Time For A FORScan Dash Upgrade on Our Ford F-150 Lightning — Until One Thing Almost Ruined It

Like many modern EVs, the Ford F-150 Lightning benefits from over-the-air software upgrades — adding new features or tweaking existing ones for free, without ever visiting a dealership. But over the four-and-a-bit years of its production, the Lightning has also gained new features at the factory that haven’t always been made available as OTA updates. One of those is upgraded software for the truck’s Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC). While the hardware hasn’t changed much, more recent model year trucks gained on-screen charging information — handy for fast charging — as well as improved indications for BlueCruise. Thanks to the techs and enthusiasts at the F150 Lightning Forum, it’s now possible to add these same features to older Lightnings — improving quality of life without waiting for Ford to do it for you. The catch? Doing this requires FORScan software, an OBD-II to USB dongle, 5+ hours of work, an external 12-volt power supply, and high-quality, healthy jumper cables. We’ve just completed the upgrade on Nikki’s F-150 Lightning. But not giving enough attention to the importance of good cables nearly turned the project into a disaster. In this video, we show exactly how the upgrade is done, what you need to know, and why relying on anything less than solid jumper cables for high-current loads is a very bad idea. ---- *⏱️ Episode Timeline* 00:00 – Introduction (What We’re About to Break… Hopefully Not) 04:34 – Quick Notes Before You Dive In 05:08 – Things to Know Before Upgrading 06:02 – Jumper Cable Warning: Don’t Skimp 08:28 – Computer Setup: Where the Magic (and Panic) Happens 10:31 – Why That External 12V Supply Matters 13:19 – Plugging Everything In Without Shocking Yourself 16:42 – Save Your “As-Built” File First — Seriously 20:31 – Programming the IPC with the Downloaded Files 24:03 – The Angry Bees Moment… (You’ll See) 24:56 – After the Flash: Restoring the 2024 As-Built File 27:43 – Powering Down and Unplugging Everything Safely 32:33 – Thanks and Goodbye ---- *🔗 Links:* • F150 Lightning Owners Forum Post about upgrade: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/enabling-charge-speed-on-dash.31565/ • 12V Server Power Supply (used to power the truck's 12V systems during the upgrade) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCBVRNS8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 • ForSCAN - you will need the windows version: https://forscan.org • ForSCAN compatible OBDLink EX - https://www.amazon.com/OBDLink-EX-FORScan-OBD-Adapter/dp/B081VQVD3F?ref_=ast_sto_dp ---- *👥 Today’s Sponsors* 🌱 Electric Vehicle Association - https://www.myeva.org ⚡ EnergySage - https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-101290941-16952262 — ✊ Get Involved 🗳️ https://indivisible.org/town-hall-resources ❤️ Support the Show 📰 https://www.transportevolved.com 🔥 https://www.patreon.com/transportevolved ☕ https://ko-fi.com/transportevolved 📺 https://www.youtube.com/transportevolved 👕 https://www.redbubble.com/people/TransportEVd/ 🛍️ https://amzn.to/40xOyjm ₿ 1QRZRGCCXUKPDZ2DZ9KX9JYJXMZDYHYGFZ0MN4WH *💬 Join the Conversation* 🐘 https://mastodon.transportevolved.com/@show 💬 https://discord.gg/9WAjfQn 🌀 https://bsky.app/profile/transportevolved.bsky.social 🔁 Subscribe to our 2nd channel - https://www.youtube.com/transportevolvedtake2 --- *🎙️ Credits:* Host: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Camera, Edit, Color: Vi Horton Art & Animation: Erin Carlie Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Music: via Artlist.io © Transport Evolved LLC, 2025