Liking my Lightning... Challenge.

[woodsman]

I have a challenge for my truck. This fall we plan on going to MCACM (Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals) in Rosemont, Il. 270 miles from my place, 3 of my friends going along. Can you imagine the Hero my truck would be if it makes on one charge?
It will be colder, no A/C, but maybe heater? Any advice? Love the idea of going to a muscle car show with an EV. A friend will be bringing a car, 1970 Torino Ford Factory Drag Car, drivin by Don Cumby, with a Jon Kasse Boss 9.
If you are a car guy this show will blow your mind.
Going to order Wheel Well Liners for truck, didn't realize it didn't have em.

Sponsored

 

[RickLightning]

Use ABRP to plan your trip. Leaving with 100%, and keeping your speed low enough, you should make that if you have an ER, but it's tight.

 

[sd25]

Sounds like a fun trip! Hope you guys have a great time.

Range is going to drop 10%-30% in colder weather. I'd charge to 100% overnight and set it to pre-condition before the departure time to maximize range.

Even then, I'd stop for 10-15min to top up and stretch my legs or use the bathroom or just to grab snacks.

I'd avoid EA/EVGo and just plug and charge at a supported Tesla Supercharger site using the adapter, or maybe there's a Tesla site on your route that has built-in adapters (Magic Dock).

A quick stop would save you from stressing out about remaining range.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I have an Extended Range and just received the A2Z adapter. I stopped at a Wawa to test and walked inside to grab a drink and then left. Not only testing the adapter, but trying to get a real world idea of a ‘normal’ stop as I’m planning a trip a little longer than yours soon. I got 20% in 8 minutes. Might be a good idea to do. You’ll probably take longer if everyone takes a bathroom break and gets a drink.

 

[CD4TNF]

https://lightningcalcs.pages.dev/

Looks a uncomfortably tight from the numbers, but doable with 100%, 2.4mi/kWh, flat road, no wind, 55-65mph. Basically an ideal day. You would have to be guaranteed there is a charger at your meetup destination. There's no room for error or bad conditions.


I would charge. Even if it's a quick stop for the bathroom and charge. That's safer and guaranteed to work.


My last trip I went 266 miles from 100% to 19%. Dash showed 50 miles left and the 50 mile warning. 89F temp displayed on the dash. Google shows that's my route was a 4.5 hr drive.

 

[potato]

Why pretend? Find a nice charging spot with good amenities and stop for 15 or 20 minutes. For me anyway I found travelling that way to be much more relaxing than having to micro manage.

I don't know if spending the entire drive fretting about range and whether you're driving slowly enough to make it would give the favourable impression you appear to be trying for.

 

[Henry Ford]

You're going to a muscle car show and you want to impress your muscle car friends by driving efficiently? Oh, hell no! Drive it like an asshole and stop to charge. If you and your buddies are muscle car fans I know you're going to have frequent pee breaks anyway.

 

[JRT]

What do you do when you roll in at 0 miles? I have yet to see a good enough trip above 2m/kwh, so find a good stop or two and buy the A2Z adaptor and use Tesla chargers on

 

[VAF84]

My guy; you want to showcase slow speeds, try to reach the limits of efficiency, and potentially arrive with a dead battery to a muscle car show? That's the opposite of what these shows are about.

Seriously, you will barely make it, unless you plan to drive at under 55mph the whole way. You risk having a dead battery at the event, and consequently feed the "I told you so trolls" of which I'm sure there will be plenty at this gathering.

I recommend being fully charged. Roll in there, offer 0-60 joy rides, and enjoy showcasing the Lightning's strengths, not its weakness.

That's just me though! It's what I do with the guys on the rig. Let them feel those g forces and realize how fun EV's can be.

BTW I'm just having fun with this post, definitely do what makes you happy!

 

[MotoGary]

You could call this trip
“Hero or Zero”
I know where I’d put my money

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

This sounds like a recipe for hating your truck, if it dies on you 5 miles from the event.

