First roadtrip! MA>DC>NH>MA ~1500mi

[LightningShow]

I just plugged into an EA 150kW (Signet 500A) and it’s pulling 148kw. Nice!

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[Maquis]

For you physics minded people.... Rolling friction is linear with velocity where as the friction force (drag) of wind goes as the square of velocity, so it's all dominated by relative wind speed. If you can plan more of your trips to be going in same direction as wind (or at least not opposite the wind) like we do sailing you can get much better mileage .

May you have fair winds and following seas...

You left out the good part. Since the force varies by the square of the speed, the power required varies by the cube!

 

[LightningShow]

EV roadtrip rule of thumb: drive fast, charge more.

 

[LightningShow]

Just want to say that it’s crazy that the Watch app doesn’t show current state of charge.

 

[greenne]

EV roadtrip rule of thumb: drive fast, charge more.

The best Rule of Thunb I heard is A-B-C= Always Be Charging.

Gotta stop to use the bathroom? Try to find a Sheetz/Wawa with an EA station.
Gotta get something to eat? Find a station near places to eat.
Need to stretch? Take 5-10min to top off.

With a flat charge curve and the way the charge is "boosted" the first 10min or so when plugged in (up to ~170 KW) a little bit here and there adds up.

Safe travels!!

I live in Albany and have family in NC..I drive +5 on the jerset turnpike so hopefully I can get closer to 2.3-2.4 mi/Kw with a light right foot...

 

[Firestop]

For you physics minded people.... Rolling friction is linear with velocity where as the friction force (drag) of wind goes as the square of velocity, so it's all dominated by relative wind speed. If you can plan more of your trips to be going in same direction as wind (or at least not opposite the wind) like we do sailing you can get much better mileage .

May you have fair winds and following seas...

You left out the good part. Since the force varies by the square of the speed, the power required varies by the cube!

Ok, taking the bait and to really go down a rabbit hole away from the OP’s story……
https://www.myevreview.com/compare/...ard-range,ford_f-150-lightning_extended-range,

 

[PiMatrix]

You left out the good part. Since the force varies by the square of the speed, the power required varies by the cube!

Good point...

Energy loss = Drag Force x distance.

Power loss = Energy loss/time.

substituting ....

Power loss = Drag Force x distance/time
= Drag Force x velocity

Since Drag force= k x velocity x velocity where k is dependent volume and aerodynamics of truck (e.g. does it have a box trailer)

substituting for drag force we get -

Power loss = k x velocity**3 i.e. velocity cubed

So slow down if you need to make it to next charge station and running low, and turn off AC and heat. I read somewhere that hummer drag is 150lbs at 60mph for F150 likely more.

Another way to drop the drag is program Lightning autopilot to stay an optimal distance behind a big truck. Of course migrating birds, bike and car racers do this too. I wonder whether this coud be automated by bluecruise? Maybe a new "running on electron fumes" mode. The truck senses it may not make it and seeks out cars and trucks to ride in their slipstream! Hmm, is this a patent idea for Ford? Some day all these AI cars may talk to each other and handshake their agreement to be tail gated or is it tail frunked for some good Samaritan credit!

 

[LightningShow]

We headed to Hersheypark this morning, left with 82%, arrived with 35%. Unfortunately, 2 of the chargepoint chargers were OOO and the other two were taken. I plugged into one the 110V outlets. ABC. I might get 20 miles of range for the day. Would’ve been nice to get a level 2 but only two plugs available for a massive attraction makes that an unlikely score. I’ll hit an EA for a few minutes on the way back to get me home then grab the level two at the hotel garage when i get back. One more EA stop on Friday to get me mostly full before leaving Saturday morning departure should be enough.

