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Messing with the Bull eventually gets you the horn... towed to charging station

jlferg0509

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So, after 17 months of use, more than 34k miles, multiple 2k mile trips, multiple trips towing my rv (over 7k lbs.), I finally found myself stranded with 1% energy...UUugh!

All that said, this was totally my fault. My wife and I were returning from our weekend rving trip, we'd stopped to charge at our last planned charging point about 40 miles out. Based on the trucks and my manual calculations I felt comfortable charging to 80% SOC giving us approximately 75 miles of range. My comfort level was based on averaging between 1.0 - .9 m/kh on the trip. The problem comes from the last hour of the trip. I noticed that we were burning through the SOC at an aggressive rate, we dropped down to .7 m/kh (I'd never seen this before, even during the winter) so I slowed down to 55-60 miles per hour, which did help a little on our burn rate a little.

We actually made it to our exit with approximately 8% SOC and I was faced with the decision, do I go left to a commercial charger less than a mile away or do I continue right to go to the storage location drop the trailer and limp home to charge. My hubris forced me to go right and a giant fail, even with the trucks warning multiple times that we had low range and outside the last charger range messages.

Needless to say that we ended up in front of our rv storage location at 1% SOC and the truck would not move. Frustrated with myself, I went into the Ford Pass App and submitted a request for assistance...very easy process. I was notified immediately that my request had been accepted and dispatched. The driver called me within 10 minutes to get an assessment of the situation and give me an approximate arrival time. He arrived in about 45 minutes, towed me to the EA charger about 3 miles away, I charged and was on the road again.

Lessons learned:
1) Pay attention to the truck (Trust the Truck @Ford Motor Company) messaging.
2) Looking back, during the excessive burn rate of .7 m/kw, I did notice that the battery external temperature had increased past the center point, almost between the center point and the next internal line. It would be great to actually see temperature values here... Additional information here, when this happened, we'd driven more than 100 miles in 90+ degree temperatures towing over 7k lbs.
3) Keep your ego in check, regardless of what you've learned or how many times you gone out see #1 lessons learned.
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Grumpy2

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Great write up and good advice, Thanks. The more I blunder through learning about the battery and BMS the more I understand how little I know about what is going on.
Remarkable response with the Ford Assist.
 

Ford Motor Company

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So, after 17 months of use, more than 34k miles, multiple 2k mile trips, multiple trips towing my rv (over 7k lbs.), I finally found myself stranded with 1% energy...UUugh!

All that said, this was totally my fault. My wife and I were returning from our weekend rving trip, we'd stopped to charge at our last planned charging point about 40 miles out. Based on the trucks and my manual calculations I felt comfortable charging to 80% SOC giving us approximately 75 miles of range. My comfort level was based on averaging between 1.0 - .9 m/kh on the trip. The problem comes from the last hour of the trip. I noticed that we were burning through the SOC at an aggressive rate, we dropped down to .7 m/kh (I'd never seen this before, even during the winter) so I slowed down to 55-60 miles per hour, which did help a little on our burn rate a little.

We actually made it to our exit with approximately 8% SOC and I was faced with the decision, do I go left to a commercial charger less than a mile away or do I continue right to go to the storage location drop the trailer and limp home to charge. My hubris forced me to go right and a giant fail, even with the trucks warning multiple times that we had low range and outside the last charger range messages.

Needless to say that we ended up in front of our rv storage location at 1% SOC and the truck would not move. Frustrated with myself, I went into the Ford Pass App and submitted a request for assistance...very easy process. I was notified immediately that my request had been accepted and dispatched. The driver called me within 10 minutes to get an assessment of the situation and give me an approximate arrival time. He arrived in about 45 minutes, towed me to the EA charger about 3 miles away, I charged and was on the road again.

Lessons learned:
1) Pay attention to the truck (Trust the Truck @Ford Motor Company) messaging.
2) Looking back, during the excessive burn rate of .7 m/kw, I did notice that the battery external temperature had increased past the center point, almost between the center point and the next internal line. It would be great to actually see temperature values here... Additional information here, when this happened, we'd driven more than 100 miles in 90+ degree temperatures towing over 7k lbs.
3) Keep your ego in check, regardless of what you've learned or how many times you gone out see #1 lessons learned.
Oh no! What a way to end a trip. We're happy to hear we could assist with getting you home. Thank you for sharing your experience.
 

RickLightning

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So, after 17 months of use, more than 34k miles, multiple 2k mile trips, multiple trips towing my rv (over 7k lbs.), I finally found myself stranded with 1% energy...UUugh!

All that said, this was totally my fault. My wife and I were returning from our weekend rving trip, we'd stopped to charge at our last planned charging point about 40 miles out. Based on the trucks and my manual calculations I felt comfortable charging to 80% SOC giving us approximately 75 miles of range. My comfort level was based on averaging between 1.0 - .9 m/kh on the trip. The problem comes from the last hour of the trip. I noticed that we were burning through the SOC at an aggressive rate, we dropped down to .7 m/kh (I'd never seen this before, even during the winter) so I slowed down to 55-60 miles per hour, which did help a little on our burn rate a little.

We actually made it to our exit with approximately 8% SOC and I was faced with the decision, do I go left to a commercial charger less than a mile away or do I continue right to go to the storage location drop the trailer and limp home to charge. My hubris forced me to go right and a giant fail, even with the trucks warning multiple times that we had low range and outside the last charger range messages.

