New to Ford Lightning

[Freemarket]

I bought a 2024 ford lightning a few weeks ago. Have been working through the flat spot in the tires issue for the last week and an half. Original test drive had some serious vibrations. After a few services (along with specific requests from me), dealer agreed to replace the tires. I asked for AT’s and we landed on the Bridgestone Duellers. Just got it back today. I’m mostly happy with it (95% of the vibrations are gone) but…..

The truck has 140 miles on it now and a week ago it shows 278 at 100%, a 2024 Platinum. Dealer may have put 20-30 miles of test drives in service on it, now showing 253 max charge.

What are my next steps? I’m concerned about the battery drain and potentially that it’s been sitting around for months at a low charge causing irreparable damage. Shouldn’t I be close to 300?

Any one, would love to know your thoughts, similar experiences…..

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[potato]

You can search "guess O meter" or "GOM" for plenty of discussion on the topic. LOL. The estimated range is rarely accurate. It's based on recent driving habits. So if you've been doing lots of slow speed city driving it will be higher; lots of high speed highways and it will be lower.

Most importantly, EVs are significantly less efficient in winter. You lose 30 or 40% of range if it's really cold. Without knowing your location or the conditions you're driving in, it's not clear how much this part affects you. But the lower range in winter is always a popular topic this time of year

 

[Freemarket]

You can search "guess O meter" or "GOM" for plenty of discussion on the topic. LOL. The estimated range is rarely accurate. It's based on recent driving habits. So if you've been doing lots of slow speed city driving it will be higher; lots of high speed highways and it will be lower.

Most importantly, EVs are significantly less efficient in winter. You lose 30 or 40% of range if it's really cold. Without knowing your location or the conditions you're driving in, it's not clear how much this part affects you. But the lower range in winter is always a popular topic this time of year

This is pretty hilarious tbh. I have 3 other electrics, Tesla CT, X and an S.

Audi went this same route with an E-Tron I had. Personally I think the driver based range calculation is the worst way to do it. How do you plan for an out of town trip when your vehicle tells you its range is 20-30% less than rated in a few hundred miles of ownership. It just creates range anxiety.

I had done a little research on this, but the GOM being a thing really does crack me up. Luckily, I have a 2022 Raptor too so I knew I wanted an electrified F150. If this were my first electric I think I’d have fallen out of love tbh.

Luckily I am using this one for in town driving only so it’ll only drive me a little crazy.

 

[Maquis]

If you’re concerned about the battery health, you can get an ODB connector and CarScanner to see it. I’d bet it’s fine. The GOM seems to be all over the place on both of my Ford EVs. I just ignore it and watch MPK and % SoC.

 

[Zprime29]

It will eventually re-adjust to your driving habits. If you live in a crazy cold climate (crazy for me means you get under freezing more often than not) then be prepared for optimistic range estimates when over 80% SOC.

Second what @Maquis said, just watch your SOC and efficiency as a measure of battery health and DIY range estimation.

 

[Zprime29]

After a few services (along with specific requests from me), dealer agreed to replace the tires. I asked for AT’s and we landed on the Bridgestone Duellers.

I have the dueler ascent on mine, right around 1k miles on them so far. As far as I can tell, I have no loss in range and they look great.

 

[RickKeen]

Also keep in mind the EPA rated range is bsed on a blend of the EPA City course and the poorly-named EPA "highway" course which stays under 60 MPH and has an average speed of only 48.3 MPH. The two course are blended 55% city + 45% highways.

The sticker range takes what is measured in the lab multiplied by 70% to account for temperature and cabin heat or air conditioning and other factors. So there is some optimism to be had that the number can be achieved in some circumstances, but a direct correlation between the rated range and what you can achieve on any given day is not possible.

The Guess-o-Meter does a pretty good job considering how unpredictable driving efficiency actually is in the real world.

From the EPA site:
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fuel-economy-and-ev-range-testing

Range Testing for Electric Vehicles
An all-electric vehicle (EV) produces no smog-forming or greenhouse gas emissions from its tailpipe. For EVs, vehicle testing provides important label information, such as fuel economy and range.

For EV Range Testing:

1. A vehicle with a fully charged battery is driven continuously over the EPA city cycle until the battery is depleted and the vehicle can drive no further. The distance driven is recorded. This is repeated, again starting with a full charge, over the EPA highway cycle, again recording the distance driven when the battery is depleted. This “single cycle” test consists of multiple repeat drives of the city or highway cycle.
2. Automakers also have the option of doing a multi-cycle test, which consists of four city cycles, two highway cycles, and two constant speed cycles.*
3. All testing is done in a laboratory on a dynamometer.
4. The city and highway driving ranges determined from this testing are adjusted to account for real-world factors that are not represented on the laboratory test procedures. These factors include such things the impact of air conditioning, of cold temperatures, and of high speed and aggressive driving behavior. Although the regulations allow some optional approaches, the most common approach is to use a factor of 0.7 to adjust all the test parameters, including range. For example:
   • An EV achieves 200 miles on the highway laboratory test. Real-world highway driving range → 200 x 0.7 = 140 miles to account for aggressive driving and HVAC use.
5. The adjusted city and highway range values are weighted together by 55% and 45%, respectively, to determine the combined city and highway driving range that appears on the EPA fuel economy label. For example:
   • Assume an adjusted city range of 168 miles and an adjusted highway range of 140 (from example above). The official combined range value → (0.55 x 168) + (0.45 x 140) = 155 miles (values are rounded to the nearest whole number).

