First long trip in the Lightning

[vandy1981]

I was running low on Lingonberry-scented candles and decided to take the Lightning to an Ikea about 250 miles from my home. I averaged 1.7 miles/kWh traveling almost exclusively on the Interstate at 80 mph in dry conditions. Although I was hoping the efficiency would be better, I was pleased to see that the charging speeds met or exceeded my expectations. Overall, the Lightning is an awesome cruiser and I can't wait to take more road-trips with it.

Leg 1: Nashville, TN to Jackson, TN.
I saw a 1st Gen SVT Lightning about 2 minutes after jumping on the highway. It looked exactly like the picture below, but with some rust. He exited the highway before I could safely get a photo of him. I've never seen this guy in my area before, but I'm hoping that I'll run into him again--it would make for some awesome side-by-side photos.

Stopped at the Jackson Electrify America station. The first charger initiated perfectly, but capped out at 55kW. I switched to a 150 kW charger and that also initiated without hiccups. I took a bio break at Walmart and did some shipping and was at 88% before I knew it.

Charger: EA 150 kW
Total charge time: 35 minutes.
kWh added: 58 kWh (47%-88%)
Cost: $11.21
Peak 144 kW @ 47%.

After charging I went to Freddy's Frozen Custard for lunch. The fold out armrest worksurface is perfect for fast food stops.

Leg 2: Jackson, TN to Memphis, TN
The trip was unremarkable other than a Rivian R1T sighting. When I got to Ikea, I plugged into a ChargePoint 6.7 kW J1772 charger near the front of the parking lot. A guy and his dad came up to me to ask me about the Lightning while I was plugging in. I showed them the frunk and their jaws dropped to the floor.

After doing 5 laps of Ikea, I went to another Electrify America station. There was a guy charging his ID4 there and we talked about electric cars for a while. I went to the Best Buy next door for a bio break and some more shopping. When I came back, there was a Rapid Red Lariat charging next to me. I had a great discussion with the guy that owned it. He had already put thousands of miles on it and seemed absolutely in love with the truck.

Charger: EA 350 kW
Total charge time: 31 minutes.
kWh added: 58 kWh (59%-87%)
Cost: $10.84
Peak 150 kW @ 62%

Leg 3: Memphis, TN to Jackson, TN

This leg was unremarkable aside from another Rivian R1T sighting on the highway. I plugged in at the EA station in Jackson and walked across the street to Firehouse Subs. There was a Kona charging at the station but the owner didn't seem interested in talking. By time I got my food, I was at 89% and I was ready to go.

Charger: EA 150 kW
Total charge time: 28 minutes.
kWh added: 39 kWh (59%-87%)
Cost: $9.77
Peak 150 kW @ 61%

Leg 4: Jackson, TN to Nashville, TN

Again, unremarkable. A song called "Ride the Lightning" came on as I was entering Nashville city limits. What a weird coincidence.

I'll have more thoughts about how the Lightning compares to the Ram 1500 we traded in and the Jaguar I-Pace that we're keeping in our garage.

 

[Sam James]

Love hearing these stories! Absolutely one of my favorite things about driving an EV are the chats with other EV drivers or those curious about them. I'm not very social by nature, but these things are easy to converse about. Jealous of all those EV trucks in TN!

 

[RickLightning]

Why aren't you using your 250 free charging hours? You paid full EA rate. If you had used up your free hours, joining EA Pass+ would have paid off just on this trip.

 

[dirtdiver]

Why aren't you using your 250 free charging hours? You paid full EA rate. If you had used up your free hours, joining EA Pass+ would have paid off just on this trip.

Are EA rates the same across the country or do they vary with local electrical rates? We have got some of the countries most expensive electric here in San Diego. Im wondering if our EA rates are much higher than other places. steve

 

[RickLightning]

Are EA rates the same across the country or do they vary with local electrical rates? We have got some of the countries most expensive electric here in San Diego. Im wondering if our EA rates are much higher than other places. steve

Easily found on EA's website. https://www.electrifyamerica.com/pricing/

They have nothing to do with local electric rates.

In most states, EA charges by the kWh. $0.43 plus tax, or $0.31 plus tax with EA Pass+. Tax varies by state, some are quite high. Pass+ pays off in your 2nd charging session. Downgrade immediately, takes effect in 30 days.

