Current EV owners question re: stuck in traffic with low charge

[Rollingblock]

Wife is on board with getting a Lightning but brought up a question that current owners could answer better than I. I live in Indiana so it can get cold during winter, what if you are stuck in traffic with no ability to get out, charge is low and it's close to zero out? In an ICE you can get gas easily enough from roadside assistance if you run out, wonder if they would have charge capability to get you a few miles to a charging station?

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[adoublee]

Wife is on board with getting a Lightning but brought up a question that current owners could answer better than I. I live in Indiana so it can get cold during winter, what if you are stuck in traffic with no ability to get out, charge is low and it's close to zero out? In an ICE you can get gas easily enough from roadside assistance if you run out, wonder if they would have charge capability to get you a few miles to a charging station?

If you are literally stuck in traffic you are probably commuting. If you are commuting, you should be able to have a full charge every day. If your commute is a anywhere near the length of the winter vehicle range, I feel sorry for you (and you may not want to buy electric yet).

If you are foolish and run the vehicle to zero state of charge, plan to be towed even though there might be a handful of other options that would take to long to implement if you are literally stuck in a traffic lane.

Also, keep the mobile charger capable of connecting to a standard 120V plug in the vehicle as a life-saving, if not super slow, back-up.

 

[TRP]

All EVs have a reserve below 0%. Watch some of the EV range tests on YouTube, they run them to 0 and then some on occasion to complete the test.

Range does drop in cold weather but you have the ability to plug it in every night so I would think this scenario would be a very rare occasion. I would classify this under "range anxiety". Once you get used to an EV this goes away.

 

[Garbone]

As for stop and go traffic. EVs are the thing. Adaptive cruise and very efficient at low speed you can crawl for hours at low speed and not run down the battery. It is above 35mph that consumption increases. My guess is this will be more the case with an F150 since it is shaped like a brick and will have a bigger pack to compensate.

 

[Fastnf]

Yes there are currently two portable charging systems available. The Sparkcharge Roadie is a DCFC portable charging system that can add up to 56 miles of range. The Zipcharge (currently in Europe) is a J1772 portable charger and adds a bout 40 miles of range. Below are some videos and reviews.

https://www.sparkcharge.io/roadie

https://insideevs.com/news/528879/sparkcharge-roadie-rescues-tesla-model3/

https://www.zipcharge.global/

https://insideevs.com/news/545066/zipcharge-go-portable-ev-charger/

 

[F150ROD]

You’ll be recharging once you hit 10%. Kind of like when you hit that 1/4 tank left and you know the next gas station is 50 miles away. I’ve gotten as low as 2% a couple of time in traffic but that was because I could make it home without stopping at the charger.

Basically if you are stuck in that situation is because 1) you didn’t use the trip planners available that tell you when to charge or 2) you’re testing your vehicles true Range.

BTW, my fleet of Pro’s will be out there ready to recharge your Lightning!! Don’t worry!

 

[Tony Burgh]

Call AAA
Might be a business opportunity for people with Lincoln Welders in the bed of their trucks. Quick DC charge for the absent minded commuters.

 

[vandy1981]

Call AAA
Might be a business opportunity for people with Lincoln Welders in the bed of their trucks. Quick DC charge for the absent minded commuters.

It would be unusual for someone to run out of charge under the scenario presented by the OP. I'd be surprised if more than 1 percent of EV owners have gotten stranded without a charge in the last few years.

That said, I saw an AAA EV assist truck in a suburb of Nashville a few weeks ago. I was surprised because there aren't many EVs in this area. It's nice to know they exist--without mobile chargers, your only option is to get a flatbed tow to a stationary charger.

 

[BCP28]

Call AAA
Might be a business opportunity for people with Lincoln Welders in the bed of their trucks. Quick DC charge for the absent minded commuters.

I've often thought of this. Possibly a new market/opportunity for welding trucks with large diesel-electric units on the back. Probably won't be long for someone to come out with a DCFC conversion. Not that a lot of EV owners will intentionally strand themselves, but as they become more prolific, the odds of it happening will increase just by the fact there are more of them out there ?‍ and where there's a problem/demand, someone will find a solution.

 

[EaglesPDX]

In an ICE you can get gas easily enough from roadside assistance if you run out, wonder if they would have charge capability to get you a few miles to a charging station?

Best answer is how many times have you been in that situation with an ICE, stuck in traffic, low on fuel to the point you need to have AAA bring you a gallon?

