Resources if you run out of charge?

[rdr854]

I believe the Lightning is not towable but must be trailered on a flatbed.

According to the owners manual, it can also be dollied with a normal wrecker. Just can’t use an old fashioned type wrecker with a sling.

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[Texas Dan]

What does one do if you run out of charge? Does Ford offer some kind of roadside assistance to have someone swing by and charge you on the spot? Or is it up to the owner to find a source?

Only newbies run their EVs out of charge. Experience EV operators know how to accurately estimate their EVs range and plan accordingly. Since EV operators watch their range much more closely, statically EV operators run out of charge much less often than ICE operators run out of fuel.

 

[eRock77]

I've run very short on charge in an area where there were no chargers listed on plugshare, let alone on FordPass. It's intimidating. I was able to eke out the mileage I needed. What you end up having to do is first turn off any heat or AC related accessories, then slow down drastically. 50MPH on the freeway may be all you can do. Then you watch the range meter. If it's even to the range needed as you drive you will be fine. Obviously if you don't have enough to get there at the beginning you may want to not leave in the first place or plug into a 110. AAA will tow you to the nearest charger, but you may have to pay them for mileage if it's more than a couple of miles like usual.

Also, don't forget you have the enormous buffers that Ford put in there for us knuckle draggers. That means that zero is not really zero, you can get a few more miles out of it before it's actually dead. My 98kWh SR actually has 106kWh according to the sticker on the battery, so that looks like a 7.5% reserve to me! Just like when your old gas light went on, we all knew there was another 20 miles or so left. Maybe.

 

[VAF84]

Someone mentioned using the Nav, but I’d say don’t strictly depend on that. Use your plug share app to check for additional power sources.

Ford refuses to add the only DC fast charger in a 20 mile charging desert to the nav because it’s “not in their network”. So if I use the nav with low battery in that area it just panics about range and tries to reroute me a one hour sidetrack to my nearby destination. Always check other sources, don’t just depend on Ford.

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