Adventures of our 2023 Carbonized Gray Metallic Lariat Lightning ER

[SpaceEVDriver]

But... Driving more faster is more funner and more faster?

I get it .. Or I did. I misspent a lot of my youth going moar faster. Had a [ЯƎVO ƎVOM] front license plate, tickets, etc, etc, etc.

But 80 vs 70? With today's vehicles? I don't feel any difference. The truck's not on the edge. It's not a motorcycle. It's just cruising.

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[SpaceEVDriver]

A map and elevation profile of our trip.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Year-end summary of our EV driving.

We had the 2023 Lightning Lariat ER delivered to us from down in the valley on 12 April, 2024. We now have 11,748 miles on it. We've chosen the Lightning over the Mustang Mach-E (2022, 43,791 miles) for most of our long-distance driving since purchasing it. The Lightning is just so much more comfortable.

This map shows all the places that I can remember we've taken one or the other of our EVs since late February 2022.

• Would I buy another EV? Yes, without question. We won't go back to gas.
• Would I buy another Ford EV. Yes. We're not brand loyalists. The Lightning was the only truck option that we could afford when we bought it. The Mustang was the best SUV option when we bought it. When the Mustang reaches 100k-150k miles, we'll probably retire it and get something else. What brand we buy will depend on what is being offered.
• Any regrets?
  • I would have preferred a Lightning Pro with the extended range battery, but that wasn't available to us. We got the Lariat at a too-high, but reasonable price for an EV.
  • I wish we'd had the Lightning at least a few months earlier than we got it. We would have been able to put Arkansas on the map too.
• What could be better?
  • Lots of things.
  • The prices could be better.
  • The Mustang has too harsh a ride, even with low pressure tires. It's better than most cars we'd had before it, but nowhere near as nice as the Lightning
  • The Lightning is bigger than I'd prefer--I would prefer a Maverick- or Tacoma-sized electric truck.
  • I'd like a simple way to tell the battery to warm up or cool down before I drive.
  • I'd like to have a little more efficient heater for the cabin.
  • I wish BlueCruise was more reliable and dependable. It's too aggressive with its slow-downs at curves and it doesn't give me enough information when it turns itself off.
  • I'd like a faster interface in the tablet. I would remove all the entertainment apps, games, karaoke, and Alexa--perhaps that would speed up the interface a bit.
  • The stock tires that came with the Lightning are pretty soft and allow too much body roll. The soft ride is nice, but the tires aren't conducive to a reliable working truck. I have to baby it when I'm towing or hauling because of the soft sidewalls.
  • The dealership experience is unpleasant at best.
  • Probably a few other things.
• Major problems?
  • None.
  • The Mustang had the HVBJB recall, which I finally acquiesced to have done. It was mostly painless. It didn't change my willingness to take the car anywhere, just put to rest the nagging from Ford. The first dealer we went to failed to even try to replace the hardware, so we went to another dealer an hour and a half away. They completed the job as expected.
  • Got a flat in the Lightning. No problems.
  • Had a slight shudder in the Lightning while accelerating between about 45 mph and 55 mph. Rotated and balanced the tires myself and the shudder is gone.
  • Got a flat in the Mustang. It's probably time to get my repair job fixed--I think we're losing a small amount of air over a few weeks.

Overall, we are incredibly happy with both of our EVs.

 

[Rip]

I especially like the solar panels. I am thinking of boondocking a bit with our teardrop trailer. The solar panels do give some range recapture security on rougher, more remote trails.

Couldn't think of adding solar panels like this when I had the Mach E.

Interesting...what led you to ask about solar panels? I don't see them discussed in this thread, but I'd love to hear about them...

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I'm experimenting with a few panel configurations on the rack. We like to boondock as well. The 200 W setup I had in the photos was great for running the fridge and a few other things, but as it was, I didn't have an inverter powerful enough to run the L1 charger. I'm rearranging stuff now and will be testing it live on our next camping trip.

The new setup will be 400 W on the rack and maybe another 400-800 W that can be laid out. These panels will feed a 5 kWh portable power station with a TT-30 plug. That will power the L1 charger. The power station acts as an auxiliary battery because 400 or 800 W isn't enough to power the charger directly.

We'll change the aux at home and whenever we stop for DCFC. When we get to our destination, we'll put out the solar and plug in the L1 charger. The fridge and the truck will be receiving power during the day. When the battery is down to 10% or so, we'll turn off the L1 charger. With a 400 W panel, we'll get about 4-6 kWh into the truck (10-20 miles, more if it's an emergency and we drive slowly).

The next day we'll allow the aux battery to charge up close to 100%, before we start the L1 charger again. Again, it'll put 4-6 kWh into the truck.

We mostly camp in the US Southwest, where we get 12 hours of good sunlight during camping season.

In ideal conditions, with 1200 W, we can recharge the aux battery in about 4 hours, charge the truck while maintaining the aux battery for another 8 hours (8 kWh into the truck), then after dark discharge the aux into the truck for another 4 kWh, for a total of ~12 kWh (25-36 miles) each day. I'm planning on 5 kWh (10-20 miles) a day. 1200 W of panels is a lot to mess around with.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Interesting...what led you to ask about solar panels? I don't see them discussed in this thread, but I'd love to hear about them...

SpaceEVDriver's setup as it evolves will give me the security to range farther with our Off-Road TimberLeaf Pika teardrop camper.

The Pika already has a great LightLeaf solar panel which is enough to keep the trailer's Dakota Lithium battery charged up, pretty much indefinitely, and that in turn gives us cabin and and galley power, and power to manage the cabin's propane heater. So the only boondocking terrain limit for us was the Lightning's range and its dependence on AC power.

This evolving solar setup provides that safety, akin to the 5-gallon gas can on a gasoline truck.

I hope I've adequately answered Your question.

 

[Rip]

SpaceEVDriver's setup as it evolves will give me the security to range farther with our Off-Road TimberLeaf Pika teardrop camper.

The Pika already has a great LightLeaf solar panel which is enough to keep the trailer's Dakota Lithium battery charged up, pretty much indefinitely, and that in turn gives us cabin and and galley power, and power to manage the cabin's propane heater. So the only boondocking terrain limit for us was the Lightning's range and its dependence on AC power.

This evolving solar setup provides that safety, akin to the 5-gallon gas can on a gasoline truck.

I hope I've adequately answered Your question.

Yes! Very interesting, thank you!

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