Splendid Isolation - F-150 Lightning Road Trip from Detroit to Big Bend National Park

[Charge_Rob]

"Splendid Isolation" is the park service's tagline for Big Bend National Park, and that sounded like the perfect place for a vaction to me, and what better way to take the F-150 Lightning on its longest road trip yet.

Starting from Detroit and road tripping through Wisconsin on the way, via New Mexico on the way down and taking the long way home through Arkansas, it was about a ~5,400 mile road trip door to door - not a bad week!

Not only was this an awesome adventure - it was a 100% successful charging trip. Zero issues across 7 different networks, and all of our DC Fast Charging was in the BlueOval Charge Network - so not a single extra app needed.

Charging Stats:

• 1.8 miles/kWh average (tons of headwind)
• 100% Successful DC Fast Charges
• 100% BlueOval Charge Network Charging
  • 12 Electrify America sessions
  • 8 Tesla
  • 7 EVgo
  • 4 Francis Energy
  • 3 ChargePoint
  • 2 Ford Charge
  • 1 Mercedes-Benz Charging Network

Some sights along the way:

Dust storm kicking up at Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico:

"Hiking" in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Dust calmed down enough to see some art

2,700 miles in and finally at Big Bend!

The sunsets here are unreal:

In conclusion, if you've considered taking your F-150 Lightning on a long-distance road trip, my only advice is DO IT!

 

[Hammick]

Thanks for posting this. We are in KC and need to get to Big Bend at some point. How many rattlers did you encounter? I'd rather come across a grizzly than a rattler. Haven't been bit yet but our lab got bit. Luckily a dry strike.

 

[Pod]

Love the Lightning road trip so much.

 

[Charge_Rob]

Thanks for posting this. We are in KC and need to get to Big Bend at some point. How many rattlers did you encounter? I'd rather come across a grizzly than a rattler. Haven't been bit yet but our lab got bit. Luckily a dry strike.

None on this trip - going the first week in March meant the temperatures were very comfortable and pretty cool, so we didn't see really any pests or "hostile" wildlife.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Awesome trip report, thanks for sharing!!

 

[josephalbert0425]

Awesome road trip report. Gives me confidence. I'll be taking my first road trip in the truck this summer across west Texas and into New Mexico and Arizona.

 

[Scorpio3d]

"Splendid Isolation" is the park service's tagline for Big Bend National Park, and that sounded like the perfect place for a vaction to me, and what better way to take the F-150 Lightning on its longest road trip yet.

Starting from Detroit and road tripping through Wisconsin on the way, via New Mexico on the way down and taking the long way home through Arkansas, it was about a ~5,400 mile road trip door to door - not a bad week!

Not only was this an awesome adventure - it was a 100% successful charging trip. Zero issues across 7 different networks, and all of our DC Fast Charging was in the BlueOval Charge Network - so not a single extra app needed.

Charging Stats:

• 1.8 miles/kWh average (tons of headwind)
• 100% Successful DC Fast Charges
• 100% BlueOval Charge Network Charging
  • 12 Electrify America sessions
  • 8 Tesla
  • 7 EVgo
  • 4 Francis Energy
  • 3 ChargePoint
  • 2 Ford Charge
  • 1 Mercedes-Benz Charging Network

Some sights along the way:

Dust storm kicking up at Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico:

"Hiking" in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Dust calmed down enough to see some art

2,700 miles in and finally at Big Bend!

The sunsets here are unreal:

In conclusion, if you've considered taking your F-150 Lightning on a long-distance road trip, my only advice is DO IT!

Sounds like a great trip!
Hopefully, you made it to Balmorhea State Park?

 

[Charge_Rob]

Awesome road trip report. Gives me confidence. I'll be taking my first road trip in the truck this summer across west Texas and into New Mexico and Arizona.

Sounds like fun! Let us know how it goes!

 

[jimsueseibert]

Which trip planning app did you depend on?

 

[RdWarriorRuss]

Unlike 98% of posts on this forum, I think this post might actually sell some f150 Lightnings! Congrats on your successful trip.

 

[roddiaz1]

In the words of Johnny Cash: "I've been everywhere".
Well done!!

 

[evowner]

How long would you estimate that you spent charging the vehicle on your wonderful journey. I calculate at approx. 40 mins ea. Total of about 24hrs charging. What did you do during that time? I am not criticizing, just curious how one would spend that time.

 

[Charge_Rob]

Which trip planning app did you depend on?

Connected Navigation and FordPass

 

[Charge_Rob]

How long would you estimate that you spent charging the vehicle on your wonderful journey. I calculate at approx. 40 mins ea. Total of about 24hrs charging. What did you do during that time? I am not criticizing, just curious how one would spend that time.

It was less than 18 hours of DC charging, but virtually all well-timed with meal, restroom, or sightseeing breaks. The truck was often ready to go long before we were, and the number of stops where we had to sit around waiting for the truck were few and far between, only the "big" charge stops. Overall it was no inconvenience at all, and we could have optimized it even further if we had relied on hotel charging - we had hotel charging one night and I didn't even use it because the next DCFC stop was somewhere we wanted to stop anyway (a Buc-ee's), for example. If I had chosen hotels based on charging, there'd have been fewer DC stops. I also chose chargers I personally preferred, even if they weren't the fastest speed. I could have shaved at least an hour just by choosing faster chargers, but I didn't want to.

 

[Whammy Bar]

Looks like a rad trip.

That said, I'm a bit skeptical here (sorry to say). This reads like a paid piece. Your entire post history comes across as a Ford paid mouthpiece. Your in Dearborn. And more of the same over on the Mach E forums...

Are you a Ford employee or affiliated with them in some way?

If this is all true, I really hope more people can start posting their positive stories as well. It's gonna take years of good press to drown out the negative experiences others have had in their first years of ownership.

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