Best way to drive on the expressway for maximum battery life?

[Bhinde99]

I have been driving the 2023 F-150 for 5 weeks now, and I have been working on reteaching myself to drive on streets to preserve the battery life and gain mileage when in sport mode. My question what's the best way to drive on the expressway? Speed limits are 70mph which drains the battery so fast, at a full charge I feel like I would be able to go more than 150 miles tops. Yesterday traveled 30 miles and it took 50+ miles off the battery!!

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[flyin525]

You will get a bunch of opinions here but in simplest terms if you want to maximize range, precondition before leaving, use minimal cabin heat, and drive no more than about 72-73 MPH, speed kills range, its like that for every EV.

It will be a bit better in the summer, but your range in town will always be better than on the highway/interstate.

Also forget that range number on your dash. It means nothing.

 

[Pioneer74]

I have been driving the 2023 F-150 for 5 weeks now, and I have been working on reteaching myself to drive on streets to preserve the battery life and gain mileage when in sport mode.

Where did you drive your ICE vehicles? Sidewalks?

 

[Bhinde99]

Funny Pioneer74, I have learned quickly you can't be an aggressive driver with Ev. and yes, it does help to stay off sidewalks.

 

[Bhinde99]

You will get a bunch of opinions here but in simplest terms if you want to maximize range, precondition before leaving, use minimal cabin heat, and drive no more than about 72-73 MPH, speed kills range, its like that for every EV.

It will be a bit better in the summer, but your range in town will always be better than on the highway/interstate.

Also forget that range number on your dash. It means nothing.

So the mileage number means nothing, as in how many miles are left? Doesn't it adjust to how the truck is being driven?

 

[sotek2345]

So the mileage number means nothing, as in how many miles are left? Doesn't it adjust to how the truck is being driven?

It used to be better at that, but Ford got a lot of complaints of folks not seeing full EPA range when charged so they changed it.

Note, it is much better when you use the NAV system and set a destination because then the truck knows what types of roads and roughly what speeds you will be driving.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Funny Pioneer74, I have learned quickly you can't be an aggressive driver with Ev. and yes, it does help to stay off sidewalks.

I've been an EV only household for almost a decade now and I still haven't learned that...

When road tripping with an EV, it's not about maximum range. It's about time to destination.

80 mph is the tipping point. Beyond that, you can certainly recover/charge at a higher rate, but your overhead and the availability of charging will become limiting factors. Travel at 70mph and you'll get better efficiency, but I don't have the patience for that. Try to stick within 75-80mph if you're trying to balance multiple charging stops. Otherwise day to day, I drive my truck as if it's a NASCAR truck.

*A lot of it will be dependent on the chargers themselves. I've done stretches of 90mph, and stretches limping at 55-65mph. The time difference was as much as an hour and not necessarily always in the favor of slowing down.

 

[PreservedSwine]

use seat warmer, not heater. Find a semi going to 70, and climb in his back pocket.

 

[mr.Magoo]

Funny Pioneer74, I have learned quickly you can't be an aggressive driver with Ev. and yes, it does help to stay off sidewalks.

Somewhat to the contrary, I have a few fixed routes that I take "all the time" to/from the office depending on the flow of traffic, two of which are normal surface streets @35-45mph.
Generally speaking I'm fairly gentle and try to accelerate smart, brake ahead of time and follow all the rules that in theory should give you good mileage / range and in the end I get around 2.5mi/kWh

Then there's the times where I'm annoyed with traffic/people and I drive like a hooligan / complete a--hat and I get 2.8-2.9mi/kWh

So I'm not so sure being aggressive is a bad thing as long as "being aggressive" doesn't equal speed.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Today, I did a little road trip of 218 miles, during the day when outside temps were warmer ~37°
I kept the cabin at 70°, drove mostly highway at 65-70 MPH and reached the destination with a 2.0 MPK average and SOC ranged from 100% to 54%

On the way home, the Ford Navigation suggested that I stop in Waterford CT to take on some juice, I did some mental math along the way and decided that I could make it with a reserve range of 18 miles initially, so I continued without making that stop.

I reduced the cabin heat to 60°, seat on 1, wheel warmer on and still comfortable with outside temps running around 32° to 28° by the time I got home.

I also slowed the pace initially 65 MPh but then slowed it down to 55 MPH the last 30 miles to make sure that I could complete the trip without needing a charge, I had options available just in case.

Got home with 7% left with a value of apx 12 miles range. Conservation allowed me to maintain the 2.0 MPK burn rate.

About this time last year I made the same trip, but had a few extra miles on the route and also had two extra passengers along for the ride, and it was much colder last year, I stopped at Waterford and took on extra juice to make sure the round trip was a success.

 

[1Jetpilot]

So the mileage number means nothing, as in how many miles are left? Doesn't it adjust to how the truck is being driven?

No, your mi/kWh x your battery (ER is 131 kwh) = DTE

 

[Maquis]

No, your mi/kWh x your battery (ER is 131 kwh) = DTE

Battery capacity varies with temperature.

 

[ChrisCon]

Hey Friend, Here are my handy tips to maximize your lightning range.
-Travel on 70 degrees days with low humidity.
-Drive routes that are only downhill
-Wait to leave home until the tail wind is going your direction
-Set a departure time before you leave so your battery is at the optimal temperature
-Do not use any climate control
-Turn off radio, pull fuses for connected services.
-Remove all unnecessary seats or body panels
-Now here is the most important-- Never drive above 59.5mph on the highway and drive at an average of 48.3mph on the highway as these are the numbers that the EPA uses on their 765 second long "highway test" . If we've learned anything from diesel gate, car manufacturers will game their electronics, to maximize efficiency based upon the standardized testing they will be submitted to.



Or just say "yolo" and drive like you stole the lightning, because at the end of the day, isn't that a lot more fun?

I drove from The end of Long Island to Pennsylvania this weekend. Averaged 2.3 miles per KWH (according to the trip computer which would equate to 301 miles on a full charge, though that doesn't "feel" right) . Drove 75 most of the way. Raced anyone who looked at me wrong. I used the heat cooler while my family used the heated seats, because I'm a psycho. Off topic, but Great Wolf Lodge was suprisingly decent.

Hope I could help

 

[TheWoo]

IMO, there's only two things you can do to significantly impact range in freeway driving once you are up to speed. The first is choosing which speed you want to drive - at high speeds, every mph has an impact. The difference between 70 and 75 mph is big. The difference between 75 and 80 mph is even bigger. So choose a speed that makes sense based on your trip.

The other significant impact will be whether you are in a pack of vehicles and able to do some drafting or not. If there are a lot of cars on the road with you, your efficiency will be better as, in addition to direct drafting from the vehicle in front of you, many cars on the road effectively creates a bit of a wind tunnel along the freeway that will aid you. If there aren't many vehicles but you can find another large vehicle or even better, a truck/trailer that is going a speed you are good driving and you can follow it, you'll see an impact. Can be pretty large depending on outside conditions, how closely you follow, etc. Be safe.

Beyond that, there's not much you can do other than some weather-dependent things like preconditioning and climate control choices that aren't really freeway-specific.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

No, your mi/kWh x your battery (ER is 131 kwh) = DTE

With an asterisk. Go far enough and you can’t even rely on that.

Ive driven a day going from 80F to 18F and it was a fun guessing game.

Also, unlike some other EVs I’ve owned there is NO buffer when you get to the bottom on the Lightning. I used to run mine to single digit percentages But found out that 0 means 0…I stop to charge with 5-10% remaining now.

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