Introducing the New EV Ford ‘Brick’

[AbleGuy]

So let’s say you spent @ $80,000 being one of the first guys to buy a Ford Lightning, and that you absolutely love driving that beauteous rig and hope to own it and drive it for many happy years to come.

And then let’s say, while out exploring the states on vacation you stop one day to plug the truck in at an established charging station, as is frequently the need with an EV, so you can continue on with your quiet, powerful fall colors drive…and that once you’ve plugged it in, all Hell Breaks Loose!

Sounds like a unbelievable nightmare… but allegedly that’s basically what happened to this poor, devastated soul!

An EV enthusiast Eric Roe, owner of a F-150 Lightning, claimed he recently plugged his truck into a charging station on the Oregon coast, heard a loud pop immediately afterwards, and then his Lightning seemingly just died, becoming completely and irritatingly unresponsive. He tweeted, “I'm 1,000 miles from home, the (charger went) black, and my Lightning won't move. I'm screwed."

Roe stated his family and dogs had all been enjoying a nice vacation far from home when this unfortunate, unplanned disaster occurred. To quote his tweet: "Plugged the Lightning to the Charger, started to charge, heard a loud boom, and the charger went dark and the Lightning threw up a bunch of error codes and wouldn't start. Couldn't even shift into neutral."

Read on if you’re interested in ‘the rest of the story’…

Ford F-150 Lightning Reportedly Bricks After "Loud Pop" at Electrify America Station

The driver says the Ford F-150 Lightning was totally unresponsive after that noise.

www.motortrend.com

 

[Snydmax]

Bummer.


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[Todd780]

Bummer.


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Sucks, but in the end isn't it still the same as an engine or transmission failure or what have you?
Vehicles break down. New & old regardless of make or model. The only reason this made 'news' is cause it's an EV.

 

[AbleGuy]

Sucks, but in the end isn't it still the same as an engine or transmission failure or what have you?
Vehicles break down. New & old regardless of make or model. The only reason this made 'news' is cause it's an EV.

Yes, no, maybe…? Kinda like pulling in to a gas station, sticking the gas pump hose nozzle into your filler cap and having the engine seize up….how often does that happen?

Anywhoo, Scary Headlines Certainly Do Sell Stories, but in this case, promoting the awareness/fear that plugging in your pricey, new EV might somehow “blow your circuits” is sure to give some folks pause.

If this becomes even a minorly common problem, we’ll likely see some clever entrepreneur come up with a safety plug adapter to sell to EV owners, like RV’ers often are convinced by fear to use* to prevent against electrical done damage to their expensive campers from poorly wired or powered shore power posts.

*RV surge protector/Electric Management System adapter plugs kinda like these gizmos:

 

[Todd780]

Yes, no, maybe…? Kinda like pulling in to a gas station, sticking the gas pump hose nozzle into your filler cap and having the engine seize up….how often does that happen?

It happens.

Bad gas: Fuel mix-up at Langdon, Alta. gas station results in repair bills for drivers

Dozens of drivers are expected to have been affected by an issue at a southern Alberta gas station, where diesel and regular gas was inadvertently added to the wrong storage tanks.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

Bad gas sold at Alberta station creates growing concerns - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Centex said a breach in the inner wall of the station's gas tanks was the cause of the problem.

globalnews.ca

 

[DrkBlue]

Sooo…. The EV charging issue is more nuanced than the vehicle manufacturer end (Of course).

I am doing cyber-side consulting work on the NEVI - National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure - effort driven out of the August 2021 Infrastructure Bill. Effectively there is a pot of money that every state is getting and the initial plans have been submitted for every 50 miles charging oasis-type structure.

The deeper I get, the less confident in the charging/fueling infrastructure side I am feeling. Due to the timelines in the program, the only way to implement is forklift in the existing European ”standards”. The maturity and simple functionality are light/weak in the European model. The European system is absolutely not US optimized, especially for any place not urban/high population density.

Not to spread the FUD, but the European financial and liability environment is not readily transplantable to the US. There is a real possibility of legal agreements largely disadvantaging the vehicle owner through the planned multi-tenant charger ownership foreseen in the US a implementation of NEVI. It will eventually be worked out legally, but that might be a 10-15 year period of litigation, which will vary state to state.

I was an early adopter of gas-electric hybrid power train. I am going to roll slower on pure EV adoption, in part because I am older but also as a function of less confidence in the size of the underlying technological leap. The delta between validated concepts and pie-in-the-sky is really wide in my viewpoint. YMMV.

 

[3laine]

So let’s say you spent @ $80,000 being one of the first guys to buy a Ford Lightning, and that you absolutely love driving that beauteous rig and hope to own it and drive it for many happy years to come.

For another data point, I just picked up a Lightning for... way less than that... and did a 1,400+ mile trip, hitting 14 different charging stations of the same network that "bricked" this Lightning, and had no notable issues.

 

[Explorerinil]

I don’t see what your getting at, everything mechanical can fail at some random point and at the worst time. Doesn’t matter if it’s an EV or an ICE engine, anything can and will fail eventualy.

 

[jaxyaks]

Good to see Ford's build quality is carrying over to their EV line...

 

[Ozarker]

@AbleGuy and we'll likely see some clever attorneys arrive on the scene to address faulty charging stations!

 

[Regcabguy]

Toyota's using their brain and holding off on the EV's and going with hybrids more.

 

[Regcabguy]

For another data point, I just picked up a Lightning for... way less than that... and did a 1,400+ mile trip, hitting 14 different charging stations of the same network that "bricked" this Lightning, and had no notable issues.

14 stops in 1400 miles? Dang. Watch the Utubes on on new owners impressions of theirs.

 

[3laine]

14 stops in 1400 miles? Dang. Watch the Utubes on on new owners impressions of theirs.

I could have stopped at fewer, but my son and I were just having fun, handing out Hotwheels to other EVs that matched their vehicle, and scoping out charging stations for future trips.

I don't really need to watch Youtube about Lightnings. I have one and have already done more with mine than most of the clickbait reviewers ever will.

 

[AbleGuy]

Toyota's using their brain and holding off on the EV's and going with hybrids more.

And now also working on a hi tech hydrogen powered engine that some claim allegedly will kill off EV’s!

 

[JMacs]

And now also working on a hi tech hydrogen powered engine that some claim allegedly will kill off EV’s!

Toyota already has a hydrogen generator in production now. They sell their fuel cell to Generac to package and sell here in the states. Little to big and boxy to fit in the front of a Tundra. But give them time.

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