Best Practices For Feeding (Charging) and Caring of Our New Lightnings

[jefro]

I don't notice a great loss in high temps. Low temps and going up and down hills seems to be most of my loss. I don't use a lot of AC. Put air directly on me most days.

My wife had a 2500 diesel that did pretty good going up and down hills over a gas model. My EV's don't recover much power from going downhill. Takes a lot of power to life a heavy battery up a hill. My estimates on recovered power are 1/5 of what I used going uphill. Regen is something but not a 1:1 at all.

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[Sdctcher]

My wife had a 2500 diesel that did pretty good going up and down hills over a gas model. My EV's don't recover much power from going downhill. Takes a lot of power to life a heavy battery up a hill. My estimates on recovered power are 1/5 of what I used going uphill. Regen is something but not a 1:1 at all.

Regen braking really depends on a lot of factors and generally over a long trip the ratio might be 5-10%.

But it depends on torque, weight of EV, and braking technique. A heavy vehicle like the Lightning with a heavy brake pedal usage will generate higher than a small EV using a light pedal. Also, highway use will be much lower than city stop-and-go.

On an up-and-down hill the ratio will range from 16% to 70%. I would expect a high ratio for a Lightning generally used for short in-town trips. At least I am hoping so.

 

[Sdctcher]

In simple terms an EV is most efficient if you never have to brake at a constant low speed with a light ‘gas’ pedal. The energy to propel forward is used best. But if you are using more energy than necessary to move forward you will need to brake, bleeding off energy to friction loss and heat.

Regen braking can never recover 100% (according to the laws of physics) but best practice braking can recover up to 70% per incident.

Maybe someone might post a link to a good article on how to best use Regen braking. I know Tesla has done a lot of real life research on this.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Maybe someone might post a link to a good article on how to best use Regen braking. I know Tesla has done a lot of real life research on this.

Good idea but the article should address “normal” driving both around town and highway. Not many are planning to “hyper-mile” their truck although the techniques would be interesting.

 

[hturnerfamily]

over the last several years of owning TWO Nissan Leaf 2014 and 2015 models, both with 'B' regen mode, and the latter with another 'eco' mode, for even more regen, I've actually come to realize that the idea of 'regenning' is not necessarily different, overall, on lengthy trips, than just driving in 'normal' mode. The outcome is unnoticeable.
The 'feel good' of the regen of the system when you lift your foot from the pedal is great, especially if you want to drive 'one pedal', like a golf cart, but you also start to realize that even though you are 'regenning' down a long hill, you also are slowing down while going down that long hill. When you reach the bottom, or the 'apex', you'll need to get back into the pedal, which then creates the OPPOSITE affect - you have to give it some 'gas' to regain much of the MOMENTUM you've lost thru the regen slowing process.

I think that the regen idea is novel, and maybe certain situations might reveal that it's a 'big' difference, but unless you are ONLY going down hil the majority of the way on a trip, it's likely that the outcome is not that life changing. I DO, though, like one pedal driving, in city traffic - now THAT'S where the regen really comes to life.

 

[hturnerfamily]

and, by the way, I would like the manufacturers to develop a 'cruise control' that is based on the active level of desired battery 'power' level, versus trying to maintain a certain speed. For instance, our Leafs provide a nice little 'arc' of 10-12 dots, which light up from the left, as the Leaf is using more and more power to increase speed, especially up hills. This 'level' lets you know that the battery is really being drawn down, or used at a higher degree, than when on level ground and simply maintaining speed. Generally, the first dot is always lit up when you are moving forward, under no real strain. The second dot means that the battery is needed to maintain the speed, a third means that it's trying harder to maintain the speed while going up a rise, and of course, more and more dots if you are really into the pedal, trying the pass, get up to speed really quickly, etc.
I would like to be able to set my cruise control to a 'battery level', rather than speed. I am willing to lose speed, sacrifice 'maintaining' speed, in situations where I would rather maintain the BATTERY.

 

[Sdctcher]

and, by the way, I would like the manufacturers to develop a 'cruise control' that is based on the active level of desired battery 'power' level, versus trying to maintain a certain speed. For instance, our Leafs provide a nice little 'arc' of 10-12 dots, which light up from the left, as the Leaf is using more and more power to increase speed, especially up hills. This 'level' lets you know that the battery is really being drawn down, or used at a higher degree, than when on level ground and simply maintaining speed. Generally, the first dot is always lit up when you are moving forward, under no real strain. The second dot means that the battery is needed to maintain the speed, a third means that it's trying harder to maintain the speed while going up a rise, and of course, more and more dots if you are really into the pedal, trying the pass, get up to speed really quickly, etc.
I would like to be able to set my cruise control to a 'battery level', rather than speed. I am willing to lose speed, sacrifice 'maintaining' speed, in situations where I would rather maintain the BATTERY.

