Taxman's Lightning Chronology

[TaxmanHog]

I'm starting this thread as a performance diary of my experiences driving and charging the 2022 F150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range with Max Tow.

After a week of around town driving and one 120 miles highway road trip, I decided to accelerate my break-in phase, my goal is to get to +500 miles before I start towing.

Yesterday I charged the truck to 100% for the first time in anticipation of a round trip run to my favorite drag strip.

Recap of the round trip endurance test with the Lightning last night.

209 miles total distance, the amount of energy used was 66% of the 131 KW battery, with just me in the truck and not hauling the race trailer.

Temps were running 65-70 degrees, very comfortable with minimal AC & heating needs.

At the end I still had 70+ miles of range available. I did not charge at the 60 or 143 mile points, but I will need to do this pulling the trailer.

I stopped at a DCFC station 10 miles enroute of home.

As most of us know, the nature of DCFC charging is that the KWH rate of charging is most time/$ effective when SOC is under 60%, because I was only at 76% it was not practical to stop at mile 60. I project that when towing I'll be at 54% so a 10-15 session would be dollar & time practical.

I continued to the race track, another 41 miles, collected some stat's then returned via the same path toward the same charging station, now at 143 miles, the SOC is now at 57%, this could be a good time to stop for a charge but I would only run peak rate of 150KWH for a few minutes, so I decided to continue to Wrentham

Arriving at the Electrify America DCFC station near I495 and Ma-1A I was at 199 miles total distance traveled and the state of charge was now 36%, I could have made it all the way home and slow charged in the garage, but that would take a LONG time at 120 volts and 12 amps, so I stopped to raise the SOC to 80%, this took 29 minutes and cost $, continuing beyond 80% would be more costly as the rate of charge slows substantially, to the degree that it is more cost and time effective to top off at home.

I plugged in at home at 1:15 am SOC 78% and it should reach 90% SOC by 9 PM this evening, for a cost of $4, If I were to go to 100% then it would cost another $3.

Total energy cost for the trip would be $16 for the 209 mile trip. 7. 65 cents a mile!!!!

Compare that to running my old power stroke F250, averaging 31 cents a mile with no trailer

My next test will be with the race trailer, when I take the ZX14 for a session of test & tune in a couple of weeks. I am still waiting on parts and supplies for the Destroyer.

Sponsored

 

[TaxmanHog]

Drive logs

 

[TaxmanHog]

Charge Log
DCFC

Still waiting for 120V log to finish later this evening.

 

[LightningShow]

The nice thing about fast charging is that it's easy to kill 15-20 minutes because everyone wants to talk to you about your truck.

 

[TaxmanHog]

It, was very quiet after midnight, the mall was empty, with only security guards rooming the parking lot's

These are the charge logs

DCFC----------------------------------------Home Charging 120v

 

[Pjlightning]

Drive logs

I went to Boston today from CT, about 106 miles each way. I charged up to 90% before leaving home to be sure I was above 20% when I got back home. That all worked out and the ride was awesome in the lightning……Even got to use the Blue Cruise at last, on the Pike.

but I was bummed to find out that my Ford Pass app didn’t record the journey at all, so I have no data like yours to study.

Has that ever happened to you?


This was a test run of sorts , in prep for the longest journey yet, to Old Orchard Beach Maine next week. (201 miles each way).

the real test is this winter, I’m hoping the cold doesn’t drop my range so much that I can’t do a round trip to Okemo and back without having to charge along the way. (137 miles each way).

If it fails this ski mission in the winter, and it becomes too much of a hassle to find a quick change somewhere, that might put the truck up for sale by spring.

I just need to have it fit my weekend routines without throwing the family ski weekend road-trips into extended drive time trips due to charging stops.

love that your keeping this diary. Great idea. And interesting to study the data from the trips and usage over time.

PS: Huge thanks and kudos to you for all the help and work you’ve done on this site for everyone. Very generous with your time to do so, and tremendously helpful to me (and everyone).

enjoy your truck !!!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Set up truck with a new hitch & ball, my previous set up was a 4" offset, the Lightning is taller and to get the trailer setting level f/r under load, I needed to go to an 8" offset. Marie insisted I not put the rusty old hitch on the Lighting, she wanted a shiny new setup (LOL) I explained I had to go new because of the offset change.

