Farley & Ford Execs Traveling the American West in F-150 Lightning

[Bwanapete]

So I will soon be driving from east of Syracuse to Erie, PA. I believe I. can charge there at a Supercharger. So do I “Pay at the pump” or do I first open an account with Tesla before I leave home? Andwill these Magic Docks just hook up to my truck without some sort of adapter?

O r should I just try to fit as much stuff as possible into my Tesla and leave the truck at home?

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[GDN]

So I will soon be driving from east of Syracuse to Erie, PA. I believe I. can charge there at a Supercharger. So do I “Pay at the pump” or do I first open an account with Tesla before I leave home? Andwill these Magic Docks just hook up to my truck without some sort of adapter?

O r should I just try to fit as much stuff as possible into my Tesla and leave the truck at home?

Well you'll only find a very few of the magic dock equipped Superchargers in the country - so open your Tesla app. Click the upper most right icon - slide to the right to the "Charge My Non Tesla" - get things set up there, add your credit card. I have a Tesla too and had to add my credit card here as well as the main account. Then you can also use the map and search for charging options. Skip all the Level 2 - the SC with Magic Docks will show up like SC's on your main screen. They'll be red and show you how many stalls are open at each charger at that given time.

Once you are set up and you pull in to charge your truck - just open this app, it'll ask you one or two questions including the pedestal number you are going to charge from. Once activated you push the SC handle in to the magic dock and it will lock on - plug into the truck and you'll charge. Simplest solution there is.

However you'll have to deal with other third party charging for most of your trip, so you may just decide the Tesla is much easier to take.

 

[TheOne]

Ford CEO Goes on Road Trip in Electric F-150, Runs Into Trouble (msn.com)

 

[rdr854]

Ford recommends only red Blinker Fluid for the Lightnings. Anything else may void the warranty.

Is that sold by the same folks who market diesel spark plug wrenches and emergency vehicle red light oil?

 

[Count Orlok]

Ford CEO Jim Farley Test Drives an F-150 Lightning and Sees a Problem

 

[FordBookends]

The first one(furthest left) was hanging out at 70kW for a few and then doubled immediately, trickled down to 100kW for the last few percent but it was also like 90* out on Sunday and the handle was a bit toasty feeling.

Same issues coast to coast! I took a trip from the SF Bay Area to Tahoe last weekend. We decided to top up before heading up hill, heading to an EA 6 charger location with 3 down, 1 busy, and 2 available. When we got there 4 turned out to be down and one other vehicle had pulled up to the last working charger. We fiddled with the one that was supposed to be working but the truck told us that it was not connecting, and a few minutes later the charger threw an error message. We used the first cars slot with no issue once he left, and had the dreaded “reduced charge rate” message but still hit 130kw for over 10 min. During our 20 min session 3 other vehicles showed up, all with the same frustration of fiddling with the chargers that were down. The crazy part was that each one had 2 CCS ports, but only one was “off-line”, but reality was that both ports were down. One hour of time spent to pick up about 35kw of charge. The rest of the trip was great, stayed at a friends house and made sure we had a 14-50 receptacle nearby and the Ford mobile charger did great at 11 mi/ hr charge rate. No problem getting home on a single charge going downhill!

 

[TheOne]

Ford CEO Jim Farley Test Drives an F-150 Lightning and Sees a Problem

The problem is the Lighting doesn't have adequate range.

 

[vandy1981]

The problem is the Lighting doesn't have adequate range.

I disagree. It's a charger problem, not a range problem.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Pardon my skeptism, but a 600 mile "road-trip" is a day of driving, two at most- with only one needed stop to charge.

 

[TheOne]

I disagree. It's a charger problem, not a range problem.

Two to three hundred miles in ranger is totally inadequate and there will never be enough chargers to go on any kind of an extended road trip. I'd like to see Farley do this road trip again in winter and lets see the reality check he gets.

 

[vandy1981]

Two to three hundred miles in ranger is totally inadequate and there will never be enough chargers to go on any kind of an extended road trip. I'd like to see Farley do this road trip again in winter and lets see the reality check he gets.

200-250 miles of range will be sufficient if there are reliable chargers available every 50 miles.

This is based on my experience roadtripping EVs for 4 years, including in subzero temps.

 

[gorwell]

Two to three hundred miles in ranger is totally inadequate and there will never be enough chargers to go on any kind of an extended road trip.

People always come out of the woodworks and complain about the 1% use cases for the average person.

Some car facts:

"Data collected on one-way household trips show that the majority (59.4%) of vehicle trips were less than six miles. In fact, three-fourths of all trips are ten miles or less. Another 8.4% of trips were between 11 and 15 miles, with the three longer trip distance categories about 5% each. Of all the trips, 95% were 30 miles or less."

https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicle...017-nearly-60-all-vehicle-trips-were-less-six

So, an ev of 40 miles is adequate for most, assuming you can charge at your final destination.

The average summer long-distance trip is 284 miles one-way.
More than three out of four (78 percent) summer trips are 50-249 miles in length.

We also travel:
one out of 10 (11 percent) trips — 250-400 miles
one out of 20 (5 percent) trips — 500-999 miles
one out of 20 (5 percent) trips — 1,000+ miles

https://www.bts.gov/statistical-pro...ehold-travel-survey-summer-travel-quick-facts


So only 10% of all travel is beyond 500 miles and those stats even include air an train. 9 in 10 people travel by car. Would assume that those longer distances are primarily not by cars.

If you need a vehicle to cannonball run across the US, then EV is not for you, but in pretty much all standard use cases it's perfectly adequate. Even at just 200 miles of freeway range. My 400 mile road trips generally involve 3 to 4 stops for just bathroom breaks with a family of 5. Charging , if the infrastructure is working fine, is a non issue with just 200 miles of range.

 

[GDN]

Two to three hundred miles in ranger is totally inadequate and there will never be enough chargers to go on any kind of an extended road trip. I'd like to see Farley do this road trip again in winter and lets see the reality check he gets.

That is if you rely on the non Tesla DCFC network. There are very few to no problems with that range if you have access to the Tesla network - which is on its way.

 

[TheOne]

From Motor Biscuit


2022 Ford F-150 Review: Electrifying Highs and Lows to Consider
Yes, you can charge the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning at home. It comes with an adapter that connects to a regular home outlet. But this is the slowest method of charging, and it could take three to four days for a full charge.

The Ford Charge Station Pro comes standard with the Extended Ranger F-150 Lightning models. It’s available with the Standard Range trucks for $1,310. Don’t forget about the installation fee from your local electrician.

This method provides faster Level Two charging times. Plus, it allows you to use the truck to power your home if needed.

Also, the available Mobile Power Cord with a 240V connector costs $470. You can take it with you as you travel, and it works with regular home outlets and 240V NEMA 14-50 outlets.

Be sure to top off your Ford F-150 Lightning before taking a road trip. We’ve been stranded due to malfunctioning charging outlets and slow charging times. Stay tuned because Ford is working to correct this issue.

The last sentence says a lot Ford can't even fix there quality control issues they'll never fix the charging issue.

 

[TheOne]

Is the Ford F-150 Lightning good for towing?

Yes and no. The standard 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning model can tow up to 7,700 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,235 lbs. The Extend-Range battery model can tow up to 10,000 lbs and carry a payload of up to 2,000 lbs.

However, we didn’t get far with a 5,000 lb camper. After making a profile for the trailer, we instantly lost 100 miles of range. Then we drove for about 30 miles and lost 81 miles of range. The range holds steady at speeds under 30 mph, but getting up to 50 to 60 mph kills it.

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