Lightning Commuter 10,000 miles in 5 months.

[Jseis]

Heading home at 9,999.9 miles!

Long post follows

First of all, I enjoy this forum. I learn from other’s experiences. My comments are based on my real world experiences. I’m a conservative driver having learned the hard way in a half-century+ of driving that Easy Does It, I’ve had enough near misses to know the difference between certain death and thank god I’m alive. As a motorcyclist from the age of 12 as well as long term bicyclist, my self-radar serves me well at evaluating other drivers and avoiding situations.

I’ve essentially hyper-miled every vehicle I’ve ever owned and my 2.5 mi/KWh average in 10K miles is a result. The hyper-mile mental state probably came from watching my father driving a 53’ flathead Ford custom sedan with overdrive! Then my high school Honda SL 350 that was tough to get 100+ miles out of on a tank (the way I rode it ).

The LT lives in a partially heated garage (slab on grade floor stays at say 54 degrees with a water heater adding very modest heat). Since I leave for work at the same time every day, preconditioning works well. Leaving work in the late afternoon in winter can be a cold eve though. The truck heats up quickly and I usually drive at temp set at 65 F degrees if outside temps are below 45 F.

This is how I use the LT daily.

• Since I travel the road with other drivers I tend to maintain common speed between packs (yes even on rural roads) but if alone on the road I tend to drive slightly slower than posted. 53 mph is my rural road go-to average with some variations. Friday afternoon’s are always faster, usually 55-58 due to coastal bound vacationers 6-8 months of the year. The most difficult of that set to deal with are econo car speeders in packs and ICE 3/4 & 1 ton driving vacationers towing 2 axle trailers at 61-62 mph. The latter are the most dangerous drivers next to the eco car packs and motorcycle drivers cruising belie any posted speed. Nationwide-regional commercial trucks drive the speed limit near dead-on (ruled by Sat-Nav & truck mgmt software). Independents ~5% over. Even local log trucks, dump & pup, are decent. Sanitation rigs tend towards 55+++ speeding as are heavy haul and manufactured home haulers.
• Driving the same road day over day over year over year means you remember everything; Abandon vehicles, vehicles in ditches, vehicles out of gas, truck roll overs, animal strikes, deaths, bridge accidents, ice accidents, bad-weather drove off road accidents, trees in road, ice sheets, landslides, animals, livestock loose (drive to the rancher’s house to warn them their prize bull is out of his pen and wandering the highway), abandon dogs, elk-bulls in rut chasing cows, floods, heavy fog, drivers out of gas, drivers trying to install chains (rare but happens).
• Our weather is mild but downed trees by wind is common, roadside grade slumps from heavy rains common as are minor flooded areas.
• The pandemic produced daily walkers, hiking somewhere with all their belongings, walkers pushing babies in carriages, dragging crosses, asleep on the shoulders with kids, dogs, spouses, with abandon RVs. Unimaginable humanity and inhumanity. I’m mentally prepared for anything.
• My point in all this is that a regular route driven regularly and steadily and safely gets you to work. The LT makes this more comfortable, safer, and less costly ultimately.
• Those of us that drive regularly know each other by vehicle. One evening recently a fallen tree blocked the road. I came to it first and as I stepped from the Lightning four more doors behind me and one ahead opened and a half dozen of us assembled and without a spoken word, removed the tree from the road, silent team-work then suddenly the immense alder was gone, portions rolled off the highway, branches tossed aside. A younger man (logger I suspect) said, “Well that’s good enough for me, how about you all?” We all laughed and smiled and went on our separate ways. Those events give me hope.
• The Lightning has met or exceeded my expectations. In 50 years I’ve well over 500,000 miles on this road route, all with a rogues gallery sequence of cars and trucks, with most accruing 125K-200k+ miles. The road demands attention: All the trees, narrow bridges, curvy sections, winter morning black ice and slick bridge decks, violent wind & rain, animals, slumps/slides accoutrement plus the good and idiot drivers. The LT glides through my route w/o pause. The following-car radar works very well. The cornering g-sensors are good. Visibility is excellent.
• The quiet excellent ride was a shocker. “A 4-dr Lincoln pickup with GT muscle!”
