Sooooo...where's the full DCFC test?

[LightningShow]

I was just fooling around with trip planning for the Lightning and I still feel a little in the dark on the real DCFC rates. I know @OutofSpecKyle will have something out soon but I'm wondering what that 50%-80% taper will look like in reality. I had been assuming that the rate tapers off from ~150kw to ~125kw shortly after 50% then mostly holds there until 80% but I just watched Kyle's video from San Antonio more closely and he plugged in at 47% at 5:25pm and got to 80% at 5:44pm. That's an *average* of 137kW delivered to the battery from 47-80%. He was also well over 170kW (from the station) prior to 50%. That would be pretty great if it can average 135kW to the battery from 50%-80%.

If it will average 155kW from 0-50 and 135kW from 50-80, it should be able to go from essentially dead to 80% in 43 minutes, which is way better than the "15%-80% in 41 minutes" that Ford has been quoting. I suspect Kyle's charge rates have something to do with the fact he was ripping on the truck and had the battery temp primed to take max charge so that's a factor. Also, who knows whether the programming on that truck was the same as production, though I assume it *was* an early production truck.

Anyway, can't wait for some full DC charge tests!


ETA: I just noticed that a steady taper from 155kW to 120kW from 50-80% gives you a 137kW average. Seems like that's maybe what Kyle experienced.

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[Theo1000]

Just for reference I did 47% charge from 24% to 71% for 62 kwh in 28 minutes recent road trip. Which is very close to 130 kwh average. So Kyle's number is not an aberration. I think the sweet spot is closer to 20 minutes charging rather than a longer 28 minute one I did. Get a 30% charge in the 10% to 80% band and you hit the charging sweet spot. The Lightning hovered from 115 to 122 kw in the last 10% or so of my charge so if I that stopped a bit earlier 135 kwh average is very reasonable.

 

[Amps]

Just going to have to get @tommolog his Lightning!

It will be interesting to see full charging curves done from an Electrify America 350 contrasted to an Electrify America 150. I suppose a charging test from the Kum & Go in Colorado will be nearly the same as an EA 350. I think those are 200 Amp Chargepoints.

 

[greenne]

I am sure a comprehensive charge test is coming ..but here is the hypothetical charge curve based on data given to Tom Moloughney from Ford

0-15% in 9min(est)
15-80% in 41min

0-80% in 50min

 

[stimpy]

Here are a few charge summaries from my trip earlier this week.

 

[LightningShow]

I am sure a comprehensive charge test is coming ..but here is the hypothetical charge curve based on data given to Tom Moloughney from Ford

0-15% in 9min(est)
15-80% in 41min

0-80% in 50min

I sent Tom an e-mail about that plot. It doesn't make sense compared to real world charging performance. He shows rate dropping at 35% SOC whereas many people have experienced the rate being steady until 50% SOC and then tapering steadily over the course of 50% to 80%, whereas he shows the taper happening from 35% to 45% then flat from 45-75%. I think there's something off with the plot. Maybe Ford gave him outdated data?

 

[Amps]

Here are a few charge summaries from my trip earlier this week.

Do you know which chargers you were using? Some owners are showing charging rates above 150 kW.

 

[stimpy]

Do you know which chargers you were using? Some owners are showing charging rates above 150 kW.

They were all Electrify America 350 Kw max. My Lightning topped out at 162 Kw and fluctuated between 158-162 at top speed. It stayed pretty close to that up to 50% SoC.

 

[stimpy]

They were all Electrify America 350 Kw max. My Lightning topped out at 162 Kw and fluctuated between 158-162 at top speed. It stayed pretty close to that up to 50% SoC.

I did use a 150 Kw charger once and it topped out at 130kw for a while.

 

[gorwell]

I did use a 150 Kw charger once and it topped out at 130kw for a while.

Everyone should keep in mind that electriify American can be very inconsistent.

Any real charge curve will need to confirm that the EA unit is working properly.

130 might have been the limit of the charger itself, especially if you saw it just sit at that level.

