Denver to Houston - first Lightning road trip observations

[thecoloradokid]

You are saying "kW per mile", but what you mean is "miles per kWh".

You are correct, Sir!

There also has to be a better way for me to share that being prepared and monitoring range and battery levels is crucial when going long distances in cold weather at highway speeds without having to read what I wrote in the first long post!

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[davehu]

As background, I currently own a Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4s, and have owned a sedan version of the Taycan and an Audi e-Tron previously. I used to be a Tesla guy - owned a couple of Model S' and a couple of Models X's before switching to CCS compatible vehicles in late 2019. I have done well over 50k miles in CCS compatible vehicles since then, so I am comfortable with taking CCS compatible EV's out on the open road.

I was lucky enough to pick up a Lariat spec'ed Lightning as a 2nd vehicle in the end of October, and really, really enjoy the truck. The one thing I had yet to do was go on an extended road trip and figure out first hand how the truck operates when speed and distance are added to the driving equation. I have seen a ton of videos on Youtube, but you really never fully "understand" until you experience long distance driving in the Lightning for yourself. I usually spend 10 days to two weeks a month in warmer climates during the winter months, so I decided to do The Woodlands just north of Houston for my February trip.

I drove from Denver to Norman along I-70 and I-35 the first day, then spent a day in Norman and went to a basketball game on the U of Oklahoma campus before continuing the drive down I-35 and I-45 to the Houston area. Here are a few observations I noticed:

• 1. Like all EV's, this truck hates the cold. I left my house at 6am in the preconditioned truck when it was six degrees and drove 135 miles to my first charging stop and used 75% of the battery. I also kept my speed at like 60mph to 65mph. I got 1.5kW or 1.6kW per mile on this first stretch. As it warmed up throughout the day, I saw a gradual improvement on efficiency. Once it got past 30 degrees or so I got up to 1.7kW per mile, and then it passed 50 degrees, I was seeing 1.8kW at 70mph to 72mph speeds.
• 2. Like all EV's, but maybe a little more, this truck hates higher speeds - not because of handling, but because of challenged aerodynamics and weight. The real range extending sweet spot speed for this truck is like 66mph or 68mph, but who the heck wants to drive at that speed on a 75mph speed limit highway? I don't, so because of this I increased my speed up to 73mph to 74mph. This results in 1.8kW or 1.9kW per mile highway efficiency, depending on elevation gain and temps.
• 3. The Lightning is a great cruising vehicle. I thought it was comfortable and absorbed a lot of the road turbulence, so it felt like driving a big Lazy Boy recliner.
• 4. Charging is OK. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the truck, but it is hard to sit at a charger for 40 minutes when you are used to 15 minute or 20 minute charging stops in your other vehicle. This is the one thing I wish Ford would update. I would like to see a charging speed of 200kW at a very low state of battery charge, and slowly taper the charge speed after 80% instead of it falling off a cliff to 50kW. There should be no reason why the truck drops to 50kW charging speeds right at 80%. It should hover around 75kW or 80kW speeds until 90% like other vehicles.
• 5. Every Electrify America charing location, except for Flagler, CO - where it was 6 degrees and the charger ran slowly - worked flawlessly. I did not need to move to find a working station, and had vehicle "as advertised" speeds. I realize some people may have different experiences, but the EA chargers along I-70 in Kansas worked great as did the charger in Blackwell, OK. I used a 200kW Francis Energy charger in Norman, and that worked great as well. The EA chargers in Denton, Ennis, and Huntsville in Texas all worked great with had no wait.
• 6. I thought BlueCruise was good to use. I was not expecting full self driving or anything like that, but for what it is I thought it was good.
• 7. This truck is not a winter time 200 mile range truck at highway speeds, even with the larger battery. Don't expect to do 200 miles on the highway at 70mph or 75mph in 35 degree temps - at least not on the stock 20 inch wheels and tires. In my experience while driving in cooler temps it is best to charge to 10% or 15% over what you need to get to the next charger, and then head out. Don't sit at a charger for an hour to charge your truck to 95% if you think you want to skip to a farther charging location that is 225 miles away. Even if the truck thinks it has 230 miles worth of range, it will probably only do 190 miles if it is 40 or 45 degrees and you are driving at a 75mph speed limit.
• 8. I wish the app did a better of keep details on drives since of the 8 legs of driving I did over the past two days, the app only has a record of three of them.

