President Biden test drives F-150 Lightning: "This sucker's quick!"

[Former President tack50]

This is so American. Instead of encouraging city/infrastructure planning and lifestyle changes, the government is promoting coal-powered behemoths that maybe 1% of the population has a legitimate use for.

This is the silliest post I have ever read on this forum

I work at Home Depot, in a community of about 100k

Every day we get hundreds of regular customers who drive full size pickups. Plumbers, electricians, construction workers, small business owners, lawn companies, landlords, etc. Plus my community is a hub city for several smaller towns who rely on farming. Not to mention the many families who like to tow boats, trailers, or just like the convenience.

Sure, there are guys who drive full sized pickups who don’t need them. My dream vehicle is an F150 and I’m a teacher, so I’ll end up one of them.

Given the best selling vehicle in the US is the F150 and that there are multiple other vehicles like that on the top 10 list, I seriously doubt that a majority of full size pickup truck owners genuinely need the extra space?

Santander is right in that in terms of cars full size trucks are overkill to 99% of people. I do disagree that electrifying them is a bad idea though. More electric cars is good even if they are inefficient cars. And presumably renewable energy will keep increasing and hopefully take over. (Also I've seen some takes that larger vehicles are easier to make electric since they can use the extra space for batteries. Whether or not that is true I don't know)

Plus even for the people who do genuinely need a truck to haul stuff, there are always other options (most notably vans)

[DaleCooper]

Suburbanites hate fast cars. Michael Bennet needs to condemn this fast if he wants to win 2022.

[Person Man]

Apparently the expected MSRP starts at over $70k and will extend well into the six-figure range. This is a luxury vehicle and one targeted at the commuting-but-compensating demographic.

I just want them to restore the Ford Ranger to something close to its former shape and size.

F-150 has the same engine choices as my 2015 Mustang. Interesting.

I bet they could make a $50k Electric Ranger.

And you know how much some of these people are spending on trucks? A lot of them are fine with a 70k price tag.

[Lief 🗽]

Cars like this should obviously be illegal but until the political will to do that exists we might as well switch them to electric and destroy the planet a little less.

[QAnonKelly]

Just to remind everyone what President Biden replaced, and what Republicans worship:

Can we pls stop with the orange man bad bs? Why does he need to be brought up in every conversation?

Forty percent of the nation still worships the ground this vile imbecile drives golf carts over. If we let public awareness of how fractally awful he was fade, we may end up with him and/or his cult in charge again. I don't want another coup, nor another few hundred thousand dead Americans.

And posting silly gifs of him on an unrelated thread accomplishes that how?

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Apparently the expected MSRP starts at over $70k and will extend well into the six-figure range. This is a luxury vehicle and one targeted at the commuting-but-compensating demographic.

I just want them to restore the Ford Ranger to something close to its former shape and size.

Market research shows that consumers want to drive trucks that look like angry, aggressive hornets because they are insecure and have low T levels, unlike the Gary Coopers of the past who preferred sleek and stylish early 90s Ford Rangers to get to their job site.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

One reason why we are doomed to a pretty miserable climate future is that Americans cling to a lifestyle defined by crummy bling, like gigantic TVs or huge boats or Escalades or obscene lawns, instead of seeking the stability and security of a dependable welfare state and well-funded public services. Americans would find that walkable cities, short commutes and smaller portion sizes would make them feel better but they insist that lard should be injected in their veins and drive 30 feet to pick up their mail out of sheer laziness. This lifestyle is associated with massive health problems but people cling to it anyways.

Usually I try to avoid judging people overly much based on their consumer preferences but there is something uncanny to me about the combination of gigantic Monster Trucks, gigantic boats and the gigantic fat slobs who drive them.

[pppolitics]

Cars like this should obviously be illegal but until the political will to do that exists we might as well switch them to electric and destroy the planet a little less.

...wait until you see the Hummer EV

[GP270watch]

One reason why we are doomed to a pretty miserable climate future is that Americans cling to a lifestyle defined by crummy bling, like gigantic TVs or huge boats or Escalades or obscene lawns, instead of seeking the stability and security of a dependable welfare state and well-funded public services. Americans would find that walkable cities, short commutes and smaller portion sizes would make them feel better but they insist that lard should be injected in their veins and drive 30 feet to pick up their mail out of sheer laziness. This lifestyle is associated with massive health problems but people cling to it anyways.

