Denver to Houston road trip - the return

[thecoloradokid]

I wanted to share a couple of details on the return portion of the Denver to Houston road trip I took over the past 10 days. If there is ever a way to learn about your truck, it is by taking a long distance road trip and charging multiple times in a number of different environments.

On the route out, I went from Denver to Norman, OK and then continued on to Houston the next day. On the way back, I went from Houston to Salina, KS, and then on back to Denver. I have a Lariat truck with the big battery and the standard wheels and 20 inch all seasons on the truck. Please note that I did not use climate at all on the drive - even when it was 6 degrees outside - since I wanted to be as efficient as possible.

I did 1.8kWh per mile on the way from Denver to Houston. The first part of that drive was done in 10 degree temps, so I kept the speeds at like 65mph on I-70. As it warmed up to 40 and 45 degree temps when I got to northern Texas, I increased my speeds up to 70mph or 72mph.

I did 1.7kWh per mile on the way back from Denver to Houston. The temps were in the mid-40's, except for when I left Salina yesterday. They were in the high 20's. There was a strong head wind of 15mph to 20mph going west on I-70 so I spent a lot of time doing 68mph or 70mph and ducking behind big semi's to help block the wind. If I had been more exposed to the wind, I would have done under 1.5kWh at 70mph. Also, there is elevation gain from western Kansas up to Denver, so that had an impact on efficiency.

At all the Electrify locations I hit, there were multiple working available chargers, and I got decent charging speeds, so no issues there. I just wish Ford would update the charging curve so the truck hits 200kW at a low state of charge. I would also like to see the truck maintain 75kW charging speeds between 80% and 90% battery charge level. Having the charging rate drop off a cliff to 54kW or 52kW at 80% is just ridiculous if you are trying to get extra battery charge level in cold or in windy conditions. The truck is very large, very heavy, and not aerodynamic, so the least Ford can do is improve the charging curve to make charging on a road trip easier.

I love the truck, and it is exactly what I need for my side hustle endeavors, but I am not sure I will ever take the truck long distances in the winter again. All of the online range tests seem to be done in optimal warm temps with no wind, no elevation gain, and while driving 70mph. After doing 2,000 miles in the truck in all kinds of conditions, it is a little frustrating to drive at 68mph or 70mph on the highway to get 180 miles of range, especially after it took 30 to 40 minutes to charge just to 80%. Warmer weather cannot get here soon enough!

Once again, I realize this is not news to most people on the forum, but I do want to share that the truck is super capable, and that you just need to adjust your road trip expectations if you are coming from a ICE vehicle directly into the Lightning.

Cheers!

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[davehu]

thanks for your observations.

 

[Pioneer74]

I wanted to share a couple of details on the return portion of the Denver to Houston road trip I took over the past 10 days. If there is ever a way to learn about your truck, it is by taking a long distance road trip and charging multiple times in a number of different environments.

On the route out, I went from Denver to Norman, OK and then continued on to Houston the next day. On the way back, I went from Houston to Salina, KS, and then on back to Denver. I have a Lariat truck with the big battery and the standard wheels and 20 inch all seasons on the truck. Please note that I did not use climate at all on the drive - even when it was 6 degrees outside - since I wanted to be as efficient as possible.

I did 1.8kWh per mile on the way from Denver to Houston. The first part of that drive was done in 10 degree temps, so I kept the speeds at like 65mph on I-70. As it warmed up to 40 and 45 degree temps when I got to northern Texas, I increased my speeds up to 70mph or 72mph.

I did 1.7kWh per mile on the way back from Denver to Houston. The temps were in the mid-40's, except for when I left Salina yesterday. They were in the high 20's. There was a strong head wind of 15mph to 20mph going west on I-70 so I spent a lot of time doing 68mph or 70mph and ducking behind big semi's to help block the wind. If I had been more exposed to the wind, I would have done under 1.5kWh at 70mph. Also, there is elevation gain from western Kansas up to Denver, so that had an impact on efficiency.

