Using a Lightning for swimming pool routes. Yay or nay?

[RickKeen]

Would not even need the ER battery. In the summer, you can easily get 180 miles out of the SR battery, and probably 150 on most winter days.

And with the SR battery, you would not need the 80 amp charger (on a more expensive 100 amp circuit). If you are only averaging 100-130 miles per day, 40 amp charging (50 amp circuit) will keep up with your daily charging needs.

Check out if you can get off-peak electricity rates for your charging - depends on your electricity supplier.

If there is an occasional day with more miles, you might spend 30 or 40 minutes on a late lunch break charging.

You could get a 2022 or 2023 Lightning Pro SR for well under $50k.

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[SMBJoshy]

Generally, it's a great truck for pool service.

Specifically, we need more details. How are your routes arranged typically? Do they make you go 30-50 miles out, then have 5-10 houses to hit up in an area? Do they make you drive 20 miles East, then 40 miles west, and you only knock out 2 houses in a day? Do you have a lot of down time waiting for the next appointment?

These are all factors. I once ran into a guy at a Supercharger, years ago. Tree service, we chatted for almost an hour - because that's how slow they used to be - and he said "This wouldn't be so bad, I'm just waiting for my next appointment anyway. Burning time, I could be charging right now.

While true, DCFC costs just as much as gas. But the point is even in a pinch, you're not necessarily stranded. Around VA Beach, there are plenty of chargers. Green is slow, orange is fast. On an extended range, you will be able to last the 150 miles day out there.

Other things to consider is how awesome the frunk is. While the bulk of your machinery goes in the back, you don't want some of your test kits or even certain chemicals sitting there in the sun. UV can break down some of them, but you don't want them in the cab either. Throw them in the frunk, it keeps them from rolling, shades them from sun, easy to access.

As for, will it last? Depends. Every car is different, and I don't have enough miles to say on the Ford. But I can say I've owned plenty of other EVs some that have eclipsed 200,000 miles and none have needed a battery pack. Most of the time they're typical items (axles, control arms, toe links) every now and then it'll be EV specific (onboard charger, charge port).

Over 10+ years I don't think I have actually saved any money in terms of long term maintenance, but I do save money on short term (oil changes, brakes) items. I will say based on my experience, I'm more worried about the frame holding up long term - especially being near the ocean and an area that occasionally sees road salt - more than I would be of the battery.

I live just north of Elizabeth city so my commute to our warehouse to load up with chemicals and get my paperwork is 45 minutes or so. Generally, our clients are grouped together so that I’m not driving all over the place, I mean if I’m having to drive from one side of Norfolk to way over in eastern Virginia Beach and then back towards the middle of the area that would kill me timewise and moneywise. No more than 5 to 10 minutes apart on average but sometimes have to drive 20-30 minutes. On average I do 8 to 10 pools a day, wintertime a little bit less and more spread out. Yeah, we still have a bunch that run through the winter.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

Daily use of 130 miles and charging at home is the perfect use case for an electric vehicle. You will love the simplicity of the EV platform after being stung by the complexity of internal combustion engines. That's part of what drove me to the Lightning.

That said, if this will be your only vehicle, be aware that taking it on the road is still a challenge, even if you can charge at Tesla locations. If you (like me) are used to only short stops for gas when necessary on the road, you can turn a 7 hour 420 mile trip into an 8 or 9 hour trip by taking the Lightning.

Here's why (using the ER with 131 kWh battery). The TLDR (too long, didn't read) version is that road trips are still a pain in the butt.

First of all, your charge rate is dependent on the battery state of charge (SOC). Using rough numbers, at 10-30% SOC, the Lightning might accept about 150 kW per hour into the battery. Then as you charge, it accepts less and less, up to 80%, where it might be accepting 80 kW. After 80%, it drops to (I think) 60; after 90%, it drops off a cliff. So, most people on the road quit charging at 90% unless they really need the energy to get to another charger. See this ideal situation charge curve. I often see less than this.

Also, you don't want to risk dropping your SOC too low, so you can't plan on making it to a charger with 3% left. The consequences are too great. No one can bring you a can of kW to fill up. There aren't chargers every few miles or on every 5th corner in town. So you want to keep 10% in reserve.

While you can charge up to 100% when you leave the house, once you get on the road, plan on using only 70% of the battery (80-10%) on the road. So your 131 kWh battery becomes more like 92 kWh.

So, you leave home with a full charge. Highway mileage varies dramatically with respect to driving conditions. When I leave my house in South Texas, I get on sparsely populated roads with 75 mph speed limits. I expect 1.8 m/kWh with the wind and 1.5 against. Where you are, you will probably be driving 60-65. With little traffic breaking the wind for you, 2.0 is attainable. On a busy interstate going with the flow of the traffic, you can get 2.2.