In a few states, EA charges by the minute, because state laws stop them from charging by the kWh. That's about 1/2 the cost of by the kWh. $0.32, $0.24 with Pass+.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/ea-rates.9342/

At some point, Plug and Charge will roll out for $50 a year including the EA discount. If you travel all the time, that will be convenient. If you only travel a few months a year, Pass+ is a better deal. Open EA app, select and swipe on charger, plug in.

 

[Lucky EV]

I’m dying to know…did you get the candles?

 

[vandy1981]

Why aren't you using your 250 free charging hours? You paid full EA rate. If you had used up your free hours, joining EA Pass+ would have paid off just on this trip.

I meant to activate EA+ but forgot . I'm saving the free plug and charge kWh for my partner who's new to EVs. and is the primary driver of the truck. I want him to be able to use plug and charge so the experience is as stress-free as possible.

I haven't been able to find a way to use EA+ with FordPass--I hope that comes sometime soon.

Also, want to point out that it makes the most sense to use the free kWh when you anticipate charging to high states of charge in a per-minute state.

 

[vandy1981]

I’m dying to know…did you get the candles?

No, but I left with $600 in stuff I really didn't need as per usual. I saved around $100 in gas, so I guess I can justify it?

 

[RickLightning]

I meant to activate EA+ but forgot . I'm saving the free plug and charge kWh for my partner who's new to EVs. and is the primary driver of the truck. I want him to be able to use plug and charge so the experience is as stress-free as possible.

I haven't been able to find a way to use EA+ with FordPass--I hope that comes sometime soon.

Also, want to point out that it makes the most sense to use the free kWh when you anticipate charging to high states of charge in a per-minute state.

Per kWh rate is twice as high, and 44kw is half the run rate or so, so roughly the same.

 

[LightningShow]

I’ve yet to use an EA station but solely based on their Pass+ rate here ($0.24/min) the cost is significantly less than my home electric rate (assuming you plug in at relatively low charge). I’m sure there’s significant tax but if the truck is pulling 150kw (i.e. 2.5kwh/min) your cost is 9.6 cents per kwh. The utility rate here is $0.25/kwh.
It would be even cheaper if you throttle to 90kW, assuming the truck could control that.

 

[RickLightning]

If one assumes 1.75kW/min from the EA charger (ballpark with Mach-E), and $0.24 per min, plus taxes of 10% (high), that would be ($.24 x 1.1) / 1.75 = 15 cents per kW. Given that the Lightning should pull faster, yes, it's cheaper to charge at EA than at home for SOME people in a per minute state.

In a per kW state, that cost would jump to say 34 cents per kW with tax, or more than twice the cost, and no longer cheaper.

This is why EA is attempting to change all states to per kW. Recently, 5 states were changed, and only 15 remain as per minute states. And Wyoming has one location as I recall.

 

[dirtdiver]

Easily found on EA's website. https://www.electrifyamerica.com/pricing/

They have nothing to do with local electric rates.

In most states, EA charges by the kWh. $0.43 plus tax, or $0.31 plus tax with EA Pass+. Tax varies by state, some are quite high. Pass+ pays off in your 2nd charging session. Downgrade immediately, takes effect in 30 days.

In a few states, EA charges by the minute, because state laws stop them from charging by the kWh. That's about 1/2 the cost of by the kWh. $0.32, $0.24 with Pass+.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/ea-rates.9342/

At some point, Plug and Charge will roll out for $50 a year including the EA discount. If you travel all the time, that will be convenient. If you only travel a few months a year, Pass+ is a better deal. Open EA app, select and swipe on charger, plug in.

Rick, thanks for the 411 on EA. I think it actually works to my favor that they have uniform pricing across the nation. At $.31 a KW hour that is cheaper than my electrical rate at the house! Although, to be upfront I have plenty of solar to pull from before I start paying for electrical off the rid. Steve

 

[eyeguy]

I was running low on Lingonberry-scented candles and decided to take the Lightning to an Ikea about 250 miles from my home. I averaged 1.7 miles/kWh traveling almost exclusively on the Interstate at 80 mph in dry conditions. Although I was hoping the efficiency would be better, I was pleased to see that the charging speeds met or exceeded my expectations. Overall, the Lightning is an awesome cruiser and I can't wait to take more road-trips with it.

