Lightning tires and range

[TaxmanHog]

I won't & can't change the tires as that might disqualify my truck from the state of Mass Mor-EV-Truck rebate, they require the vehicle remain in it's stock configuration, it's subject to review/inspection during the 4 compliance monitoring period.

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[ExCivilian]

How you made a change to the stock set-up?
If so, what did you use and what effect did it have?
If not but are planning to, what tire/rim set-up are you planning to use to leverage all of the principals you previously discussed?

I'm not receiving mine for a few more weeks (knock on wood), but I've been building/(amateur) racing for a few decades and this will be our third EV so similar principles will apply. One variable that won't impact it as much, if at all, will be sprung weight reduction. Let's compare towing a 4,000lb vessel behind a MY Tesla vs our trucks. The MY clocks in between 5k and 6K lbs. The F150L is slightly over 8K.

A 4K vessel is roughly 2/3 the weight of the MY but only half the weight of the Lightning. The reason people get 1m/kwh while towing is because of their speed and not so much the weight. All this to say If you try and put your Lightning on a diet, make sure you're doing it where it counts (like understanding and minimizing unsprung weight penalties and rotational mass).

The number one thing I do to maximize range is change my behavior. Easy on the pedal, coasting (no one-pedal driving), and the slowest (safe) speeds for the roadways I'm on. I know of a number of states that allow ridiculous towing speeds, but in CA it's 55 MPH. The complaints of people regarding freeway/towing ranges are almost always exceeding the posted speed limit. Even just slowing down to 60MPH from 70-75MPH would net an obvious range gain, slightly reduce overall operating costs, significantly reduce the chances of a fatality in a collision, and without impacting arrival time by much unless you're driving long distance (more than a few hours at a stretch).

The second thing I work on is reducing unsprung weight and rotational mass (I'd be careful with this one on a truck this size...make sure you're getting wheels rated for the weight of a truck this size and load you might haul/tow).

Instead of lifting it, I'll be lowering mine.

Lastly, assuming I keep it for a long time (my current truck is 17 years old) I'll be looking at body panel modifications to increase the aero profile of the vehicle. That's what we used to do in the old Prius hyper-miling communities. You might dig up some of those 25+ year old projects to see some of the wild stuff that was done.

 

[beatle]

Good video on the impact of wheel/tire changes on range here:

It's Tesla focused, but a lot of the principles still apply. I wonder what an ER truck would get with 18" wheels. Even going from 2.1 to 2.2kwh is about a 5% improvement which would mean at least an extra 15 miles of range.

 

[skyak]

This is the tire I plan on going with in a 285/55/r20, 47 lbs so definitely going to lose some range:

https://www.nittotire.com/light-truck-tires/recon-grappler-all-terrain-light-truck-tire/

 

[hturnerfamily]

I put some thought into this, too, with my PRO with Ford's included A/T tires. I told myself that range would suffer since I didn't need a/t's, and would never need them.

But, when I looked at the cost of replacing them with another 18" 'highway' tire to gain range, hopefully, I found that the financial picture might not warrant the expense, EVEN if it made me feel better to have 2 etra miles. $1,000 seems to be a LOT of miles and fast charging before that would come close to ever breaking even. So, on with the a/t's it is, and I haven't paid it any mind since I got the truck - it's too nice on the rubber it already came with : )

 

[Dolio]

Auhh, this takes me back, once upon a time I found some left over new stock GM EV1 OEM tires that I installed as my second set on my 2000 Honda Insight. They were definitely LRR and were self sealing which came in handy, Great ride, and better mileage than the original by about 10+% though never got to 70MPG due to my lead foot and some autocrossing.

They also lasted like 110k miles as I recall. So I'm sort of sad to two decades later not see much changed regarding LRR Specialized tires guides, but perhaps it exists and I simply haven't found it yet? Ran them at max PSI helped as well, I'm sticking to the theory that any tire is Lower Rolling Resistance if the pressure is higher, within safety margins. Another metric I try to use for LRR is their warranty miles, presuming that longer lasting tires are LRR because they wear out more slowly, though they might just have more tread depth. Shrugs, none have a LRR Rating which would be great if it were a measurable metric that we could just look up.

Anyway, I'm considering a second set of wheels and getting some LRR oriented tires for my Lightning. Since they switched me to the AS to the AT for free, which if fine, it will be nice to have a more off road oriented set of wheels if I got for a city/freeway set for better range and efficiency. So here is what I have scraped from this thread thus far, trying to list factors that may contribute to the LRR aspect of these various tires. If purchasing new rims, I suppose I could go with an entirely different aspect ratio and size. Has anyone used any of these and can report on their consumption compared to wither OEM at a given speed?

