This will be my last attempt at a Lightning Road Trip

[Firn]

I am glad that this is working for many of you. As i said before my lifestyle does not require me to use public charging. I have an adapter and I may try the Tesla supercharger sometime.

In 2015 there was a question about fast charging the batteries and their longevity. Right now my 10 year old Tesla charges to 100% and still gets great kw/hr. So the method I chose, using only L2 charging worked well for me.

Tesla posted that Supercharging had very minimal effects on battery lifespan.

Longevity won't be noticed in percent SOC or kw/hr (mi/kwh?), those will look the same if you do or don't have batter degradation. The only way to tell is to check the software BMS (if you trust it) or a very specific drive test.

Point being, you probably wont have degradation with L2 charging, but you also likely would not have any degradation had you use DCFC as well. Depth of discharge, SOC, and temp will have more of an effect than even regular use of fast chargers.


Its your life and you do what you want. But from what you have described, you have changed your lifestyle to fit your vehicle, not the other way around.

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[evowner]

Its your life and you do what you want. But from what you have described, you have changed your lifestyle to fit your vehicle, not the other way around.

No, I have not changed anything. That has been the way I have been most of my adult life. My trips by auto are short. I know it is boring to many of you, sorry.

 

[LightQuest]

I am in one hotel, and my lightning is languishing at another hotel, hooked up to a slow-ass Blink L1 charger because it was all I could find. I had to take an Uber back to my hotel, and will have to take an uber back to the other one tomorrow morning, and hope that it picked up enough miles to get me to a real charger.
Until Ford decides to get serious and actually build a freaking network I will confine my Lightning driving to local only. The Ford Pass "network" is just a list. It doesn't work. What i have now are two nav systems (Google and Ford). Google is flawed and unreliable when it comes to charging, but at least I can get somewhere with it. Ford can't find many locations, has all the functionality of Garmin 2004, and looks awful. The FordPass app can find chargers and sometimes feed them to Google Maps, but it's as likely to take me to the wrong place or to a charger that is not available or compatible. After two long days of driving 2 hours to charge for an hour (when I can actually find a charger close to the route), collecting charging apps so I can sit in an isolated spot with no rest rooms and no amenities, I have had it. My wife is ready to leave the Lightning at an airport and rent an ICE so we can finish driving to our vacation destination.
Ford, if you're listening, quit making us beta test your tech. Get it together.

Solution: The Ford Tesla Adapter- Don't leave town without it.

 

[CavRider]

Solution: The Ford Tesla Adapter- Don't leave town without it.

Sure, as long as they actually send you one. (Mine finally arrived a few days ago after a nine month wait). Also, my A2Z was one of the last produced to be subject to recall. Still don’t have the replacement of that one.

 

[Rip]

Solution: The Ford Tesla Adapter- Don't leave town without it.

Yep...got one. The problem the other night was not lack of adapters, but lack of superchargers in range.

 

[Brons2]

I am glad that this is working for many of you. As i said before my lifestyle does not require me to use public charging. I have an adapter and I may try the Tesla supercharger sometime.

In 2015 there was a question about fast charging the batteries and their longevity. Right now my 10 year old Tesla charges to 100% and still gets great kw/hr. So the method I chose, using only L2 charging worked well for me.

That's fine if that's what you want to do, but when people are talking about L3 charging, don't come in and mix in your experience with L2 charging and think it's a contribution to the discussion.

We're driving somewhere next month for the weekend that is a 210 mile one way trip. My SR truck (and our SR Mach-E) do not have the range to make it, and there is not L2 charging available at my destination. Additionally, I have to be back at work Monday morning. Not using L3 is not an option for us. Anything you had to say about your lifestyle would not apply in this circumstance, and many others, to most people.

 

[Henry Ford]

It’s no fun being tethered to your home like a dog tied up in the yard. I didn’t buy a $100,000.00 truck to simply drive around a 100 Mile radius.

I rarely drive beyond the range of my truck. If it's beyond one charging stop I'll fly. Still pretty fun.

