Unexpectedly low range

[Pioneer74]

I purchased a Lariat ER two weeks ago. I love the truck, but I'm getting 1.3-1.5 m/kwh. I have a usable range of 150 miles. I know I'm not going to get the advertised 300+, but I expected somewhere between 200-250. This is at 70mph, bluecruise, heat at 67 and everything else turned off. I set tire pressure to the recommended 42psi cold and I have a cover on the bed. I went back to the dealership today. They wouldn't bring it in to check for updates, and the salesman offered me $60k to trade it in. To me both responses are completely unacceptable. What am I doing wrong?

Bump your tire pressure up to 45 to 46 PSI and slow down.

 

[Computermedic78]

I'm at 45

Bump your tire pressure up to 45 to 46 PSI and slow down.

I'm at 45 warm

 

[Computermedic78]

I haven't found any difference between 1-pedal and the standard driving mode, and because the Lightning has blended brakes it's using regen to the extent it can anyway.

To the OP, just to confirm, it doesn't think you have a trailer attached? Have you checked in the towing menu? I've seen a lot of reports of unexpectedly low range where the cause was the truck still thinking it was towing.

No it doesn't think there is a trailer. I've even accidentally hit a trailer button and it yelled at me because there is no trailer

 

[Computermedic78]

In your example above the reason your battery maintained 100% SOC has nothing to do with whether the battery was Warm or not, it was because the Resistive heater to warm the cabin used Wall Energy instead of Battery energy.

But either way, You are somewhat correct. The battery does partially "precondition" or WARM on Level 1. Especially if charging throughout the night, as charging heats the battery. However Level 1 will not heat it as much as Level 2. So you will get better battery warming (i.e. Preconditioning) on Level 2 (240v).

I did extensive trial and documentations on the topic last winter. You best get to reading if you truly want to understand the precondition process.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/ideal-charging-practices.14066/post-294637



Apparently you need to get a OBDII reader and the car scanner app before you will believe us. The reason you had only 97% is because the battery used the energy to "Precondition" the cabin. That is where the energy went. There is a reason in the FORDPASS app it states "Precondition CABIN while unplugged". That is because that is all that is preconditioning when unplugged. NOT THE BATTERY. There would be literally no point to spend battery energy to warm a battery to get a more efficient battery with less remaining kwh, because the KWH were used to warm the battery. Insert favorite dog chasing tail GIF here!

I'm not talking about charge levels here. On the left side is power. When the battery is cold, it will limit your available power levels. I've seen mine drop down to 60% I know people have seen lower. When I precondition in 20 degree weather it will allow me to use 100%. When I do not, the available power drops. The truck DOES precondition the battery on a level 1 charger.

 

[TomB985]

The battery has the same amount of energy regardless of temperature. 80% is 80%, whether it's at 0º or 80º. It can't send or receive that energy as fast when cold, which is why the power limitation. The big efficiency gain from preconditioning is that you start using your battery with a warm cabin, rather than having to use stored energy to warm it up.

 

[Computermedic78]

Are you sure you're driving 70mph?

Just some quick math. My Trip 1 is at 1900 miles and 2.0mpk since October. 73% driving energy. So I've expended 950kWh driving 1900 miles. only 73% is driving, so it's 694kWh for 1900 miles, or 2.74mpk for driving only.

If you've driven 1600 miles at 1.5mpk (78% driving energy) that comes out to 1.92mpk for driving only. 2.74 to 1.92 is a pretty big gap. Also, I drive FAST. I'm regularly driving over 80 on the highway and most of my driving is commute which is 80% highway (though can be slow at times due to traffic).

I'd be very surprised if you were having efficiency that low for just 70mph highway driving. Tom Moloughney did a flat out winter range test in his Lariat ER and went 210+ miles at 17F and he has A/T tires on his truck so he loses some efficiency for the tires, too. His trip also included 1100 ft of elevation gain. That trip was 1.7mpk.

