First Road Trip from Sacramento to Los Angeles Using Tesla Adapter Not So Good

[chl]

For what it's worth, I would have turned off the AC and baked as well. Especially after seeing forum posts talking about the truck spontaneously shutting down with <10% SoC after multiple rounds of DCFC.

Sucks that happened to you.

When Li batteries are out of balance, they can shut down suddenly when the second before they reported some non-zero SOC.

Fast charging does not allow enough time for the balancing to be optimal, takes a couple hours sometimes depending on the size of the battery, and how good the BMS is.

"...cell balancing emerges as a key component of quality BMS technology. It ensures that all cells within a battery maintain equal charge levels, thereby maximizing the battery's capacity, prolonging its lifespan, and safeguarding against hazardous situations..."

" Here's an example to help you understand what the real charging times are with this kind of system: in a 400Ah battery in which 300Ah were used up, a 100A battery charger restores the energy in 3 hours. Add to this 6 to 12 hours needed for balancing. Total charging time: 9-15 hours. "

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[02Reaper]

Almost 2 years ago when I bought mine I thought things would get better. Here we are now just getting access to even more chargers with the Tesla network and over vacation last week I felt that Were mostly still in the same spot. While more chargers are being added by multiple companies every year, so are more Electric vehicles hitting the road. There's fuel stations everywhere and in between everywhere, while the the govt thinks that adding a couple of stations every 50 miles only on interstates will help out so much. It wont. Add that to pretty much every EV taking up a station for 30 minutes once its there....It's a hot mess, and I don't foresee it being that much better in a few years either. I'm going to keep my lightning, but as far as road trips, were going to have a gasoline vehicle for that also. While I'm patient with these things, my wife is like yours and has very little patience for the EV charging side of things. She doesn't understand and doesn't want to either. I feel your pain.

 

[invertedspear]

Almost 2 years ago when I bought mine I thought things would get better. Here we are now just getting access to even more chargers with the Tesla network and over vacation last week I felt that Were mostly still in the same spot. While more chargers are being added by multiple companies every year, so are more Electric vehicles hitting the road. There's fuel stations everywhere and in between everywhere, while the the govt thinks that adding a couple of stations every 50 miles only on interstates will help out so much. It wont. Add that to pretty much every EV taking up a station for 30 minutes once its there....It's a hot mess, and I don't foresee it being that much better in a few years either. I'm going to keep my lightning, but as far as road trips, were going to have a gasoline vehicle for that also. While I'm patient with these things, my wife is like yours and has very little patience for the EV charging side of things. She doesn't understand and doesn't want to either. I feel your pain.

Adding a station every 50 miles on interstates absolutely will help. It won't fix the situation, but it will help. A vehicle takes up a single stall, not a whole station. Most stations are 4 stalls and at 30 min a charge, that means 8 vehicles an hour. On a 400 mile trip, you need to charge an ER once, and an SR probably twice. 8 chargers per station, 8 stations across that road trip and you're serving 64 cars an hour. Still pathetic compared to gas stations. We'd be better off if gas stations would all start to include chargers like Love's and Bucee's are trying to do.

 

[edcoble]

In Plugshare app under “Map Filters”/“Vehicles and Plugs”, be sure vehicle is F150 Lightning, and under “More Plugs” select “NACS (Tesla).” I’ve found that compatible Superchargers show up on the Plugshare map, while incompatible Superchargers do not. It’s been 100% accurate for the locations I’ve visited.

Thanks! I can see the tesla NACS chargers

 

[Ventorum94]

Adding a station every 50 miles on interstates absolutely will help. It won't fix the situation, but it will help. A vehicle takes up a single stall, not a whole station. Most stations are 4 stalls and at 30 min a charge, that means 8 vehicles an hour. On a 400 mile trip, you need to charge an ER once, and an SR probably twice. 8 chargers per station, 8 stations across that road trip and you're serving 64 cars an hour. Still pathetic compared to gas stations. We'd be better off if gas stations would all start to include chargers like Love's and Bucee's are trying to do.

Software has a long way to go, too. Imagine being able to look on PlugShare (or the Tesla app, or whatever) and see, realtime, if a specific charger has a vehicle connected to it, and its time-to-completion of charge. And, how many cars are waiting to charge at that station (we’d have to check-in on the app, to be in “waiting” status- the app might even have a list of cars waiting, that everyone could see, and everyone know who’s next). Even if there’s a station every 50mi, software like this will be necessary to prevent everyone from stopping at the same station.

