Just took a 450 intersate road trip in a standard range lightning. Never again

[TomB985]

The "should have bought an ER/this is why I bought an ER" posts aren't helpful. I had a limited budget when I bought my 2019 Model 3, so I went for the SR+ with a 230-mile range. It always frustrated me when people responded to my posts about why their more expensive LR car was better. It's not what I had, and it didn't fit my budget, so it just made me more frustrated with the car.

I appreciate the OP's level of detail, and his efficiency numbers line up with what I've seen. I think road trips will be a lot easier a year from now with all of the charging improvements we're going to see.

I hope 2024 brings a much better road trip experience for all of us. Happy new year!

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[Garyl]

I just had ABRP plan out a 687 mile trip from E.C IL. to N.W. NC. 11 hours of drive time just a little short of 6 hours of charging with one leg speed restricted. ABRP used 1.7/mKh which is probably about right given the temps and elevation. No Thanks. I have no regrets buying the Pro SR for my use case but I can say road tripping especially in 32 degree or colder weather is why I have another truck in inventory.

 

[RickLightning]

I knew the restraints of SR when ordering so I have to drive like a 16 wheeler on the interstates, it resulted in better then the 230 range on my SR Lariot. Its possible under the right conditions.

Lariat...

Constraints, unless you have bondage ropes in your truck...

 

[RickLightning]

I just had ABRP plan out a 687 mile trip from E.C IL. to N.W. NC. 11 hours of drive time just a little short of 6 hours of charging with one leg speed restricted. ABRP used 1.7/mKh which is probably about right given the temps and elevation. No Thanks. I have no regrets buying the Pro SR for my use case but I can say road tripping especially in 32 degree or colder weather is why I have another truck in inventory.

You're cherry picking worst case trips. West Virgina is devoid of charging.

 

[Garyl]

No cherry picking to it. I need to delivery an airplane engine to a rebuilder in Burlington NC. I live near Fithian IL. I put the address in and thats what came out.

 

[Garyl]

Actually I have driven the Kia thru WV several times going to Maryland. Definitely have to be aware of what's working and what's not as there isn't a lot of "planB" around.

 

[Ventorum94]

This truck should come with a disclaimer
*not meant for interstate use.

Driving at normal interstate speeds, going from 80% SOC to 20 % SOC took all of ~115 miles.
Stated average of 1.7 kWh, pencil came to about 1.55

Love it around town, average between 2.7 and 2.9. but this interstate travel is bananas. Contemplated driving 65 but would have still had to make 3 stops to charge, so went around 75mph.
Stopping every 2 hours for another 30-40 minutes is a big ask, added about 50% more time to the trip 6 hours vs 9 hours. Had to charge to 90% on the final charge- didn’t want to arrive dead.

Anyway, I suspected it would be a challenge, but didn’t expect it to be like this.

I may have opted for the extended range had Intaken a trip before purchase.
Again, love the truck and it fits my needs, was just a bit shocked how 240 mile range is actually about 115 miles when keeping it between 80% and 20% interstate driving.

On the plus side, had great luck with Electrify America charging stations.

So, with an ER pack, the 115mi would have been 150mi. Maybe three charging stops instead of four, for a 450mi day. Enough difference for $12k?

 

[RickLightning]

No cherry picking to it. I need to delivery an airplane engine to a rebuilder in Burlington NC. I live near Fithian IL. I put the address in and thats what came out.

Once we get access to the Tesla Superchargers, that route has several that will get you there much faster.

That said, knowing how to work ABRP can make it work, just over 3 hours of charging.

 

[Garyl]

So I will bite. Setting were as follows
Ford Lighting SR
Departing Soc 90%
Reference consumption at 65 MPH 1.86


I admit Im a ABRP novice but if you have a 3 hour charging route help me out.

 

[RickLightning]

So I will bite. Setting were as follows
Ford Lighting SR
Departing Soc 90%
Reference consumption at 65 MPH 1.86


I admit Im a ABRP novice but if you have a 3 hour charging route help me out.

The SR battery clearly makes it a challenge. I was using my Mach-E ER, same size battery, but lower consumption. The biggest issue is from Georgetown to Williamsburg, where most could make it on an 80% charge, but the SR is saying you would have to charge to 89%. That's a 20 minute or so hit right there.

Changes:

1) Set departing SOC to 100%.
2) Change consumption at 65 to 2.0. ABRP is very conservative.
3) Move trip to 7/1 . That changes from 4:51 charging to 4:05.
4) Wait until ~Feb. Tesla chargers fill in the gaps. I got it to 3:20 on 7/1 and 4:24 now.

 

[hoovertac]

I’m still a big fan of my Platinum, but yes, ‘Range’ is such a versatile word & something I was slow to take into account for interstate travel. Even with an average range slightly north 275, trip planner will conservatively stop at shorter intervals. Yes, the ER could allow for longer intervals comparatively, even at 80-90% of charge, but that still depends on station availability. It’s going to take some time for me to feel comfortable with bypassing a stop in the hopes another one will be available a few more miles down the road.

Can’t wait for the infrastructure to catch up with bigger/better stations & easier freeway access. Until then I’ll try to be efficient by overlapping meal and restroom breaks.

Nice to hear you had good experiences with EA? What part of the country?

 

[kbuicker]

I have an extended range, and even I slow down on highway trips. Texas speed limits going east are 75-80mph. I still do 70mph which is inline with the 18-wheelers which are doing a tad less (I'm guessing 66mph), so all good.

EVs, making everything safer . Besides, gives people passing you a chance to gawk at the Lightning (which happens every single trip)

 

[TaxmanHog]

Nice to hear you had good experiences with EA? What part of the country?

 

[djwildstar]

Before I bought my truck I did some ABRP simulations [...]

Me, too -- which sealed the deal for the ER battery for me. There are actually two factors at play here. Of course, the extra range lets the ER truck drive farther between charging stops, saving the time of getting on and off the highway.

However, the ER truck also charges significantly faster. The published specifications for 15% to 80% charging are 44 minutes for an SR truck and 41 minutes for an ER truck, but the ER truck has a significantly larger battery. So:

• SR is 63.7kWh in 44 minutes, or an 86.8kW average charge acceptance rate, versus
• ER is 85.2kWh in 41 minutes, or an 124.6kW average charge acceptance rate.

So in terms of kilowatts accepted or miles of range added, the ER truck charges over 40% faster than an SR truck. This is the key difference in road-tripping between the SR and ER Lightnings.

 

[djwildstar]

Ford Lighting SR
Departing Soc 90%
Reference consumption at 65 MPH 1.86

I don't have a route for you, but I do have a few suggestions:

• For road trips, charge to 100% on AC charging before departure.
  • The extra 10% is useful to extend that first leg of your trip, possibly skipping a charger.
  • If your point of departure isn't your normal daily charging location, start the road trip from when you depart your charger so that you have accurate projections.
• Use a BLE OBD2 reader to measure your truck's actual reference consumption at 65 MPH, because I don't trust the 1.86 mi/kWh reference value for an SR truck.
  • The ABRP default for an ER truck is 2.24 mi/kWh, but the default for SR is 1.86 mi/kWh, but I don't think there's really should that much efficiency difference between the two. If nothing else, the extra weight and rolling resistance of the ER truck should make its reference consumption slightly lower than an SR truck.
  • I drive an ER truck and my measured reference consumption is 2.34 mi/kWh
  • Motor Trend's highway range test (also with an ER truck) suggests 2.15 mi/kWh

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