy with the Cybertruck has grown to hate it. The range is horrible at roughly 200 miles when unloaded compared to the 600ish he got with his Ford he traded in for it and he's had nothing but problems with it too. From battery issues in the first 1K miles to electrical problems where Tesla tried to tell him it was his fault it failed but finally replaced the 28K battery, to the truck completely shutting down and refusing to power on after a rain storm where we got 1.5" of rain and Tesla attempting to tell him he should have enabled 'Car Wash mode' when it started to rain.... Not kidding either. Tesla's customer support actually tried to tell him that.

As for Tesla's FSD, I've experienced it first hand and all I can say about it is that it's absolutely terrifying. I've been in single prop planes where the engine has cut out, ridden in cars whith rusted out floorbords where you could watch the road fromt he passenger seat. Where the frames and suspension components were literally held together with duct tape and bailing wire and felt safer than I did in the Tesla when FSD was active. The system literally tried to ram the car into fire hydrants, light poles, a kid on a scooter and randomly veered into oncoming lane forcing you to have to jerk the wheel to get it back into the correct lane. This was all in the span of a 25 minute drive around on surface streets. Oh it was not some early version of it either, but was 'FSD Supervised 12.6.4' which was released earlier this year. Another thing, you can't get FSD on the Cybertruck. Tesla has been promising FSD on the cybertruck since NOV 2023. Still not available. The reality is none of the self driving systems are really ready to be deployed for the public. The tech is still very glitchy and needs a lot more development time.

There's a reason why the most of the leadership have sold nearly all their shares in the company. They know something is up just like rats abandoning a sinking ship.

 

[Tigmd99]

Tesla's are absolute shit...

Got a couple neighbors who have them. One with a Model X and the other a cybertruck. The build quality on both is horrible. I've seen better build in Chrystlers and Land Rovers than in either of these Teslas. Interior parts fall off, or rattle excessively. The Model X only has 15K miles on it and sounds like it's 20 years old. Both have been in/out of the shop for warranty issues more often than not. Each time the owners have said it was an absolute nightmare getting Tesla to honor their own warranty and and actually perform repairs. These are both 100K vehicles too which makes it an even bigger slap in the owner's faces. The guy with the Cybertruck has grown to hate it. The range is horrible at roughly 200 miles when unloaded compared to the 600ish he got with his Ford he traded in for it and he's had nothing but problems with it too. From battery issues in the first 1K miles to electrical problems where Tesla tried to tell him it was his fault it failed but finally replaced the 28K battery, to the truck completely shutting down and refusing to power on after a rain storm where we got 1.5" of rain and Tesla attempting to tell him he should have enabled 'Car Wash mode' when it started to rain.... Not kidding either. Tesla's customer support actually tried to tell him that.

As for Tesla's FSD, I've experienced it first hand and all I can say about it is that it's absolutely terrifying. I've been in single prop planes where the engine has cut out, ridden in cars whith rusted out floorbords where you could watch the road fromt he passenger seat. Where the frames and suspension components were literally held together with duct tape and bailing wire and felt safer than I did in the Tesla when FSD was active. The system literally tried to ram the car into fire hydrants, light poles, a kid on a scooter and randomly veered into oncoming lane forcing you to have to jerk the wheel to get it back into the correct lane. This was all in the span of a 25 minute drive around on surface streets. Oh it was not some early version of it either, but was 'FSD Supervised 12.6.4' which was released earlier this year. Another thing, you can't get FSD on the Cybertruck. Tesla has been promising FSD on the cybertruck since NOV 2023. Still not available. The reality is none of the self driving systems are really ready to be deployed for the public. The tech is still very glitchy and needs a lot more development time.

There's a reason why the most of the leadership have sold nearly all their shares in the company. They know something is up just like rats abandoning a sinking ship.

FYI. You are WAAYY outdated with Tesla software. FSD 13.2.9 is the latest. And yes, FSD is available on Cybertruck. You tested a Tesla with hardware 3 (AI3).

Go look on YouTube for FSD 13.2.9 on Model Y or 3 or X. It is flawless in city and highway driving. FSD on Cybertruck does lag behind those models because it still needs time to train the AI. But on a Model Y with hardware 4 (AI4), it is amazing.

My father has a 2026 Model Y with latest FSD. Since March, he has NOT touch the steering wheel. He only touch it to park into space at shopping center. That’s it. ZERO intervention and he has driven it 4000 miles in city and highway. I have sat in it while it does its thing. It drives and makes decision that are on par with me. Even my wife was amazed by it. She does not like Tesla (she loves her Lexus GX). But yeah, she agrees with me that our next car will be a Tesla.

I love my truck and the fact that it has a generator is a gamechanger. BUT, my next car will be a Tesla after first hand witnessing FSD. You’re in Houston…go to local Tesla dealer…test drive a new Model Y with FSD….

As for quality, people who lives in glass house should not throw rocks….


(And for fun, you should check out Tesla FSD in CHINA…that place is a hell hole for driving…and FSD drives like a local! Heck it even drives on sidewalk!)

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