Farley & Ford Execs Traveling the American West in F-150 Lightning

[vandy1981]

Is the Ford F-150 Lightning good for towing?

Yes and no. The standard 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning model can tow up to 7,700 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,235 lbs. The Extend-Range battery model can tow up to 10,000 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,000 lbs.

However, we didn’t get far with a 5,000 lb camper. After making a profile for the trailer, we instantly lost 100 miles of range. Then we drove for about 30 miles and lost 81 miles of range. The range holds steady at speeds under 30 mph, but getting up to 50 to 60 mph kills it.

Do you own an electric vehicle?

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[Jseis]

If you don't know what the blinker is, you probably aren't checking its fluid either are you?

Blinker fluid in a modern ICE is battery electrolyte. I suppose radiator fluid keeps the engine cool ergo the lights on. Except for mag & capacitor systems. I’d guess gel is a fluid type. Maybe an LT has blinker gel.

One time I was coming back to Seattle from LA. Somewhere south of Grants Pass around midnight I noticed my ‘62 VW Bug headlights were working weirdly. Turns out I had way too much “lighter” fluid in both. The tubs each had their drain holes plugged and I was staring at two perfect fishbowls filled to the brim with freshwater, each backlit by a 6 V sealed beam. Took me a half-hour to drain both. Then I went on my way.

 

[hturnerfamily]

This 'argument' thread seems to point out the current reasons why most folks don't really consider an EV of any sort an 'option' for their household - there are just too many holes in the argument for most drivers... my wife would not have one if it weren't for me taking the 'risk' when we bought our first used 2014 Nissan Leaf back in 2018.
Then another in 2020.
Then a 'hybrid' Kia Sorento PHEV in 22.
Then the LIGHTNING in late '23...
then a great used '19 BOLT in '23...
and another '17 BOLT just recently...
...a 3,000 lb RV single-axle 18' camper... towed at least 15,000 miles so far

4 drivers, 4 'mostly' electric vehicles

my wife now complains that her 'hybrid' can't get her all the way to work, and then all the way back(65 miles total) on a single charge.... oh well. That 'engine' that made her feel comfortable 'in case' a long trip was in the future, now holds a bitter pill for her everyday driving - she wishes she didn't have to have one.

Our towing of our camper works flawlessly. I realize that range is not going to be anywhere near the same - and I'm o.k. with that, although PLANNING is the key. You WILL have range anxiety even when things are perfect. You will also when things are NOT.
I can tolerate it for now, but the future is MORE DC Fast Chargers more often and more reliably. Battery size is not the main issue.


Also, I realize that the 'home charging' can be just as big a factor in considerations for most folks - they don't readily understand the need for 240v power options, what that entails, the cost, and the logistics of how it works. I am very comfortable handling my own electrical modifications, but most everyone is not - it is a mystery and fear for them.

Even with good home electrical options, if you throw in a 'time of use' for lower charging cost, and the confusing 'scheduled charging' procedure setups for each different EV, you add other negatives that surround the EV ownership.
for instance...
My wife's KIA has a scheduled charge for 11pm to 7am. But, Kia will not allow that to happen if you don't ALSO add a 'departure' time, such as 6am, when she leaves in the morning. Well, you might THINK, or assume, that the charging will Start at 11pm - you'd be wrong.
Kia let's the car 'calculate' the amount of time it needs to reach the charging finish line, along with the amount of amperage and voltage you have available thru your EVSE, to determine WHEN it starts charging... which might wind up being 1:30am or later...
The problem is that you should not have to 'wonder' when the charging will start, you should be able to have the charging start when YOU want it to start, no matter the length of time it would take to reach the charge finish line, whether you are 'departing' the next morning, or NOT!
We have had several recent incidents where charging NEVER occurred, during the overnight hours, when WE ARE ASLEEP. We have no way to know, we are asleep. There is no rhyme or reason why it didn't charge, it just didn't. There is a little 'scheduled charging' icon next to the charge port that lights for several mintues after you plug in to let you know that it will 'wait' until the right time to charge - and yet it didn't.
For my LIGHTNING's scheduled charging time, with 'time of use' overnight charging rate, I had to modify it to 11pm to 5pm(yes, that's 18 hours!) just so that the charging would NOT occur before 11pm... if the battery is low, and even if you have a 11pm Start Window, the truck will calculate the time it needs, and MAY EVEN START IMMEDIATELY or BEFORE THE 11pm TIME...
it's NOT intuitive, and yes, FORD should provide a simple 'Start All Charging at 11pm' option, no matter WHAT the 'departure' time might be set to... most of the time I just want the truck to charge, at 11pm, and not worry about 'when' I might be leaving, no matter the battery level.