RIGHT!

Regen is really just a side show. It is like I paid too much for my six pack of Buds so now I pick up my empties and get money back to recycle.

The Hypermiler will achieve Max Efficiency by slowly accelerating only as much as necessary to later slow down entirely to a stop without braking. Of course, that is perfection most of us do not have the patience to do.

But you have to use some % of that technique in your driving habits if you want efficiency. The same techniques will work in an ICE vehicle.

If you are a Space Geek think about an Ion Engine Spacecraft that accelerates at a snails pace but accelerates at a constant rate and in time reaches a % of the speed of light using very little energy.
But almost 100% of the energy used is now stored in its kinetic energy.

 

[Sdctcher]

Everything EV Drivers Should Know About Time-Of-Use Energy Rates

Across the country, utilities have started to introduce
time-of-use (TOU) electricity rates – new rate structures
that differ from a traditional flat rate, with the cost of
energy use varying based on the day, time and season.

For customers who can shift energy consumption activities to off-peak hours, like charging their *2022 Ford F150 Lightning*, doing laundry or running the air conditioner, the savings can be significant.

*My Edit*

https://evcharging.enelx.com/resour...rs-should-know-about-time-of-use-energy-rates

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks for the ideas. I've already been talking with my electrician. I've identified a 60 amp breaker in the panel that I think I can repurpose to support the 48 amp charging circuit.

What are the thoughts on multiple outlets in the garage? I have a 3 car garage and the Lightning will be dedicated to one stall. Is it useful to drop any other outlets at the same time? I don't foresee multiple EV's in my immediate future but who knows.

First, keep in mind that an installation like this should be inspected. Will an inspector approve several outlets dropped off that breaker, when the one device is pulling all the juice?

In our 3 car garage, the charger I bought - a JuiceBox 48 - has a 25 foot cord. I mounted just off center, it reaches to the far right bay where the Mach-E is, and where a truck couldn't fit through the single door. It also reaches to the other two bays, including where the left charging port would be if a Lightning would be in the far left bay (it would be in the middle bay though).

You can also buy a charger, like the JuiceBox 48, which supports MULTIPLE chargers on the same circuit. So two JuiceBox 48s, on one 60 amp circuit. With load sharing setup in the app (easy), they know they're sharing, and when they are plugged in to a vehicle they start at 6amps and check for the other charger. If it's not in use, they ramp up. If it is in use, they split the load until one is done, then the other ramps up. Of course you could also set one to start at say 7PM (when my off-peak hours start), knowing it's going to finish that vehicle by 9PM, and then have the other one kick in on full charge right away starting at 9PM to finish by the next morning (an empty extended range Lightning could take 13 hours at 48amps to finish). My peak ends at 11AM, so that would work perfectly for me, and I would know that the Mach-E would be ready when I woke up. Or, vice versa.

 

[shutterbug]

A heavy vehicle like the Lightning with a heavy brake pedal usage will generate higher than a small EV using a light pedal

Unlikely. Heavy break usage will likely bypass regen breaking entirely and go straight to friction breaks.

 

[sotek2345]

Unlikely. Heavy break usage will likely bypass regen breaking entirely and go straight to friction breaks.

It won't bypass Regen - it will max out Regen and then apply friction brakes. That is how blended braking works.

 

[shutterbug]

It won't bypass Regen - it will max out Regen and then apply friction brakes. That is how blended braking works.

If you hit breaks real hard, you will get very little regen.

 

[jefro]

I base my opinion based on use going up and down a long steep hill over three years.
I've tried to change speeds as it was suggested that the motor/generator might produce more power at lower speeds (Q) and didn't notice any. Going uphill fast may use a bit more but hard to measure.

The losses in it start at tires then driveline then generator and inverter then trying to stuff power back into a battery. Maybe Solid State or Ultra Capacitors could improve that last part. Maybe a transmission could improve or make worse driveline.

 

[RickLightning]

Unlikely. Heavy break usage will likely bypass regen breaking entirely and go straight to friction breaks.

If you hit breaks real hard, you will get very little regen.

Brakes, not breaks, first do regen, then friction. That's exactly how they are designed. One can use 1 pedal driving, or hit the "L" button, or change drive modes to get different regeneration usage.

 

[jefro]

I've tried to calculate my gains from charging at TOS Super Saver rates. My issue is the way they calculate all the other fees. While I might charge at 04 cents/KWh the fees end up being 11 cents/KWh. That means my actual gas for car is really cheaper than epa guess of $500 a year.
I am sure my 5.0L F150 was burning a $4500 hole in my pocket at $4/gal.

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