Let's use 2.0 for this example. You leave the house during your 100% charge "honeymoon" period. You can go 236 miles before reaching 10% SOC. I'm going to back you up a little because there probably won't be a charger in the exact location. (Use ABRP and PlugShare to search for your exact use case examples.) So, let's say the charger you get to is 210 miles from home, at 20% SOC. You made it half way. You charge 20-80%. Without any connection problems, if you can get 110 kWh average, you will be on that charger for 43 minutes. You will then start your next leg with 105 kWh. Running it down to 10% from there will get you 183 miles. Again, let's say you find a station at 20% charge instead, which would be 157 miles down the road, leaving 53 miles short of your destination.

Your second charge time will depend on how much energy you want to have when you arrive. If you are going to pull up at someone's house who has a charger, and spend the night, you can arrive with 10%. If you don't have good overnight AC charging options, you will have to DC charge at your destination. So, let's say you want to keep some in the bank, and arrive at 30% SOC. (ABRP will do all this for you.) You will need to add 26.5 kW for the 53 miles, plus 13 kW for the extra juice (20-30%). That's about 40 kW, or 22 minutes on the charger. Then at your destination, if you don't have level 2 charging overnight, you have to spend part of your trip at a DC charger instead of with those you went to visit.

So in that scenario, with chargers in good locations, you would have 1:05 of charge time. That's leaving with 100%. On your return you may leave with a lot less energy, depending on your options where you stay. Add to it the vagaries of hooking up and communicating with varied charging companies. In my DC charging experience I have had about 1/3 seamless, drama-free connections, and 2/3 that ranged from 10 minutes connecting, and finding that the output is only 60 kWh (thus spending over an hour when I planned on 40 minutes) to charger not working after trying for 15 minutes and driving out of my way to find another. In one instance I waited two hours to get an open charger, then charged for almost an hour. That one stop added 2:50 to my trip compared to filling up and moving on. The network is improving, but it's not there yet.

Bottom line, you just can't jump in the truck and go. It's complicated. It requires patience. You just can't plan on leaving at noon and making it for dinner. It might not happen.

I recently considered driving 420 miles to Dallas. Using the planned route and expected charge times, if things went well, my trip there would take 8 instead of 6 hours. My return home by another route would have added even more stop time. I took my wife's car instead.

Hope this helps you decide.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

Is there a max length of cable that can’t be exceeded for the charge station pro? I live in a 2k sqft double wide mobile home, and my driveway is at the complete opposite side of the house from where the main power line/meter is, way more than 50ft away.

Running wire that far and setting up a station might cost $1,000 on the low side to over $2,000. I spent $700 just putting a 240V plug in the garage, within 15' of my panel.

 

[Kev12345]

tell your company to buy company trucks so employees aren't on the hook for fuel and repairs!

 

[THX1138]

One other thing to consider, if possible, get solar on your garage roof, to help offset charging costs. I drive around 1000 miles a month and it cost me $20 out of pocket the last two months in electric costs to drive the 1000 miles. I have net metering. My solar panel system cost $15,000 to get installed and I got 30% income tax credit for installing it. Definitely get the ER battery for range and peace of mind.

 

[RickLightning]

I mean, this is just anecdotal, and correlation isn't causation, but I will say I've been crushing it in the bedroom the last 7 months. YMMV.

Are you sure? Perhaps we need another opinion from your partner?

 

[RickLightning]

As others have stated, your use case is near perfect. In your area, IF you needed a small charge bump, you have 5 different Tesla Superchargers to pick from (you need an adapter). There are no EA stations near there, closest just north of Newport News. There is one other fast charge option, in Norfolk, an EVgo, but it looks slow and full of issues. Point is - with a Tesla Supercharger adapter you'd be covered for any "oh crap" days if they occurred. Keep in mind that in winter your range will be 20% or more lower.

As to charging at home if you buy a 2024 it will charge at a max of 48amps (needs a 60amp circuit). Let's do some extreme math:

SR with 98kWh battery, at 5%, and you want 90% for tomorrow. 98 x (90 - 5%) = 83kWh needed.

48amp charger provides 11.5kW, then you lose around 7% to the truck, for a net of 10.7. Let's call it 10.3 to be conservative.

83 / 10.3 = 8 hours to charge up. Should work.

Now, let's look at the ER with a 131kWh battery. Same math - 131 x 85% = 111. 111 / 10.3 = 10.75 hours to charge. Again, should work.

Keep in mind that you'll likely get great efficiency as you drive locally from place A to place B. So you probably won't come close to using 85% of an SR battery even. Just showing what worse case will be.

You will need a 60amp circuit installed, with hardwiring of a 48amp charger for this. Or, if the math works, a 14-50 outlet and a 40amp charger, which will give you 17% less juice, and result in roughly 17% longer to charge.

When you buy your new truck, you'll get on a list to get an adapter. That won't be delivered until at least October, if not longer, so you may want to grab a Typhoon Pro from A2ZEV. Use coupon code FORDFORUM to save 10%.

