Lightning Extreme Cold Weather Highway Performance?

[TaxmanHog]

thanks for listing the parts. I would assume they use similar heating/cooling loops. I can't see why they'd make it a lot different initially.

Does it settle at 9kw steady or does it peak at 9kw then setting down? in the Mach-e forum, our 5kw heaters have been thought to be 7kw but thats because they peak for a short while then drop to a steady output. apparently the heaters can spike above their rated output for a short while.

What I'm asking is, is it possible it's a 7kw heater spiking to 9kw? I know the 2023.5 and 2024 mach-e has a 7kw heater. if the lightning is a 7kw heater and works better maybe that was what drove Ford to try the 7KW heater in the mach-e?

I've seen the current flow fluctuate via my Emporia monitor once the cabin get's up to temp, they may have a stepped tap on the heater winding, or a set of parallel elements that are switched on/off as the heating demand subsides, don't know for certain, never seen one torn apart.

If one could get a sight line on the unit, the specifications / part number label indicates the energy level IIRC seeing a 5KW on some Ford stock photos for other PTC models (not the Lightning though)

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[GarageWarrior2023]

I've seen the current flow fluctuate via my Emporia monitor once the cabin get's up to temp, they may have a stepped tap on the heater winding, or a set of parallel elements that are switched on/off as the heating demand subsides, don't know for certain, never seen one torn apart.

If one could get a sight line on the unit, the specifications / part number label indicates the energy level IIRC seeing a 5KW on some Ford stock photos for other PTC models (not the Lightning though)

that's a good point. if someone has an image of the heater they could post that would be great. otherwise, not a big deal. we know now from this thread that the lightning performs pretty well in the cold in terms of cabin heating.

I think I'm curious more-so because I'm not sure if the modifications to the newer mach-e's with the 7kw heater is going to work or not, but the lightning could be a good indicator of potential function.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Here is an example of the PTC working, note that at this point the battery had gone through a departure time pre-conditioning process to warm the traction battery and is not working to warm the cabin, note how it steps down by apx 2.5 KW.

When you see it jump up at 12:58 am, that is me clicking the Charge to 100% button to enter the top up phase of my pre-tripping preparations on 2/29

 

[potato]

You can see the heater current draw with an OBD dongle. I've only looked at it during charging (no cold weather since I got my OBD dongle) but it draws 8.x kilowatts while heating the battery, so ~9 kW nominal sounds right. 23 XLT ER

 

[tls]

I see similar efficiency in the winter in northern NY and New England. Our temperatures aren't as extreme for as long but it's mountainous.

There are more options for snow tires if you go with 18" wheels. Only the 18" wheels from the Pro, or the "64H" wheels from the heavy-duty payload package (not the standard "payload package") from the ICE F150 are actually rated for the weight of the ER Lightning, so be careful about that.

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