Needless to say that we ended up in front of our rv storage location at 1% SOC and the truck would not move. Frustrated with myself, I went into the Ford Pass App and submitted a request for assistance...very easy process. I was notified immediately that my request had been accepted and dispatched. The driver called me within 10 minutes to get an assessment of the situation and give me an approximate arrival time. He arrived in about 45 minutes, towed me to the EA charger about 3 miles away, I charged and was on the road again.

Lessons learned:
1) Pay attention to the truck (Trust the Truck @Ford Motor Company) messaging.
2) Looking back, during the excessive burn rate of .7 m/kw, I did notice that the battery external temperature had increased past the center point, almost between the center point and the next internal line. It would be great to actually see temperature values here... Additional information here, when this happened, we'd driven more than 100 miles in 90+ degree temperatures towing over 7k lbs.
3) Keep your ego in check, regardless of what you've learned or how many times you gone out see #1 lessons learned.
Surprised at the response you got from the tow company, but that's great. Too many are posting "they had no idea", "they didn't have a flatbed", etc.
 

Tom Jensen

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So, after 17 months of use, more than 34k miles, multiple 2k mile trips, multiple trips towing my rv (over 7k lbs.), I finally found myself stranded with 1% energy...UUugh!

All that said, this was totally my fault. My wife and I were returning from our weekend rving trip, we'd stopped to charge at our last planned charging point about 40 miles out. Based on the trucks and my manual calculations I felt comfortable charging to 80% SOC giving us approximately 75 miles of range. My comfort level was based on averaging between 1.0 - .9 m/kh on the trip. The problem comes from the last hour of the trip. I noticed that we were burning through the SOC at an aggressive rate, we dropped down to .7 m/kh (I'd never seen this before, even during the winter) so I slowed down to 55-60 miles per hour, which did help a little on our burn rate a little.

We actually made it to our exit with approximately 8% SOC and I was faced with the decision, do I go left to a commercial charger less than a mile away or do I continue right to go to the storage location drop the trailer and limp home to charge. My hubris forced me to go right and a giant fail, even with the trucks warning multiple times that we had low range and outside the last charger range messages.

Needless to say that we ended up in front of our rv storage location at 1% SOC and the truck would not move. Frustrated with myself, I went into the Ford Pass App and submitted a request for assistance...very easy process. I was notified immediately that my request had been accepted and dispatched. The driver called me within 10 minutes to get an assessment of the situation and give me an approximate arrival time. He arrived in about 45 minutes, towed me to the EA charger about 3 miles away, I charged and was on the road again.

Lessons learned:
1) Pay attention to the truck (Trust the Truck @Ford Motor Company) messaging.
2) Looking back, during the excessive burn rate of .7 m/kw, I did notice that the battery external temperature had increased past the center point, almost between the center point and the next internal line. It would be great to actually see temperature values here... Additional information here, when this happened, we'd driven more than 100 miles in 90+ degree temperatures towing over 7k lbs.
3) Keep your ego in check, regardless of what you've learned or how many times you gone out see #1 lessons learned.
Life experience encourages humility.
 

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TomB985

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I wanted to say THANKS for sharing this. Your use is very similar to mine, and I can see the exact same thing happening to me.

I’ve pulled my camper over 7,000 miles in the 9 months I’ve had the truck, and I’ve gotten too comfortable pushing it down into the single digits. The added drag from the trailer makes efficiency much more dependent on wind conditions, so I probably shouldn’t keep thinking “it’ll be fine.” I returned last night at 6% from a 200-mile trip that needed a quick top-up at a Supercharger to make it home. I took 5% more than I did last week, and I’m glad I did.

Just for context, what size camper do you pull? I average 1.4 mi/kWh at 60-65 MPH with my Flagstaff A-frame.

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jlferg0509

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I pull a Keystone Passport GT 2870, approximately 7,500 lbs loaded (for us). I usually average .9 -1.1 m/kw but this was an unusually hot day. I'll have to keep a closer eye on the battery temps in the future.
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TomB985

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I pull a Keystone Passport GT 2870, approximately 7,500 lbs loaded (for us). I usually average .9 -1.1 m/kw but this was an unusually hot day. I'll have to keep a closer eye on the battery temps in the future.
That’s useful, thanks.

I monitor my info with an OBD reader, and I don’t think there’s any correlation between battery temp and efficiency. It’s all about wind, and I’ve seen a 70% swing between strong headwind and tailwind. Exactly the same with my gas burners towing a wind sail, but more of a big deal in the Lightning. There’s also an incentive to buy as little “gas” on the road as possible because of cheap home charging rates. That may get me stranded one day.
 

tls

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2) Looking back, during the excessive burn rate of .7 m/kw, I did notice that the battery external temperature had increased past the center point, almost between the center point and the next internal line. It would be great to actually see temperature values here... Additional information here, when this happened, we'd driven more than 100 miles in 90+ degree temperatures towing over 7k lbs.
Sounds like you suspect the additional cooling demand from towing in high ambient temps had something to do with the decrease in efficiency and range? Makes sense to me.
 
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jlferg0509

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Sounds like you suspect the additional cooling demand from towing in high ambient temps had something to do with the decrease in efficiency and range? Makes sense to me.
Yes, that was the only change from previous towing trips and that impact on my efficiency.

Again, I'd love to see the internal and external battery temperature values displayed beneath the display.
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