That's pretty much in line with my experience in the winter in New England. I do a 160 mile round trip up to the ski mountain most weekends in the winter and it never takes more than 70% of the battery, that would calculate out to about 230mi of range in very cold weather.

If you can confirm that you're actually only getting 1.5mpk (and it's not just a software glitch) then it's worth having the truck looked at.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When it's cold out and you start out at 100% (or close) the truck gives you an unrealistic range estimate (250 or 280 or whatever). It makes up for it by aggressively dropping range in the first half of the battery. You'll probably drop from 280 to 100 miles in the first 50% of the battery but in the second half the range estimate will be much more accurate and you'll probably get OVER 100 miles of driving from the time it says you have 100 miles left. It's just bad software design by Ford. They made that change last year because people were complaining that their truck was giving them a 220 mile range estimate when it was very cold out (even though that was pretty accurate).

The estimate being wrong is less of a problem than the fact that I'm actually getting the 150 mile range. It's a problem yes, but I'd rather get a little more and have the estimate be wrong than get less and have the estimate be right.

 

[luebri]

I'm not talking about charge levels here. On the left side is power. When the battery is cold, it will limit your available power levels. I've seen mine drop down to 60% I know people have seen lower. When I precondition in 20 degree weather it will allow me to use 100%. When I do not, the available power drops. The truck DOES precondition the battery on a level 1 charger.

Just because you have 100% power does not mean you are at the optimal Precondition HVB temp of ~60F

 

[Computermedic78]

The battery has the same amount of energy regardless of temperature. 80% is 80%, whether it's at 0º or 80º. It can't send or receive that energy as fast when cold, which is why the power limitation. The big efficiency gain from preconditioning is that you start using your battery with a warm cabin, rather than having to use stored energy to warm it up.

This is what I'm trying to say. Even on level 1, I don't get limited when I precondition. Thank you for being better with words than I am.

 

[Computermedic78]

OP, as @TaxmanHog mentioned I think you'll get better results once you are able to use a Level 2 EVSE to precondition. It'll make a big difference in getting the battery warmed up prior to a long drive. That Level 1 charger is going to struggle to put any real heat into the battery pack in cold temperatures.

Also, is it windy where you are? A 10mph headwind driving at 70mph is going to hit efficiency like driving at 80mph on a calm day. I've found the Lightning really starts losing efficiency due to its aerodynamics above 65mph speeds.

It hasn't been particularly windy here lately. The drives have been calm no major weather other than a few rainy nights that I didn't have to drive through.

 

[Computermedic78]

Just because you have 100% power does not mean you are at the optimal Precondition HVB temp of ~60F

I have never the graph anywhere other than dead center in the morning.

 

[luebri]

I have never the graph anywhere other than dead center in the morning.

You need a OBDII reader to see actual HVB temps. The icons on the gauge cluster ive never seen move.

I am hopping my truck shortly, it's been outside all day. Its 45F outside, my guess is I will have 100% power but my HVB temp will be close to ambient of 45F. Ill snap some pics and show you.

60F is the target precondition temp. You will not get there on 120v... you will get warming that occurs but you wont get to 60F

 

[LightningShow]

The estimate being wrong is less of a problem than the fact that I'm actually getting the 150 mile range. It's a problem yes, but I'd rather get a little more and have the estimate be wrong than get less and have the estimate be right.

if you’re legitimately only getting 150 miles in early winter conditions then there is something wrong with the truck.

 

[The Weatherman]

What @LightningShow said ^.

 

[Amps]

it does precondition on level 1 if you tell it to precondition when unplugged.

It warms the cabin using energy from your high voltage battery. You can't do much with 1.4 kW Level 1 input. The cabin heater will consume ~4 to 5 times that much power initially. Once you have Level 2 at home that exceeds the power consumption of the cabin heat, you should see an improvement. You didn't mention how much range you need between charging opportunities.

 

[TaxmanHog]

23% climate!!! @TaxmanHog likes a toasty cabin!

Actually, the Secretary of my Treasury requires it, LOL

Sponsored