https://www.thedrive.com/news/34755/the-legend-of-the-fhp-mercury-marauder-the-fastest-and-rarest-panther-of-them-all

What I'd like to know is 'why' that is not reassuring!!?? 

From Motor Trend article:   “We also recorded the range lost over the 13 miles, and each truck expended 35 miles of range driving this loop. The Chevy’s bigger battery will allow it to pull a trailer farther, but we feel trailering capability generally carries less weight because recharging while towing is such a cumbersome business. Customers frequently towing long distances should probably steer clear of electric pickups for now. For hauling a boat to and from a nearby lake? They’ll be excellent.”   A quick look at Ford F-150 site shows that towing makes up a huge part of its marketing, as is the case with all traditional trucks, and it’s difficult to imagine why Ford, Chevy, and RAM have been doing this for decades unless they though customers actually valued towing capabilities.  And now they are being asked to ignore the “cumbersomeness” of towing with EVs.  So yeah, towing must carry much less weight for BEV pickup buyers as Motor Trend implies, which probably also means market share of electric trucks will remain very small, whether Tesla, Ford, Chevy, or Rivian.   

Wish they would offer something more interesting other than those $8k "special edition" black-painted wheels and roof packages.

Yes, my post was a tongue in cheek response to Ford already having next Gen T3 BEV F150 production ready. Although it keeps getting further delayed, there’s  nothing stopping Ford from upgrading the current Lightning’s battery as an ongoing evolutionary process.    The current issue for Ford is so many unsold Lightnings in stock, the prices are too high to interest most buyers. Ford needs to get on and start moving the backlog with strong incentives, premium pricing is hurting sales.

A 50-mile radius search of my zip code shows 91 Edge's in inventory. Buy one before they're gone, like I did earlier this year.   HRG

She can get a Camry or Accord or a Kia.  Doesn’t stop you from buying a Mustang or Bronco.

Lightning lost a recent comparison test to Silverado EV, but not by much. Wonder how these two trucks would fare against Cybertruck?   Coming into this long-anticipated matchup, we expected the from-scratch Chevy to wipe the floor with the essentially motor-swapped Ford, but the contest ends up much closer than expected. The Ford may always suit traditionalists better with its utterly familiar user interface, CarPlay, trailering aids, etc., but the electric truck future belongs to 800-volt, 400-plus-mile rigs like the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV. Yes, this one is priced too high to suit its interior trim, but cheaper versions are coming, and we can envision easy software and hardware solutions to most of our other complaints. And as those more affordable and diverse models roll out, we anticipate Chevy giving Ford (and Tesla) a run for the sale lead. Maybe. Unless Ford’s Project T3–based 2026 Lightning is improved enough to retake the lead itself.   Link: https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2024-chevy-silverado-ev-vs-ford-f-150-lightning-comparison-test-review

It's a catch-22. Fewer brands are on display at auto shows because of the decline in attendance, because fewer brands are on display, because of the decline in attendance...  The Twin Cities has (had?) the ninth largest auto show in the country and the Greater Minnesota Auto Dealers Association (GMADA) has bolstered this show with an increase of dealer representations and third party exhibitors, including powersports dealers and Xcel Energy. They had a FAQ section and several BEVs in their own exhibit; no Rivians or Teslas, though. 😉      

my wife has a 22 Explorer and is interested in downsizing.  I have seen some of these in person now and they are very nice looking vehicles, and would be a great replacement. However, I will not buy one because it’s made in China. Not because the build quality is inferior or anything like that, but out of principle.