MVS87
Active member
- First Name
- Matt
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2021
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 43
- Location
- Pennsylvania, United States
- Vehicles
- 2022 Lightning SR - Antimatter Blue
- Thread starter
- #1
I've had my Lariat SR for a week now and Saturday was my first experiment doing more than the standard running around town. I live in Northeastern PA and was heading to the Bronx for the Yankees game (don't wanna talk about that part!). Just wanted to share the experience and some lessons learned in case it's helpful for anyone.
PRE-TRIP: Planned everything out using ABRP and PlugShare. I had to pick up a friend in NJ on the way so we decided the best spot to meet was the Denville Square location with 4 Electrify America 150kW stations. Normally a 98-mile trip. I figured I'd try to charge enough there to be able to possibly make it my only charge with a stop in East Stroudsburg (350 and 150 kW EA stations) on the return trip as a safety net. I charged to 100% the night before but ran some errands in the morning so after an at-home top off, left the house around 90% and 180ish miles of range. Conditions were pretty ideal. Mid 60s and sunny.
HOME TO DENVILLE: There was a bad accident on I-80 that I had to navigate around using a route I was unfamiliar with. I prefer Android Auto's maps so was using that with my phone plugged into the USB port to charge. Having that plugged in that way sent Android Auto haywire and was causing my phone to overheat. Had to switch to the Ford Navigation which actually turned out better than expected and factored in traffic which I wasn't expecting to see. At the end, made it to Denville on time and uneventfully with about 80 miles of range left.
DENVILLE CHARGE: All the stations were taken but one opened up in about 5 minutes. I couldn't get the EA credits to work (any tips would be greatly appreciated!). Because I was running behind from the detour, I got enough charge waiting for my buddy to meet me, that we decided to just get to the stadium to meet the rest of crew that was there (spoiler alert, don't deviate from your plan!). Left Denville with about 150-160 miles of range. Plenty for the 30-40 mile trip into the city.
DENVILLE TO YANKEE STADIUM: Simple and uneventful. Used AC for a quick few minutes but mostly stuck to the ventilated seats and windows down as the temps got into the 70s. The electric acceleration was helpful when needing to hit a gap in congested areas like the GW bridge or the Deegan Expressway. Got to the stadium with about 110 in range.
YANKEE STADIUM TO DENVILLE: Smooth drive. Uneventful. Used some heated seats this time but nothing else. Got to Denville with about 80 miles of range. Second reminder to stick to your plan, me and my buddy decided to grab something to eat closer to his house about 20 miles away. Saw there were some 50 kW chargers there so decided to go for it and catch enough charge while we are to get to East Stroudsburg. Stopped in the Stanhope area to find the charger we targeted was no longer free like PlugShare said. I should have read the reviews that said as much. Found one close by at a Ford service center and left the truck there while we grabbed a bit. By this time it had about 45 miles of range.
STANHOPE TO STROUDSBURG: This is where I started to get nervous. I had about 55 miles of range after charging for an hour or so on the 50kW charger and it was 30ish miles to East Stroudsburg. Made it tho and plugged into the 350kW charger. Holy cow it was fast!! It was 51 miles to get home so I charged to about 85 miles of range to be safe.
EAST STROUDSBURG TO HOME: The most nerve wracking part of the drive. I didn't account for all the mountains and the drastic temperature drop at what was now almost 1 am. The 85 miles of range began to plummet to almost match the mileage to get home and there's no infrastructure available between East Stroudsburg and my house. I turned off any heated seats and slowed to 65 for the rest of the drive. Only used the defogger in bursts as needed for visibility. That all worked and made it home with about 18 miles of range left (and my heart racing!)
Lessons learned thru all of this:
Sorry for the long post, but this is my first EV and thought this might be helpful to people in the same boat, especially in the Northeast. All in, about 2.2 miles/kWh.
Have fun out there!