• Controls are all within easy reach. Once I developed a daily ritual I rarely change anything other than modest heat in the winter. I use the desk feature more than I’d thought.
• Rear under seat storage has additional tie-down strap winched, spare blanket, flares.
• The frunk has winter weather gear: Chainsaw (battery of course), tow strap, washer fluid, heavy safety orange construction jacket with reflective fabric, boots, gloves, flashlights, flares, first aid etc. The most frequently used item? Flares.
• Headlights are good to nearly very good. I may add additional driving lights though for that extra vision out 300 yards.
• Use a hard roll up bed cover. Works very well particularly for weekly groceries. KWh impact not measurable though .1 Mi/KWh possible IF you could quantify.
• I commute on paved roads with extremely rare off road travel. I run tires at 45 psi. I suspect spec’ BEV tires 75 aspect, narrower profile, aero, & street lean might add modest range improvements say 🛞 running at 55+ psi would be nice.
• I had no illusion on range- Yet I was pleased. The way I commute I typically get over 300-320 miles of range estimate with a long term average of 2.5 Mi/KWh putting the LT dead-on or slightly over 320 miles of estimated range. Typical maximum 80% use in the 270-290 mile range. Now that fall-winter is here and I’m keeping the same speed, though with the seat at 1 bar and steering wheel heat on, I’m averaging 2.3- 2.4 mi/KWh though I expect that to drop if temps get much below low 40’s as I’ll need to kick on cabin heat primarily for windshield defogging. Since I’m wearing a sweatshirt over a shirt and puffer jacket over that, I’m toasty warm.
• My daily & long term Mi/KWh was a surprise. I can mitigate cabin heat impact to mileage by keeping use under 5-8% and by setting temp at 65 F and 1 bar auto. Then use seat heat at 1 and steering wheel heat say below 46 F.
• Any headwinds and lower temps say 40 & below + any cabin heat really saps range. I suspect rain friction (wet pavement) and windshield wipers also sap range. But I’m crafty with accessories and dead air is warmer than a blower at 65 F!
• I back check range estimates daily by observing how many miles I travel from 80% through 71% of battery use. That typically runs at 3.14-3.27 miles/%. This does not work starting at 100% ‘cause I think there’s upper “register” storage above 100%. A full charge could actually be at 105-107%.
• Normal or sport. I’m on the fence as to which is better. Typically don’t use 1 pedal drive. Sport tightens the steering which I like. If an update allows Sport to stay selected I’d likely stick with it.
• I expect as others have shown, the LT will be a towing beast because Power, weight and ~50:50 distribution.
• Passing power is astounding and scary for the uninitiated. Easy to hit 90 mph w/o thinking about it. Merging is a breeze. No one expects the truck to accelerate like it does.
• Charging: Our Mach E toasted a mobile charger in 40,000 miles. I now charge the LT at home with a ChargePoint Home Flex. It auto charges from 8 pm to say 12:30-1:00 am and puts in 28-32 KWh in which represents my 90-96 miles per day. Not surprisingly, I can get range estimates well over 320 miles on a regular basis. However, as noted winter weather will likely increase daily KW use to 34-40 KW. Summer months can be as low as 25 KWh for my 90 mile drive. I’ve recorded as high as 2.7 Mi/KWh on 75+ degree days.
• The IPad-like GUI is fine, I can find minor niggles but OTA updates will likely get better w/simple stuff like % & Mi/KWh on the same view. I use the mapping/Nav apps when traveling and the ability of the native Ford Nav app to avoid traffic bottlenecks has been pretty darned amazing.
• The Lariat was a special-order buyer back-out and we were first on the dealer call list. Two options weren’t available on order (e-scale & interior motion detector) but it came with everything else. Azure Gray, Hanooks, & roof, trailer toe, gen-set, power running boards. You get the picture.
• Having driven more compact (Mustang GT, Edge Sport, Ford Flex EcoBoost) rigs since the days of the Expedition and F250 (7.3), I was used to jamming around in a Sport Trac Adrenalin (4.6 AWD) or Flex turbo sleeper wagon. So returning to the LT girth was a reminder of this wasn’t my ‘56 Ford F-100 of my youth nor the ‘93, 94’, ‘07, Mustang GTs. And while not our farm’s F8 5-yard or F-450 flatbed, it still is big. And way powerful. The S.O. said, “Well, if you’re still driving that road! I want you in something big”. Who am I to deny her?

