12V issues exist across many brands and models - Nissan Leaf, Kia EV6, etc. They are almost all still lead-acid chemistry and an EV maintains them differently than an ICE that recharges it every time the engine is running. Manufacturer's often don't do a great job maintaining them, causing then to have a shorter service life than in an ICE (though they can be smaller).
There is a specific recall on Ford Lightnings. And the recall affected other Ford models. OP was pondering the risk travelling long distance in a Lightning they are interested in purchasing. I referenced this specific recall as something the OP needs to confirm resolution, before considering a long distance trip in the vehicle.
Ok, but this is definitely not the point of my comments on the 12V battery and you quoted me. It does speak to a 12V system issues generally, but I don't see why the state of that module update would cause anyone to get stranded in a Lightning, other than maybe not having access to Supercharger sites if the NACS update hasn't been applied.
How did you debunk my assertion? The 98 KW only gets a range of 120 miles at 90 percent charge. Each time you charge to 90 percent it takes 66 minutes of your time and these are facts. You tow your camper alot but how far can you pull it before you have to recharge? If I can only go 120 miles max, while driving 65 mph on cruise, without anything in my 98KW truck then how far do you think I will be able to go while pulling 5000 pounds? My 525 mile route is set in stone along with the charging station locations but my truck does not always get the range while on the same route, going the same speed and that is why I took it into the dealership to be worked on 4 times but they can't find anything wrong with it. Van Horn and Junction are the two charging station problems where the chargers sometimes do not work and there aren't any backups along the route so you do the math. I am not talking about city driving only long distance driving. In the city the truck is a dream come true but the truck is not for long distance driving and that is another fact. So to put your mind at ease I will attach a couple of pictures to give you some other facts about charging to 100 percent. In the metropolitan areas where there are many charging stations you will get a reading of 234 or so miles on your display and on the road, in the middle of nowhere, you will get 185 miles of range at 100 percent. Now here is another fact: the speed to which you drive, the abient temperature, the number of times you have to fast charge along your route, whether it is raining, the route itself, the weight you are hauling, all play a role in how far you can drive. So at 45 mph on a freeway you might be able to make it 234 miles at 100 percent and on cruise control on your first leg of your trip. If you charge to 100 percent again that day you will find that the distance you can travel will go down based on what will be on the display but do you really ever get the distance that is on the display? When I drove from Van Horn to Ft Stockton at 100 percent charge, on cruise control set at 77 mph, I had 24 percent of charge left when I reached the Ft Stockton charging station and that distance is 117 miles from charger to charger. I have more pictures that I can show you but everyone's truck is a bit different in how much range you can achieve, right! You must be getting a lot more range than my truck gets while driving long distance pulling a trailer and that is why I asked Ford to buy back the vehicle because there must be something seriously wrong with my battery if I cannot achieve the same fantastic results as what you all have been writing about.
You were talking about 12v issues..
You are going very short distances with your truck. I have been driving 525 miles in a day. Short distances are not what I am complaining about because the truck is great for the city. Once you get out of the city in Texas you are confined to just 5 charging stations in between your start and end of the trip. When one charging station is down on your route you are stuck there until you can get a hotel and slow charge your vehicle at the hotel or just have your vehicle towed. There aren't too many options when this happens. My trucks range seems to be a lot lower than everyone else's here on the forum but Ford doesn't seem to want to address the issue I have with my truck. So I am just making sure that those who are on the brink of purchasing a $60000 vehicle have all of the facts upfront so they can make an informed decision on whether to buy one or not. From my experience with the lightning, I can't honestly recommend anyone to buy the 98KW version of the truck because the battery, in my opinion, is undersized by 25 KW so you can be able to get the range you need to pull a 7000 pound load and make it to each of the charging stations along my route here in Texas. The infrastructure for EV charging needs to be expanded, but when they expand, there will be a strain on the GRID so EV charging will take even longer. Unlike your truck, every time I get to a charging station my truck is almost empty and I am not even driving as fast as the speed limit permits. This issue has been addressed with Ford and the dealership that I purchased the truck from but they say that they can't find anything wrong with my truck. So the only thing that I can conclude is that all of the 98KW trucks get around the same range as mine does and everyone else is fudging on their trucks range with a 98KW battery pack as per Ford's saying that there is nothing wrong with my vehicle. If I drive 80 mph with my truck, I get a 1.0 to 1.1 per KWH on my display. At 75 mph a 1.3 per KWH. At 70 mph a 1.4 reading, at 65 mph 1.4 to 1.5 and finally 60 mph a whopping 1.7 to 1.8. So while fast charging to 80 percent is optimal for the battery pack, I need to charge to 90 to 100 percent if I want to drive the speed limit on I-10 in Texas and make it to each charging station along the way. I am happy that you do not have any problems with your vehicle going the range that you normally drive but, as you can see by my remarks, every time I get on the freeway to go to my ranch I have a nightmare of a trip. It takes me 7.5 to 8.5 hours to drive to my ranch with my Ford Explorer and 12 to 13 hours to drive the distance with my Lightning. The additional time is spent with charging the vehicle to 90 percent. This is a fact of life with driving with an EV truck with a 98KW battery.That has not been my experience at all. This is a recent trip, we were not pushing them range because some of our stops were also shopping trips. The truck was absolutely stuffed on the way home and she shows up with a giant hanging plant of some sort….
If you're only getting 120 miles at 90% charge you have a huge problem with your efficiency. I average 2.3 miles per kw in my truck, so at 90% charge I can go around 200-210 miles. Now, the faster you go the lower your efficiency is going to be, but I don't think I've ever had 120 miles bad. Even at 1.7 miles per kw, I'd still be getting 150 miles or so. Additionally, you shouldn't be charging up to 90% at a dc fast charger; stop at 80%. The extra 10% takes too long and you'd be better served by just stopping again and charging again. I don't think I ever spent more than 30-45 minutes charging when I took my 2k mile round trip. Now, obviously if you don't have any choice due to lack of chargers, then yeah, but with the Tesla superchargers opening up there should be more options. You have to understand that the 240 miles quoted is for mixed driving, city and highway. If I'm driving in the city in stop and go traffic I can get 3-4 miles per kw. If I'm driving 70-75 on the highway I'd getting 1.7-1.8 usually. If you want better efficiency you have to slow down, but that doesn't always make sense.
Is your truck stock? No different tires or lifted or anything else? Those efficiencies do seem really bad; I'm assuming this isn't during the winter or anything too? On a level route?
120 miles / 90% is not typical of my experience. Easily get a lot more miles than that in my Pro SR.
I'm not sure if it's a lemon as much as it it's the wrong truck for his use case. Anyone who has 'set in stone' regular 525 mile trips on 80 mph Texas highways should have purchased a truck with an extended range battery and still expect two charging stops. Or, stayed with an ICE or Powerboost. It may have been the salesman, but at some point someone didn't do their due diligence.
He mentioned towing 5000-7000lb trailers, that + Texas highway = crap efficiency. Not a lemon, just a lemonhead of a salesman that sold him the wrong truck for his needs. Long distance towing on a regular basis is NOT this truck's best use case. He needs to take half an hour to do some research and get something more appropriate for his needs.
I think you've answered all your own questions, but I don't understand you asserting that "98kw battery only gets 120miles, or that you 'have' to take 66mins to charge" ... neither of those are true, but both depend HEAVILY on all the items that effect range that you mention. The charge 'time' certainly depending on your battery SOC when you arrive, and the SPEED of the charging station.
