First Road Trip in my new Pro SR!

[eRock77]

We planned a short road trip yesterday, from Akron OH down to Marietta, 130 Miles on a chilly 14F day. I figured with my GOM showing 190 miles that should be no problem to shoot down, charge up again L2 on a 220V at my in-laws place while we hang out and come back with lots to spare, right? But just in case, there is an Electrify America DC fast charger about 50 miles outside of Marietta. Money! No worries! It turns out we did not, and could not possibly have, made it to Marietta on my 190mi range/90% charge. I ran pretty quick, about 75 on cruise, and we did have the heat on. You know, like normal people do? We hit that DC charger with a 3% SOC after 85 miles of travel and I had to slow it down to get that. Oof! The 350KW EA did the job real nicely for us, 40 minutes at the Wal Mart was kind of pointless but we had fun.

We drove the truck around Marietta and burned up most of the juice down there. I went to the FIL's garage and unplugged his welder hoping to find a NEMA 14-50 plug, but nope! He has a Nema 6-50P three-prong plug. I've gotta look that up, we may be able to find an adapter but it has no neutral. Very slowly charged up to 55 miles range on 120V and then a freebie Level 2 at the library, see previous issues, and very hesitantly drove at 60MPH with no heat on the 45 miles back to the fast charger. Guys, it was that or sleep at my in-laws. Not gonna happen.

I'm new, this is the learning curve for me still, but I would say my experience was two out of five stars, do not recommend. I'm not very certain that my wife will agree to travel in this truck anymore. Other than running at 55MPH with no heat is there something I'm missing? What would you have done differently?

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[Maxx]

I would charge to 100% right before leaving so your battery is warm and you get more energy out of the battery. I would have the heat on a comfortable level but not too toasty and I would heat the cabin while plugged in and before leaving.

Also if you count on 220 at your destination, the type and distance of the plug to driveway should be known in advance.

I have an SR too. Only using it like you do in different conditions, will help you get to know your truck so you will do better with every experience. I am still learning.

 

[VTbuckeye]

At those temps I would guess at least 30 percent range reduction from ideal. Ideal 75mph travel is probably 1.6 to 1.7 miles per kWh. You have a 98kWh battery (call it 100 for simple math). So at best, charged to 100 percent you would be looking at 115 miles. If you started with a cold 90 percent battery the 30 percent range reduction is going to be higher.

My short drive to work in the summer I average 2.8 miles per kWh. If I can drive heat off at 20 degrees (seats/wheel heat on) I can average 2.2. if I need to run the heat (to see out the windshield) I can see 1.4 to 1.6. Our other EV with heat on will average 2 when the same short drive in the summer it gets 3.3.

Very cold temps affect EVs a lot. Not having adequate fast charging options makes winter trips very challenging. For shorter drives with home charging EVs are still great in the summer or the dead of winter.

 

[boggle]

Slow down, start at 100%.

 

[Pioneer74]

I went to the FIL's garage and unplugged his welder hoping to find a NEMA 14-50 plug, but nope! He has a Nema 14-50P plug. I've gotta look that up, we may be able to find an adapter but it has no neutral.

You don't need a neutral to charge with 220V.

 

[PreservedSwine]

A couple things.
First, you don’t need a neutral charge.
Second- if you’re gonna squeeze 130 miles in that weather, you’ll need to be driving around 50 or 55 miles an hour, and use the seat warmers instead of the heater.
I took my pro SR on a road trip as well, about 1000 miles round-trip.
Despite the people that seem to love road tripping in their Ford lightnings, and take it as a personal affront if you don’t, it was a complete waste of time. It made the trip about 50% longer, turning a roughly 6 hour trip into a roughly 9 hour trip each way. Will be taking our gas vehicle from here until forever for any road trips.
Perhaps, with more familiarity, and driving the same route, you could be comfortable going down to 10% or so before charging.
I love my Ford lightning, but I keep it within its home radius

 

[Maxx]

Rain, headwind and gaining elevation can have significant impact on your range as well. Make sure you adjust your tire pressure for winter.

 

[ryun]

Just to add another tip if you're in an emergency situation and need every mile you can get: I've heard folding in the mirrors can help boost range some.

In your situation though I think going 65 or 70 MPH (provided that's still close to the speed limit) would have helped tremendously.

 

[Mmiketa]

14-50 and 14-50P are not different, P indicates a plug and R indicates a receptacle. If his plug did not have a neutral he likely has a 6-50R and you'd need a 6-50P adapter to use it, but you do not need the neutral to charge.

 

[hturnerfamily]

A NEMA 14-50 outlet is exactly what your Ford Mobile EVSE uses, regardless of whether your FIL has the 'Neutral' wired to the outlet, or not.
EVSE's for EVs do not make use of a Neutral wire, even though the typical outlet 'has' a prong for one... it's just not required when 240v power is applied in a 'balanced' draw setting, like for EVs, where both 'sides' of the power are pulling the same amount, at the same time.
His welder is the same - it doesn't require a Neutral, either.

For those who may not be familiar with CAMPING/RVing/MOTORHOMING, though, where a NEMA 14-50 is used to give 240v power to larger units, like Motorhomes, the reason THEY DO use a Neutral is due to the 'unbalance' load: you may be running the air conditioner on one 'side' of power, which might draw 15amps, but only have 5-10 amps being drawn on the other 'side' of power, since most Motorhomes with 240v shore cords actually DON'T use 240v power, they use both 'sides' of power, or two 120volt wires, each going to two separate 'sides' of the Motorhome's main panel. All the breakers are also 120v breakers. This is why a NEUTRAL is required for Motorhomes.
Yes, some larger Prevost and very large motorhomes DO have 240v main panels, if they have a 240v Electric Dryer onboard, etc, ... but the vast majority don't. Regardless, either one NEEDS the Neutral.