• I stopped using one-pedal because my brain had no muscle memory developing for the F150’s position of the brake! I’d used one-pedal exclusively from day 1 with the Mach E and switching to the Lightning was a little weird as the accelerator pedal location was more to the right than the MME and the LTs brake pedal more left? Something going on there. Two accidental accelerations approaching stop signs told me something about using the one-pedal exclusively in MME and it is very aggressive in the MME. The LT is much less aggressive one-pedal.
• I’m ok with the haptics though miss easy blind button fondling. Dimming the screen is the worst.
• On Drive distances over 150+ miles like east to Montana or up the Gorge. —I’ll check the Ford Pass app against ABRP, Get a sense of wind direction (via Windy app).I go to Montana occasionally via SR18 and I-90. I always keep 2 charge station choices mentally ahead w/in about 30-40 miles of each other and on my route, with a primary and two backups depending how I’m burning energy. Reasonably easy in Washington.
• At hotels I’ll take advantage of a free level 2 and charge overnight. No Big deal if it’s a block away.
• Range and dealing with it:

1. My daily drive of ~90 miles is easily within range. Occasionally I’ll go 150-250 miles round trip and again easily within range. Even in the dead of winter. I’ve charging options at work but I don’t need them.
2. How should a potential LT buyer evaluate range?
   1. If your work radius from place of business-home is 50-75 miles I’d say ok
   2. Or if you drive up to 125-150 miles a day.
3. Examples
   1. A custom home builder w/temp power on-site and you are there several hours a day- probably ok.
   2. A state region farm ag inspector-sales person- probably not as many miles on rural-gravel roads to remote areas. Farmers tend to be more tech savvy than you think so may be possible in a few years.
   3. If a vineyard marketer/investor/etc. probably yes.I was surprised how many vineyards in eastern Wa have charging stations at their tasting “facilities “ but carry that Tesla adapter!
   4. Property appraisers rolling in a multi-county region.. probably not unless you’ve a charging strategy. Same goes for ag buyers & crop inspectors.
   5. Realtors within a 25 mile radius area? Piece of cake.
   6. Understand that peak use of charging stations around 4-6 pm. A Supercharger and EA col-ocated site was 95%+ full in this period. By 7 pm it was ~10% full.
   7. Charging at home or place of business is the real take home. Cheap power is icing on the cake. Our power at $.0634/KWh makes this a no brainer and that’s not an unusual power rate in Washington. Grant & Chelan county areas are lower due to hydro power owned by the county public utility districts. Our power comes from the Fed Bonneville Power Administration.

Math: The Final analysis:
Looking at head and figuring 78,000 miles in three years of commute use.

Power cost at $.0634/KWh!

MME 50,000 miles at 3.5 mi/KWh in 2 years.

LT 28,000 miles at 2.5 Mi/KWh and in 1 year.

Energy use.

MME $906 in 2 years

LT $720 in 1 year.

Total power cost $1,626 over 78,000 miles. Possibly a few percentage more due to preconditioning and power transferring losses in charging.

Compared to driving say 3 years and 78,000 miles at 22 mpg at $4-$5+ gas (our avg local prices last 3 years).

$14,182-$17,727.

Net $12,556-$16,101 (not including tires, insurance, a deer strike deductible, windshield wipers, washer fluid and the Charge Point Home Flex).

We are a two-BEV household. The S.O. Drives the MME now, maybe adds 2-3K miles a year, charging weekly on 120V. I’ll be well-retired in a year and the LT might have 40K total though I might shift some miles to the MME to extend the LT’s 36-3yr bumper to bumper.

In our area of inexpensive power, a $30K commuter car makes total sense even if only rolling 10K-15K a year. A lot will happen in the marketplace next few years. 400+ mile range/less costly batteries/more efficient vehicles. Maybe future battery replacement for the LT as in more power/lighter weight? Hard to say.

