My Lightning owner's thoughts and 1600 mile trip

[Ruination]

A lot of that shouldn't have been much of a surprise and some.of it is plain silly.

The full-sized truck is slower than the sports car? Well I'll be.

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[Kev12345]

ford's number one priority for their EV's should be better route planning UI. Plug & Charge needs to be standard at least on electrify America if they want to keep up with Tesla.

 

[vandy1981]

Plug & Charge needs to be standard at least on electrify America if they want to keep up with Tesla.

Isn't plug-and-charge enabled on the F150L for Electrify America?

EA can't enable plug and charge unilaterally. Auto manufactures also have to enable it through software and they don't all seem interested in doing so.

 

[sotek2345]

Isn't plug-and-charge enabled on the F150L for Electrify America?

EA can't enable plug and charge unilaterally. Auto manufactures also have to enable it through software and they don't all seem interested in doing so.

It is available, but you have to turn it on and set up a credit card.

 

[dirtdiver]

I enjoyed reading the report, thanks for taking the time to share. Im looking forward to getting the truck and drawing my own conclusions. My longest road trips will continue to be in my F350. I have a camper on it and often tow a 5K pound trailer. I like to take the F350 up to the Sierras about 400 miles away. By the time I get back home it is about a 1000 mile trip. Since Diesel has gotten up towards $7/gal Ive been flirting with the idea of going back to tent camping - using the lightening instead just to save the $700. Im going to try it at least once.

Where my F150L is going to be super helpful is that I do a good amount of local driving where I need 4WD. I have a 160 acre property that is 4WD access. Also I plan to use the 150L to power my well pump & welder on that property. So, in my case Im going to get some good benefit out of the day to day work truck aspects.

As a side note. Im on a couple other forums where the people can get downright nasty to each other. Way more confrontational that anyone would be in person. Im glad this forum tends towards the polite. steve

 

[vandy1981]

Where my F150L is going to be super helpful is that I do a good amount of local driving where I need 4WD. I have a 160 acre property that is 4WD access. Also I plan to use the 150L to power my well pump & welder on that property. So, in my case Im going to get some good benefit out of the day to day work truck aspects.

Ford should put you in a Lightning commercial. Such a great use-case for this truck.

 

[merek]

ford's number one priority for their EV's should be better route planning UI. Plug & Charge needs to be standard at least on electrify America if they want to keep up with Tesla.

Seems crazy that a big OEM doesn't just throw a bunch of money to license ABRP and integrate it into their vehicles.

If you pay for ABRP I think it can do Carplay at least.

 

[Sam James]

Seems crazy that a big OEM doesn't just throw a bunch of money to license ABRP and integrate it into their vehicles.

If you pay for ABRP I think it can do Carplay at least.

It does. I keep hearing not to use it for navigation, but ABRP has been fine for us so far. Seldom use it.

 

[F150ROD]

If the EA charging network is as bad as it seems everyone’s first EV should be Tesla just for the charging experience.

Unfortunately the $35k Tesla was always a pipe dream and I think Musk has finally decided to keep Teslas in the upper price range without improving the quality of Materials.

I hope first time EV owners don’t sour on EV because of EA.

I myself plan on taking an 1800 miles trip up the Westcoast in the Lightning, lucky for us there are plenty of DCFC everywhere. One has to work right?

 

[LightningShow]

Most people will rarely ever use a DCFC in their EV. I’ve only used one once in my Bolt and that was just to try it out, I didn’t actually need to.
DCFC network is an important part of the overall EV infrastructure but for the majority of individual EV users it’s an afterthought. The only people buyinf an EV as a roadtripper in 2022 are EV geeks and early adopters who understand the sacrifices. IMO there’s a very small sliver of EV buyers who will be surprised by the difficulty roadtripping compared to an ICE vehicle or even a Tesla.

 

[LightningShow]

I recognize that Tesla's charging network is superior to the CCS1 network in the USA (for now) but I'm not sure where you got some of these numbers.

