Never trust the dashboard, EPA and Ford.

[PAndaemonium]

lol. What a stupid thread.

When I first had my Tacoma, there was always one dude CONSTANTLY posting about not getting rated mpg. Dude, you bought a truck, get over it.

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[Al_V]

As I see there's many peoples whit biais here.
It s a forum for all kind of stock about lightning?
Or just the good things. And yes it s possible a lemon, even whit an EV

I bought my ER Lightning early December 2023 (first EV not counting Sur-Rons), and was also disappointed in the winter range. Now that it's warm here in Ohio, the summer range is still disappointing. Last Saturday I drove it about 125 miles(83 miles interstate) each way with my dirt bike on a hitch carrier (not a trailer). I used no heat/AC, and never went over 65mph. I made it home with less than 15% left (stayed at 60mph on the way home). I suppose the dirt bike on the hitch carrier added to the wind resistance, and I was naïve to believe the 320 mile EPA range "estimate."
I also have an older diesel truck for long trips towing a trailer, and the lightning replaced a passenger car, so I am still overall very happy with the truck, and it will do the overwhelming majority of what I bought it for. I knew that long towing trips would require long charging stops, but didn't realize that fast charging would cost more per mile than diesel.

So, at the end of the day, I'm glad I didn't get an SR, and I fully understand your frustration with the EPA range "estimate."

 

[Amps]

I drove it about 125 miles(83 miles interstate) each way with my dirt bike on a hitch carrier (not a trailer). I used no heat/AC, and never went over 65mph. I made it home with less than 15% left

If you started at 100% State of Charge and had 'less than 15% left', rounding down, you brought home 19 kWh in the pack, call it 18 kWh.

You drove 250 miles and consumed around 113 kWh. That means you managed to achieve 2.2 mi/kWh. That's 0.24 mi/kWh less than the math on the EPA combined city/hwy 320 mile range. With the 18 kWh left in the pack, you could have gone another ~40 miles, resulting in a theoretical range of 290 miles, 30 miles less than the EPA combined range, but 7 more miles than the EPA rated road range of 283 miles.

The EPA tests need to be improved, but you drove about as close to the rated range as possible, with or without a load.

 

[Al_V]

If you started at 100% State of Charge and had 'less than 15% left', rounding down, you brought home 19 kWh in the pack, call it 18 kWh.

You drove 250 miles and consumed around 113 kWh. That means you managed to achieve 2.2 mi/kWh. That's 0.24 mi/kWh less than the math on the EPA combined city/hwy 320 mile range. With the 18 kWh left in the pack, you could have gone another ~40 miles, resulting in a theoretical range of 290 miles, 30 miles less than the EPA combined range, but 7 more miles than the EPA rated road range of 283 miles.

The EPA tests need to be improved, but you drove about as close to the rated range as possible, with or without a load.

Thanks, that makes me feel better, but what is "the EPA rated road range of 283 miles?"
And of course I did start with 100%, but it seems like the EPA range should include heat or AC.
It's basically a luxury vehicle, so you should be able to use HVAC.
Although yesterday I did use AC for the first time, and it didn't hog as much efficiency as I expected.

 

[Zprime29]

Although yesterday I did use AC for the first time, and it didn't hog as much efficiency as I expected.

As someone who lives in the hot desert, A/C is a must. I use it and the ventilated seats all summer. I see about a 10% hit to efficiency, although I think some of that is going towards keeping the battery cool.

EDIT: Wanted to add that I still see 2.6-2.8 mpk in the summer. 2.8-3.0 mpk the rest of the year (yes even winter, it's very mild)

 

[TheWoo]

Thanks, that makes me feel better, but what is "the EPA rated road range of 283 miles?"
And of course I did start with 100%, but it seems like the EPA range should include heat or AC.
It's basically a luxury vehicle, so you should be able to use HVAC.
Although yesterday I did use AC for the first time, and it didn't hog as much efficiency as I expected.

A/C isn't too bad on the battery. Heat takes a lot more.

Having 15% left is a lot of room - as stated above you easily had 30 more miles (or could have turned the A/C on and driven a little faster) - that's something you'll learn as you spend more time with it. And the fact you did as well as you did while towing with a majority of highway driving is very, very impressive. I'd be ecstatic with that efficiency.

 

[Al_V]

A/C isn't too bad on the battery. Heat takes a lot more.

Having 15% left is a lot of room - as stated above you easily had 30 more miles (or could have turned the A/C on and driven a little faster) - that's something you'll learn as you spend more time with it. And the fact you did as well as you did while towing with a majority of highway driving is very, very impressive. I'd be ecstatic with that efficiency.