Sorry for the length of the post, especially since much of this has been shared in other posts on the forum. But, I thought I'd share in case there are some new owners who may not be 100% comfortable taking their new Lightning out on a road trip. I got my first extended road trip under my belt now, and am looking forward to doing more, but when the weather is warmer. I am hoping that the truck will see 2.1kW to 2.2kW per mile efficiency at 71mph or 72mph highway cruising speeds when it warms up to 70 degree temps and higher. Obviously, this all changes if I head west from Denver and have to go up and down large mountain ranges, or there is rough, windy weather.

I will take pictures of efficiency stats on the drive back to Denver next week since I Idid not do it on the drive to Houston. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers!

Thanks for the info. I anticipate some trips from Dallas to Houston sometime later this year. I'd be curious where you charged up in between those two cities? ...If you remember.

 

[thecoloradokid]

Thanks for the info. I anticipate some trips from Dallas to Houston sometime later this year. I'd be curious where you charged up in between those two cities? ...If you remember.

@davehu Driving an EV between Dallas and Houston is the easiest drive you can possibly imagine. There are Electrify America Chargers in Ennis, Madisonville, and Huntsville. That is more than enough locations to easily make it either way. The challenge is what happens once you get into either town since both Dallas and Houston do not have a lot of charging options within the city area.

If you are getting a Lightning later this year and plan to make that drive, I would suggest you become very well acquainted with the Plugshare app.

Cheers.

 

[cvalue13]

thanks for the write up.

The real range extending sweet spot speed for this truck is like 66mph or 68mph, but who the heck wants to drive at that speed on a 75mph speed limit highway?

Me! Especially with an EV!

For long drives I used to be a hunt-and-peck driver, but for the last several years I’ve found a meditative alternative: set the cruise control in the slow lane, and think about driving as little as possible. Not only does this method avoid life-shortening stress, studies show that due to highway traffic dynamics there is on average very little time advantage to a 10mph difference in speeds (eg increasing from 65mph vs 75mph does not in real world highway conditions yield 10 additional miles of travel within an hour).

This strategy becomes more sensible in an EV, because now I set cruise control behind and matching the speed of a semi. In an episode of Mythbusters titled “Big Rig Myths” (2007), they showed a vehicle will benefit from an 11% increase in fuel efficiency while following a semi at 100 feet (30.5 meters). (Efficiency goes up the closer you follow, but … safety.)

I’d note, however, that I don’t remember mythbuster adjusting for colder air (I think they did this in ideal California weather). I’d guess that the colder (or dryer) the air, the efficiency would exceed 10%.

Now, technically, being 100ft behind a semi isn’t enough distance if traveling at 65mph. But in normal driving behaviors on the highway, not often are people giving nearer the 200ft.

But on the safety point, contrast the arguable safety issues of being 100ft behind a semi at 65mph vs the “I gotta get there” driving behaviors of being at 75mph and 50ft behind a car, making constant lane changes, etc.

In all, driving at 65mph around 100ft behind a semi vs 75mph and in-and-out driving can improve efficiency by over 30%.

And, once you relax into it, can - at least for me - save a ton of unnecessary stress.

 

[thecoloradokid]

thanks for the write up.



Me! Especially with an EV!

For long drives I used to be a hunt-and-peck driver, but for the last several years I’ve found a meditative alternative: set the cruise control in the slow lane, and think about driving as little as possible. Not only does this method avoid life-shortening stress, studies show that due to highway traffic dynamics there is on average very little time advantage to a 10mph difference in speeds (eg increasing from 65mph vs 75mph does not in real world highway conditions yield 10 additional miles of travel within an hour).

This strategy becomes more sensible in an EV, because now I set cruise control behind and matching the speed of a semi. In an episode of Mythbusters titled “Big Rig Myths” (2007), they showed a vehicle will benefit from an 11% increase in fuel efficiency while following a semi at 100 feet (30.5 meters). (Efficiency goes up the closer you follow, but … safety.)

I’d note, however, that I don’t remember mythbuster adjusting for colder air (I think they did this in ideal California weather). I’d guess that the colder (or dryer) the air, the efficiency would exceed 10%.

Now, technically, being 100ft behind a semi isn’t enough distance if traveling at 65mph. But in normal driving behaviors on the highway, not often are people giving nearer the 200ft.

But on the safety point, contrast the arguable safety issues of being 100ft behind a semi at 65mph vs the “I gotta get there” driving behaviors of being at 75mph and 50ft behind a car, making constant lane changes, etc.

