Trip Report: 2550 miles Iowa to 4 Corners Monument round trip

[Nikola 369]

Hi all, log time reader new member and first post. I wanted to post a trip report about my first long distance trip in 2022 lariat SR. I had been planning this trip for awhile, but waited for Tesla network to come online for us. I ordered the A2Z adapter few months back just for this trip. I used it a few times prior to leaving on trip. I’m so glad I made that choice. I had trouble with adapter, it was my fault, but did take me couple try’s to figure it out. Their adapter uses a switch to lock NACS connector on. It also has a switch internal to make sure it’s locked before it will let charging start. The problem I was having was reading the adapter…….. When you can read ” Close” on adapter, it’s really open and unlocked. I now just don’t read it, plug it on, slide it toward you and the NACS connector and your golden! This trip wasn’t possible unit Tesla opened the network to Ford, big thank you to Tesla.
In reading others trip posts and regular trips, I was concerned about efficiency of my truck. I drive on highway @ 65 and usually fall in a range of 1.8 to 2.4 Driving 70 or more gives much lower results. I thought this would come up with warmer temps………..not so much. So, happily drive 65 and never faster. In thinking about efficiency posted here vs what I’m seeing, makes me wonder SR vs ER battery. The HP rating is higher on ER than SR and if HP drives speed, than maybe that’s why the ER seems better at higher speeds. Both versions have same torque spec, but that relates more to launch and pulling.
Feel free to correct my thinking if I’m wrong, this is my first BEV. I’m not new to EV as I purchased a chevy Volt I’m 2011 and still have it. That car gave me enough confidence to take the plunge and buy a lightning.
This trip was a ton of fun and a great way to meet new people. You get a lot of looks driving a big truck into Tesla superchargers in the Midwest! Everyone is curious, I’m sure some think they are about to call you out for “icing“, right up until you open the charge port.
Sorry, didn’t get pics of the truck, but some nice views. The pic of the dash was coming off the mountain, efficiency was pretty cool. I thought it would read higher, but after 8 - 10 more miles it still showed the same……maybe that’s max reading?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Hi all, log time reader new member and first post. I wanted to post a trip report about my first long distance trip in 2022 lariat SR. I had been planning this trip for awhile, but waited for Tesla network to come online for us. I ordered the A2Z adapter few months back just for this trip. I used it a few times prior to leaving on trip. I’m so glad I made that choice. I had trouble with adapter, it was my fault, but did take me couple try’s to figure it out. Their adapter uses a switch to lock NACS connector on. It also has a switch internal to make sure it’s locked before it will let charging start. The problem I was having was reading the adapter…….. When you can read ” Close” on adapter, it’s really open and unlocked. I now just don’t read it, plug it on, slide it toward you and the NACS connector and your golden! This trip wasn’t possible unit Tesla opened the network to Ford, big thank you to Tesla.
In reading others trip posts and regular trips, I was concerned about efficiency of my truck. I drive on highway @ 65 and usually fall in a range of 1.8 to 2.4 Driving 70 or more gives much lower results. I thought this would come up with warmer temps………..not so much. So, happily drive 65 and never faster. In thinking about efficiency posted here vs what I’m seeing, makes me wonder SR vs ER battery. The HP rating is higher on ER than SR and if HP drives speed, than maybe that’s why the ER seems better at higher speeds. Both versions have same torque spec, but that relates more to launch and pulling.
Feel free to correct my thinking if I’m wrong, this is my first BEV. I’m not new to EV as I purchased a chevy Volt I’m 2011 and still have it. That car gave me enough confidence to take the plunge and buy a lightning.
This trip was a ton of fun and a great way to meet new people. You get a lot of looks driving a big truck into Tesla superchargers in the Midwest! Everyone is curious, I’m sure some think they are about to call you out for “icing“, right up until you open the charge port.
Sorry, didn’t get pics of the truck, but some nice views. The pic of the dash was coming off the mountain, efficiency was pretty cool. I thought it would read higher, but after 8 - 10 more miles it still showed the same……maybe that’s max reading?

We hope you had an amazing adventure!

 

[Nikola 369]

yes, thank you we did. Makes me want to travel more in my truck.

 

[bergerj77]

Thank you for this report! We're heading to Colorado in a couple weeks through the Four Corners region and that was the area I was most worried about -- your report gives me renewed confidence. Thank you!

 

[pullinggs]

I drive on highway @ 65 and usually fall in a range of 1.8 to 2.4 Driving 70 or more gives much lower results.

Nice report, and I'm glad you had a great trip.

There are a number of people here reporting efficiency of 2+ m/kWh, but I practically never see that kind of long-term performance. I live in the Sierra foothills, so getting an "average" number is challenging for any given trip. Right now the truck is showing 1.8 m/kWh over the last ~8000 miles (warm, cold, rain, snow, uphill, downhill, and flat... but rarely too fast). Is that "good" or "right"? Hell if I know, but it works well enough for me.

 

[Nikola 369]

Thank you for this report! We're heading to Colorado in a couple weeks through the Four Corners region and that was the area I was most worried about -- your report gives me renewed confidence. Thank you!

I’m not sure if you opened the attachment below pictures. If you didn’t you might take a look, as it shows locations that I stopped to fill up at. The stop at Bluff, UT is the closest DCFC station to 4 corners……best part is it’s free. Just make sure to make a profile (also free) on Charge Point. If you don’t I think it’s like a $10.00 flat fee. North of Bluff is Monticello, UT and this is same way, free for charge point members.
thid trip basically was a loop from northern Colorado, through 4 corners, and then southern Colorado. Northern Colorado has a ton of Tesla chargers we can use (conforming V3). Southern Colorado is pretty much Charge Point.
I used ABRP to plot my trip for each day. I then used my Iphone with about 6 different apps for chargers. The only way to be successful on these trips is plan ahead and download the apps. Lots of stations have card readers, but they never work, the apps………….almost always work. Worst case is you have to call number on charger for remote access.
Safe travels out there and have fun!

 

[Nikola 369]

Nice report, and I'm glad you had a great trip.

There are a number of people here reporting efficiency of 2+ m/kWh, but I practically never see that kind of long-term performance. I live in the Sierra foothills, so getting an "average" number is challenging for any given trip. Right now the truck is showing 1.8 m/kWh over the last ~8000 miles (warm, cold, rain, snow, uphill, downhill, and flat... but rarely too fast). Is that "good" or "right"? Hell if I know, but it works well enough for me.

Well, I did make a mistake on my trip report. I listed starting with 100% battery, but I forgot to add the 78KWh to fill it back up when home. SO…….the 898.6 really is 976.6KWh and that make 2.8377 mi/KWh change to 2.6110 this is a change, but I reset the trip 1 for this journey and at the end…….truck said 2.3 for the 2550 mile as average. I love the truck, but the software sometimes is close. This is why I made the report. I wanted to be exact and in the end I forgot the 78KWh to fill it up. 2.611 is still better average then the truck came up with.
I almost never watch the GOM, just SOC and current ave of mi/KWh. It also helps to have a navigator to watch chargers, check most recent posts from other drivers about stations, and watch for changes. When you share the load like this, everyone gets to enjoy the drive and not watch the clock.

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