PRE-TRIP: Planned everything out using ABRP and PlugShare. I had to pick up a friend in NJ on the way so we decided the best spot to meet was the Denville Square location with 4 Electrify America 150kW stations. Normally a 98-mile trip. I figured I'd try to charge enough there to be able to possibly make it my only charge with a stop in East Stroudsburg (350 and 150 kW EA stations) on the return trip as a safety net. I charged to 100% the night before but ran some errands in the morning so after an at-home top off, left the house around 90% and 180ish miles of range. Conditions were pretty ideal. Mid 60s and sunny.
HOME TO DENVILLE: There was a bad accident on I-80 that I had to navigate around using a route I was unfamiliar with. I prefer Android Auto's maps so was using that with my phone plugged into the USB port to charge. Having that plugged in that way sent Android Auto haywire and was causing my phone to overheat. Had to switch to the Ford Navigation which actually turned out better than expected and factored in traffic which I wasn't expecting to see. At the end, made it to Denville on time and uneventfully with about 80 miles of range left.
DENVILLE CHARGE: All the stations were taken but one opened up in about 5 minutes. I couldn't get the EA credits to work (any tips would be greatly appreciated!). Because I was running behind from the detour, I got enough charge waiting for my buddy to meet me, that we decided to just get to the stadium to meet the rest of crew that was there (spoiler alert, don't deviate from your plan!). Left Denville with about 150-160 miles of range. Plenty for the 30-40 mile trip into the city.
DENVILLE TO YANKEE STADIUM: Simple and uneventful. Used AC for a quick few minutes but mostly stuck to the ventilated seats and windows down as the temps got into the 70s. The electric acceleration was helpful when needing to hit a gap in congested areas like the GW bridge or the Deegan Expressway. Got to the stadium with about 110 in range.
YANKEE STADIUM TO DENVILLE: Smooth drive. Uneventful. Used some heated seats this time but nothing else. Got to Denville with about 80 miles of range. Second reminder to stick to your plan, me and my buddy decided to grab something to eat closer to his house about 20 miles away. Saw there were some 50 kW chargers there so decided to go for it and catch enough charge while we are to get to East Stroudsburg. Stopped in the Stanhope area to find the charger we targeted was no longer free like PlugShare said. I should have read the reviews that said as much. Found one close by at a Ford service center and left the truck there while we grabbed a bit. By this time it had about 45 miles of range.
STANHOPE TO STROUDSBURG: This is where I started to get nervous. I had about 55 miles of range after charging for an hour or so on the 50kW charger and it was 30ish miles to East Stroudsburg. Made it tho and plugged into the 350kW charger. Holy cow it was fast!! It was 51 miles to get home so I charged to about 85 miles of range to be safe.
EAST STROUDSBURG TO HOME: The most nerve wracking part of the drive. I didn't account for all the mountains and the drastic temperature drop at what was now almost 1 am. The 85 miles of range began to plummet to almost match the mileage to get home and there's no infrastructure available between East Stroudsburg and my house. I turned off any heated seats and slowed to 65 for the rest of the drive. Only used the defogger in bursts as needed for visibility. That all worked and made it home with about 18 miles of range left (and my heart racing!)
Lessons learned thru all of this:
- Stick to your plan. If I had topped off on either stop in Denville, the 15-30 minutes would have been well worth it. I can probably do this round trip on a single charge next time if I make the time
- 50 kW chargers don't do squat. Avoid em unless they're at a stadium, movie theatre, hotel, etc. Where you'll be parked for a while
- Don't use the USB port to charge a phone. My phone doesn't do wireless charging. I'll probably find a standard outlet charger to keep in the truck.
- Don't discount falling temps and elevation changes. They definitely matter.
- Found out just how much speed matters. I drove 70 the whole trip. Slowing to 65 got me home when things got dicey.
- Need some advice on how to use my EA credits. That was a little annoying that I couldn't get that to work.
- Only other weird thing was getting a lot of hands on the steering wheel warnings. Felt like I had to white knuckle it the whole time to avoid the truck shutting down on me.
Sorry for the long post, but this is my first EV and thought this might be helpful to people in the same boat, especially in the Northeast. All in, about 2.2 miles/kWh.
Have fun out there!
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. They might want to revise that one!