Leg 1: Nashville, TN to Jackson, TN.
I saw a 1st Gen SVT Lightning about 2 minutes after jumping on the highway. It looked exactly like the picture below, but with some rust. He exited the highway before I could safely get a photo of him. I've never seen this guy in my area before, but I'm hoping that I'll run into him again--it would make for some awesome side-by-side photos.

Stopped at the Jackson Electrify America station. The first charger initiated perfectly, but capped out at 55kW. I switched to a 150 kW charger and that also initiated without hiccups. I took a bio break at Walmart and did some shipping and was at 88% before I knew it.

Charger: EA 150 kW
Total charge time: 35 minutes.
kWh added: 58 kWh (47%-88%)
Cost: $11.21
Peak 144 kW @ 47%.

After charging I went to Freddy's Frozen Custard for lunch. The fold out armrest worksurface is perfect for fast food stops.

Leg 2: Jackson, TN to Memphis, TN
The trip was unremarkable other than a Rivian R1T sighting. When I got to Ikea, I plugged into a ChargePoint 6.7 kW J1772 charger near the front of the parking lot. A guy and his dad came up to me to ask me about the Lightning while I was plugging in. I showed them the frunk and their jaws dropped to the floor.

After doing 5 laps of Ikea, I went to another Electrify America station. There was a guy charging his ID4 there and we talked about electric cars for a while. I went to the Best Buy next door for a bio break and some more shopping. When I came back, there was a Rapid Red Lariat charging next to me. I had a great discussion with the guy that owned it. He had already put thousands of miles on it and seemed absolutely in love with the truck.

Charger: EA 350 kW
Total charge time: 31 minutes.
kWh added: 58 kWh (59%-87%)
Cost: $10.84
Peak 150 kW @ 62%

Leg 3: Memphis, TN to Jackson, TN

This leg was unremarkable aside from another Rivian R1T sighting on the highway. I plugged in at the EA station in Jackson and walked across the street to Firehouse Subs. There was a Kona charging at the station but the owner didn't seem interested in talking. By time I got my food, I was at 89% and I was ready to go.

Charger: EA 150 kW
Total charge time: 28 minutes.
kWh added: 39 kWh (59%-87%)
Cost: $9.77
Peak 150 kW @ 61%

Leg 4: Jackson, TN to Nashville, TN

Again, unremarkable. A song called "Ride the Lightning" came on as I was entering Nashville city limits. What a weird coincidence.

I'll have more thoughts about how the Lightning compares to the Ram 1500 we traded in and the Jaguar I-Pace that we're keeping in our garage.

 

[eyeguy]

This is when I was charging in OC MD and it was cruiser week.

 

[mklcolvin]

We had our first road trip in our '22 Lariat Friday as well. Going from Shreveport, LA to Plano, TX (approx. 200 miles end to end). We charged to 100% for the trip out, and noted that there was an Electrify America charging station near our destination (Royce City, TX) - but nothing in between. Travelling about 75 mph on an mid-80º day, we reached our destination with about 25% range left. Got to the charging station (now down to 21%) after trying an EVgo charger that was too low (~6kwh). Plugged it the EA charger, it ran the plug-n-charge scenario perfectly & charged us up. However, the EA charger automatically ended the session at 90%. I started thinking that we might be pushing it, since we started at 100% incoming, but going back we would be starting at 90%. We arrived back home with 19% range.

This was probably the first time that I've experienced range anxiety, and this is our 4th EV! I had a 2012 Tesla Model S 60 (didn't do any long range travel due to no Superchargers within range. We had 2 2018 Tesla Model 3s LR (my wife had to have her own) - by then there was a Supercharger at the midway point of the trip in this post, so no problems there.

Long story short, it was fun, yet stressful! If the EA charger would've let us charge up to 100%, that would've cut the stress. Maybe I'm missing something - was there a way that I could have told the charging session that we wanted to go to 100% instead of the automatic cutoff? This was my first experience on non-Supercharging DC Fast Charging, so I'm trying to learn from this. Any thoughts?

* Oh, and by the way, the EA app showed that all chargers were unavailable in that area that morning - I read later online that there was some sort of large-scale outage on the EA backend?

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