Potential to upgrade Lightning to 350kw in future?

[DetroitHustle]

Please excuse my ignorance if this was shared elsewhere, but would it be possible to allow the F150 Lightning to charge at 350kw vs 150kw with some type of add on in the future? I’m not sure if this would require an entirely new battery or if it would be possible. This would really solve some of my concerns with the current 230 range in the future.

Sponsored

 

[Maquis]

No. The 400V battery architecture makes the absolute max about 160kw. (400V x 400A)

 

[Texas Dan]

Considering that these trucks are going to be on the road for at least a couple of decades, anything is possible. Remember, modern EV technology is still very new. The technology is still so new that there is still no high voltage battery aftermarket.

As time goes by the aftermarket will grow. But aftermarket will never catch up with the latest new car technology. Most cars go to the scrap yard not because the cars can’t be upgraded or repaired but because people would rather spend their money on the latest technology.

I think the F150L is going to be desirable for much longer than most car models. The technology is just incredible and I don’t see that getting old anytime soon. As the most popular automobile model in the USA you know aftermarket suppliers are going to focus on the F150L.

That being said, don’t count on anything. The focus of aftermarket suppliers is to make used cars more desirable but not to compete with new cars. I recommend that you buy the best EV that meets your needs and don’t worry about what may be available as an aftermarket sometime in the future.

 

[Halbach]

Please excuse my ignorance if this was shared elsewhere, but would it be possible to allow the F150 Lightning to charge at 350kw vs 150kw with some type of add on in the future? I’m not sure if this would require an entirely new battery or if it would be possible. This would really solve some of my concerns with the current 230 range in the future.

A 3.5C rate on the 98kwh SR battery is probably not something you want to do too often even if it was possible.

 

[sotek2345]

All things are possible if you have enough money!

 

[LightningLover]

Please excuse my ignorance if this was shared elsewhere, but would it be possible to allow the F150 Lightning to charge at 350kw vs 150kw with some type of add on in the future? I’m not sure if this would require an entirely new battery or if it would be possible. This would really solve some of my concerns with the current 230 range in the future.

Not with the existing hardware.

 

[PV2EV]

I believe the auto industry is going to be so busy designing and building EVs that their will be no major factory HW upgrades to existing models. And aftermarket mods will be limited in scope and focused on models with high numbers.

 

[astricklin]

As had been said, you would have to swap out pretty much all the battery and charging hardware in the vehicle, inverters, battery management system and possibly even motor controllers. Pretty much everything for the powertrain minus the motors themselves. It would be wildly expensive, if you could even get the components. You'll be better off just buying a new truck.

I will add that if the charging speed and the range work for you today, then they'll most likely work for you into the future. If you're maxing out the range of the vehicle on a daily or weekly basis, then honestly this probably isn't the vehicle for you and you should wait a couple of years until the next gen truck (or look at the Chevy or RAM).

 

[Blainestang]

No. The 400V battery architecture makes the absolute max about 160kw. (400V x 400A)

Teslas have ~400V battery architecture and charge way above 160kW, so it's not an *inherent* limit of a 400V system.

And my Model 3 originally charged at 120kW-150kW, max, but was later software "updated" to be able to charge at 250kW.

That being said, I could see the Lightning SR getting a charge speed bump during it's lifetime, but it's extremely unlikely that it would be able to do more than ~200kW because Ford is unlikely to have built in the extra cooling capacity for a huge max rate jump.

 

[Roy2001]

No. The 400V battery architecture makes the absolute max about 160kw. (400V x 400A)

Tesla 400v can reach 250kW.

 

[jaykoolzboy]

New EVGO 350KWh charger, hitting 178 to 180 consistently for roughly 6 mins , lightning can be charged way above 150kwh, I see 200 KWh for 10+ minutes as something Ford can definitely achieve rather soon.

 

[Blainestang]

New EVGO 350KWh charger, hitting 178 to 180 consistently for roughly 6 mins , lightning can be charged way above 150kwh, I see 200 KWh for 10+ minutes as something Ford can definitely achieve rather soon.

ER or SR?

I hope you're right that they significantly increase the rate with time. 200kW shouldn't be hard for a 131kWh battery (ER), or a 98kWh battery for that matter.

 

[jaykoolzboy]

ER or SR?

I hope you're right that they significantly increase the rate with time. 200kW shouldn't be hard for a 131kWh battery (ER), or a 98kWh battery for that matter.

ER , I only get those numbers from the newest EVGO stations.

 

[Maquis]

The CCS2 connector is rated 400A. You’ll never see over 160KW for more than a few minutes before the temperature sensor on the connector tells the truck to throttle back. Ford has been criticized for 2 years now for choosing the 400V architecture for this very reason. Our wishful thinking won’t fix that.

 

[Blainestang]

The CCS2 connector is rated 400A. You’ll never see over 160KW for more than a few minutes before the temperature sensor on the connector tells the truck to throttle back. Ford has been criticized for 2 years now for choosing the 400V architecture for this very reason. Our wishful thinking won’t fix that.

Some EA chargers are 500A capable and Rivian (while being ~400A) is able to charge >200kW at these chargers.

I was clarifying that 400A is not a hard limit for a 400V architecture. It's a limit of the typical charging infrastructure, perhaps, but there are hundreds of thousands of Teslas charging faster than 160kW on 400V architecture. Rivian, as well.

Sponsored