At all the Electrify locations I hit, there were multiple working available chargers, and I got decent charging speeds, so no issues there. I just wish Ford would update the charging curve so the truck hits 200kW at a low state of charge. I would also like to see the truck maintain 75kW charging speeds between 80% and 90% battery charge level. Having the charging rate drop off a cliff to 54kW or 52kW at 80% is just ridiculous if you are trying to get extra battery charge level in cold or in windy conditions. The truck is very large, very heavy, and not aerodynamic, so the least Ford can do is improve the charging curve to make charging on a road trip easier.

I love the truck, and it is exactly what I need for my side hustle endeavors, but I am not sure I will ever take the truck long distances in the winter again. All of the online range tests seem to be done in optimal warm temps with no wind, no elevation gain, and while driving 70mph. After doing 2,000 miles in the truck in all kinds of conditions, it is a little frustrating to drive at 68mph or 70mph on the highway to get 180 miles of range, especially after it took 30 to 40 minutes to charge just to 80%. Warmer weather cannot get here soon enough!

Once again, I realize this is not news to most people on the forum, but I do want to share that the truck is super capable, and that you just need to adjust your road trip expectations if you are coming from a ICE vehicle directly into the Lightning.

Cheers!

Did you use the navigation to route yourself to the chargers? That will precondition the battery to charge faster in the winter.

 

[thecoloradokid]

Did you use the navigation to route yourself to the chargers? That will precondition the battery to charge faster in the winter.

I did use the truck's navigation, and I also scheduled vehicle departure in the morning for preconditioning. I got the max charging rates out of the truck while on the road.

Still does not change the fact that the initial max charging rates you will see are in the 160kW range before they taper off down to the 120kW range at 50%. Then charging speeds drop to 100kW around 60%. Then, as we all know, the charging speeds drop to the 50kW range at 80%.

Even with preconditioning, it is hard to recommend the truck for long distance road trips in colder temps.

 

[Shrike]

This is a really great write-up - thank you for sharing. I'm actually doing this exact same trip in reverse in a month, and debating whether to take the Model Y or the Lightning. I've been in an EV exclusively since 2015 and taken a few cross-country trips, but never outside of the Supercharger network.

One question for you: the trip planners I'm using all route me through Amarillo and the NE corner of New Mexico. That seems like the shortest route from The Woodlands to Denver. Did you go through Kansas for recreational purposes, or was there some charging infrastructure-related reason?

 

[thecoloradokid]

This is a really great write-up - thank you for sharing. I'm actually doing this exact same trip in reverse in a month, and debating whether to take the Model Y or the Lightning. I've been in an EV exclusively since 2015 and taken a few cross-country trips, but never outside of the Supercharger network.

One question for you: the trip planners I'm using all route me through Amarillo and the NE corner of New Mexico. That seems like the shortest route from The Woodlands to Denver. Did you go through Kansas for recreational purposes, or was there some charging infrastructure-related reason?

If you have not done a road trip in the Lighting yet, I am all about trying something new and getting a feel for the truck. It drives very comfortably, and is a great highway cruiser.

I did not take the Amarillo to Trinidad, CO route since there I was not interested in charging to 100% in Amarillo, and then doing 30mph or 40mph on that 235 mile stretch between those two chargers. There is no way in hell the Lighting will make that stretch at 50mph or 60mph with that elevation gain, the potential head wind, and with winter time temperatures.

If you exclusively use Electrify America and go from Amarillo to Tucumcari or Santa Rosa in New Mexico before swinging north to Colorado then that is actually longer than the I-45 to I-35 to I-70 route. There is also the Amarillo to Guymon, OK route where you can charge up at the Francis Energy charger, but that is risky in the winter time as well.

If you feel that you have the intestinal fortitude, and patience, to try the Amarillo to Trinidad, CO route in a Lighting in the winter, then that is all you. The truck struggled enough with efficiency this past Saturday going from Colby, KS to Flagler, CO in 20mph head winds and elevation gain, and that is only 120 miles. In my opinion, it will take a warm summer day, no head wind, a 100% battery level, the all season tires, and 40mph or 50mph speeds to make that Amarillo to Trinidad stretch in a Lighting. Even with that, the truck will be holding on for dear life trying to make it over Raton Pass before dropping into the charging location on the Colorado side.

I hope this is helpful, and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have them.

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