 

[htobin]

As for how much energy the AC uses, during this recent heat wave, I had to leave the truck on with the AC on for 6 hours (as my dog needed to stay in the truck). I don't have the exact kw used, but it was virtually nothing.

How do you get the AC to stay on. Mine seems to shut off after a while, even if I don’t turn it off.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

How do you get the AC to stay on. Mine seems to shut off after a while, even if I don’t turn it off.

Here are my "Dog Mode" instructions:

• AC / Heat On: Be sure it’s set to “Auto” and to, say, 73 degrees.
• Truck On: Leave the Truck Running.
• Lights to Off: Turn the dial to the left until it’s “off”.
• “Power Down” Timer Off: Turn Off the 30 second “Vehicle Power Down Timer”: Note, if you shut the truck off during this process, you MUST repeat this step. This step is required every time you start the truck.
• “Settings”
• “Vehicle”
• Turn off the first setting, “Vehicle Power Down” – This must be manually toggled to “Off” EVERY time (because when the car is shut off, this immediately “resets” to “Timer On”.)
• Manual Paper Sign: I put a “Dog Mode” sign over the display.
• Open Door: Dash will say, “Truck is Running.” Ignore or press “OK”.
• Exit: You can take the Remote OR you can leave the Remote.
• Lock Truck: Lock the truck by simultaneously pressing the “9-0” and “7-8” buttons on the “Keyless Entry Keypad” (on the door jam.) Confirm truck is locked by confirming the traditional door lock “knobs” are down after closing all doors. If the truck double chirps, it is NOT locked.
• Confirm Running: Confirm the truck is still running. (The dashboard should look like it does when you are driving.)

 

[invertedspear]

Software has a long way to go, too. Imagine being able to look on PlugShare (or the Tesla app, or whatever) and see, realtime, if a specific charger has a vehicle connected to it, and its time-to-completion of charge. And, how many cars are waiting to charge at that station (we’d have to check-in on the app, to be in “waiting” status- the app might even have a list of cars waiting, that everyone could see, and everyone know who’s next). Even if there’s a station every 50mi, software like this will be necessary to prevent everyone from stopping at the same station.

Tesla app gives you an idea, but I imagine as more non-teslas start using it their wait estimate is going to get out of whack. More charging stations negates a lot of the need for that kind of thing though. The default state of a gas pump is "idle". It spends more time doing nothing than dispensing gas. Until we have enough chargers that their default state is also "idle" we don't have enough. I have no worries road tripping Phoenix to San Diego because of how many idle chargers there are along the way. No need for that kind of software on that trip. I'd prefer that level of charger service over software trying to optimize our travel times.

 

[Ventorum94]

Tesla app gives you an idea, but I imagine as more non-teslas start using it their wait estimate is going to get out of whack. More charging stations negates a lot of the need for that kind of thing though. The default state of a gas pump is "idle". It spends more time doing nothing than dispensing gas. Until we have enough chargers that their default state is also "idle" we don't have enough. I have no worries road tripping Phoenix to San Diego because of how many idle chargers there are along the way. No need for that kind of software on that trip. I'd prefer that level of charger service over software trying to optimize our travel times.

Agreed- I want to be in control of where I charge. But once I’ve chosen a charging stop, I’d like the software to manage the queue of cars (who’s next to charge, and at which charger unit).

 

[02Reaper]

Adding a station every 50 miles on interstates absolutely will help. It won't fix the situation, but it will help. A vehicle takes up a single stall, not a whole station. Most stations are 4 stalls and at 30 min a charge, that means 8 vehicles an hour. On a 400 mile trip, you need to charge an ER once, and an SR probably twice. 8 chargers per station, 8 stations across that road trip and you're serving 64 cars an hour. Still pathetic compared to gas stations. We'd be better off if gas stations would all start to include chargers like Love's and Bucee's are trying to do.

It will help, but not much at all. 4 stalls every 50 miles on busy roads ain't nothing. It's a drop in a barrel. Sure on an ER if I cut off all navigation I can get 400 miles with one stop in between on the interstate, but time I turn ev navigation on, it will think the truck has a lot less range than it does and pester me into making a charging stop. While that may work for me turning it off, it surely won't work for everyone. You're also thinking that cars will just fall in one after another just as one is finishing, another is starting and nobody is having to wait. That's not realistic. People show up when they show up, not by appointment. 12 cars may show up to a 4 charger stall all at the same time. I honestly think every town within a certain population should have at least 4 working fast chargers, and I'm not talking about a Chargepoint 50 kw chargers either.

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