 

[evowner]

That's fine if that's what you want to do, but when people are talking about L3 charging, don't come in and mix in your experience with L2 charging and think it's a contribution to the discussion.

We're driving somewhere next month for the weekend that is a 210 mile one way trip. My SR truck (and our SR Mach-E) do not have the range to make it, and there is not L2 charging available at my destination. Additionally, I have to be back at work Monday morning. Not using L3 is not an option for us. Anything you had to say about your lifestyle would not apply in this circumstance, and many others, to most people.

That is all great for you. Thanks for mentioning that what I do is fine, however many here have commented that the way I am doing it wrong, or unusual. It is not wrong or unusual for me. Have a good trip.

I would also like to note that I am not opposed to L3 charging. As soon as I get a chance to change some electrical circuits at my shop I am going to install one.

 

[JackieDemarais]

I rarely drive beyond the range of my truck. If it's beyond one charging stop I'll fly. Still pretty fun.

If you like flying.

 

[Brons2]

If you like flying.

That is a relevant post for my family who don't like overly long road trips. I admire those of you who take your Lightnings and other EVs on multiple thousand mile road trips. It's just difficult to talk my wife into it.

 

[Henry Ford]

If you like flying.

I do like flying. That's the point; you like what you like and I like what I like. Use your truck however you want, I'll do the same.

 

[Rip]

I am in one hotel, and my lightning is languishing at another hotel, hooked up to a slow-ass Blink L1 charger because it was all I could find. I had to take an Uber back to my hotel, and will have to take an uber back to the other one tomorrow morning, and hope that it picked up enough miles to get me to a real charger.
Until Ford decides to get serious and actually build a freaking network I will confine my Lightning driving to local only. The Ford Pass "network" is just a list. It doesn't work. What i have now are two nav systems (Google and Ford). Google is flawed and unreliable when it comes to charging, but at least I can get somewhere with it. Ford can't find many locations, has all the functionality of Garmin 2004, and looks awful. The FordPass app can find chargers and sometimes feed them to Google Maps, but it's as likely to take me to the wrong place or to a charger that is not available or compatible. After two long days of driving 2 hours to charge for an hour (when I can actually find a charger close to the route), collecting charging apps so I can sit in an isolated spot with no rest rooms and no amenities, I have had it. My wife is ready to leave the Lightning at an airport and rent an ICE so we can finish driving to our vacation destination.
Ford, if you're listening, quit making us beta test your tech. Get it together.

An update: Following the trip back from Captiva in Florida to Southwest Harbor Maine, my original sentiment holds. Unless you like very long driving days with an unreliable and sometimes unpredictable charging network, the Lightning is an excellent vehicle fo 2-400 mile trips, but for anything beyond that, I will get something else (probably a hybrid). It is disappointing to say that, but the infrastructure is just not well-integrated or seamless enough to make it worthwhile.
I found that if Google Maps predicted an 8-hour trip, it was going to take 12 hours. I had to spend a lot of time uploading apps, joining apps, calling and talking to tech support to get charging started, finding other chargers when the one I had planned on using turned out to not be compatible (despite FordPass and the Tesla app claiming that they were). Now that all the support for expanding the charging network has been squelched, I can't see things getting better.
Ford needs to study the Tesla navigation app. It's seamless, easy to use, and finding and adding chargers to your route can be done with a couple of taps on the screen. Right now, trying to plan a road trip driving day is too much like work, and your plan can go awry right away.
Example: I left a hotel in Richmond, VA, with a plan to stop at a supercharger near the highway that was supposed to be compatible. As we drove, I watched the "percentage at destination" tick down from 14 miles to 12, then 10, then 8, and so I tried to find an alternative that would be closer. Of course, you can't really do that while you're driving, but it did come up with an alternative. I ended up having to wander around a circuitous route through the suburbs around Arlington and Alexandria, to find an EVConnect charger that required a call to tech support to get started. It turned out to only put out 60 KW. So I spent about half an hour finding another route to another better charger. Altogether that little adventure cost me probably an hour in a day that was already going to be a long one.
Adding the charger option to the Android Auto Google maps was a half-assed compromise. It will find chargers, but there doesn't seem to be a way to adjust the range, so it schedules stops where you arrive with 40%. What I ended up doing was looking further down the road using FordPass to find a better alternative, but then I had to drive to that destination and start the process all over.