As stated, I was NOT towing, the 250lb bike was on a hitch carrier, like a bicycle rack.
And I didn't really need AC that day, (nor another 30 miles), but a little heat on my feet in the morning would have added a little comfort. Not sure if I would be comfortable with less than a 30 mile reserve...

 

[WeedmanU]

I bought my ER Lightning early December 2023 (first EV not counting Sur-Rons), and was also disappointed in the winter range. Now that it's warm here in Ohio, the summer range is still disappointing. Last Saturday I drove it about 125 miles(83 miles interstate) each way with my dirt bike on a hitch carrier (not a trailer). I used no heat/AC, and never went over 65mph. I made it home with less than 15% left (stayed at 60mph on the way home). I suppose the dirt bike on the hitch carrier added to the wind resistance, and I was naïve to believe the 320 mile EPA range "estimate."
I also have an older diesel truck for long trips towing a trailer, and the lightning replaced a passenger car, so I am still overall very happy with the truck, and it will do the overwhelming majority of what I bought it for. I knew that long towing trips would require long charging stops, but didn't realize that fast charging would cost more per mile than diesel.

So, at the end of the day, I'm glad I didn't get an SR, and I fully understand your frustration with the EPA range "estimate."

Whit the experience, you will see , you will always have a stupid answer about, the barometric pressure, the type of road, the age of your dog, to justify the poor mileage done whit your truck.

Ford fault,,, NEVER...

 

[WeedmanU]

As stated, I was NOT towing, the 250lb bike was on a hitch carrier, like a bicycle rack.
And I didn't really need AC that day, (nor another 30 miles), but a little heat on my feet in the morning would have added a little comfort. Not sure if I would be comfortable with less than a 30 mile reserve...

Hahaha you see, always a technical answer. But that never erase the fact... in average the lightning summer end winter don't cope the claimed autonomy.

Even if Ford Maga try to explain it

 

[bmw325_num99]

The EPA rating is dumb and should be revised. It's a combination city/highway loop but nobody cares what their city range is. If they want to keep it simple they should measure range at 75mph at a standard temperature. Better yet they should publish a simple chart factoring speed and temperature so people can have a realistic idea of what a vehicle is capable of.

Your idea would be helpful to us and correct...but most buyers would just be confused.

 

[Grumpy2]

I think Ford has provided a good tool to educate the range available and impacts of temperature on their website well beyond the EPA rating. I believe the different shades of gray reflect driving speed, altho that isn't clarified.

https://www.ford.com/electric/ev-range/?intcmp=vhp-cta-range

 

[Grease Lightning]

Hahaha you see, always a technical answer.

What technical fact rather than an emotional response, how dare this forum. We should all get torches and pitchforks and storm Dearborn right now.

I am curious, is your handle related to …..

 

[scoobybri]

Part of the issue is that EVs are measured in miles per kwh while cars are measured in miles per gallon. Let's say an ICE truck gets 16mpg on a 20 gallon tank. I'm using these numbers for an estimate comparison. That's 320 miles divided by 17. The ER XLT Lightning is rated at 320 miles divided by 131kw. Dividing 320 miles into 17 equal chunks is psychologically very different than dividing 320 in 131 equal chunks. A more psychologically "equal" comparison would to either make the divisor comparable. In this case, either dividing 131kw by 17(gals) which is 17 chunks of 7.7kw or dividing 17 gallons by
131(kwh) which is .13 gallons per 1 kw chunk. No one uses miles per .13 gallon. (In this case, the hypothetical ICE truck gets 2.0 miles per .13 gallon.) The 2023 3.5L Ecoboost Crew Cab would get 2.47 miles per "kwh" so slightly better than the Lightning EPA numbers.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

The funny thing about EPA tests is that they don't take ANY variables into effect, not even wind drag, because they're actually done INDOORS on a Dynamometer with things like the air conditioning turned off.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-economy/28004-epa-fuel-economy-explained.htm

Just keep one thing in mind. Assuming every vehicle is tested using the same method, a better score from one brand and model still gives you relative information for comparing it to other brands and models.

However, even when two vehicles get the same rating, if one of them is more aerodynamic, or has a more efficient HVAC, that vehicle will get better real world results.

So, although you can use the estimate to determine *approximately* which ones have a better score, you can only compare two vehicles with similar aerodynamics. Which also means that any efforts a manufacturer puts into decreasing wind drag will benefit customers, without improving their EPA score.

 

[Peddyr]

Hahaha you see, always a technical answer. But that never erase the fact... in average the lightning summer end winter don't cope the claimed autonomy.

Even if Ford Maga try to explain it

With a name like WeedmanU, I'd expect a lot less hostility

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