THIS IS WHY EVS ARE STILL NOT FOR EVERYONE. I need to be CONFIDENT that my home charging will happen, EACH and EVERY time. I also need to know that charging along my travel paths will be RELIABLE and will be AVAILABLE. Neither seem to be in place at this moment in time - although I am willing to plug along until then ... most everyone will not have that tolerance and patience....yet.

 

[Count Orlok]

The problem is the Lighting doesn't have adequate range.

what EV pick-up truck does? or are you anti-EV?

 

[MacMike]

The problem is the Lighting doesn't have adequate range.

My Lightning met my range needs on my trip across the USA.

 

[Bwanapete]

Pardon my skeptism, but a 600 mile "road-trip" is a day of driving, two at most- with only one needed stop to charge.

I frequently drive about 725 miles in a day in an ICE car.

 

[RickLightning]

Two to three hundred miles in ranger is totally inadequate and there will never be enough chargers to go on any kind of an extended road trip. I'd like to see Farley do this road trip again in winter and lets see the reality check he gets.

You are simply wrong. We drove 2,950 miles in Feb in our Mach-E. Michigan to Florida and back. We have charged in 14 states. And in winter too. Some have driven cross country and back towing a camper. Stop with the nonsense.

 

[sotek2345]

This 'argument' thread seems to point out the current reasons why most folks don't really consider an EV of any sort an 'option' for their household - there are just too many holes in the argument for most drivers... my wife would not have one if it weren't for me taking the 'risk' when we bought our first used 2014 Nissan Leaf back in 2018.
Then another in 2020.
Then a 'hybrid' Kia Sorento PHEV in 22.
Then the LIGHTNING in late '23...
then a great used '19 BOLT in '23...
and another '17 BOLT just recently...
...a 3,000 lb RV single-axle 18' camper... towed at least 15,000 miles so far

4 drivers, 4 'mostly' electric vehicles

my wife now complains that her 'hybrid' can't get her all the way to work, and then all the way back(65 miles total) on a single charge.... oh well. That 'engine' that made her feel comfortable 'in case' a long trip was in the future, now holds a bitter pill for her everyday driving - she wishes she didn't have to have one.

Our towing of our camper works flawlessly. I realize that range is not going to be anywhere near the same - and I'm o.k. with that, although PLANNING is the key. You WILL have range anxiety even when things are perfect. You will also when things are NOT.
I can tolerate it for now, but the future is MORE DC Fast Chargers more often and more reliably. Battery size is not the main issue.


Also, I realize that the 'home charging' can be just as big a factor in considerations for most folks - they don't readily understand the need for 240v power options, what that entails, the cost, and the logistics of how it works. I am very comfortable handling my own electrical modifications, but most everyone is not - it is a mystery and fear for them.

Even with good home electrical options, if you throw in a 'time of use' for lower charging cost, and the confusing 'scheduled charging' procedure setups for each different EV, you add other negatives that surround the EV ownership.
for instance...
My wife's KIA has a scheduled charge for 11pm to 7am. But, Kia will not allow that to happen if you don't ALSO add a 'departure' time, such as 6am, when she leaves in the morning. Well, you might THINK, or assume, that the charging will Start at 11pm - you'd be wrong.
Kia let's the car 'calculate' the amount of time it needs to reach the charging finish line, along with the amount of amperage and voltage you have available thru your EVSE, to determine WHEN it starts charging... which might wind up being 1:30am or later...
The problem is that you should not have to 'wonder' when the charging will start, you should be able to have the charging start when YOU want it to start, no matter the length of time it would take to reach the charge finish line, whether you are 'departing' the next morning, or NOT!
We have had several recent incidents where charging NEVER occurred, during the overnight hours, when WE ARE ASLEEP. We have no way to know, we are asleep. There is no rhyme or reason why it didn't charge, it just didn't. There is a little 'scheduled charging' icon next to the charge port that lights for several mintues after you plug in to let you know that it will 'wait' until the right time to charge - and yet it didn't.
For my LIGHTNING's scheduled charging time, with 'time of use' overnight charging rate, I had to modify it to 11pm to 5pm(yes, that's 18 hours!) just so that the charging would NOT occur before 11pm... if the battery is low, and even if you have a 11pm Start Window, the truck will calculate the time it needs, and MAY EVEN START IMMEDIATELY or BEFORE THE 11pm TIME...
it's NOT intuitive, and yes, FORD should provide a simple 'Start All Charging at 11pm' option, no matter WHAT the 'departure' time might be set to... most of the time I just want the truck to charge, at 11pm, and not worry about 'when' I might be leaving, no matter the battery level.