-<1.6 mi/kwh efficiency? I've been seeing 1.8-2.1 kWh from most users at highway speeds.
-SC speeds are faster? EA stations max out at 350 kW vs 300 kW for the SC.
-Prime locations? Prime is a subjective term. There are plenty of SC located at nearly abandoned malls and random hotel parking lots.
-Horribly slow 0-80% charging speeds? Horribly is a subjective term but we're talking a 15-20 minute difference in charging time and the F150L accepts higher kW than the M3 and MY at higher SOC.
-10x more charging units to meet the demand? EA alone has 3,500 cabinets vs ~20,000 SC across the world so you're exaggerating.

Again, I'm not arguing that the F150L is going to be a faster road tripper than most Teslas, but things aren't as dire as you're asserting.

I'm guessing a consistent 80mph will probably get you under 1.6mi/kwh (condition dependent) but even when you're cruising at 80mph your average travel speed is usually 70-75mph due to traffic, construction, etc. which probably puts you around 1.6 in the long run. He may have been cruising over 80.

The Lightning is probably one of the fastest charge *rate* EVs from 0-80% but it's still "slow" because the battery is freaking massive. Based on what I've seen from various videos and postings, I believe the Lightning will average over 140kw from 0-80% under ideal conditions. Yeah, a car with a 68kWh battery is going to charge way faster. That's life in a big, inefficient EV.

Here @tommolog gets about 110-115kw average from 0-80 in a 2021 M3 LR on a V3 Supercharger, but it throttles significantly at ~25% then steadily tapers down all the way to 80. If a Lightning and a M3 both pulled into a DCFC at 50% SOC and needed to get to 80%, the Lightning would charge at nearly twice the rate and probably take about the same amount of time to get to 80%. There are so many variables in the DCFC rate and time it's difficult to do side by side comparisons but overall I think the Lightning has a very usable DCFC curve. Yeah, we'd all love 800V charging but I think what they did with the 400V architecture is probably about as good as you can get.

https://insideevs.com/news/506520/tesla-model-3-supercharger-test/

 

[vandy1981]

I think the Lightning has a very usable DCFC curve. Yeah, we'd all love 800V charging but I think what they did with the 400V architecture is probably about as good as you can get.

Agree 100%.

I'd guess that there is probably enough headroom in the thermal management system to allow a less aggressive taper. Even if they don't , the charge curve curve on the ER exceeds my expectations.

 

[greenne]

Agree 100%.

I'd guess that there is probably enough headroom in the thermal management system to allow a less aggressive taper. Even if they don't , the charge curve curve on the ER exceeds my expectations.

I think IF they could move the charging "cliff" to 90% I think it would be just about as good as possible for a 400v system. (A flat 150-125KW'ish curve from 5 to 90%)

 

[greenne]

If the EA charging network is as bad as it seems everyone’s first EV should be Tesla just for the charging experience.

Unfortunately the $35k Tesla was always a pipe dream and I think Musk has finally decided to keep Teslas in the upper price range without improving the quality of Materials.

I hope first time EV owners don’t sour on EV because of EA.

I myself plan on taking an 1800 miles trip up the Westcoast in the Lightning, lucky for us there are plenty of DCFC everywhere. One has to work right?

TBH, 99% of the "problems" I hear about EA stations are from people who either don't know or who don't care to plan ahead. I will grant you that EA stations are far from "plug and play" like Tesla. However, with a little bit of preplanning the EA stations are for the most part very usable without drama. Being a Veteran and with experience in aviation I don't understand the tendency to just "go" on a significant trip with no pre planning. Sure, I've hopped into my car for a 100mi or so joyride, but never have I embarked on a 500mi or 1000mi trip with no "pretrip" check or arrangements.

 

[sotek2345]

I think IF they could move the charging "cliff" to 90% I think it would be just about as good as possible for a 400v system. (A flat 150-125KW'ish curve from 5 to 90%)

Honestly, the above 80% isn't really that bad either. Way better than the Mach-e throttling to ~10kW

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