In your home, you might also find that you have one or more NEMA 14-50 outlets, for your Range, Stove, Oven, Clothes Dryer, etc., basically any 'appliance' that 'plugs in', as many are required to, now-a-days. Clothes Dryers used to be only a three-wire 240v appliance, with NO NEUTRAL, but government/electrical regulations changed over the years, and now all NEW electric dryers require a 4-wire NEMA-14-50 Outlet and Wiring, WITH a Neutral, for added 'protection' against the owner touching the metal appliance at the moment a 'stray' voltage 'might' happen to occur, etc.

 

[hturnerfamily]

for travel, as your story indicates, you'll make your wife and other passengers a lot more comfortable, especially in low temperatures, when you charge to a much HIGHER degree of battery before you attempt long-range travel... while you may 'assume' that 80% battery would be sufficient, we owners have realized pretty quickly, like you, that travel CONDITIONS make all the difference - SPEED, HEATING the cabin, terrain, headwinds, etc.

I always bank on 20% MORE 'fuel' than I calculate I will need to reach my destination, ESPECIALLY when you are going somewhere you are not as familiar with - even when a FIL 'says' they have a 'plug in' for you - how that 'plug in' is wired, what breaker it is wired to, the wire size, etc., all have an impact on whether it's a successful place to 'charge'... having 'back up' charging options is mandatory, at least while the charging infrastructure grows.

No, you cannot simply 'drive 70mph' and have 'heating the whole way'... in very low temps, during the harsh winter months... you will need to be more practical, with one, or the other, or both. Speed is your biggest range-killer, though.

 

[davehu]

without reading any of the other posts. your experience is exactly what is predicted behavior. ie: 98kw battery charged to 90% has 88.2kw. From my own experience (3000 miles worth) and from others on the forum at 14 degrees driving 75mph with the heater on, I would expect 1.6 -1.8 miles/kw so 88 x 1.6=140 miles of range. What did your trip screen read for miles/kwhr?

My suggesting. do the math before departing, charge to 100%, slow down, even 5mph makes difference

 

[eRock77]

A NEMA 14-50 outlet is exactly what your Ford Mobile EVSE uses, regardless of whether your FIL has the 'Neutral' wired to the outlet, or not.
EVSE's for EVs do not make use of a Neutral wire, even though the typical outlet 'has' a prong for one... it's just not required when 240v power is applied in a 'balanced' draw setting, like for EVs, where both 'sides' of the power are pulling the same amount, at the same time.
His welder is the same - it doesn't require a Neutral, either.

For those who may not be familiar with CAMPING/RVing/MOTORHOMING, though, where a NEMA 14-50 is used to give 240v power to larger units, like Motorhomes, the reason THEY DO use a Neutral is due to the 'unbalance' load: you may be running the air conditioner on one 'side' of power, which might draw 15amps, but only have 5-10 amps being drawn on the other 'side' of power, since most Motorhomes with 240v shore cords actually DON'T use 240v power, they use both 'sides' of power, or two 120volt wires, each going to two separate 'sides' of the Motorhome's main panel. All the breakers are also 120v breakers. This is why a NEUTRAL is required for Motorhomes.
Yes, some larger Prevost and very large motorhomes DO have 240v main panels, if they have a 240v Electric Dryer onboard, etc, ... but the vast majority don't. Regardless, either one NEEDS the Neutral.

In your home, you might also find that you have one or more NEMA 14-50 outlets, for your Range, Stove, Oven, Clothes Dryer, etc., basically any 'appliance' that 'plugs in', as many are required to, now-a-days. Clothes Dryers used to be only a three-wire 240v appliance, with NO NEUTRAL, but government/electrical regulations changed over the years, and now all NEW electric dryers require a 4-wire NEMA-14-50 Outlet and Wiring, WITH a Neutral, for added 'protection' against the owner touching the metal appliance at the moment a 'stray' voltage 'might' happen to occur, etc.

You make a great point about the neutral, I'm glad to know that. Here is the plug, which I understand now is a NEMA 6-50P, and it has a 20 amp breaker. I suppose I could have unwired his plug and then re-wired it to a four prong NEMA 14-50 connector, but I needed to work with what I had. Because we visit them often I've purchased an adapter for it below, $17 on scamazon. I believe I can run this at 16A speed with my adjustable charger and be ok. Correct me if I'm wrong. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4NRWMW1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Pod]

For my SR XLT, 68 mph gets me the best range with a tolerable speed. 70+ just eats too much juice. I love road trips in the Lightning, just have to figure out the puzzle. Adding a stop or two has made my family and the dog much happier.

 

[eRock77]

without reading any of the other posts. your experience is exactly what is predicted behavior. ie: 98kw battery charged to 90% has 88.2kw. From my own experience (3000 miles worth) and from others on the forum at 14 degrees driving 75mph with the heater on, I would expect 1.6 -1.8 miles/kw so 88 x 1.6=140 miles of range. What did your trip screen read for miles/kwhr?

My suggesting. do the math before departing, charge to 100%, slow down, even 5mph makes difference

Thanks, great advice. Trip down averaged 2.0mi/kw, trip back was better at around 2.4 with lower speed and more careful heat settings.

I attempted to charge to 100% but my departure scheduler failed me somehow--I see others have issues with this as well. I thought I had set it up to charge me to 100% right before departure. I'll play with it, I definitely want to do that next time. Possibly I could make it in one shot with a 100% SOC, 65MPH, and careful heat settings but I doubt it. It may be possible in the summer. Even so I think stopping at the mid-way DCFC is cheap insurance.

I'm running the Hot Rod Power Tour in June, I'm hoping the summer weather will extend the range a bunch.

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