If you come across a new signet unit, then you'll likely get max speed from my experience.

I recently went on a road trip in my ioniq5 and on 3 350 EA units I got a constant draw of 100kw, 133kw, and 175kw. Each charger was crippled in speed. Only time I got a the max speed and a real charge curve was on a signet unit. One old 150kw unit did peak out at 175kw which was nice.

 

[gorwell]

For us standard range folks, the town and country videos had some data about charging:

Peaked @ 140kw right when plugged in @ 5%.

Took 40 minutes to go from 5-80% which is a little bit faster than Ford's claims (44 minutes from 15-80%).

Avg. Of 119kw for the duration.

 

[Firestop]

For us standard range folks, the town and country videos had some data about charging:

Peaked @ 140kw right when plugged in @ 5%.

Took 40 minutes to go from 5-80% which is a little bit faster than Ford's claims (44 minutes from 15-80%).

Avg. Of 119kw for the duration.

Given the inconsistencies of the kWh supplied by the various public chargers out there, my hope is when @tommolog does his Charge Curve testing & development, he does so and creates them at the commonly available charger kWh so we can develop some real world expectations for trip planning……

 

[blpublic]

Just for reference I did 47% charge from 24% to 71% for 62 kwh in 28 minutes recent road trip. Which is very close to 130 kwh average. So Kyle's number is not an aberration. I think the sweet spot is closer to 20 minutes charging rather than a longer 28 minute one I did. Get a 30% charge in the 10% to 80% band and you hit the charging sweet spot. The Lightning hovered from 115 to 122 kw in the last 10% or so of my charge so if I that stopped a bit earlier 135 kwh average is very reasonable.

Has this charger location consistently charged at this rate for you in the Lightning?

We have not been able to any DC Fast charger to stay above 120kW for more than a few minutes. Our charging was primarily at Boonville, MO EA 350kW charger in the middle of a trip on I-70. I am wondering if it is because the truck is too hot. Some are towing trips, some are not.

Was the charging session above after little driving or 70MPH for hours?
Do you have the max towing package?

 

[Theo1000]

Has this charger location consistently charged at this rate for you in the Lightning?

We have not been able to any DC Fast charger to stay above 120kW for more than a few minutes. Our charging was primarily at Boonville, MO EA 350kW charger in the middle of a trip on I-70. I am wondering if it is because the truck is too hot. Some are towing trips, some are not.

Was the charging session above after little driving or 70MPH for hours?
Do you have the max towing package?

SR or ER?

Mine is ER platinum so has all the options.

TBH your situation sounds like normal behavior. After the initial burst anything from 80-130kw is normal depending on weather, charge state, cell voltages, etc. Mine tends towards 128-132 so far but this is summer. Will change in winter, your may think different.

It depends on the station. At the St Charles location station #2 has got me to 166-172 kw for the first 10-15 minutes. usually get about 80-100 miles or 30%-40% charge. Have charged here 4 times this past 2 months. Station #3 once gave me just 34kw so I moved.

I used Booneville probably 10+ times past 2 months with. Usually Station #3 & #4 do well. Station #2 is unpredictable.

As long as you are driving above 40 mph the truck battery will never get above 30c. The cooler is powerful enough to to get the battery from 45c to 30c in 2 minutes under DC fc charging at 60 kw, check out some of the charge curve videos. Even towing you won't exceed that for more than a few seconds.

The logic the truck uses to set the charge speed is a mystery to us all. We make some educated guesses but only the truck logic knows what it is doing. You might have to experiment with chargers and SoC you arrive at to see what your truck says.

 

[mastapsi356]

State of Charge is planning a charging video, but the Lightning's charging is more complicated than most EVs. Ford has included a "boost" period, where basically no matter what state of charge you plug in at, you get essentially full power for 5 or so minutes, then to falls back to a nominal charging curve. So there isn't a single curve for the Lightning, the curve changes based on what state of charge you plug in at. Tom has been doing a ton of charge recordings apparently to map this out, which is part of what is taking so long for the video to come out.

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