Discount Tire Price - Brand - Make - Size - Weight Warranty TreadDepth PSI LoadRating SpeedIndex

OEM Tires:
$324 - GENERAL - GRABBER A/TX - LT275 /60 R20 119S D1 BSW - 60Lbs 50k 16" 65psi 119 112MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/general-grabber-a-tx
$226 - GOODYEAR - WRANGLER TERRITORY HT - 275 /60 R20 115T SL SBL - 40Lbs ??k 9" 51psi 115 118MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/goodyear-wrangler-territory-ht

OP Mentioned Tires:
$271 - HANKOOK - DYNAPRO AT2 XTREME - 275 /60 R20 115T SL BSW - 44Lbs 70k 13" 51psi 115 118MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/hankook-dynapro-at2-xtreme
$259 - HANKOOK - DYNAPRO AT2 RF11 - 275 /60 R20 115T SL BSW - 45Lbs 60k 13" 51psi 115 118MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/hankook-dynapro-at2-rf11
$210 - CONTINENTAL - CROSSCONTACT LX20 ECOPLUS - 275 /60 R20 115T - 42Lbs 60k 11" 44psi 115 ???MPH https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...ewall=Blackwall&partnum=76TR0CCLX20&tab=Sizes

Some high mileage (Thus assumed LRR maybe):
$277 - BRIDGESTONE - ALENZA AS ULTRA - 275 /60 R20 115H SL BSW - 41Lbs 80k 10" 44psi 115 130MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/bridgestone-alenza-as-ultra
$255 - PIRELLI - SCORPION ALL SEASON PLUS 3 - 275 /60 R20 115H SL BSW - 51Lbs 70k 12" 44psi 115 130MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/pirelli-scorpion-all-season-plus-3

 

[Dolio]

Tangent: Anyone seen or tried out one of these: https://www.mivehiclesolutions.com/products/aero-x-f-150

 

[data003]

Tangent: Anyone seen or tried out one of these: https://www.mivehiclesolutions.com/products/aero-x-f-150

I wanted one of those so bad but the wife said no

 

[Dolio]

Good video on the impact of wheel/tire changes on range here:

It's Tesla focused, but a lot of the principles still apply. I wonder what an ER truck would get with 18" wheels. Even going from 2.1 to 2.2kwh is about a 5% improvement which would mean at least an extra 15 miles of range.

Given the above hypothesis that smaller wheels(rims) yield better mileage:
The Lightning Pro comes with 18" OEM wheels (So a set of that size for the Lariat ER could be):
$224 - NOKIAN TIRE - ONE HT - 275 /65 R18 116H SL BSW - 39Lbs 70k 13" 51psi 116 130MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/nokian-tire-one-ht
$143 - MB WHEELS - LEGACY - 18 X9 6-135.00 18 SLMCBA - 32Lbs Load Capacity=2500Lbs - Item #60029 https://www.discounttire.com/buy-wheels/mb-wheels-legacy
Total $1835 - for a set of the above 18" rims and tires - Overall Diameter is 32.1" versus the 33" or 32.99" for the stock 20" rims and tires

Some other Tire options, this first one has longer life on less tread depth and even lighter weight, humm:
$228 - BRIDGESTONE - ALENZA AS ULTRA - 275 /65 R18 116T SL BSW - 28Lbs 80k 10" 44psi 116 118MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/bridgestone-alenza-as-ultra
$272 - BRIDGESTONE - ALENZA AS ULTRA - 275 /65 R18 116H SL BSW - 39Lbs 80k 10" 44psi 116 130MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/bridgestone-alenza-as-ultra
$238 - BRIDGESTONE - DUELER H/L ALENZA PLUS - P 275 /65 R18 114H SL BSW - 44Lbs 80k 13" 36psi 114 130MPH https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/bridgestone-dueler-h-l-alenza-plus

 

[Texas Dan]

Having owned four EVs, I get the point about maximizing range but remember the F150L is a 4x4 truck. Most people won’t be buying the F150L for its great range. I’m getting the ER battery on my F150L but I’m also planning to do some towing and I do occasionally take very long trips that may involve snow or a little off roading.

If range is so important that you are seriously considering putting on low rolling resistance tires then maybe the F150L is not for you.

 

[Dolio]

Having owned four EVs...then maybe the F150L is not for you.

I too have: Converted a 05 Prius to PHEV-10MI, had an OEM Prius PHEV-12Mi, wife has a Pacifica Hybrid PHEV-33Mi now. I've had 2 Leaf and a Bolt.

This is all just thought exercise at this point. I'm getting some descent OE AT tires, but expect they will wear out pretty quickly. Would rather keep them in the bed or garage for use when they are needed, which isn't most of the year.

The idea was to get a whole second set of wheels and tires that I can easily swap in a few minutes at home or even at the track or dunes.

I'm not trying to argue what the best tires are for any individual needs... I'm just trying to figure out the principal of efficient tires.

 

[Dolio]

This new video seems applicable:

For example, one of my possible use cases could be doing 2000 mile one way road trips with some hardware stashed under a tonneau cover. So in that situation, maximizing range could be very advantage and and change elapsed time by hours potentially...

 

[Pitbull2o08]

This new video seems applicable:

For example, one of my possible use cases could be doing 2000 mile one way road trips with some hardware stashed under a tonneau cover. So in that situation, maximizing range could be very advantage and and change elapsed time by hours potentially...

Would love to pick your brain on what 18" tires youd run, at what size and load range. I think I'll get some 18's but not OEM Pros, maybe aftermarket 18's for a bit of personalization.

 

[Dolio]

Would love to pick your brain on what 18" tires youd run, at what size and load range. I think I'll get some 18's but not OEM Pros, maybe aftermarket 18's for a bit of personalization.

Not sure yet, above are what I've found so far. Ya, would be a whole extra set of aftermarket 18".

Without actual LRR ratings I'm judging them by their warranty I guess. Not sure there is a lot of demand for LRR truck tires quite yet... Maybe I'll just resort to 4 donut spares, lol...

 

[Dolio]

These guys:

Referenced these new tires: https://erangetires.com/#tirefinder

Doesn't have a size for the Lightning, but did fine there was an 18" coming soon, perhaps... Maybe something to keep an eye on...

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