New Podcast Interview with Ford's Alan Clarke - Includes Range Discussion

[graycorgi]

You know, I don't think they've said anything about charging speeds yet. ~200 miles range wouldn't be so bad if it charged stupid fast, like 20-80% in well under 30 minutes. That's a long shot but not as long a shot as getting anywhere near 300 miles out of the base battery size they've hinted at.

DC fast charging speed is what's going to make or break my purchase decision on this. I like everything else I've heard, but the Fathom will need to do 10-80% in 25 minutes or less on the big (300+mi) battery option for me to pull the trigger. On a small ~200mi range battery it would need to be 17 minutes or less. It's definitely do-able (see Rivian), but only if they're willing to put in the effort to maximize the 400v architecture they've married themselves to.

I wouldn't even consider those times fast either. They're more like the minimum I'd accept from a 2027 model year vehicle. My 2022 EV6 has spoiled me. To me, "stupid fast" would be 10-80% in under 10 minutes - would be awesome, but not realistic at this price point.

 

[bob zimmerman]

That's really surprising. Just about 6 months ago, I had an air conditioning failure on my 2025 Lightning, and the dealership had it fully repaired in 3 days.

It’s not surprising. We read the exact same threads on the lightning forum. There are more than several threads about Ford not supplying parts or ‘no parts available’.
I read what you read.

The Lightning is going to be an extremely difficult vehicle to maintain. Think of all the Ford techs that are not going to be trained on it. No dealer will put a tech through training on a Lightning if the vehicle is at end of life.

Ford has not been kind to Lightning owners. Can we agree on that?

I’m just sayin’. I don’t want anyone to get screwed on their purchase and I know Lightning owners generally love their trucks. But the repair issue is real.

We’re on the Fathom forum so I’ll keep it Fathom.
Bob

 

[Snakebitten]

It's actually quite possible that someone's Lightning, or Mach-E, or even F150 Ecoboost reach 200,000 miles and not need anything serious addressed by the parts department or the dealership service bay.

Far more common than forums might imply.

But I still get the point.

 

[mark]

My experiece with parts for Jeep were no better.

 

[WXman]

It’s not surprising. We read the exact same threads on the lightning forum. There are more than several threads about Ford not supplying parts or ‘no parts available’.
I read what you read.

The Lightning is going to be an extremely difficult vehicle to maintain. Think of all the Ford techs that are not going to be trained on it. No dealer will put a tech through training on a Lightning if the vehicle is at end of life.

Ford has not been kind to Lightning owners. Can we agree on that?

I’m just sayin’. I don’t want anyone to get screwed on their purchase and I know Lightning owners generally love their trucks. But the repair issue is real.

We’re on the Fathom forum so I’ll keep it Fathom.
Bob

Respectfully, no, we can't agree on that. My ownership experience with the Lightning was fantastic. I felt like the dealers bent over backwards to make me happy, even more so than they always used to do with my gasoline-powered trucks. Like I said, parts availability and service were never an issue for me. In fact, when I had the air conditioning failure, they actually sent somebody to my house to get the truck and take it to the dealership for me. They fixed it, and then they brought it back to me at no charge. Ford made me feel like a king when I had that Lightning.