1.4 kwh/mi on interstate…disappointed.

[VAF84]

I’m sorry for the way you must be feeling right now, reminds me of my first month of ownership with my Lightning. The worst part was being told to slow down, lol.

Good thing is it will pass in a couple of months, and you’ll figure out how to work through it. I don’t have anything else to add, others have chimed in on the basics.

I’ll leave with, welcome to EV truck life! Where the highs are the highest, and the lows the lowest. If it’s any consolation, I got out of my EV, but decided I’d rather get back in one. So given the option I’m coming back to EV, just getting into something with more range so I can get 1.4kW at 80 and not care. Everything else about the Lightning is awesome!

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[Wesley]

I get over 2.0 m/kwh at 70.

 

[Ventorum94]

Had my lightning for just about 10 days and while I love it so far, I was pretty disappointed with this efficiency. Of those 49 miles, 36 or so were on the interstate, setting cruise to 79 mph. All flat on I-95 in Coastal Georgia. The first 13 or so miles were from my house to interstate, and up to that point it had gotten about 2 to 2.1 on those 13 miles (cityish driving). Outside temp hovered between 65-70 as sun was coming up.

Is this what I should expect for interstate driving at that speed? It was close to 30% of the battery. Will it take a while to “break in”? I’ve got about 750 miles on the truck. At this point I might just as well put 37” mud tires on it

I like to use one of my trip ODOs (Trip2, for instance) to monitor my real-time mi/kWh to avoid surprises; reset it as often as you like, and in a couple miles of driving, it will calculate your current energy consumption. You can then adjust your driving as necessary to achieve your desired consumption (i.e. slow down, or follow traffic rather than leading it).
That said, 1.4mi/kWh seems awfully low, even at 79mph. With fully-inflated stock tires (non-A/T), I typically get 2.0-2.2mi/kWh at 70-75mph (but I have to be intentional about maintaining that- meaning, adjust speed as necessary, and follow traffic). In dense low speed traffic (<40mph), I average 2.5-2.8mi/kWh. Unlike ICE trucks, worst efficiency is at steady high speed, rather than in low-speed city traffic.
Lightning driving is kind of like bi-polar “Little Old Lady from Pasadena:” mild grandma as necessary for range, wild acceleration as necessary when desired!

 

[gregoryhcain]

Wind resistance increases by the square of the velocity. Slowing down a little drops the resistance in a considerably larger measure. Just physics 101

 

[62F1004x4]

Try towing a trailer or boat, and you’ll truly understand the range limitations of an electric vehicle. It requires careful planning and a much slower pace. Many have noted that long trips with an EV call for a different mindset.

 

[TheBertShow]

There is no break in period. Slow down and make sure your tires are properly inflated if efficiency is your goal. Wind direction makes a big difference too.
[/QUOTE

I live in coastal GA as well. It's definitely the speed, although I still would have expected 1.6ish at 79 unless you've got a heavy foot and doing quick acceleration.

I usually average 1.8 at 75ish, 2.0 at 70, and 2.2-2.4 doing 60-65. I can make it to charleston and back without issue since it's mostly lower highway speeds.
I can probably make it to jacksonville and back but usually never risk it. Interstate speeds definitely dump on the efficency.

Gotcha. Where are you at? Interesting you’d rather not risk doing a round trip to Jacksonville and back (depending on where you are of course).

The interstate portion of this drive was from Exit 38 in Brunswick to the Midway exit (76 I think). Milton of course didn’t affect us much but it was a bit windy, so that’s probably got something to do with it. Eerily low amount of traffic for that time of day, which I’m guessing had to do with the storm.

 

[TheBertShow]

I agree. I drove my truck home from California to Michigan and set cruise usually around 73ish and that got me right at 2.0 for the total trip of about 2400 miles. There were a few times I pushed it up to 75-76 and yeah efficiency dropped like a rock! At home I don’t give a shit. I’ll drive 80 on the freeway but my home electric cost at night is .07 kWh.

I’m sorry for the way you must be feeling right now, reminds me of my first month of ownership with my Lightning. The worst part was being told to slow down, lol.

Good thing is it will pass in a couple of months, and you’ll figure out how to work through it. I don’t have anything else to add, others have chimed in on the basics.

I’ll leave with, welcome to EV truck life! Where the highs are the highest, and the lows the lowest. If it’s any consolation, I got out of my EV, but decided I’d rather get back in one. So given the option I’m coming back to EV, just getting into something with more range so I can get 1.4kW at 80 and not care. Everything else about the Lightning is awesome!

I’m sorry for the way you must be feeling right now, reminds me of my first month of ownership with my Lightning. The worst part was being told to slow down, lol.

Good thing is it will pass in a couple of months, and you’ll figure out how to work through it. I don’t have anything else to add, others have chimed in on the basics.

I’ll leave with, welcome to EV truck life! Where the highs are the highest, and the lows the lowest. If it’s any consolation, I got out of my EV, but decided I’d rather get back in one. So given the option I’m coming back to EV, just getting into something with more range so I can get 1.4kW at 80 and not care. Everything else about the Lightning is awesome!

Lol this sounds exactly like me. This was not on a long trip obviously but it’s just disappointing that’s what I can expect. I drive about 4-500 miles a week, which is perfect for my test case; but we bought the truck with the mindset that we’d use my wife’s Yukon for longer trips, which is still the idea. But I just love driving it way more than her Yukon, so I was hoping we’d be able to use it for more long trips. Oh well. Stuck with original game plan!