 

[Toby57]

Is there a max length of cable that can’t be exceeded for the charge station pro? I live in a 2k sqft double wide mobile home, and my driveway is at the complete opposite side of the house from where the main power line/meter is, way more than 50ft away.

Do you rent the ground that double wide is on?
You might want to find out if you can and are allowed to
A: put the circuit in where you park at night and
B: how much it will cost

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Are you sure? Perhaps we need another opinion from your partner?

Ok, well I asked her and she laughed. And then she laughed some more. And now she's still laughing. Not sure how to take that...

 

[RickLightning]

Ok, well I asked her and she laughed. And then she laughed some more. And now she's still laughing. Not sure how to take that...

It appears your rating lacked accuracy. Or, you have landed a winner. Although if she is laughing, maybe she hasn't?

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I live just north of Elizabeth city so my commute to our warehouse to load up with chemicals and get my paperwork is 45 minutes or so. Generally, our clients are grouped together so that I’m not driving all over the place, I mean if I’m having to drive from one side of Norfolk to way over in eastern Virginia Beach and then back towards the middle of the area that would kill me timewise and moneywise. No more than 5 to 10 minutes apart on average but sometimes have to drive 20-30 minutes. On average I do 8 to 10 pools a day, wintertime a little bit less and more spread out. Yeah, we still have a bunch that run through the winter.

Youll be perfectly fine.

The truck is really efficient at lower speeds. Your 45min commute in the morning at highway speeds (75mph) will burn roughly 30kWh at 1.8-2.0mi/kWh.

Your clustering at lower speeds will be a good bit higher, using 2.5mi/kWh conservatively. (10min x 10 houses = 100min at 45mph = approx 75mi) you’re looking at another 30kWh.

Between the two you’re looking at using roughly 46% of your battery pack.

Let’s add a 45min drive home at 75mph and you’re using 68% of your battery on the day.

If we assume you never run her empty, so you leave 10% on the bottom. And you never charge her to full, leaving 10% on the top; you’re still left with 12% capacity - good for another 20min or so of driving.

Thats hypothetical but being extremely conservative.

Let me add a statement that I think will help frame it. I can get from VA Beach to Philly without stopping in my extended range.

 

[srvethelord]

I agree with others, this seems like a near perfect application for an electric truck. I think you could get by with a standard range battery, but I'd get an ER, because you'll likely to want to road trip it once you realize how comfortable it is.



I mean, this is just anecdotal, and correlation isn't causation, but I will say I've been crushing it in the bedroom the last 7 months. YMMV.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[invertedspear]

Is there a max length of cable that can’t be exceeded for the charge station pro? I live in a 2k sqft double wide mobile home, and my driveway is at the complete opposite side of the house from where the main power line/meter is, way more than 50ft away.

When I was evaluating my in-law's trailer for a possible EV purchase, I noticed they had a 30 amp service box. You can not run your house and charge an EV with this Service panel. I pointed out that they would need to upgrade to at least a 70 amp panel and since that was a no-go in their trailer park, an EV was not suitable for them. FWIW, I love EVs, but I would not advise anyone go EV without being able to charge at home.

Things to look at:

• What is your current service panel?
• Can you upgrade the panel? If you're in a park, you may not be able to, they consider bigger service panels a fire hazard(?!)
• Are you looking at a 22-23 ER? This comes with an up to 80amp charger. If you're looking at a 24 or an SR, it only charges at up to 40 amps and you'll have to buy your own charger. Plan your possible electric service upgrades accordingly. Since I installed EV charger prior to the truck, I have an ER on my already installed 40amp charger, this works great for me, you don't HAVE to use the included 80amp charger.

I know you're getting a ton of advice, and they all have good points, but I didn't see anyone mentioning the electric service box, and I think that's got to be a serious concern as it might cost you thousands to upgrade. For me it cost about $6k to upgrade from 70 amp service to 200 amp, and run 2 220v 50amp circuits to my garage, about 150ft. I don't think your expenses would be as much, but it needs to be considered in your cost benefit equation.

 

[Scorpio3d]

Is there a max length of cable that can’t be exceeded for the charge station pro? I live in a 2k sqft double wide mobile home, and my driveway is at the complete opposite side of the house from where the main power line/meter is, way more than 50ft away.

Keep the gas truck for a backup, in the rare event you experience a battery module issue, BTW many of us have had flawless ownership, mines going on 2 years August 4th.

Your Electrician can run the feeder line from load center to a post mount of your FCSP adjacent to the driveway.

What Taxman said!
Picture of how mine is mounted, but you could mount it on a pole or whatever just have to run the electricity where you want it!
The cable on the FCSP is 25 feet (if I am remembering that correctly)but you can only stretch it out maybe 17-20 ft depending on how it is mounted. You don’t want it to be stretched out so that there is no slack and it is pulling on either the charge port or pulling out of the box.

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