 

[Mmiketa]

That is all great for you. Thanks for mentioning that what I do is fine, however many here have commented that the way I am doing it wrong, or unusual. It is not wrong or unusual for me. Have a good trip.

I would also like to note that I am not opposed to L3 charging. As soon as I get a chance to change some electrical circuits at my shop I am going to install one.

I do not recommend this. Level 3 chargers require a large amount of power and if you do not have 480V/3-phase at your shop you'll likely need one with an integral battery and it will be VERY pricey. Level 2 is great for home charging, level 3 is great for charging on a trip.

It sounds like you have some deeply ingrained ideas about EVs that a lot of the forum disagrees with. I am not going to tell you what to do, but I do know based on your posts that at least a handful of your assumptions are incorrect and you may decide something else is better for you if you researched some more.

 

[Firn]

An update: Following the trip back from Captiva in Florida to Southwest Harbor Maine, my original sentiment holds. Unless you like very long driving days with an unreliable and sometimes unpredictable charging network, the Lightning is an excellent vehicle fo 2-400 mile trips, but for anything beyond that, I will get something else (probably a hybrid). It is disappointing to say that, but the infrastructure is just not well-integrated or seamless enough to make it worthwhile.
I found that if Google Maps predicted an 8-hour trip, it was going to take 12 hours. I had to spend a lot of time uploading apps, joining apps, calling and talking to tech support to get charging started, finding other chargers when the one I had planned on using turned out to not be compatible (despite FordPass and the Tesla app claiming that they were). Now that all the support for expanding the charging network has been squelched, I can't see things getting better.
Ford needs to study the Tesla navigation app. It's seamless, easy to use, and finding and adding chargers to your route can be done with a couple of taps on the screen. Right now, trying to plan a road trip driving day is too much like work, and your plan can go awry right away.
Example: I left a hotel in Richmond, VA, with a plan to stop at a supercharger near the highway that was supposed to be compatible. As we drove, I watched the "percentage at destination" tick down from 14 miles to 12, then 10, then 8, and so I tried to find an alternative that would be closer. Of course, you can't really do that while you're driving, but it did come up with an alternative. I ended up having to wander around a circuitous route through the suburbs around Arlington and Alexandria, to find an EVConnect charger that required a call to tech support to get started. It turned out to only put out 60 KW. So I spent about half an hour finding another route to another better charger. Altogether that little adventure cost me probably an hour in a day that was already going to be a long one.
Adding the charger option to the Android Auto Google maps was a half-assed compromise. It will find chargers, but there doesn't seem to be a way to adjust the range, so it schedules stops where you arrive with 40%. What I ended up doing was looking further down the road using FordPass to find a better alternative, but then I had to drive to that destination and start the process all over.

Truly am sorry to hear this.

I have to admit thought that this has not been my experience at all. Within 3 days of owning the truck, our first ever EV, we took off for 1200 mile round trip, straight north through Michigan, and it was relatively event free. Within a month I did a 2000 mile round trip up and back for a funeral, that was also mostly event free (aside from one full charger where I screwed up and tried Shell...). A LONG day, but still event free. This was through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, all of which are FAR less developed than the east coast.

I will not claim their was not planning, but frankly a few minutes with ABRP was all it took.

 

[Henry Ford]

Adding the charger option to the Android Auto Google maps was a half-assed compromise. It will find chargers, but there doesn't seem to be a way to adjust the range, so it schedules stops where you arrive with 40%. What I ended up doing was looking further down the road using FordPass to find a better alternative, but then I had to drive to that destination and start the process all over.

If Google plans a route where you stop and charge at 40% I'd be inclined to stop and charge at 40%. However, this is based on my experience using Google Maps without charging stop integration. I find it to work really well. I'm not a road trippers though so maybe my intuition is off. Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in.

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