THIS IS WHY EVS ARE STILL NOT FOR EVERYONE. I need to be CONFIDENT that my home charging will happen, EACH and EVERY time. I also need to know that charging along my travel paths will be RELIABLE and will be AVAILABLE. Neither seem to be in place at this moment in time - although I am willing to plug along until then ... most everyone will not have that tolerance and patience....yet.

Thankfully (I guess) my utilities "Time of Use" rate plan really isn't that good and would end up costing me more unless I could eliminate just about all usage in our house during move of the day (not happening), so I never signed up for it or set a charging schedule. Because of that my charging is very easy to control - it starts when I plug in and it stops when the truck (or mach-e) hit 90% or I unplug. No muss, no fuss.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

what EV pick-up truck does? or are you anti-EV?

I'm pro-EV, but realistic for my use case, which is not all that uncommon in Texas. I would like to go back and forth to my daughter's house 270 miles away, and use the truck for hauling things and powering jobs at her property. I can't, unless I add a minimum of an hour, and last time 3 hours, to the trip. Please don't tell me about what mileage I should get. I challenge you to get better than me against the prevailing 15-20mph wind in South Texas without traffic.

I would like to meet my other daughter in Fort Worth in a couple of weeks for her show, and bring home some jump standards and other items to help her move. I can't, without the same uncertainty that I will be able to even complete the trip.

I love the simplicity, the power, and the engineering on the Lightning, but the fact is that it's for sale. It just does not fit my needs, or really the needs of 90% of truck owners in Texas. We put open road miles on a truck. Speed limits are 75 most places, and up to 85 on open roads. Reliable charging infrastructure just does not exist. Even if Tesla opens up like they say they will, the network is gonna be pretty taxed. Why wait an hour at Bucee's watching 400 ICE trucks fill up and move on? It just doesn't make sense.

I realize that urban car drivers have a different use case, but I don't see these EV mandates as realistic. Texas truck owners aren't going to be satisfied, and that goes for most states with large rural areas and far-apart urban areas. That's most of the US, geographically. Maybe with the 229 kWh Dodge, but 131 kWh doesn't cut it. You can get 100 miles on the Dodge in 10 minutes. Now we're talking.

(As and aside, I realized as I was typing that, if you mapped out where EV's make sense and where they don't, it might look like a red/blue political map. I don't want to inject politics into this, other than to ask people to consider others' point of view before standing up and saying that what we believe is right, and everyone else needs to conform.)

 

[Count Orlok]

I'm pro-EV, but realistic for my use case, which is not all that uncommon in Texas. I would like to go back and forth to my daughter's house 270 miles away, and use the truck for hauling things and powering jobs at her property. I can't, unless I add a minimum of an hour, and last time 3 hours, to the trip. Please don't tell me about what mileage I should get. I challenge you to get better than me against the prevailing 15-20mph wind in South Texas without traffic.

I would like to meet my other daughter in Fort Worth in a couple of weeks for her show, and bring home some jump standards and other items to help her move. I can't, without the same uncertainty that I will be able to even complete the trip.

I love the simplicity, the power, and the engineering on the Lightning, but the fact is that it's for sale. It just does not fit my needs, or really the needs of 90% of truck owners in Texas. We put open road miles on a truck. Speed limits are 75 most places, and up to 85 on open roads. Reliable charging infrastructure just does not exist. Even if Tesla opens up like they say they will, the network is gonna be pretty taxed. Why wait an hour at Bucee's watching 400 ICE trucks fill up and move on? It just doesn't make sense.