My advice: stop and charge at a supercharger in Dubuque or Rockford, for the 10 minute boost duration of the charging curve. Everybody gets to pee, and you get to feel more comfortable about the trip not ending in failure.

You should never turn down the opportunity to urinate in Dubuque.

 

[Danface]

I see "Madison Charging Hub has 7) 100-350 kW chargers at 775 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703, USA and is about 150 miles and it's $.34/kWH, looks like there are places to eat nearby. Then onto Chicago where there should be lots of options incudling free, slow charging at hotels (who cares if it's 6 kw if you're going to be there for 24 hours) and a lot of fast chargers. There seem to be a lot of chargers along the way if need be as well

 

[Calvin H-C]

People with no idea about EVs have difficulty getting their heads around 20-30 minutes to top up.

The real difference is just sequence, with a 30 minute stop breaking down like this (your time may vary):

ICE:
Stop for gas, start fill: 1 minute or less
Fill tank: 5 minutes
End fill, remove nozzle: 1 minute or less
Move car to park: 3 minutes
Washroom/food break: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

EV:
Stop for charge, start: 1 minute or less
Walk over to washroom/food facility: 4 minutes
Washroom/food break: 20 minutes
Walk back to vehicle: 4 minutes
End charge: 1 minute or less
Total time: 30 minutes

 

[RocketGhost]

Do not leave expecting to make it all the way. Cause there's a 99% chance you won't.

 

[VAF84]

People with no idea about EVs have difficulty getting their heads around 20-30 minutes to top up.

The real difference is just sequence, with a 30 minute stop breaking down like this (your time may vary):

ICE:
Stop for gas, start fill: 1 minute or less
Fill tank: 5 minutes
End fill, remove nozzle: 1 minute or less
Move car to park: 3 minutes
Washroom/food break: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

EV:
Stop for charge, start: 1 minute or less
Walk over to washroom/food facility: 4 minutes
Washroom/food break: 20 minutes
Walk back to vehicle: 4 minutes
End charge: 1 minute or less
Total time: 30 minutes

Depends on the driver and length of the journey. For me:

ICE:
Park at Pump and initiate fill: Less than 1 minute using ApplePay and one hand managing car gas cap, he other grabbing pump.

Pumping: Set pump, walk inside and use bathroom. Walk back to truck as pump clicks and completes. Hop into truck with foot immediately on brake so I can simultaneously start vehicle. Place car into gear as strapping on seat belt. Skip meal because I'm not sitting there for 20 min. Or grab a quick road snack in the store within time. Or choose a better place to stop an eat that isn't reliant on a nearby charger so I don't waste more time.

Total Time: 7 min tops


EV:
Stop for charge, START: 2-3 minute. Between having to maneuver and park a truck facing forward (instead of backing in) while watching out for bollards at EA or parking between stalls at Tesla, pulling up the app to engage the charger because god forbid Ford recognizes your memberships and includes your member discount, potentially add adapter, wait to confirm charging is initialized AND holding expected charge. In case it doesn't potentially move chargers or troubleshoot. BTW I did not add time here for maneuvering through busy shopping center parking lots and trying to find the charger in strip malls or other structures.

Charging time: Well, I know I'm going to be sitting there so I add an extra stop to pick up fast food to eat while I'm there, but let's assume I just get food at the gas station. Minimum 15 minutes for a just enough to move on; 33 min to "road trip" fill up. Of course in that time I walk around, go to the bathroom, start conversations with strangers, etc.

End charge: 1 minute or so wrangling the charging cord and shutting charger flap. On road trips potential for added time as I set my new charging destination since I can't rely on the nav. No penalty as I may get that done during charge.

EV TOTAL TIME: Conservatively 18 min on a quick stop for 40% charge. Or 36 minutes for a full charge.

Next:
Compared to ICE; for EV multiply those times by two on nearby RT road trips. Exponentially add on to that as you expand the length of the trip. Tack on more if it's winter and your range is reduced another 25%.

I'm not downing EV's, just trying to be real here. We can't ignore the realities of ownership.

Sponsored