The LT’s advantages are not fully understood. A buddy just bought a stripper ~$60K 8’ bed Godzilla F250. He’ll be lucky to average 14 mpg. He considered an LT but.. range and it could not haul a yard of gravel. I’m surprised how people make choices on the extreme ends of need and even if some of those extremes can be solved. It’s shaking out early adopters from.. wait and see.

And kWh/miles in the 1’s nothing to be ashamed of. Many of the best “high” mileage cars I had in the past would struggle to reach a max loaded trailer-towing Lightning. My mpge average of 91 on a sunny summer day is much greater than a 2000 era Honda Insight hybrid on a good day downhill with a tailwind. Plus I can haul 5, grill & chill.

For your reading pleasure

Mi/KWh=MPGE

2.7 = 91.0 rare summer day

2.6 = 87.6

2.5 = 84.3 long term average

2.4 = 80.9

2.3 = 77.5 Winter likely

2.2 = 74.2

2.1 = 70.8

2.0 = 67.4

1.9 = 64.0

1.7 = 57.3 75 mph & 15 mph headwind

1.6 = 53.9

1.5 = 50.6

1.4 = 47.2

1.3 = 43.8

1.2 = 40.5 Beats all my early rigs (except motorcycles)

1.1 = 37.1

1.0 = 33.7

Some examples from the past

36 mpg 1980 1800 cc Subaru 5 spd GL Wagon

34 mpg 1989 Subaru XT 5 spd AWD

34 mpg 1962 1385 cc VW Bug 4 spd

30 mpg 1962 1200 cc VW bus 4 spd

25 mpg 2007 4.6 Mustang GT 6spd auto

24 mpg 1999 F250 SD 7.3 diesel 6spd

23 mpg 2018 Flex 3.6 turbo 6 spd auto

22 mpg 2010 4.6L Sport Trac Adrenalin AWD

21 mpg 1956 Ford F100 I6 & 4 spd

18 mpg 1993 5.0 Mustang GT 5 spd 5.0!

10 mpg 1967 Dodge D200 318 4spd

5-8 mpg 1958 Ford F8 5 yard 390 5 spd/w-2spd rear axle

~10 gallons an hour LS 56 crawler dragline 426 Waukesha straight 6


‘62 bug had a big bore kit

‘58 F8 was an FE 390 transplant

LS 56 crawled at about a lazy man’s walk & groaned like a dinosaur .

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[WhipSticks]

2.5 is really impressive! Especially with a highway commute.

 

[eRockBoon]

Curious to see how winter treats you!

 

[eRockBoon]

2.5 is really impressive! Especially with a highway commute.

I wouldn’t call 53 mph highway speeds

 

[Jseis]

I wouldn’t call 53 mph highway speeds

The image was taken when the LT rolled over to 10K & doesn’t do the heavy forested, winding road justice. Historically, it was 60 mph and typically driven at 63-65 mph.

I got ticketed for 65 mph 32 years ago when in reality I was cruising at 88-89, the very nice trooper knew I’d left the Couthouse late, I wasn’t drunk, just headed home. He said “How about I write you up for 65?”. Well, gee golly officer I’ll accept that. Don’t do that anymore!

In Montana could be 80 mph with a couple exceptions but mostly it’s not wide open and straight.

With gas near $5, cars traveling under 55 mph are very common.

 

[mme_and_lightning]

With gas near $5, cars traveling under 55 mph are very common.

Wow, $5. I live in Virginia and gas here is around $3.15 and in Delaware it is not hard to find under $3. (Unfortunately, there are some stations that will happily charge you a lot more, but it is easy to bypass those.) Recently the price of gas in my area is dropping like a rock.

I have one Subaru that needs fossil fuel so I do notice prices.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Nice report & write-up!!

 

[sd25]

Entertaining and informative write up! Thank you.

 

[Jseis]

Wow, $5. I live in Virginia and gas here is around $3.15 and in Delaware it is not hard to find under $3. (Unfortunately, there are some stations that will happily charge you a lot more, but it is easy to bypass those.) Recently the price of gas in my area is dropping like a rock.

I have one Subaru that needs fossil fuel so I do notice prices.

Diesel has been higher too. 25 years ago it was always 1$ under gas. I could fill my 7.3 F250 for about $35. 7-8 years that went over $100 for a fill up. In high school early 70’s, my SL350 cost less than 3 quarters to fill up !