 

[LightningShow]

I got it to 45% plugged into level 1 before leaving the park. We ate dinner (BK) at a 62.5kW Chargepoint (pulling 55kW) for a out 20 minutes. We had about 155 miles to get back to the hotel so 45% wasn’t going to cut it. We added 15% during our dinner stop. That was enough to get us back (probably would’ve arrived around 7-8%) but i decided to stop at a 150kW EA station that was right on our way to get some buffer miles. Stopped for 10 minutes and added 16%. The station was pulling 125kW. Arrived at the hotel with 24%. I plugged into the level 2 in the hotel garage this morning (had to street park overnight) and should get over 50% before we leave this afternoon. I’ll need to make a couple more DCFC before tomorrow afternoon, there are quite a few convenient stations in the areas i’ll be in so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll top up on level 1 overnight at my parents Friday night before we take off early Saturday morning. The level 1 should get me close to 100%.

I’ve got my planned EA station stops plotted out for the return trip. And i now have a spreadsheet of all of the DCFC along the way so it will be easy to adjust as needed. I’ll probably do manual point to point navigation to the fast chargers on the way back rather than using the ford nav or ABRP. It’s too much of a PITA to deal with editing charge stops on the fly.

Also, yesterday i found that the EA CarPlay app uses apple maps to navigate to their stations so it doesn’t kill google maps or Ford Nav. I may use the Ford Nav app for the full trip navigation then do the charger to charger navigation in the EA app thru apple maps. I’m curious how the Ford Nav app reacts to going rogue on the charge stops.

 

[LightningShow]

So far i’ve driven 900 miles and used 402kWh, about 2.25mpk for the trip. Virtually all highway driving.

I’ve charged 230kWh on DC and 125kWh on AC since i left. The rest of the energy used was in the battery when i left my house. Almost all the DC charging has been free courtesy of Ford and EA. All of the AC charging has been free. I’ve spent less than $50 on fueling in the 900 miles, including my home electricity cost. Even if i had paid for all of the DC charging it would still be under $100. Cheap trip! (Well, except for everything else i bought and paid for)

 

[Regular150]

Curious what the travel time difference would be in your case vs Gas station stops/bio breaks.

 

[LightningShow]

Curious what the travel time difference would be in your case vs Gas station stops/bio breaks.

Tough to put a number on that. We charged for about 50 minutes on the way down. Probably would’ve been one 20 minute stop on ICE. We don’t usually dally on our stops. So, extra 30 on the way down.

While down here i’ve been charging in the course of normal activities so really no added time. On the trip to Hershey we charged for 30 minutes, we were eating on one stop but if i was on ICE i probably just would have drove while eating, so it’s tough to gauge perfectly. It was nice to relax while eating dinner instead of trying to eat a burger while driving and having toppings fall into my lap. but, on pure time, i probably would’ve only needed a 5 minute stop for a quick fuel up. So let’s say it added 25 mins.

On the way back it should be similar, extra 30 minutes vs ICE to get back home. Then we’re immediately heading north for Saturday night which is another 175 RT, probably a 20 minute charge stop vs another 5 minute gas up. So, in total on a ~1600 mile trip the extra time is something like an hour and a half to two hours of extra stop time.

What i’ve learned is that the stop times are much more relaxing than i expected since i had them baked into the trip in my head. I kind of expected to be all antsy about sitting around but it was the opposite. I get antsy on my ICE stops because I’ve always been of the mindset that the trip is a race to get there as fast as possible. I’ve had to let that go and it makes it much less stressful to stop.

 

[Regular150]

Totally get the change in mindset. ICE trips, I'm constantly trying to catch the traffic around when I left the highway, like a pit-stop. Enjoying the journey will take a bit of reprogramming.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I used to be a gas and go traveler. My wife would go along with that 12+ years ago. It all changed with kids and gone were the days of 750 miles with 27 minutes of stoppage time. Now we stop to eat. Stop for extended bathroom/entertainment breaks. So it takes one and a half days instead of one 1ong day.

 

[LightningShow]

I forgot to mention that i went out to the L2 chargers at Hershey around 2-3pm to see if one had opened up and, lo and behold, as i’m walking out i see a black Lariat pulling in looking for the chargers! My first Lightning sighting (outside the dealer lot). Unfortunately the owners didn’t seem keen to chat. They had kids in tow and were focused on getting into the park. Oh well, it was nice to see another one out there in the world.

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