Charging Curve Posted For 2022 F-150 Lightning

[Mr. Flibble]

Kyle uploaded the Curve data he found.

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[OutofSpecKyle]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[vandy1981]

@OutofSpecKyle's test matched Ford's promise of 15-80% in 44 minutes. We don't know if the 0-80% curve is going to be the same as the 15-80% curve, but I can't imagine it would be that different.

 

[LightningShow]

Great breakdown by @OutofSpecKyle! I’m glad there’s someone out there looking out for us EV geeks.

interesting info about the temporary boost when you plug in. I wasn’t aware that the MME did that as well. It’s an interesting way to goose a little bit more out of the charge curve while still being a bit conservative. If I’m understanding correctly then the sweet spot of the curve is about 20-50% where you get the highest “native” charge rate plus you would get the “boost” for most of that range. Assuming you are on a capable charger you could see about 170kw through that span. With conservative driving (65mph?) you could potentially see almost 100 miles in 15 minutes of charging. That would be pretty sweet.

 

[p52Ranch]

Kyle, thanks for the nerdy info it is very interesting to have a glimpse of what I'm getting myself into with a Lightning purchase.

Understanding the DCFC charging capabilities in an EV today seems to be like owning a television with vacuum tubes in the 1960's. If you want either to perform to their optimum capability, they require more knowledge of the product and more tinkering than most consumers would typically invest.

 

[CRAIGC540]

Thanks Kyle for the info. Looks like I Will be ok with no surprises charging my Lightning.

 

[adoublee]

Like the curve but kinda hate the dependence on (liquid cooled) 500A cabled chargers to get top 65kW of charging power over a 300A cable and top 100kW of charging power over a 200A cable. This essentially makes what could have been the workhorse ~150kW nameplate DC fast chargers with limiting cable ampacities significantly less desirable to use relative the less common 350kW chargers with extreme high current cables. And this means more congestion and tension where these 350kW chargers do exist as Lightning volumes increase.

 

[SeanOC]

I doubt they are any different.. yet. The thought is that the max tow customers could see OTA software updates allowing for faster charging rates as more data comes in over time.

 

[ExCivilian]

a small subset of vehicles with max tow

Have you seen data on this?

My hunch is that there are more max tows than not.

 

[Zzw30spyder]

Ford can barely update the sync system, you really think they will make a 3rd charge curve for a small subset of vehicles with max tow and update BMS OTA? Not gonna happen.

Also the limitation doesn’t seem to be cooling , rather the low voltage the charge system was designed to operate at.

With them going to Android in the MY23 Lightnings it might make it easier for them. I'm not counting on the updates and am buying it assuming it never gets updated. That being said, they have updated charging curves for the MME so it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Maybe they went safe with the pack voltage as it was more established and they didn't want to rock the boat on a very very important product launch for them and the future of Ford. I think as they build out more chargers and most the chargers will have the capability to fully deliver called for amperage and they get more data we might see slight tweaks.

Most my charging will be done at home but the handful of times I tow a year it'll mean a extra stop on the way there to top off to have power at the destination, and while for road tripping not ideal the locations at Walmart is good for last minute stuff I forgot to bring to the track lol

Sorry for the novel

 

[SeanOC]

Ford can barely update the sync system, you really think they will make a 3rd charge curve for a small subset of vehicles with max tow and update BMS OTA? Not gonna happen.

Also the limitation doesn’t seem to be cooling , rather the low voltage the charge system was designed to operate at.

Ford has basically bet their future on EV’s and the Lightning is now their flagship model. They are remaking the brand to compete with Tesla who have been so successful in large part due the direct customer relationship and the frequent OTA software updates. Ford has publicly announced their intention to follow suit on both.Charging speed and availability is perhaps the biggest obstacle in convincing ICE customers to make the switch to EV.

Do I think Ford will be rolling out BMS updates improving charging speed and efficiency?
Yes, yes I do.

I wouldn’t consider max tow vehicles a “small subset” either. It looks to be on the majority of vehicles ordered thus far. Granted that percentage will come down over time especially when you look at fleet orders but it still makes up a significant percentage of the trucks built.

 

[beatle]

Ford can barely update the sync system, you really think they will make a 3rd charge curve for a small subset of vehicles with max tow and update BMS OTA? Not gonna happen.

Also the limitation doesn’t seem to be cooling , rather the low voltage the charge system was designed to operate at.

If you want the same power at lower voltage, you need more amps. More amps = more heat = more cooling. You can blame the lower voltage of the truck's pack or you can blame the lower current capability of the 150kw chargers. Neither is wrong.

 

[adoublee]

If you want the same power at lower voltage, you need more amps. More amps = more heat = more cooling. You can blame the lower voltage of the truck's pack or you can blame the lower current capability of the 150kw chargers. Neither is wrong.

Except that delivered power is limited by the weakest point in the system, and Ford has designed the truck to operate outside the amp capability of most chargers. It's already at the high end of current in the specialty chargers that are intended to provide twice as much power. Ford could potentially improve charge curve for max tow for quicker energy delivery over a span of higher socs, but they aren't going to be getting any more current out of any chargers any time soon so max power level is not going up.

 

[beatle]

Except that delivered power is limited by the weakest point in the system, and Ford has designed the truck to operate outside the amp capability of most chargers. It's already at the high end of current in the specialty chargers that are intended to provide twice as much power. Ford could potentially improve charge curve for max tow for quicker energy delivery over a span of higher socs, but they aren't going to be getting any more current out of any chargers any time soon so max power level is not going up.

You can say the weakest point is the charger or the truck. It's up to you. However, saying the Lightning was "designed to operate outside the amp capability of most chargers" is a stretch, especially since there are plenty of 150kw chargers that can deliver 500A. Most vehicles are still on 350-450v architectures which will have the same "limitation" if they can actually charge at 150kw.

 

[adoublee]

You can say the weakest point is the charger or the truck. It's up to you. However, saying the Lightning was "designed to operate outside the amp capability of most chargers" is a stretch, especially since there are plenty of 150kw chargers that can deliver 500A. Most vehicles are still on 350-450v architectures which will have the same "limitation" if they can actually charge at 150kw.

Most 150kW are 350A if not less, not 500A. And most of the coming federally funded infrastructure build out is going to be in the 150kW nameplate range - probably not with 500A cables and the maintenance that goes with the liquid cooling system they require. So you can say the charger is the limit versus the vehicle if you want, but I guess you could say the same if the vehicle had a capacitor and could take 10,000 amps but the charger can't deliver it. Point is Ford went unusually low on the voltage (315V drained) and there is a price that will be paid for it.

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