 

[mme_and_lightning]

Diesel has been higher too. 25 years ago it was always 1$ under gas. I could fill my 7.3 F250 for about $35. 7-8 years that went over $100 for a fill up. In high school early 70’s, my SL350 cost less than 3 quarters to fill up !

We all have our fond memories. I remember when Nike running shoes first came out. My grandfather said "I remember when I would not pay over a $1 for a pair of sneakers."

How things are changing.

I still remember when the DOW hit 1,000 and now it's at 35,000. Luckily, gas has not kept pace because the under a $1 a gallon years ago would be under $35 a gallon now. Or worse, you could live in Europe, UGH!. Or worse still, in Russia you can buy food or gas. Most cannot buy both, but at least you get the choice.

LOL

 

[Jseis]

We all have our fond memories. I remember when Nike running shoes first came out. My grandfather said "I remember when I would not pay over a $1 for a pair of sneakers."

How things are changing.

I still remember when the DOW hit 1,000 and now it's at 35,000. Luckily, gas has not kept pace because the under a $1 a gallon years ago would be under $35 a gallon now. Or worse, you could live in Europe, UGH!. Or worse still, in Russia you can buy food or gas. Most cannot buy both, but at least you get the choice.

LOL

The modern thing about electricity prices is the huge variability. In our state of WA here on the coast, we pay residential rates of $.0634/KWh.

These central WA counties own dams (federally authorized but as I recall built by the local public utility districts) and their residential rates are even lower.

Grant county is $.0565
Chelan county is $.034!

Those prices are stable compared to fuel(s). But highly variable depending on a public utility district’s proximity to hydro power.

The LT’s range let’s us cruise 120-140 miles out one way and return without DCFC $$ expense which saves ~$50 (over gas @ 22-23 mpg) per trip.

 

[theblunden]

I saved this on my phone as a reference when I got my Lightning. Nice write-up btw. My lifetime efficiency is 2.7 but on my commute I average 2.9-3.1 year round in North Carolina with A/C and no heat in the winter due to cabin preconditioning and heated seats on winters mornings. My commute is 21 each way with half highway (rush hour traffic)and other regular city roads

 

[Jseis]

I saved this on my phone as a reference when I got my Lightning. Nice write-up btw. My lifetime efficiency is 2.7 but on my commute I average 2.9-3.1 year round in North Carolina with A/C and no heat in the winter due to cabin preconditioning and heated seats on winters mornings. My commute is 21 each way with half highway (rush hour traffic)and other regular city roads

Thanks! .. and you are getting excellent “mileage“!. Curious-flat ground & mid 40’s-50’s speed & warm weather??

 

[theblunden]

Thanks! .. and you are getting excellent “mileage“!. Curious-flat ground & mid 40’s-50’s speed & warm weather??

I drive 40-45 on city roads (4.5 miles)and 20-65 on the highway (11 miles) but this is in rush hour traffic so lots of Regen stop and go with pockets of slower traffic. With the last section being the remaining 5.6 miles at 55-60 mph again with stop and go.Terrain is kinda rolling hills far from flat. During the summer I typically have it set to 70 on auto a/c on two. And winter heated seats only after preconditioning on the plug at home. Here's on of my best to date.... Back in May of this year with great EV weather

 

[Jseis]

I drive 40-45 on city roads (4.5 miles)and 20-65 on the highway (11 miles) but this is in rush hour traffic so lots of Regen stop and go with pockets of slower traffic. With the last section being the remaining 5.6 miles at 55-60 mph again with stop and go.Terrain is kinda rolling hills far from flat. During the summer I typically have it set to 70 on auto a/c on two. And winter heated seats only after preconditioning on the plug at home. Here's on of my best to date.... Back in May of this year with great EV weather

Swest.

My drive is split 60:40 between 25-30- 35-40-50/curvy road and the rest is 55 with the latter possible to roll at 58-62 (I rarely do).

Pretty mild weather though Dec-Feb can be mornings in the mid 30’s.

My daily drive is just varied enough to basically mimic the EPA cycle which is likely why my long term average is 2.5 currently thought likely to drop to 2.4 by January. MME did the same, dropping from 3.6 to 3.5

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