In all, driving at 65mph around 100ft behind a semi vs 75mph and in-and-out driving can improve efficiency by over 30%.

And, once you relax into it, can - at least for me - save a ton of unnecessary stress.

I totally hear you. This was the first road trip in the Lightning, so it was all about learning about truck's efficiency at different speeds and different situations. I am used to long road trips in my Taycan, so it was a mental shift in driving a huge truck that is less efficient and the longer charging times.

When I drove a Model S, a Model X, and now my Taycan, I am always super careful about not getting behind a semi in order to avoid being showered by rocks or road debris. On the first day of my drive back from Houston the weather was great from Houston to Salinas, KS. The next day, I was facing 15mph to 20mph head winds heading west to Colorado from Salinas, KS. Factor that with the cold temps and the elevation gains, the efficiency of the truck dropped significantly. I did take to drafting behind big semi's in the Lightning and was surprised that I did not get hit by rocks or road debris, so I either got lucky or the height of the truck helped out?

I learned a ton about the truck on this trip, the key being that it is not the vehicle to take if you are trying to make good time. Mediocre to poor efficiency at higher speeds and longer charging times pretty much means that is the leisurely cruiser vehicle you take on a road trip, if you are not hauling anything or towing. Like you said above, you have to relax and get yourself into a meditative groove.

 

[cvalue13]

I learned a ton about the truck on this trip,

Because of this chat ill be more conscientious about finding semi’s with rear mud/rock flaps

as for the truck’s efficiency: the BEV world is only just now waking up to the reality of physics and frontal plane as relates to drag. It’s equally true for ICE vehicles, and nothing unique about the vehicle itself in this respect.

instead, the only thing unique is, relative to fuel, the bottleneck of fast charge infrastructure and, relative to ICE vehicles, the low starting range.

a couple more years and these two differences will have flattened considerably.

meanwhile, I just remind myself that when it comes to fuel infrastructure, total range, and ping distance planning, the thinking/issues going into a long distance drive in a Lightning today are almost identical to the type of thinking/issues that went into long distance driving in ICE vehicles not just 30-40 years ago.

it’s like GPS: hard to believe we used to make it anywhere with paper maps and handwriting down directions given to us by our uncle.

but we all still managed, somehow

 

[Replika]

I've found Plug & Charge to be infinitely more reliable than my past CCS vehicles. Every single P&C stop in the Lightning has worked within 60 seconds. My only complaint is the truck does not show the kW rate, let alone the kW requested rate. So we still have to dawdle around and babysit the session.

At the moment we're well past 100 Electrify America stops, 20 in the Lightning alone in the past 6 weeks. Before P&C trips were challenging.

When I made a post about P&C other folks had a different experience, some found no luck with it at all. There are so many variables at play.

 

[thecoloradokid]

I've found Plug & Charge to be infinitely more reliable than my past CCS vehicles. Every single P&C stop in the Lightning has worked within 60 seconds. My only complaint is the truck does not show the kW rate, let alone the kW requested rate. So we still have to dawdle around and babysit the session.

At the moment we're well past 100 Electrify America stops, 20 in the Lightning alone in the past 6 weeks. Before P&C trips were challenging.

When I made a post about P&C other folks had a different experience, some found no luck with it at all. There are so many variables at play.

We have had similar experiences lately since I did not have a single issue charging on either leg of my trip.

I alternated between using plug and charge, and using the Electrify America app. Either way was pretty quick in getting the charging process started.

I enjoyed my road trip in the truck, and learned a ton about the truck's efficiency, or lack of it, in cold weather situations. I live in Colorado, but I will wait for the weather to warm up a little bit before heading west on I-70 through the mountains. I am curious to understand the efficiency impact climbing over high mountain passes, and then seeing what is gained back in the region process.

I have done a lot of miles in the two Taycans I have owned over the past three years, so I know the car like the back of my hand. I can easily drive from Denver to LA or Scottsdale and know exactly when and where to stop for a charge. I want to be just as comfortable with the Lightning since the car is a great highway cruiser.

 

[davehu]

@davehu Driving an EV between Dallas and Houston is the easiest drive you can possibly imagine. There are Electrify America Chargers in Ennis, Madisonville, and Huntsville. That is more than enough locations to easily make it either way. The challenge is what happens once you get into either town since both Dallas and Houston do not have a lot of charging options within the city area.

If you are getting a Lightning later this year and plan to make that drive, I would suggest you become very well acquainted with the Plugshare app.

Cheers.

I plan on plenty of planning. thanks again

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