Lightning's range in cold weather... not very good

[RickLightning]

I tell the rest of my family to stop breathing when it gets cold. Fogging can be somewhat mitigated with air flow. I open the back window less than an inch and maybe vent the moonroof or the passenger front window just a tiny bit to get air flowing in the truck. The cold air is very dry, so the fogging goes away once moving. Window openings can be adjusted to affect as needed.

I can definitely see a Vermont resident telling his family to stop breathing, and refusing to turn on the heat until they are human popsicles.

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[VTbuckeye]

I can definitely see a Vermont resident telling his family to stop breathing, and refusing to turn on the heat until they are human popsicles.

We are not new to EVs. At some point in the winter heat needs to come on to dry the inside of the car (floor mats from snow) and condensation from breathing. We often have to scrape the inside of the windows after the car has been sitting for a few hours. We have had these issues with a volt, bolt, xc40 EV and less with our xc90 phev. The xc90 phev has a heated windshield that keeps the fogging to a minimum although it can still be difficult to see out the side windows. I rarely think about range because I have enough, but often think about efficiency.

 

[d2blake]

With preconditioning I’ve been seeing just below 20% reduction at 32F. A good rule of thumb is to expect 0.5%/°F reduction in efficiency below 72F. Ford released no numbers; it just said range loss will occur. Every EV before the lightning loses 20-50%. Every ICE vehicle loses 10-20%. From this, my expectation was 30-40% once we get into the depths of winter. I don’t understand how so many people bought this truck expecting less than 30%.

Stop using the Guessometer for calculations. Using those numbers is like wondering why when you Google the best restaurant, you get a different result than your buddy in a different country. Get to know your mi/kWh and compare those numbers.

 

[greenne]

I tell the rest of my family to stop breathing when it gets cold. Fogging can be somewhat mitigated with air flow. I open the back window less than an inch and maybe vent the moonroof or the passenger front window just a tiny bit to get air flowing in the truck. The cold air is very dry, so the fogging goes away once moving. Window openings can be adjusted to affect as needed.

That is the most Vermont thing that has ever been said on this forum....

 

[sotek2345]

I think I can speak for the 99% of forum members that don't live in Southern California.

At least most of us have water

 

[metroshot]

At least most of us have water

Oh that's a good one!

Yah, I had to stop washing my Lightning with water during the summer water shortage emergency!

 

[greenne]

We never even dipped into the 20's last year in Tucson

We do like to take road trips to play in the snow each winter though, so it's always nice to read how you cold weather folks handle it.

How we handle it-->lots and lots of alcohol...

 

[VTbuckeye]

That is the most Vermont thing that has ever been said on this forum....

It could get more Vermonty by telling them if they are cold, they shouldn't be wearing shorts (there was someone walking to school this morning at 25 degrees in shorts and last night a collegiate young lady in fishnets as ND a short skirt walking across campus at 35 with a north wind) and they could always put on another layer of flannel. Maybe try heating your maple syrup shots up vs refrigerated temp. I don't use marijuana, but there could also be some reference to pot smoking. This place isn't exactly like Super Troopers, but the stereotype exists for a reason.

 

[Pjlightning]

Just drove 150 miles from Hartford area to Lebanon NH Electrify America.

Started at 100%, arrived with 32%.

Temperature of 32F outside, cruise control set to 73mph.

I was hoping to get to Stowe from Hartford on one charge, but knew it would be a stretch.

Didn’t risk it, and charged in Lebanon. (I’ll never know if I would have made the final 79 miles , might have been able to crawl in with a 2% state of charge - wife would have never let that experiment happen!).

1.3-1.6 was the average I was seeing on the dash along the way.

The guess o meter was reading 235 as I left the house at 100%, and my door to door was 225 to Stowe (if I hadn’t stopped for a fill up).

So all in all…..I didn’t think it was that bad for the cold range.

I’ve only been getting 265-275 range in regular use since July.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Drove from home to Dracut Mass and back to see what the cold weather performance is like in preparation for the Thanksgiving day trip, key concern is could I make it home w/o a DCFC stop? Based on this evenings run, I should have no issues, I did stop for a top up 11 miles short of being home, the reserve was sufficient to do the do and not inconvenience the Mrs. by stopping for ~35 minutes to top up on cheep DCFC

This trip included several demonstrations of the Lightnings torque to a friend as we headed to the Legion event, cabin heat on at 70-72º, speeds at ~65 to 75 with a few spurts higher.

Final approach 2 miles to the EA-Wrentham with plenty of capacity to travel another 12 miles home

Overall performance as of stopping to charge

80%

Cost of this session to 80% is 9.31 includes Mass Sales tax 6.25%

Home, SOC dropped to 77% for the final short leg

Final charge on the FCSP @80amps, is done 18kWh cost $4.68

Total trip cost $13.99 or 9.3 cents a mile, 91 kWh yields 1.7 [1.65] miles per kWh.

In my former F250 Power Stroke Diesel, this trip would have cost $60.38 or over 4.3 times as much!!!!!

 

[Firestop]

Drove from home to Dracut Mass and back to see what the cold weather performance is like in preparation for the Thanksgiving day trip, key concern is could I make it home w/o a DCFC stop? Based on this evenings run, I should have no issues, I did stop for a top up 11 miles short of being home, the reserve was sufficient to do the do and not inconvenience the Mrs. by stopping for ~35 minutes to top up on cheep DCFC

This trip included several demonstrations of the Lightnings torque to a friend as we headed to the Legion event, cabin heat on at 70-72º, speeds at ~65 to 75 with a few spurts higher.

Final approach 2 miles to the EA-Wrentham with plenty of capacity to travel another 12 miles home

Overall performance as of stopping to charge

80%

Cost of this session to 80% is 9.31 includes Mass Sales tax 6.25%

Home, SOC dropped to 77% for the final short leg

Final charge on the FCSP @80amps, is done 18kWh cost $4.68

Total trip cost $13.99 or 9.3 cents a mile, 91 kWh yields 1.7 [1.65] miles per kWh.

In my former F250 Power Stroke Diesel, this trip would have cost $60.38 or over 4.3 times as much!!!!!

Curious, what were your outside temps?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Curious, what were your outside temps?

When I started the journey, it was in the low 40's, by the time I got north it was low 30's the rest on the evening.

 

[Vacation-Land-Lightning]

Hi all -

I own a SR Lightning here in Maine, un-garaged unfortunately. As cold weather winter has started to set in (avg mid 20s at night) I’ve seen my max range (est) drop to about 175-185miles. I do leave plugged in all night.

My question is: what’s the difference between preconditioning (via setting departure schedule) Vs remote start (15-30mins) in terms of improving range?


would I see a meaningful bump in range if I precondition? Keep in mind: we don’t have a garage (tho I’m inspired to build one in the spring!)

 

[RickLightning]

Hi all -

I own a SR Lightning here in Maine, un-garaged unfortunately. As cold weather winter has started to set in (avg mid 20s at night) I’ve seen my max range (est) drop to about 175-185miles. I do leave plugged in all night.

My question is: what’s the difference between preconditioning (via setting departure schedule) Vs remote start (15-30mins) in terms of improving range?


would I see a meaningful bump in range if I precondition? Keep in mind: we don’t have a garage (tho I’m inspired to build one in the spring!)

You would see a meaningful impact on the first leg of a trip if you set a departure time while plugged in. Plan on the truck needing 60 -90 minutes, so don't set a departure for 9am at 8:25am.

 

[Weapon X]

Oh that's a good one!

Yah, I had to stop washing my Lightning with water during the summer water shortage emergency!

ONR bro. Only needs a couple gallons and it's really good stuff.

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