Lightning range fail

[LightningShow]

It could just be a bms hiccup, as well. I hope it’s nothing serious.

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[Cruiser]

I was able to find a video on emergency towing for a Mach E and it was close enough that I got it into neutral so they could tow it. This info below was hard to find when google towing a F150 Lightning. All that pops up is towing tests. Once I changed to emergency towing I found it.

Are you able to activate emergency tow mode through the screen?

Switching Emergency Tow On 1. Properly secure your vehicle to the tow vehicle. 2. Switching your vehicle on to accessory mode. See Starting and Powering Off (page 194). 3. Apply the parking brake. 4. Access the vehicle drawer on the touchscreen. 5. Press Settings. 6. Press Vehicle. 7. Press and hold Emergency Tow until a confirmation message appears on the touchscreen. 8. Press and hold the brake pedal. 9. Shift into neutral (N).​

Please keep us updated with the outcome.
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[Cruiser]

Here is the roadside for EVs.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...ce/roadside-assistance-for-electric-vehicles/


Call 1-800-241-3673 or use your FordPass App to request Ford Roadside Assistance,** and we’ll tow your vehicle to one of three locations of your choice within 35 miles:

• A public charging station
• Your home residence
• A Ford EV-certified dealer within the U.S. market

If you’re more than 35 miles from home, Roadside Assistance will tow your all-electric vehicle to the nearest charge station or Ford EV-certified dealer. This service comes with the purchase of your Ford electric vehicle and is good for the first five years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Have you called roadside? I didn't have this info but they refused to tow me 21 miles to the charging station the truck had been taking me too. They would but it would be $882 out of pocket. It also took 2.5 hours to get them to say this after being disconnected three times and no one calling back.

 

[RickLightning]

Have you called roadside? I didn't have this info but they refused to tow me 21 miles to the charging station the truck had been taking me too. They would but it would be $882 out of pocket. It also took 2.5 hours to get them to say this after being disconnected three times and no one calling back.

I have not.

I would have kept pushing them to escalate to higher level.

@Ford Motor Company needs to fix this crappy roadside service experience. Keep seeing this over and over.

 

[Theo1000]

I pay my insurance for roadside assistance for all my EV's this exact reason. Has more than paid for itself.

TBH the one time I contemplated towing my Audi when the rear lights stopped working, they were a complete zero in terms of assistance. Called my insurance and they took care of it. Its something insurance does all the time vs ford where they are just not set up for it...

 

[TaxmanHog]

Looking forward to your report once the truck is fully recharged!
Do you plan to have the dealer service it for codes or diagnostics as to why this happened?

 

[gorwell]

Have you called roadside? I didn't have this info but they refused to tow me 21 miles to the charging station the truck had been taking me too. They would but it would be $882 out of pocket. It also took 2.5 hours to get them to say this after being disconnected three times and no one calling back.

Certainly their roadside assist knew it was an EV and the rules without you having to tell them, If that's typical for Ford that is a big fail.

I did VW roadside assist w/ my E-Golf once because of an electrical error. Had a tow truck out in 45 minutes. When tow came, car decided to start working fine. Still had it towed to dealer; Turned out it was a software bug that drained the small battery while the car was charging.

 

[Ford Senior Master]

I have not.

I would have kept pushing them to escalate to higher level.

@Ford Motor Company needs to fix this crappy roadside service experience. Keep seeing this over and over.

I hate dealing with Ford Roadside Assistance. *edited* to keep from getting in trouble.

 

[Maquis]

It's simply because a big battery isn't needed to drive a huge starter motor. It's needed to provide safety mechanisms to disable HV from being active 100% of the time. And unlike your starter batteries on your typical ICE, which are used to start the engine then kept topped off, these batteries are deep-cycled more (but aren't necessarily designed for it).

Their job is to 1) enable contactors in the battery pack to enable HV energy to those systems that need it, and 2) keep regular systems alive so the vehicle can continue to operate while "off".

They're kept small because there's no need to make them huge and expensive, because the HV pack can kick on and power things.

The 12V system literally runs everything except the drive motors and HVAC.

 

[FlasherZ]

The 12V system literally runs everything except the drive motors and HVAC.

Correct, the 12V *system* runs everything except chargers, drive motors, HVAC, and 250A DC-DC converter. But the primary purpose of the 12V *battery* is to provide power to close the HV contactors in the battery pack. It helps to run some of the other 12v components that are needed when the truck is "sleeping", but the reason the battery is there is to provide safety for the HV pack when the car isn't on.

 

[Nate977p]

Ignoring the very likely chance of something wrong here, is it not okay to drive to 0%? My model 3 has a buffer and I very often plan down to 0-3% for a charging stop. It's decently easy math to figure on the fly and has optimized trips.

I never rely on the buffer as I always plan for 0% at most and assumed the Lightning would be the same. Are we going back to early Model S days as any very low SOC was a gamble?

Genuinely asking as this situation scares the heck out of me and something I do not envy, but I plan on being in very low SOC regularly.

Good luck OP

 

[FlasherZ]

That's what I said above, and why I said it's -NOT- the LVB.

 

[EVTruckGuy]

I don't have any particular involvement in this debate, but the video didn't settle that debate at all.

The video clearly does NOT say the traction batter is dead. In fact, it says the truck battery is at 5% with 10 miles range left.

When the error message pops up amd says he needs to "charge battery" how do you know he is not getting this message in reference to the 12 V battery being low?

I'm no expert. I'm genuinely curious about this so I can learn.

If the traction battery is dead, why does it still display 5% and 10 miles. That's seems like an error of some sort given that other people have run the truck to 0% and still kept driving without any issues.

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