As with ICE, you'd turn everything off and hope you made it.

Call AAA when all else fails, just like if you ran out of gas.

"AAA’s roadside EV charging will provide up to a 30-minute Level 2 charge using the Blink IQ-200-M mobile charging unit with the standard J1772 plug for 10 or more miles of charge to your EV (depending on the type of vehicle). AAA now has the ability to charge the majority of Electric vehicles, including Electric Motorcycles with this standard plug type. You can also charge a Tesla vehicle using the Tesla J1772 adapter."

 

[Tomf]

One thing to keep in mind with evs unlike gas engines is that when they are moving very slow or stopped they don’t really use the power. It would just be for heating which In your scenario you would ration enough to get to the next charger.

 

[Rollingblock]

Thanks for the replies, this would be a rare scenario but we did have an instance where it was cold, we were down to a quarter tank of fuel and 10 miles from home. A semi with a load of steel overturned not far ahead, and before you knew it we were sitting for 3.5 hours. My work commute is only 15 miles one way so charge there would not be a problem, just thinking of a day trip or similar instance where one of life's surprises can happen.

 

[Vulnox]

Thanks for the replies, this would be a rare scenario but we did have an instance where it was cold, we were down to a quarter tank of fuel and 10 miles from home. A semi with a load of steel overturned not far ahead, and before you knew it we were sitting for 3.5 hours. My work commute is only 15 miles one way so charge there would not be a problem, just thinking of a day trip or similar instance where one of life's surprises can happen.

Yeah as someone noted earlier and it's the biggest thing, aside from a road trip your odds of this happening are significantly lower than an ICE vehicle. You charge the vehicle overnight and every day start with a full "tank". Every single day. Unless you forget to plug in anyway.

But also as others have noted, low speed crawling in traffic is almost ideal for an EV. You may want to turn off the HVAC and try to just use seat warmers as much as possible as the largest draw to EV power in the winter besides the drive motor is the heating element (which is why Tesla moved to heat pumps to try and help).

Ford has a FAQ on EV driving with the Lightning, and it says if you find yourself out of charge, call Roadside Assistance. You have free roadside assistance during your warranty period, so you have plenty of time to get a feel for it with a bit of safety net.

Nothing is ever 100%, but for you to be both that low on EV charge and in a traffic situation where traffic doesn't move/pass an exit for long enough for it to get that sketchy is like winning the worst lottery. Ford included a great mobile charger with the Mach-E that I assume they will also include with the Lightning that can charge from 120v or 240v outlets, so just keep that in the vehicle, and worst comes to worse you find a hotel or gas station and borrow a plug.

But that's all very unlikely. I've seen tons of EV reviews and that from people that drive EVs all over the country, and most of them will tell you they have never run out of energy and actually been stranded. Kyle from Out of Spec Motoring has 100k miles on his Tesla Model 3, even though he does reviews of other EVs and that and his M3 is only two years old I think, so it shows how much he drives, and he hasn't had a single time where he ran out (that wasn't on purpose).

I would tell your wife that the odds of that are low, but one thing she (and you) can hopefully appreciate, is that unlike an ICE vehicle, you start every day full. No last minute runs to the gas station on the way to work because you forgot the fuel light was on or special trips the night before even to make sure you get gas. You will reclaim hours of your life every year that you spent standing at gas pumps or waiting to get gas or driving to get gas or whatever. That is an advantage you will immediately experience, versus an almost 0 chance you will run out in traffic.

 

[EaglesPDX]

It would just be for heating which In your scenario you would ration enough to get to the next charger.

Keep in mind heat in an EV comes right out of range vs. being a "freebie" in ICE vehicle. The resistive heater in EV's uses about 4kW. Newer ones have a heat pump backup that uses motor waste heat but if you're stuck in traffic, not much waste hear.

How Much Does Climate Control Affect EV Range?

EV's tend to use more energy when not moving especially in cold weather as the battery has to be heated plus the EV controls take more than ICE controls.

 

[shutterbug]

Ford has a FAQ on EV driving with the Lightning, and it says if you find yourself out of charge, call Roadside Assistance. You have free roadside assistance during your warranty period, so you have plenty of time to get a feel for it with a bit of safety net.

While warranty is 3 years/36,000 miles, roadside assistance is 5 years/60,000 miles. After that you can get AAA or roadside assistance coverage from your insurance.

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