edcoble
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2023
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- Location
- Fort Worth, Texas Ed
- Vehicles
- 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat (ER)
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- Retired/former lawyer/former pastor
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- #1
Texan Dan and I both drive the Trinidad CO-Amarillo TX route fairly often. We both drive Extended Range trucks.
He posted in the thread "Tesla Supercharger Ford Compatability Date" on this forum about his experience making the trip through that charging desert beginning with 90% charge and ending with 20% in Amarillo while driving 60mph (if I remember correctly)--about 240 miles. There is a 3000 foot drop in elevation that makes that possible--and prevents the reverse Amarillo-Trinidad drive. (For that drive, one must go through Tucumcari and Wagon Mound NM where there are DC fast chargers because of the elevation gain).
My postscript to his post is this: I did the drive last week hitting the beginning of a snow storm in Trinidad. I charged to 90% and made it over Raton Pass driving in light to medium snow. (Temperature was about 32F from beginning to end by the way). The farther we went the more snow we encountered. Snowy roads with wet heavy snow. Driving about 60 mph. Icy sometimes slushy snow accumulated on the truck blocking sensors and accumulating on the truck including the wheel wells. I'm guessing it added a lot of weight in addition to our several hundred pound load in the truck from dogs, clothing, a bike rack, etc.
As we got close to Amarillo, ABRP was telling us we'd arrive with less than 5%. We slowed to 45 after Dalhart but the target arrival percentage still dropped. The last 40 miles or so we watched the arrival estimate drop and drop till we hit Amarillo at 1% just before arriving at Electrify America on the west side of town. Turning into the parking lot, I lost power completely--about a hundred yards from the charger! I was going to push the truck myself with my wife behind the wheel. But I turned off everything electrical I could (seat warmers particularly), and was able to re-start the motor (!) and make it the rest of the way to the charger.
The lesson I take from that is driving in wet, slushy snow with windy conditions even at 32F greatly reduces battery efficiency. It's the first time ABRP has come close to letting me down on its estimate of remaining charge at destination.
I'm eagerly awaiting the installation of fast chargers in Des Moines NM (en route) or the availability of the Tesla supercharger in Clayton NM for Fords before I attempt the route again in winter conditions. And I'm looking forward to making the Amarillo-Trinidad leg without having to go through Tucumcari and Wagon Mound.
He posted in the thread "Tesla Supercharger Ford Compatability Date" on this forum about his experience making the trip through that charging desert beginning with 90% charge and ending with 20% in Amarillo while driving 60mph (if I remember correctly)--about 240 miles. There is a 3000 foot drop in elevation that makes that possible--and prevents the reverse Amarillo-Trinidad drive. (For that drive, one must go through Tucumcari and Wagon Mound NM where there are DC fast chargers because of the elevation gain).
My postscript to his post is this: I did the drive last week hitting the beginning of a snow storm in Trinidad. I charged to 90% and made it over Raton Pass driving in light to medium snow. (Temperature was about 32F from beginning to end by the way). The farther we went the more snow we encountered. Snowy roads with wet heavy snow. Driving about 60 mph. Icy sometimes slushy snow accumulated on the truck blocking sensors and accumulating on the truck including the wheel wells. I'm guessing it added a lot of weight in addition to our several hundred pound load in the truck from dogs, clothing, a bike rack, etc.
As we got close to Amarillo, ABRP was telling us we'd arrive with less than 5%. We slowed to 45 after Dalhart but the target arrival percentage still dropped. The last 40 miles or so we watched the arrival estimate drop and drop till we hit Amarillo at 1% just before arriving at Electrify America on the west side of town. Turning into the parking lot, I lost power completely--about a hundred yards from the charger! I was going to push the truck myself with my wife behind the wheel. But I turned off everything electrical I could (seat warmers particularly), and was able to re-start the motor (!) and make it the rest of the way to the charger.
The lesson I take from that is driving in wet, slushy snow with windy conditions even at 32F greatly reduces battery efficiency. It's the first time ABRP has come close to letting me down on its estimate of remaining charge at destination.
I'm eagerly awaiting the installation of fast chargers in Des Moines NM (en route) or the availability of the Tesla supercharger in Clayton NM for Fords before I attempt the route again in winter conditions. And I'm looking forward to making the Amarillo-Trinidad leg without having to go through Tucumcari and Wagon Mound.
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