Hooked up the trailer, and she is sitting nicely with a load of one Harley Dyna Low Rider and one 13-36 Ariens snow blower (summer storage when I am not racing)

Start of a 36 mile handling test run, SOC was under 90%

Halfway point 17.5 miles, 1.0 M/kwh. @ 65 mph on I95N and I495N, stopped at Wrentham Outlet Mall where AE has for DCFC, I did not charge, but wanted to see what parking situation looked like late afternoon ~4pm crowded for trying to charge with trailer attached, I would have to disconnect.

Returned to the house I495S & I95S after a side trip to the local scales, wanted to do a weight in, but they had just closed. the m/kwh improved with slow commuter traffic keeping wind resistance down with average speeds around 50-60 mph

Ending SOC 65%

The Ford pass driving log does not have an entry for this trip.

Next trip will be with 100% SOC to start and doing the full pull to New England Dragway in the near future to race my ZX14R, anticipating a 30 minute charging session on the way up and another on the way home to determine actual consumption.

 

[FlasherZ]

You have the same problem I did, the Lightning sits much higher and I had to procure a new drop for it so that my small trailer didn't ride at a crazy angle. My 22' double-axle tilt-bed has an adjustable, so I just moved it all the way up.

I'm headed 140 miles up the road with it next week to pick up some honey supers for processing - we'll see how that turns out. I'm hoping I don't have to charge on the way back - when you sit somewhere for even 30 minutes with a trailer full of dripping honeycomb, it gets a lot of unwanted attention from local bees.

 

[Maquis]

I went to Boston today from CT, about 106 miles each way. I charged up to 90% before leaving home to be sure I was above 20% when I got back home. That all worked out and the ride was awesome in the lightning……Even got to use the Blue Cruise at last, on the Pike.

but I was bummed to find out that my Ford Pass app didn’t record the journey at all, so I have no data like yours to study.

Has that ever happened to you?


This was a test run of sorts , in prep for the longest journey yet, to Old Orchard Beach Maine next week. (201 miles each way).

the real test is this winter, I’m hoping the cold doesn’t drop my range so much that I can’t do a round trip to Okemo and back without having to charge along the way. (137 miles each way).

If it fails this ski mission in the winter, and it becomes too much of a hassle to find a quick change somewhere, that might put the truck up for sale by spring.

I just need to have it fit my weekend routines without throwing the family ski weekend road-trips into extended drive time trips due to charging stops.

love that your keeping this diary. Great idea. And interesting to study the data from the trips and usage over time.

PS: Huge thanks and kudos to you for all the help and work you’ve done on this site for everyone. Very generous with your time to do so, and tremendously helpful to me (and everyone).

enjoy your truck !!!

My experience is that the logs in FordPass can be hit or miss, mostly miss. I don’t even bother to look at them anymore.

 

[Stlww18]

I may be towing a similarly sized BBQ smoker in a few weeks, 1.2 m/kw gives me just over 100 miles in the SR. So, I'll have to charge but I CAN make it work, which is nice to hear!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Just a heads up, SUNDAY REPORTS will be in the evening. I am doing a towing endurance test with my Lightning, a 200 mile round trip to the drag strip, going to race my Street Glide in a test and tune session, the Destroyer is still out of commission waiting on rare parts.

 

[TaxmanHog]

The headlines first......
The same day 215 mile trailer hauling event was a success!!!!!

1.2 miles per KW, total costs of charging sessions including the theoretical return to 100% which won't happen (90 is my non-road trip max) was $36.52

The details:

Excellent day testing the Lightning on a long distance haul, 7x14 v-nose box trailer, loaded it with the Street Glide to simulate weight conditions I might have with the Destroyer, tools and pit gear.

No racing. This was just a test of the logistics involving long haul, how much time to charge and what leg ranges would be like.

Started with 100% SOC, drove to Tewksbury EA with 57% remaining ave consumption 1.1 miles/kw, charged to 80% cost was $4.48, 17 minutes to charge.

Parking at the Tewksbury EA Walmart lot was excellent for a one-truck & trailer attachment configuration, just pulled alongside the back of the row of charge stations, aligned to reach the cord over to the truck and I was cooking with no issues

Continued the trip to NED, 36 miles, Soc 59%, plenty of energy to do a turn around and head home, but first a short stop to visit a buddy convalescing for a short time, then reach the EA in Tewksbury again for a top up, took 28 minutes to go from 37% to 80%, cost was $8.96, lucky to still have the same parking convenience as was the morning session.

Continuing the trip home, arrived with 32% SOC, unloaded the SGS, unhitched and head to a nearby charge point a couple blocks from the house, but two station out of service the other 2 were occupied. So I head to Providence, RI. 5 miles from the house to another EA-350KW station, at this point all my free Ford credits are done so paying the higher non members rate of 43 cents a min, that 45% or 59 KW was $19, need to become full EA member to get the cheaper 32 cent rates again.

