Lightning ER with 350+ highway range?

[LightningShow]

Did I get your attention?

Just a fun little thought experiment for those patiently waiting to receive (or order) their Lightning...

I'm a Chevy Bolt owner and, as of today, my 2019 Bolt has a brand new battery, courtesy of GM and LG Chem. My dealer is about 75 miles away and when I picked the car up today I jumped on the highway and set cruise control to 65mph for the trip home. When I arrived I had traveled about 75 miles and used 25% of the battery capacity, with a stated efficiency of 4.5 mi/kWh (this typical 65mph efficiency IME). EPA combined efficiency for the Bolt is 3.9 mi/kWh and 3.65 mi/kWh for the highway cycle. IOW, my efficiency exceeded EPA highway efficiency by 23%.

Now, we can certainly speculate on how the Lightning perform vs the EPA efficiency but the window stickers for the ER trucks indicate a 2.2 mi/kWh efficiency for the highway cycle. This would give the Lightning ER (non-Platinum) a highway range of 288 miles. If the Lightning was also to gain 23% versus the EPA highway cycle number (when driven conservatively) this would indicate a range of 288*1.23 = 354 miles.

I can't wait to give it a try and see if she can really do it! ?

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[Vorador]

Did I get your attention?

Just a fun little thought experiment for those patiently waiting to receive (or order) their Lightning...

I'm a Chevy Bolt owner and, as of today, my 2019 Bolt has a brand new battery, courtesy of GM and LG Chem. My dealer is about 75 miles away and when I picked the car up today I jumped on the highway and set cruise control to 65mph for the trip home. When I arrived I had traveled about 75 miles and used 25% of the battery capacity, with a stated efficiency of 4.5 mi/kWh (this typical 65mph efficiency IME). EPA combined efficiency for the Bolt is 3.9 mi/kWh and 3.65 mi/kWh for the highway cycle. IOW, my efficiency exceeded EPA highway efficiency by 23%.

Now, we can certainly speculate on how the Lightning perform vs the EPA efficiency but the window stickers for the ER trucks indicate a 2.2 mi/kWh efficiency for the highway cycle. This would give the Lightning ER (non-Platinum) a highway range of 288 miles. If the Lightning was also to gain 23% versus the EPA highway cycle number (when driven conservatively) this would indicate a range of 288*1.23 = 354 miles.

I can't wait to give it a try and see if she can really do it! ?

F150 Lightning can probably go 450 miles if you drive 35 miles per hour.

 

[LightningShow]

F150 Lightning can probably go 450 miles if you drive 35 miles per hour.

True, but you can’t drive 35mph on the highway.

 

[gorwell]

True, but you can’t drive 35mph on the highway.

put your hazard lights on and you should be good

 

[Maquis]

F150 Lightning can probably go 450 miles if you drive 35 miles per hour.

Downhill with a 20 MPH tailwind. ?

 

[LightningShow]

I’m actually not certain it would go 450 even at 35mph. Probably over 400 anyway.

 

[beatle]

A Model S 100D did 701 miles on a full charge while going about 23 mph. Rated range for a 100D is 335 miles, so that is more than double. That's extreme hypermiling, of course, and not really something you can replicate in the real world without simply going downhill, but it does show the impact of speed and temperature on range.

 

[LightningShow]

A Model S 100D did 701 miles on a full charge while going about 23 mph. Rated range for a 100D is 335 miles, so that is more than double. That's extreme hypermiling, of course, and not really something you can replicate in the real world without simply going downhill, but it does show the impact of speed and temperature on range.

Yeah, you can do some extreme stuff to get the range up to pretty crazy levels but I'm trying to think about usable scenarios. 65mph on the highway is pretty easy. If you can get 350 miles that makes roadtripping a bit easier. I'm definitely going to fool around to see what kind of range I can get once I get the truck. My GF has a 26' travel trailer, maybe 5,000lb, I'm going to tow that thing around and see how it does, as well.

 

[beatle]

65 mph is also above "normal" speeds on the EPA test which only gets to 60mph:

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/08/18/how-does-epa-calculate-electric-car-range/

I've gotten pretty close to the EPA numbers on my Model S when averaging 65mph in warm temperatures, but I've not beaten them over long stretches unless there is a considerable decrease in elevation, I have a tail wind, or I average less than 60 mph. This is typical for Tesla though. Ford has sandbagged range a bit on the MME which is nice since most cars do not meet their EPA range numbers. Honesty is refreshing even though it should just be the standard. We'll just have to see what reality looks like when the trucks arrive, but I'm cautiously hopeful.

 

[LightningShow]

I should note that insideEVs got significantly less efficiency on their Bolt 70mph range tests. ~3.4 mi/kWh. At least according to the car’s computer i’ve been getting high 3s even at 70mph (no HVAC). I haven’t tried to charge back to 100% after a trip, maybe the computer is lying to me.

 

[ShirBlackspots]

Take a look at this website https://www.motormatchup.com/efficiency

You can play around with the sliders to see what range you get with different speeds, weights, headwinds, and elevation

Currently, only the Tesla, Rivian, Aptera, Lucid, and surprisingly the Hummer is there.

--EDIT--
Hummer is in the first pulldown menu, but you can't do anything beyond that.

For example, the 300 mile range Rivian (21" wheels, 135kWh battery). 313 mile EPA stated range. at 100% SoC while leaving everything else default:

At 75mph, 247 miles of range.
At 65mph, 292 miles of range. 45 miles more than 75.
At 55mph, 346 miles of range. 99 miles more than 75, and 54 miles more than 65.
At 45mph, 408 miles of range. 160 miles more than 75, and 62 miles more than 55.
At 35mph, 474 miles of range, 227 miles more than 75, and 66 miles more than 45.
At 25mph, 529 miles of range, 282 miles more than 75, and 55 miles more than 35.
At 15mph, 556 miles of range, 309 miles more than 75, and 27 miles more than 25

Rolling resistance starts taking over at 35, which is why the increase in range slows down after that.

--EDIT 2--
At ambient temperatures of 100F, a 10mph tailwind, and 10,000 feet altitude, and extra weight of 100lbs, you can get a peak range of 619 miles at 25mph

The tiny one person Aptera, 100kWh battery, FWD, at those same settings above, can peak out at 1786 miles, at speeds of 30-40 mph (1205 miles at 75mph)

 

[williams]

put your hazard lights on and you should be good

dont bring that crap to Florida!

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