Specific details on testing can be found in EPA regulations at 40 CFR 600.116-12 - Special procedures related to electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. For more information on the other acceptable (“optional”) approaches, visit 40 CFR 600.210-12 Calculation of fuel economy and CO2 emission values for labeling.

 

[Freemarket]

Also keep in mind the EPA rated range is bsed on a blend of the EPA City course and the poorly-named EPA "highway" course which stays under 60 MPH and has an average speed of only 48.3 MPH. The two course are blended 55% city + 45% highways.

The sticker range takes what is measured in the lab multiplied by 70% to account for temperature and cabin heat or air conditioning and other factors. So there is some optimism to be had that the number can be achieved in some circumstances, but a direct correlation between the rated range and what you can achieve on any given day is not possible.

The Guess-o-Meter does a pretty good job considering how unpredictable driving efficiency actually is in the real world.

From the EPA site:
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fuel-economy-and-ev-range-testing

Range Testing for Electric Vehicles
An all-electric vehicle (EV) produces no smog-forming or greenhouse gas emissions from its tailpipe. For EVs, vehicle testing provides important label information, such as fuel economy and range.

For EV Range Testing:

1. A vehicle with a fully charged battery is driven continuously over the EPA city cycle until the battery is depleted and the vehicle can drive no further. The distance driven is recorded. This is repeated, again starting with a full charge, over the EPA highway cycle, again recording the distance driven when the battery is depleted. This “single cycle” test consists of multiple repeat drives of the city or highway cycle.
2. Automakers also have the option of doing a multi-cycle test, which consists of four city cycles, two highway cycles, and two constant speed cycles.*
3. All testing is done in a laboratory on a dynamometer.
4. The city and highway driving ranges determined from this testing are adjusted to account for real-world factors that are not represented on the laboratory test procedures. These factors include such things the impact of air conditioning, of cold temperatures, and of high speed and aggressive driving behavior. Although the regulations allow some optional approaches, the most common approach is to use a factor of 0.7 to adjust all the test parameters, including range. For example:
   • An EV achieves 200 miles on the highway laboratory test. Real-world highway driving range → 200 x 0.7 = 140 miles to account for aggressive driving and HVAC use.
5. The adjusted city and highway range values are weighted together by 55% and 45%, respectively, to determine the combined city and highway driving range that appears on the EPA fuel economy label. For example:
   • Assume an adjusted city range of 168 miles and an adjusted highway range of 140 (from example above). The official combined range value → (0.55 x 168) + (0.45 x 140) = 155 miles (values are rounded to the nearest whole number).

Specific details on testing can be found in EPA regulations at 40 CFR 600.116-12 - Special procedures related to electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. For more information on the other acceptable (“optional”) approaches, visit 40 CFR 600.210-12 Calculation of fuel economy and CO2 emission values for labeling.

The short answer in my mind is every EV mfg should have a stated range and let the range slide in real time based on driver input. That gives the driver a better awareness of their impact on the expected best case. Otherwise, it’s torture and mental gymnastics for most people that don’t have time nor energy to get into the math. It also will impact resale of course because the buyers market has to understand these factors to account for them on degradation.

 

[luebri]

I bought a 2024 ford lightning a few weeks ago. Have been working through the flat spot in the tires issue for the last week and an half. Original test drive had some serious vibrations. After a few services (along with specific requests from me), dealer agreed to replace the tires. I asked for AT’s and we landed on the Bridgestone Duellers. Just got it back today. I’m mostly happy with it (95% of the vibrations are gone) but…..

The truck has 140 miles on it now and a week ago it shows 278 at 100%, a 2024 Platinum. Dealer may have put 20-30 miles of test drives in service on it, now showing 253 max charge.

What are my next steps? I’m concerned about the battery drain and potentially that it’s been sitting around for months at a low charge causing irreparable damage. Shouldn’t I be close to 300?

Any one, would love to know your thoughts, similar experiences…..

Review this. These are estimates based on 30,000+ miles in various temperatures. The feedback I have received is these estimates are fairly good for our trucks. My Extended Range (ER) estimates are based off a Lariat, so maybe your Platinum would very slightly less efficient but these estimates are still going to very close.

 

[Freemarket]

Review this. These are estimates based on 30,000+ miles in various temperatures. The feedback I have received is these estimates are fairly good for our trucks. My Extended Range (ER) estimates are based off a Lariat, so maybe your Platinum would very slightly less efficient but these estimates are still going to very close.

Definitely helpful in case I do decide to drive it 100 miles away from home or the nearest charger

thank you

 

[TaxmanHog]

With regard to the vibrations, pay attention to the lane keeping warning vibration when veering too close to lane markers, that has thrown some of us for a surprise, having never experienced it before, if that is the cause of your situation, you have three levels of intensity to select from.

 

[Freemarket]

With regard to the vibrations, pay attention to the lane keeping warning vibration when veering too close to lane markers, that has thrown some of us for a surprise, having never experienced it before, if that is the cause of your situation, you have three levels of intensity to select from.

I know what you’re talking about. I have a 2022 raptor with the same system. It definitely is not that. I’ve been driving the truck around now though for about 60 miles since yesterday and I’m happy with it. The Bridgestone duellers definitely are a great tire. The flat spots on the other tires was definitely my issue.

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