F150 Lightning Road Trip From MD to Hilton Head, SC (Video)

[Speeddemon]

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[Whammy Bar]

Seems like a great use of time to walk the pups while charging. Grab a snack and then go crush another couple hundred miles.

 

[Speeddemon]

Exactly my wife was saying she didn’t mind the stopping at all because it was the perfect amount of time to walk The dogs and take care of them. Use the restroom, get snacks stretch the legs.

I’m really hoping Ford can improve the max charging speeds to 250kw, that would be extremely helpful since the battery pack is so large. your kw charging speeds also needed to be visible on the dash. Right now that info is not visible anywhere.

 

[Beans]

your kw charging speeds also needed to be visible on the dash. Right now that info is not visible anywhere.

This for sure. It’s crazy that you have to rely on the hard to read chargers screen. The charge rate should be in the app and on the screen while fast charging.

 

[YankeeCP]

One of the reasons my wife is excited for the truck. I’m notorious for not wanting to stop on a road trip so the truck will force me too a little more often

 

[Amps]

Thanks for posting this. It seems like the navigation system was pretty accurate on the charging calculations and you didn't exactly slow down to accommodate the truck. Was the third EA stop also a 350 kW dispenser?

 

[Speeddemon]

Glad people enjoyed it! Charging stop calculations were accurate. I believe all stops had 2 350k dispensers and 2 150kw. Since they weren’t busy I plugged into the 350kw, but the truck maxes out at 165kw. This really needs to bump up to 250kw in my opinion.

 

[greenne]

Glad people enjoyed it! Charging stop calculations were accurate. I believe all stops had 2 350k dispensers and 2 150kw. Since they weren’t busy I plugged into the 350kw, but the truck maxes out at 165kw. This really needs to bump up to 250kw in my opinion.

I enjoyed the video. Thanks.

I noticed you were quite frequently at 75-78mph and still managed 2.0 mi/Kwh. I drive all over the mid Atlantic from DC to NC, SC and Jekyll Island Ga. I cruise closer to 70mph so this gives me hope that I may be able to get 2.1-2.2 mi/Kw at the lower speeds.

 

[Speeddemon]

I typically get 2.2-2.3 with mix of city and highway. I did put a fold up tonneau cover from Amazon $300 for The trip. However I was allegedly speeding most of the trip so I think that reduced efficiency

 

[Wsh68]

Didn’t look like you were getting the Electrify America Member rate of .31/kWH. Any reason you decided to not sign up for that? We have been Tesla people for the past 6 years with our Model S having free lifetime and our Y being charge whatever the Supercharger rate is at the time we charge. I assume on longer road trips the $4 membership is completely worth it. We are planning on taking our Lightening on a 2 month cross US trip so I’ve been researching our charging options. EA seems to be where we will most likely charge up.

 

[Speeddemon]

Great question. Ford gave us 250kw of free charging. In order to use the free charging you have to activate the charger through the Ford app. This trip was actually entirely free charging I think until the last stop we paid part of the cost - $10.

We did sign up for the electrify America membership. However I did make a mistake, hopefully others can learn from. On our way home I would simultaneously swipe to activate the charger and plug in at the same time. I realized later we were getting billed through ford at the higher kw rate. You need to swipe to activate the charger first and wait a moment before plugging into the truck to ensure you get billed through electrify America. Little nuance that cost us probably $15 difference in charging.

 

[hturnerfamily]

agreed, and my experience with EA and our older Nissan Leafs was the confusion of what the exact process is to start charging. Sometimes you would plug in, then realize that you have to 'activate' the charger first. But, then the charger gets confused and the screen tells you to plug in, when you're already plugged in. So, then you hang up the plug, take it back off, then plug in. But, then the charger is now really confused.
Yes, there should be a more 'intuitive' method to charging, whether you plug in first, or not, should not 'confuse' the charger.
I DO like that at least EA chargers have not only a screen, but also some physical buttons, AND a card scanner.

Now, as for ChargePoint chargers, you can't even activate them without the ChargePoint APP - so you start to realize that there's no reason to even get out of your car until you do. There is a screen, and it may provide instructions once the APP has connected and your payment or account has been authorized, but there are NO physical buttons to do Anything - it's all either thru the APP, or thru the charger's Screen. A 'screen only' input is hazardous, as I found out one day. The ChargePoint unit would NOT let me stop the charging, or unplug from my car! It held me hostage, all the while charging me for more charge time. It took me 15minutes to get anyone from ChargePoint on the phone, and to have them figure out how to STOP the charger and let me go.

After using Tesla SuperChargers across the south from Georgia to Texas and back, I can attest that Tesla has the simplest and easiest and quickest charging system currently available. You don't need a credit card. You don't need a screen. You don't need anything other than to plug in. Simple... and they just work.

I think with 'Plug N Charge' technology, we will slowly move toward that same type of charging option with most other manufacturers - but time will tell. Make it easy. Make it fast. Make it simple.

 

[JacksonHandy]

I made much the same trip, ATL to Fripp Island, just north. 2.0-2.1 mi/kWh at 70-75. Truck said could get all the way to savannah/pooler EA charger, but buffer started going down quickly to under 20 miles, so stopped at Mettler ChargePoint/GA Power for bathroom break and a get there charge. Had originally planned on Dublin for lunch, but was in use by Audi Etron. Did have a charge error, but had gotten enough charge to continue, so we bailed.

easy trip.

 

[Ruination]

Feel free to bring the truck and the dogs to the shore.



I used to make a similar trip all the time back in my college days. Ah...95.

 

[gpbst3]

What was your total cost to travel the 600 miles? About $110?

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