Out of Spec EV range test - Lightning/Cybertruck/R1T/Silverado

[Maineiac12]

Spoiler Alert - Silverado wins but only because of its massive battery. Efficiency is close to the Lightning. Makes me wish Ford had put a bigger battery in this thing.

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[F150ROD]

I guess the design of the Cybertruck does offer more efficiency.

 

[Grease Lightning]

I guess the design of the Cybertruck does offer more efficiency.

Happy to stop at 1000x more chargers in my Lightning over being seen in a steel suppository the Cyberturd resembles

 

[F150ROD]

Happy to stop at 1000x more chargers in my Lightning over being seen in a steel suppository the Cyberturd resembles

Speaking of stopping to charge. A breakdown of the cost for each one would have been nice.

The turd is mostly a CUV with a bed which is what most people need.

 

[Randall Stephens]

I guess the design of the Cybertruck does offer more efficiency.

It’s smaller than the Silverado and lightning, so you’d have to be trying pretty hard to be less aerodynamic.

 

[Roy2001]

So what is the summary and miles/kWh?

 

[mattskr]

So what is the summary and miles/kWh?

Efficiency (m/kWh)
Silverado: 2.0
Rivian: 2.6
Cybertruck: 2.5
Lighting: 2.1

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ryan.kassel/viz/shared/N25PM5T3J

 

[Maineiac12]

Efficiency (m/kWh)
Silverado: 2.0
Rivian: 2.6
Cybertruck: 2.5
Lighting: 2.1

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ryan.kassel/viz/shared/N25PM5T3J

I wish I could get 2.1 going 70 on the interstate!

 

[F150ROD]

I wish I could get 2.1 going 70 on the interstate!

You should be able to achieve that pretty easily….

 

[Maineiac12]

You should be able to achieve that pretty easily….

I know. I’ve never seen above 1.8. Climate at 70-72 degrees, fan low or medium. Truck is stock, tires inflated to 42 per spec. Not driving crazy or anything.

Mine’s an XLT which shouldn’t make much difference because it’s lighter than the lariat too. I’m blaming it on winter temps and wind but if this keeps up into April/May I might have an issue…

 

[Newton]

I watched the whole video, you really should. It is a blast. Unfortunately they had technical issues getting started so it ended in the dark which is dangerous and missed some great visuals.

Kyle said that of all the trucks the Lightning (which he was driving) was his favorite and went into some detail about why, which I agree with. He owns a Rivian and has driven everything for 1000s of miles. The Lightning might not be the greatest EV but it is a great truck.

The highlight for me was when this rancher looking dude shows up in his Lightning Lariat with a gigantic commercial flatbed trailer to tow the Cybertruck. I wish that was in daylight, the Lightning handled it with aplomb. From the professional way the guy handled the massive trailer I have a feeling that his Lightning does things that would make some official at NHTSA faint. It is a real truck (see above) that does real work, which often does not mean long range.

Some points:

1. The Cybertruck seems to be unfinished. It doesn't charge at all CCS chargers (including the one they were towing with the Rivian!) and there seemed to be a lot of moments where trim had to be pulled off to make things work. When it died completely it was unable to charge and unable to open the frunk, and fixing that was a very involved process involving disassembly.
2. The Cybertruck range was much more than on a previous test. One thing that I noticed is that they ran it for quite a while with the battery past the point where it produced usable power. I think he was doing about 12 mph at the end, the other trucks shut off at around 50(?). The CT might let you access more of the bottom of the battery which increases range but could be really hard on it (plus not really useful in the real world.)
3. Kyle said that he might have eked out a little more range if he had planned his turnaround so he could hit the downhill section. Still a good test, I think. He mentioned that he had had the truck die at 5% before so he was probably cautious. Ford said that the BMS had gotten out of sync, which reinforces #2 - the manufacturers are deciding when the truck shuts down, it isn't that the battery is really empty.
4. The Silverado had some issues when the battery went dead, it didn't really want to recharge. Unplugging and replugging in the 12V battery got it going again but it was an entertaining mess which involved Kyle driving to the station with the hood half up.
5. The Rivian and the Lightning seemed to handle running out of power the best, charge 'er up and go.
6. I really liked the information on the Rivian's screen especially the graph that shows your miles/kWh over time. @Ford Motor Company did you watch?
7. Kyle's Rivian (not the one tested) towed a massive generator with a 40kW DC charger attached. It was quite cool, although not really necessary because they could have gotten the few miles that they actually needed from the Rancher's Pro Power.
8. Probably the best part for me was the two trucks that were doing truck things - towing a massive flatbed trailer and a generator.

 

[Newton]

You should be able to achieve that pretty easily….

Don't fear, I was getting 2.2 - 2.3 on I-5 from Eugene, OR to Burlington, WA just yesterday. I was keeping it under 65 and there was traffic but 2.1 should be doable at 70. The weather has warmed to the 50s, when it was colder I was getting 1.8 or so (on a different route.)

I have noticed that miles/kWh improves on longer trips. The first leg of my trip was 2.1 (with a very quick charger stop), the second leg was 2.3. I think it takes energy to warm the battery?

 

[jmc6020]

I know. I’ve never seen above 1.8. Climate at 70-72 degrees, fan low or medium. Truck is stock, tires inflated to 42 per spec. Not driving crazy or anything.

Mine’s an XLT which shouldn’t make much difference because it’s lighter than the lariat too. I’m blaming it on winter temps and wind but if this keeps up into April/May I might have an issue…

Even in a New England winter I can easily get 2.0 or 2.1 at 70 MPH

 

[THX1138]

Efficiency (m/kWh)
Silverado: 2.0
Rivian: 2.6
Cybertruck: 2.5
Lighting: 2.1

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ryan.kassel/viz/shared/N25PM5T3J

I wonder how efficient the lightning would with 18" wheels, if it's possible to attach and test?

 

[Jim Lewis]

One possible quibble with the Out of Spec results is that I don't think they started with factory-fresh vehicles, but some of them, like the Lightning, were driven for quite a while before the test. I haven't watched the video yet, but I'd be interested to know what the relative health of each battery was, too.

Microsoft Copilot: Does the age of an EV battery affect the miles per kWh driving range?

Answer: Yes, it does. https://copilot.microsoft.com/sl/cd4wHGJlwFo

For example, I watched part of another Kyle video where he described getting the Cybertruck in Florida and driving it to California before he had it in Colorado, putting at least 5,000 miles on it, IIRC. Since the test was done in Colorado, the Cybertruck wasn't factory-fresh when the test was run.

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