 

[MaintGrl]

You can get the m/kW you want, just watch the meter . . . doing 80 on the Highway as you have seen will show you 1.4 kWm, drop it down and you'll see the kW/m increase, you can get the m/kW you want.

 

[MaintGrl]

I keep a excel spreadsheet of my charges, had the similar log for my 06 Taco & 96 Ranger (ICE's). Since buying my Lightning, I'm getting 2.35 m/kW, this is with minimal 75mph as possible (cruise control usually set @ 70)

 

[astrand1]

Lol this sounds exactly like me. This was not on a long trip obviously but it’s just disappointing that’s what I can expect. I drive about 4-500 miles a week, which is perfect for my test case; but we bought the truck with the mindset that we’d use my wife’s Yukon for longer trips, which is still the idea. But I just love driving it way more than her Yukon, so I was hoping we’d be able to use it for more long trips. Oh well. Stuck with original game plan!

You don’t have to be stuck with your “original” game plan. You can use the lightning. As I said I drove it back from LA to Michigan. I do this drive a few times a year so I know how long it takes. Overall that same trip was only about 8 hrs longer. But I made it work. I picked charging stops where I’d get something to eat. Or I’d take a 20 min walk etc. I also got some free charging at hotels. Saved about $200 vs gas. I get wanting to drive fast but I think you will find slowing down 5 mph in the long run won’t really make that much of a difference. Like you said driving the lightning is just awesome! I’m ruined! I don’t want to drive a gas vehicle ever again. It’s so smooth and quiet. I don’t give a shit if it takes a little longer to get where I’m going.

 

[Dinozero]

Folks are gonna have to buy the Silverado EV if you want to be able to drive down the interstate at 80 MPH and not worry.

I’ve lowered my interstate speed since I’ve switched to electric. Unless I’m sure it’s going to be a short trip.

EV’s above 70 mph really start to drop off

You gotta remember, they work the opposite as gas cars. More efficient in city driving which is what most people do more often, and less efficient on long trips.

 

[inchman254]

To be a bit mathematical about it, wind drag is a function of airspeed squared. The difference between 79 and 70 is about 12%, but the additional drag is 27% higher (mileage reduced by 20%) If you add a headwind to that, say 15mph, your airspeed is now 94mph (34% higher) and the drag is now 80% higher (mileage reduced by 45%).

So, if you're worried about range, go a bit slower into a headwind and take advantage of a tailwind.

As others have said, the same thing happens to an ICE. The difference is that ICE's are so inefficient, that the extra burn due to drag isn't as big a portion of the overall burn. When only 30% of the burn is actually going to moving the vehicle (the rest going to noise, heat and friction in the engine, transmission losses, ignition losses, etc) adding even 80% to that only increases the burn by 24% (reducing mileage by only 20%... plus maybe a bit more for some engine losses).

Adding a tonneau cover or opening the tailgate will help a lot, but probably won't actually pay for itself in electrons unless you do almost all highway driving. I also saw on line that even retracting the side mirrors helps when you really need to stretch range, but I wouldn't recommend it, especially on an interstate.

 

[VAF84]

Gotcha. Where are you at? Interesting you’d rather not risk doing a round trip to Jacksonville and back (depending on where you are of course).

The interstate portion of this drive was from Exit 38 in Brunswick to the Midway exit (76 I think). Milton of course didn’t affect us much but it was a bit windy, so that’s probably got something to do with it. Eerily low amount of traffic for that time of day, which I’m guessing had to do with the storm.

BTW it seems we have a similar driving style, so I'll add the following as I think it'll be helpful. I posted this on a the other forum when I was commuting 120 miles a day, 7 days a week for a couple of months in W.KY:

DEC-APR:

Here's my efficiency so far based on constant 45min Blue Cruise at 70mph with minimal wind, no traffic:

Temps
2-12ish - 1.3 kwh/m
12ish-20ish - 1.4kwh/m
20-32 - 1.5
32-46 - 1.6
46-65 - 1.7
Haven't driving in warm temps yet.

In the Texas summer I found 1.7 to 1.8 to be my 75 - 80mph. Recently I was getting around 2.0 on flat I-10 at 70mph, on the right day 2.1. Fall is coming though, so my quote above will come into play. Generally, I use 1.7kW to calculate long road trips in good warmer weather, and 1.6ish for cold but not freezing weather assuming I follow the speed limits.

Something else to point out. I found it strange that my efficiency and numbers improved after months of updates. If you're in a 23 that hasn't been updated, there's a chance you'll see some improvements.

 

[Puffoluffagus]

Gotcha. Where are you at? Interesting you’d rather not risk doing a round trip to Jacksonville and back (depending on where you are of course).

The interstate portion of this drive was from Exit 38 in Brunswick to the Midway exit (76 I think). Milton of course didn’t affect us much but it was a bit windy, so that’s probably got something to do with it. Eerily low amount of traffic for that time of day, which I’m guessing had to do with the storm.

In savanah proper, near isle of Hope.
When I said risk it, I just meant without charging. I go to jacksonville, I just always charge on the way back. There's a decent FPL charging station next to a newly built wawa just north of jacksonville. I charge for 15 20mins and just head home.

 

[flux capacitor]

Everyone I seen on the road with an EV takes of slow from lights drives the speed limits so they can get the maximum kwh/mi. You learn how to drive to get the best performance best mileage. It is the same with an ICE. You push it all the time what I call lead footing it and you will use your fuel much faster. You know you have the power when ever you need it, but only use it when you really need it or want to show off. It has become a game with me to get the highest kwh/mi I can.

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