Looks like your F150 Lightning battery might last a long time

[bthanos]

Just read this article in

https://www.wired.com/story/electric-cars-could-last-much-longer-than-most-think/

Just sold my 2004 F150 FX4 Supercrew after 20 years.

My new 2023 Platinum might also be good for that amount according to Wired.

Might last longer than I will!!!

So far battery data on older Fleet EVs looks very promising.

BillT

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[PrimeRisk]

Interesting read. Thank you for sharing.

We own 3 BEVs and have had one previously. The 1st was a 2015 Nissan Leaf that we had for 6 years and ran it ragged virtually every day. When purchased, I had a 40 mile daily round-trip commute that had very comfortable range margins by charging to about 80% every day. I say about as the Leaf lacked the ability to set a charge limit, only a number of hours to charge, and charging it was more of an art with my smart EVSE than a science.

Unfortunately, shortly after purchasing the Leaf, my office was moved and I suddenly had a 65 mile daily round-trip, so I charged the Leaf to 100% every single night and since it only had an 88 mile range when new, I generally arrived home with about 20% of battery, but sometimes under 10% due to driving conditions, temperature, and weather. Range anxiety became very real when the dash started blinking dashes in the miles of range display and the computer voice was announcing "very low battery, charge immediately" on a couple very cold, snowy, slow-and-go commutes home. I was getting off of the highway exit to home and I still had a few miles to go, but I always made it. I learned on those nasty nights to pop over to the light rail station for a coffee and 30 minutes of free charging before heading home.

By the numbers in the article, I should have lost around 11% of capacity by the time I sold it, leaving only 78 miles of range with a 65 mile commute. That would only leave about 16% of margin on my daily commute. My real-world experience had the battery performing at least this well and all while continually charging it against recommended procedure to 100% and returning every day with 20% or less which is considered draining the battery too low. The Leaf displayed 84 miles of range at full charge when I sold it, only a 5% degradation, if you are to believe it.

 

[MountainAlive]

If the truck falls apart around the battery pack in 15 years you at least have something like the equivalent of 10 tesla powerwalls to repurpose for home use perhaps. Then again, by that time we’re all supposed to have flying cars so who knows what battery tech awaits in the next decade.

 

[Etsquared]

Just read this article in

https://www.wired.com/story/electric-cars-could-last-much-longer-than-most-think/

Just sold my 2004 F150 FX4 Supercrew after 20 years.

My new 2023 Platinum might also be good for that amount according to Wired.

Might last longer than I will!!!

So far battery data on older Fleet EVs looks very promising.

BillT

Sounds like you are older like me lol but in my experiences with modern automotive sits the connections, the electronics, the ancillary stuff that breaks first. First I lost the cd player, then the power roof, then a window button ….etc….my last truck 18 years 250 k but the map guidance (out of date) the shocks, one replaced the etc kaput, but the electronics was most frustrating. I am hoping for 18 years on my 2023 but the journey will not be stopped by a battery imo

 

[Nolander]

What is the buffer on the ER battery packs?

 

[RickLightning]

What is the buffer on the ER battery packs?

143.4 size - 131 usable = ~12.4kWh

 

[Nolander]

143.4 size - 131 usable = ~12.4kWh

Wow that is a generous %. So when we charge to "100%" it really filling about 91.5% of the battery?

 

[sotek2345]

Wow that is a generous %. So when we charge to "100%" it really filling about 91.5% of the battery?

I believe it is split between top and bottom, so 100% indicated =~95% and 0% indicated =~5%. You want to buffer both ends.

 

[HOTAS]

Word is actual ER battery capacity is 148-150 kWh.
So there’s a 13% buffer built in to the stated 131 kWh capacity.
Ford says you can routinely charge to 90%, so that’s 79-80% of actual capacity. Exactly what other Mfr’s recommed, 80%.

I’ve been driving Hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and BEV for 20 years, never had any battery issues. Despite the naysayers and relatives warning me I’d be buying a new battery ”2-3 years” ,
lol. My experience has been little to no battery degradation, and nothing beyond tires, wiper blades and cabin air filters. (And 10K oil changes in the Prius’)

All were driven over 100K miles, some up to 180K miles.
Even more ironic is they‘ve all been driven more, and more frequently, than any ICE car I’ve had, so range anxiety is a myth too.

 

[HOTAS]

Prius, plug in Prius, Chevy Volt, Tesla, F150 Lightning.
Kids still drive the Prius’.
My beloved Chevy Volt was clobbered from behind at just over 100K miles, and totaled. So unfortunate because I was going for the long haul with that one too,
But, the guy‘s insurance pay out bought me a Tesla, and I’ve got 90K miles on it now and no apparent battery degradation.
My new F150 Lightning is the latest addition to my EV resume.
And it’s fantastic to drive.

 

[Zprime29]

The author was clearly not well educated on battery health. It implied that charging only once a week was a good thing, which we know is quite the opposite. It also extrapolated the decline in capacity as being linear. I'm fairly certain the charts I have seen indicate degradation is not linear. It's steepest in the first 10% of loss and then tapers off. I wish they had actually shown and discussed some of the data that was referenced.

 

[bthanos]

Yes I heard best is to ABC, always be charging. 80% home target works for me.

 

[ivan256]

Low degradation is all well and good, but what about catastrophic failure rates? And averages are great for fleets, but if you're an individual you don't own a fleet. You can't amortize failure costs out across dozens of vehicles. If you draw the short straw, your battery failure means a mid-five-figure loss and many weeks without your vehicle.

 

[rdr854]

The author was clearly not well educated on battery health. It implied that charging only once a week was a good thing, which we know is quite the opposite. It also extrapolated the decline in capacity as being linear. I'm fairly certain the charts I have seen indicate degradation is not linear. It's steepest in the first 10% of loss and then tapers off. I wish they had actually shown and discussed some of the data that was referenced.

Why is charging once a week bad? Shouldn’t you charge when needed? I try to keep my Lightning between 50 and 80% SOC. And, I only charge to 100% for the initial leg if going on a trip.

 

[Maquis]

Why is charging once a week bad? Shouldn’t you charge when needed? I try to keep my Lightning between 50 and 80% SOC. And, I only charge to 100% for the initial leg if going on a trip.

The point is that charging from 80 to 90% 5 times is better than charging 40 to 90% once. The timing (weeks vs days) is irrelevant - it depends on how far you drive.

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