This charging event was troublesome, I tried three different plugs, all terminated the charge session spontaneously, the display screens on the machines were slow to non-responsive as compared to the Tewksbury Mass location, after the failed third session.
Event one 16 minutes 32% to 56%, added 79 miles of range $4.74
Event two 3 minutes 56% to 61%, added 14 miles of range $2.30
Event three 3 minutes 61% to 68%, added 24 miles of range $$4.14

I called EA customer service to see if I was having issues with the Ford Pass Plug and Charge functionality, apparently that was not the problem as each session successfully billed for the increments of charge I had received. The CS rep asked me to give the 350K unit another try this time simply plug in and don't touch any console buttons, apparently the session started I could hear the trucks cooling system fire up, as the charge station also fired up, I was able to get to 80% in short order, though I could not see the details of what was happening, speed of charge, time or total fee until the session ended and I got a text from my CC that the EA charge had posted. I suggested to the EA CS Rep that the software on these terminals be checked out, maybe they need a reboot to remedy to very slow or frozen screen responses, possibly my pushing on the right most control button one to many times was the root cause of the second and third charge failures, I was pushing buttons like a blind monkey when I should have just left well enough alone until the Truck dash or Ford-Pass told me I had reached 80% goal.

Final event 9 minutes 68% to 80%, added 41 miles of range $7.82
$19 to go from 32% to 80% ~63KW or 30 cents a KW

Home now, the remaining 10 to 20 percent would cost a few dollars more but at a slow pace, no problems, I have plenty of time ... retired....

This was a successful test, I look forward to future trips to NED and friends and family in New England driving the Ford F150 Lightning

FOrdPass App said:
Leg / Miles / Energy used kWh / Efficiency m/kWh / Brake score %/ Regen miles [path]
1 / 62.8 / 57.9 / 1.1 /98%/1.7 [ I95n, RT3n, I495n stop EA Tewksbury]
2/ 35.9 / 27.5 / 1.3 / 96% / 2.2 [EA Tewksbury, I495n, RT-125n, Epping NH (Dragway)]
3/ 14.7 / 11.1 / 1.3 / 97% / 3.4 [RT-125s, I495s, RT97, Salem NH, RT213w, I93s, I495s , EA Tewksbury ]
4/ 80.3 / 57.1 / 1.4 / 98% / 5.4 [Tewksbury 495s, RT-1A-S, Home longer route less traffic]
5/ 0.7 / 0.4 / 1.7 / 100% / 0.1 [Charge Point Pawtucket RI (NFG)]
6/ 4.5 / 2.5 / 1.8 / 99% / 1.6 [Go to PVD Silver Spring Ave EA-Walmart]
7/ 5.5 / 2.9 / 1.9 / 97% / 1.9 [Return from PVD to home]

Log drops about 11.1 miles of travel recorded by TRIP-1 cumulative for the day was 215.5 miles
Overall efficiency for the day was 1.2 miles/kWh

 

[TaxmanHog]

One last and very important point, I was averaging $90 in diesel fuel for each of these racing trips earlier in the season, now we're looking at $36 a trip.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

Thanks for this taxman. Mentally translating this to my 9,100-pound trailer/boat rig and run up I-95 or Rt 1 ( slower speed) for 1,050 miles at slower speed...

Guessing your trailer and motorcycle weight is between 3,500 and 4,000 pounds based on my 18', 8'-wide box trailer with BMW R1250 GSA loaded? What do you estimate average speeds were?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Thanks for this taxman. Mentally translating this to my 9,100-pound trailer/boat rig and run up I-95 or Rt 1 ( slower speed) for 1,050 miles at slower speed...

Guessing your trailer and motorcycle weight is between 3,500 and 4,000 pounds based on my 18', 8'-wide box trailer with BMW R1250 GSA loaded? What do you estimate average speeds were?

Yes, the trailer plus cargo weight was in the area of 4000 pounds, did not get a chance to put the rig on a scale to verify, but hope to next time around.

Leg 1 was a steady 65 mph to the first charging stop, we live right off I95 and the Walmart is less than 1/2 mile off 495. 1.1 m/kwh

Leg 2 mix of 30 miles at 65, and 44 miles at apx 35-50, definitely more efficient, 1.3+ m/kwh I was lucky to hit most green lights or time/coast to meet the stopped pack as they got rolling.

Leg 3 65 mph on 495, then 1/1A was 35/40 mph (10 miles)

Sponsored