This was the best speech I think any American President has made since Lincoln and sadly the nation didn't care.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I would go further and say that the massive shift away from transit and towards motor vehicles in the wake of the pandemic will be very consequential going forward, as will be the shift away from working in-person at an office towards working remotely in a large dwelling. Teleworking will not reduce energy consumption because cramped office spaces are much more energy efficient than a McMansion.

In many ways, the world is headed in the wrong direction even as renewables become more efficient. Massively funding EVs rather than hopelessly tilting at social engineering schemes that Americans despise is the best response but it would be better if Americans could bring themselves to live differently.

For the record, I do not agree with Carter austerity. I think we can have lives of abundance without the top 50% engorging ourselves with shiny trinkets. More labor should be devoted to basic needs and comforts of working class, not to the opulent pleasure palaces of red-faced affluent retirees and related creatures.

[President Johnson]

Uncle Joe is so awesome. Like the campaign video with him driving a cabriolet last year.

[GP270watch]

For the record, I do not agree with Carter austerity. I think we can have lives of abundance without the top 50% engorging ourselves with shiny trinkets. More labor should be devoted to basic needs and comforts of working class, not to the opulent pleasure palaces of red-faced affluent retirees and related creatures.

 I think Carter was warning against finding self worth and meaning in material things, only for those things to never be enough and leave us broke and bitter. The car itself is a terrible mode of transportation but that cake is baked. We can only hope that intelligent software and autonomous driving can make car fleets more distributable so the notion of car ownership becomes redundant if you always have a vehicle on demand.

[Averroës Nix]

The trouble with asking Americans to make significant changes is that everyone has faced the rhetoric of "doing more with less" for decades and recognizes it for the total BS that it is. It's always an excuse for the rich and powerful to demand more from everyone else while they continue engorging themselves.

There is no such thing as shared sacrifice for the American ruling class. Virtually any scheme to reduce consumption is engineered by people who will never bear the brunt of those policies, and people rightfully resent jet-setters who would deny them the quiet comfort of a home on a leafy street or the convenience of a personal vehicle with ample leg space.

There's this image of the metastasized consumer-truck, with an obese, sedentary driver, parked in a massive garage filled with clutter, and it is ridiculous and true and a national humiliation. But even most people who are disgusted by that image are scared of losing what is left of the American Dream. They will not eat the bugs. They will not live in the pod.

The people who make the decisions in this country have even less credibility than they did when Jimmy Carter delivered the Malaise Speech. This country would need a literal revolution to undergo the kind of spiritual renewal that Carter invokes, and that's not a prospect that reasonable people relish.

[Santander]

Apparently the expected MSRP starts at over $70k and will extend well into the six-figure range. This is a luxury vehicle and one targeted at the commuting-but-compensating demographic.

I just want them to restore the Ford Ranger to something close to its former shape and size.

The Maverick has been unveiled and is a new unibody Ford truck just a shade longer than an Explorer. Finally, something I would be tempted to buy.

[Del Tachi]

Apparently the expected MSRP starts at over $70k and will extend well into the six-figure range. This is a luxury vehicle and one targeted at the commuting-but-compensating demographic.

400k of the 900k new F-150s sold in 2019 were bought by consumers the industry has termed "never-nevers."  That is, they never tow and they never haul: they purchased a truck for its aesthetic or luxury value.

For this category of consumer, I suspect that conspicuous gas guzzling is actually more of a status symbol.  If anything, I expect the electric F-150 will be best-selling as a commercial or fleet vehicle since that's where the added cost can be justified as a long-term investment.     

[Nightcore Nationalist]

He isn't wrong though. For the overwhelming majority of Americans, there is no reason to own anything larger than a sedan.

I used to think so too, but if you consolidate 2 cars (cheap sedan and basic work truck) into one 5 passenger truck that can do both commuting and truck stuff, you pay far less in tax/reg/insurance, and many people don't live in an area where you can just rent one or have the room to park multiple vehicles.

The traditional, body on frame American sedan/wagon never truly left, it just got much taller and grew a bed.

Hihihi, this part was funny!

Lol, based Biden.  Wait.........

Apparently the expected MSRP starts at over $70k and will extend well into the six-figure range. This is a luxury vehicle and one targeted at the commuting-but-compensating demographic.

I just want them to restore the Ford Ranger to something close to its former shape and size.

Unfortunately a genuine "mini-truck" (that's small and a proper body-on frame RWD platform) is not a viable business case anymore.  In fact, I'm surprised Ford thought there was one for the Ranger, but it does share quite a few parts with the Bronco.

The unibody, FWD based Maverick (which replaces Ford's entire passenger car lineup save for the Mustang) is a viable business case since it shares so much with the Escape/Bronco sport.