Is anybody getting summer freeway range over 250 miles?

[MM in SouthTX]

One thing that nobody has mentioned is the amount of traffic. It can I have a huge impact on how much headwind your truck is seeing going down the road. If when you made your charging stop after getting 1.7, you then got into areas where there is little traffic, that could explain the big drop. I am lucky to get 1.5 traveling on unpopulated open roads in Texas at 75 mph. On a busy interstate, you can get over 2.0 at the same speed.

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[H3IMDALL]

We averaged 2.0-2.1 m/Kwh at the end of winter going from Seattle to NM then Oklahoma. Crossing several mountain ranges and in blizzard conditions. We didn’t drive 70mph though, we tailed the big trucks at their speed and at one point (in a blizzard) were under the minimum speed limit. Coming back through California we did about the same but was much warmer (70’s-80’s) and we went traffic speed.

 

[Zprime29]

Did Tucson to Phoenix and back, 200 miles, avg 70mph, 110F, had 29% battery remaining.

Just made a trek to El Paso, again 70 mph avg, 100F. Made it to Deming in one go. 20% battery left.

EA was unable to get a station running but thankfully I was only EV there so used another station. My app locked up trying to get the first one connected so I had to have support activate it for me.

 

[hturnerfamily]

in rural Georgia, I average about 2.5-2.7m/kwh driving conservatively, and depending on wind... with the small 3,000lb single-axle camper, I drive even more conservatively, and, depending on wind, average about 1.2-1.5m/kwh...

that's with the SR Battery, so the truck on it's own maybe 245 to 265 to zero...
and
with the camper... maybe 118 to 145, especially if all downhill : )

 

[Solar_EE]

This is it. OP has a camper... Faring or not, that's just more resistance. And I can get real close to 300 miles on a 90% charge in my daily around town usual driving, which really surprises me. But that all goes to hell in a hand basket as soon as I'm hitting 70MPH+ on the highway. And also surprises me how much a very gentle uphill slope degrades range. My first road trip driving the Lightning was a bit frustrating -- DesMoines to Denver which is just uphill the whole way even though it isn't obvious, plus a stiff breeze and 35~40 degree temps. Yeah I was stopping every 150 miles to charge up. And on top of that, it was December 30 and 31 -- so holiday weekend traffic and EA chargers were kinda crowded and not working well. They had huge issues that weekend -- app not activating chargers, card readers not working right, chargers topping out at 37kW... Trip ended up taking 2 days when it should've taken one because of EA charger BS. The ChargePoint at Cabelas outside Omaha saved us and then we threw in the towel and stayed the night in Kearny and there was another ChargePoint next to the hotel which was nice.

Yep. Weight only matters for the inertia when you accelerate, especially starting from a stop. But this can be compensated for to some degree by starting slower. The real enemy here is drag / wind resistance. Pulling a trailer or having a camper or rooftop tent, etc.. all add significant drag. The truck has the aerodynamics of a brick. That's why the huge impact to range, even if the truck is empty, if we're racing down the highway. It's a strong argument for a secondary "speed maintaining" gear for highway travel over 55MPH. That and if the truck were smart enough to be able to coast on flat areas yet still regen while going downhill...

There are no gears! And "coasting" on level ground is meaningless- it's all about the wind resistance. I get tremendous range with my XLT SR because I drive 55 mph.

 

[STXLariat]

One thing that nobody has mentioned is the amount of traffic. It can I have a huge impact on how much headwind your truck is seeing going down the road. If when you made your charging stop after getting 1.7, you then got into areas where there is little traffic, that could explain the big drop. I am lucky to get 1.5 traveling on unpopulated open roads in Texas at 75 mph. On a busy interstate, you can get over 2.0 at the same speed.

San Antonio to Corpus Christi today averaged 1.7 @ 75mph. Left SA at 90% 266 miles, and arrived home with 16% 35 miles. Only a 160 mile trip.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

San Antonio to Corpus Christi today averaged 1.7 @ 75mph. Left SA at 90% 266 miles, and arrived home with 16% 35 miles. Only a 160 mile trip.

Pretty stiff headwind today. I’m charging in Columbus right now. 178 miles to home into a 20 knot breeze. I’m gonna need 90% and an 18 wheeler to draft behind.

 

[TheWoo]

Pretty stiff headwind today. I’m charging in Columbus right now. 178 miles to home into a 20 knot breeze. I’m gonna need 90% and an 18 wheeler to draft behind.

Wind makes such a HUGE difference. 20+mph headwind is a killer.

 

[vvgogh]

My experience with the extended range is

• 55 mph has a 350 mile range (2.7 mi/kWh)
• 65 mph has a 300 mile range (2.3 mi/kWh)
• 75 mph has a 250 mile range (1.9 mi/kWh)

Negligible wind and gently rolling terrain. I do not have a shell or camper and am not towing. The truck is not aerodynamic. If you were getting 235ish mi [100%] range with the go fast camper at 75ish mph average, that's not as big an impact as I would've thought (-15 miles or 94%). If you slowed it down to 55 mph, you might get over 100 miles of additional range where aerodynamics matter less. But, driving fast at 75 mph will still get you to the distant destination faster, though the average speed difference shrinks to ~9 mph. If that extra range driving slower lets you get to an overnight charge instead, the travel time delta shrinks to near zero (and you save $20-$40: free dinner).

At 75 mph drive 3h for 225 miles. (Charging stop distribution and functionality can cut that much shorter.) Simplistically, add 1h of fast charging and drive 3h and 225 miles again at 75 mph. Recharge 1h again. 8h elapsed, battery near full, 450 miles traveled averaging 56 mph.

At 55 mph, drive 6h for 330 miles (you'll probably stop well before that!). Same recharge assumption of 1h. 7h elapsed, battery near full, 330 miles traveled averaging 47 mph. If you instead arrive at an electric campground and now get to recharge overnight, you now average 55 mph essentially equalling the 75 mph case which may have required additional charging stop lowering the average speed to near equal. Real world charging distribution will of course lead to differences, but it's illustrative anyway.

Here's my rule of thumb experience extrapolated to the other trims. The cold temperature degradation is what I've read on these forums at some point. I haven't experienced that yet.

 

[timjulius1122]

EVs are more affected by wind resistance than ICE vehicles due to their higher efficiency. A 20% loss in efficiency from a headwind decreases an EV's range by about 18%. However, a tailwind has a larger positive impact on an EV's range.

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