Trade a Raptor for a Lightning?

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MattR

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It turns out that hurricanes and Teslas don't mix very well. The battery packs are heavy and therefore mounted low in the vehicles to improve handling by maintaining a low center of mass. That makes them vulnerable to salt water from hurricane Ian's storm surge. In one week nine EVs caught fire in Florida.

And here's an interesting EV factoid that oddly doesn't get much air time: It takes 8,000 to 12,000 gallons of water to put out an EV battery fire - ten times that for a fire in a gas-powered vehicle - and up to six hours. It ties up the fire department pretty thoroughly and is wasteful of water resources.
I’m no fire fighter but haven’t the trucks been stocking concentrated foam for over a decade for hazardous chemicals, oil, battery fires etc?
 

rfc805

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Yes, which is why the factoid probably doesn't get much air time. They don't generally use water for any vehicle fire since you tend to launch flaming oils around the area rather than extinguish the fire.
 

Ruger

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I’m no fire fighter but haven’t the trucks been stocking concentrated foam for over a decade for hazardous chemicals, oil, battery fires etc?
All true. It is also true that firefighting foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals are toxic and the lawsuits are flying. The state of Indiana has 50,000 gallons of the stuff and is trying to get rid of it.

Check this out: https://www.theregreview.org/2022/08/11/wong-electric-vehicle-fires-spark-firefighter-safety-concerns/#:~:text=To extinguish an electric vehicle,normally uses in a month.
 
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bp299

bp299

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Wow, this thread has been fun.
Lightning is gone and now back in a 35 Gen3 while I wait for my R.
It was nice not going to the gas station for the last 4 months but there's nothing like a Raptor.
Feels good to be back
Loving the updated technology compared to my Gen2.
Can't wait to test the offroad difference.
Now if I can just find a tailgate w/ a step!
IMG_3900.jpeg
 

JTFrisco

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I put in a Lightning reservation sometime last year, and Ford just sent me the "congrats, it's time to order your Lightning" email. I went ahead and ordered a Lariat with the lux package, a spray in bed liner, and a few other options which quickly made the price balloon to 88k. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll complete the sale or not. My dealer, who is also a client at my firm, will refund my $500.00 deposit and sell the truck on his lot if I decide to kill the deal. I will admit, I'm intrigued by a few things: Acceleration, blue cruise, and of course, no gas. I do NOT like the Mach E touch screen largely because I'm over 50 and I like buttons. The part about no gas sounds nice, but it's also somewhat of a conundrum. Energy prices have doubled in my part of the country (thanks ERCOT!), so charging at home will be 2x what it would've been last year, but still less than commercial superchargers. I'm only considering this truck because it's not weird or quirky, Ford's dealership network is vast (for now), and the truck accelerates faster than a TRX from zero to 60. My final thought (as an older guy): I have zero desire to engage in conversations with environmentalists, hyper milers, Tesla fanatics, or people who fail to recognize most of our electricity comes from oil, natural gas, and coal. This may be a challenge! :) See image below (from EIA.gov, 2021).

Energy.JPG
 

jeanco

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the future:
In China, all Chinese car manufacturers are currently using battery swapping. Even big battery manufacturers like CATL now have swapping solutions. And they are currently being tested in the commercial vehicle sector
Sad in USA all manufactures don't have a single swapping battery


hydrogen is the best but the manufacturing is very expensive and consume a lot of electricity.
 

BryBurger

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I laugh because in CA only 1.8% of cars registered are EV's and that's similar in other large states. It will be generations...not decades, before all you will see a tectonic shift (and even then fossil fuels will not go away -- jet fuel anyone).

Same goes for 'green' energy becoming dominant energy source. Generations. This 'it's changing overnight' is a joke. I know the crowd that buy hair products for their man bun and the 'hip' crowd will be disappointed, but it's reality.

Hey CA how's the charging of those EV's coming this weekend...?
If just 5% of Californians had EVs our power grid would be overwhelmed and the current idiotic CA government wants to kill conventional engines in 13 years?!? Battery tech is just one of many issues with going all EV. EV truck towing… forget it!

I’m not bashing EVs but need to allow the technology to mature much more before completely relying on it. Other factors to consider is how easy it is to disable EVs and how reliable are EVs in a disaster? I wouldn’t rely on one!
 

thatJeepguy

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Ill just leave this here…
 

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