I realize that urban car drivers have a different use case, but I don't see these EV mandates as realistic. Texas truck owners aren't going to be satisfied, and that goes for most states with large rural areas and far-apart urban areas. That's most of the US, geographically. Maybe with the 229 kWh Dodge, but 131 kWh doesn't cut it. You can get 100 miles on the Dodge in 10 minutes. Now we're talking.

(As and aside, I realized as I was typing that, if you mapped out where EV's make sense and where they don't, it might look like a red/blue political map. I don't want to inject politics into this, other than to ask people to consider others' point of view before standing up and saying that what we believe is right, and everyone else needs to conform.)

well I wouldn't buy a crackerbox Honda Fit to road trip with a family of 7 either. If it is the wrong tool then don't use it.

I hear the cYbErtRuCk will have the range people are coveting (I am being sarcastic as useful specs for the fugly thing don't exist).

I've only had to wait in line once at a DCFC in 10 months of EV ownership. I live in a rural area but don't deal with the wide open spaces of places like Texas, Montana, or the Dakotas. I'm sure high speeds and distances do limit the utility of most EVs.

The fastest charger in my rural county is in my garage (11kW). I don't see how this is red/blue as you make it. It is more that there are better charging options in suburban areas versus areas with lower population density (other than along some interstates).

What EV mandates do you speak of? Does Texas have one I havn't heard about? I mean if some states want to put in place stupid policies on anything that is states rights? correct?

 

[vandy1981]

ask people to consider others' point of view before standing up and saying that what we believe is right, and everyone else needs to conform.

I think most people on this forum would agree that the Lightning, and EVs in general, are not right for everyone at the moment. That's actually great, because we don't have the supply chain, power grid or charging infrastructure to support full market penetrance in 2023.

We've found that the Lightning doesn't work well for our towing needs in our specific region of the country. We're going to be trading in our Lightning for a longer-range EV like the Rivian R1T (less likely) or a gas towing vehicle (more likely) within the next few months.

People here tend to get annoyed when people (see post #76 in this thread) drop in to assert that EVs are complete failures, will never work for anyone and are being forced down their throats by the government.

I have optimism that technology and infrastructure will be more than adequate when the Scary EV Mandates go into effect 12 years from now. Tesla had barely sold 2500 electric cars 12 years ago and look where we are today.

 

[TheOne]

Do you own an electric vehicle?

what EV pick-up truck does? or are you anti-EV?

I was going to buy a EV but after doing all the research into EVs I find the technology side completely inadequate. Research the Owens Magnetic this could be done as a all electric. There are a lot of expensive hidden costs, hours wait to charge and cold weather unreliability.
On the ecological and human side ICE vehicles are way less polluting.

 

[sotek2345]

I was going to buy a EV but after doing all the research into EVs I find the technology side completely inadequate. Research the Owens Magnetic this could be done as a all electric. There are a lot of expensive hidden costs, hours wait to charge and cold weather unreliability.
On the ecological and human side ICE vehicles are way less polluting.

Sorry - multiple studies show that even on a grid powered by all coal, EVs are substantially less polluting over their lifetime.

 

[vandy1981]

On the ecological and human side ICE vehicles are way less polluting.

That's true if the EV is crushed and put in a landfill 10 days after it's built. That's definitely not true over the normal cradle-to-grave life cycle of a typical light-duty vehicle. This is true even in coal-fired West Virginia.

 

[brtnstrns]

We've found that the Lightning doesn't work well for our towing needs in our specific region of the country. We're going to be trading in our Lightning for a longer-range EV like the Rivian R1T (less likely) or a gas towing vehicle (more likely) within the next few months.

Just curious since I'm diving in head first to the Lightning ER specifically for travel trailer towing purposes: what's your towing scenario?

I've towed a Nobo 16.5 and now an Escape 19 with my 2020 Tacoma TRDOR. I flog the shit out of the engine to get it into the usable RPM range (3500-4500) and still generally manage about 12 mpg towing the Escape 19 (it would get 10 mpg with the Nobo). So I'm entering this realm optimistically hoping that I'll be able to squeeze out 150 miles towing the Escape 19 with the Lightning Lariat ER.

Being in Seattle, we have lots of camping options within 150 miles with only a handful of places we regularly go topping out at about 175 miles away or so.

We'll see if I come to regret dumping the Tacoma...

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