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.

 

[bob zimmerman]

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.

Okay fair enough. I agree there are good dealers out there. I’m a Maverick owner and while I have not needed any service with it, my buying experience was very positive.

It makes me happy to hear about your positive experience with service. I should not have grouped you in with everyone.
Bob

 

[Flash]

The absolute last thing anyone should do is buy a lightning at this point. Besides the fact that it is a discontinued model.

Ford says they will provide parts and service for the lightning for 10 years but people are already having issues with ‘no parts available’. The Lightning forum has become a forum of repair issues. Lots of bricks.

As a current Lightning owner, and an active participant on that forum, I find this post inaccurate and misleading. No one has a completely bricked truck. It might be at a dealer waiting for parts, but it's not unrecoverable. It's not a Fisker Ocean....

 

[WXman]

Yeah, to be fair obsolescence is going to be an issue with ALL electric vehicles. The ICE powertrain basically reached its peak many decades ago. Yeah, they continue to tweak it, but the basic principles have reached their peak long before any of us were born. Not true of EVs...which are literally rolling computers. That technology is advancing rapidly, and NO electric vehicle is going to be future proof. It's just like buying a TV or tablet or anything else electronic, improvements are coming every year and will be well into the future.

This is why I have always maintained that LEASING is the only smart way to go with an EV.

 

[bob zimmerman]

As a current Lightning owner, and an active participant on that forum, I find this post inaccurate and misleading. No one has a completely bricked truck. It might be at a dealer waiting for parts, but it's not unrecoverable. It's not a Fisker Ocean....

I didn’t mean permanently bricked although plenty of them sat at dealers for way more than a month. Heck, I almost bought a Lightning myself.
Oh man, I started copying some of the threads about buy backs, towed to dealer, no parts available, dealer can’t fix, but I’m just not looking to start or continue a keyboard yelling match.

It is a strange phenomenon about some lightning owners being so defensive about their trucks but the forum is packed with problems. I suppose it’s the few that are the loudest.

I enjoyed reading the recent thread about the guy that had the coolant valve issue and no parts available. Several dozen threads of vehicles towed to the dealer. Several dozen threads about buy backs. Either owners that went through the process or those that bought one.

Anyone on earth with the internet can search the forums on their own.

As time passes and through attrition, service techs retiring, moving to new jobs, whatever, there won’t be a lot of guys to fix these trucks. I don’t know what turn-over is at a dealership but it does happen. Some guys stay their whole career, some not so long.

I’ll be buying a Fathom the first day they permit me to make a deposit. I’m not sh$tting on Ford. But I’m super happy not to be owning a Lightning.
Bob

 

[Flash]

Show me several dozen threads and I'll stop calling you out...

My only issue is your over-exaggeration. Just be accurate.

No one comes to a forum and tells the world that there's nothing wrong with their truck. Statistically, the repairs versus the trucks that are on the road that have no issues is a very wide difference.

 

[Snakebitten]

I suspect that the average automobile dealership will have MORE technicians in the future that are less intimidated abou an EV in the service bay than they do today.
I mean, EV's aren't going to decrease in numbers, but rather the opposite. The Lightning itself isn't exactly a complex EV by any standard. If you are a proficient technician on a Mach-E, or even a Fathom, the Lightning won't scare you.