Went to check one out in person today

[Gullwing]

No, that's not the consensus, that's one person's opinion.

The ER has a 131kWh battery. Therefore, on the highway, assuming only 1.9 miles per kWh, you can go about 249 miles. Therefore, unless your roundtrip is going to exceed about 225 miles, you wouldn't likely need to charge (unless it's winter).

You wouldn't want to sit at a slow charger for long periods of time, correct. But, let's say you drove 100 miles, and then you drove 40 more locally. Now, you have 100 miles to get home. That's a total of 240. You're thinking you'd like say another 40 miles of range. Assuming a 7kWh local charger, and your 1.9 miles per kWh, that's 3 hours of charging. Yup, may not want to do that. BUT, what you're missing is that you can hit a fast charger either before your arrive, or on your way home, just to get enough to get home. So, looking at the destination only is not enough.

A better tool for trip planning is ABRP (A Better Route Planner). Use their website, create a free account, and put in your roundtrip. Plan on arriving home with 20% battery (when you get experienced you can lower that). It will then tell you where to charge and for how long to make it home. If you only put in the 1 way trip, it will say, correctly, that you do not need to charge.

Yes, on any overnight trip, ideally you want a hotel for charging. But, you can't plan on those being available, so you also want a backup plan for DC fast charging.

PlugShare is not great for trip planning. It shines for looking up locations when planning AND day of trip to see if they're good to stop at or should be avoided.

This! This is great info, thanks. When I first started researching the Lightning I figured with an ER battery and Ford saying 320 miles real world distance was probably around 250 miles or so depending on state of charge, environmental conditions and type of driving. Then I was reading reviews and watching videos where it seemed people needed to charge every 100 or so miles, which seemed crazy. Maybe it's early onset range anxiety but I became worried that every time I drove the truck I'd need to know where chargers were located. Sounds like just takes a bit more planning for a trip. Look for DC fast chargers along my route if not able to let the truck sit and level 2 charge for a while.

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[RickLightning]

Correct. Remember on a longer trip it works this way.

Leg 1 - leave house at 100%. Stop to charge at 20% (assuming spacing of chargers / bathroom needs work that way). 131 x (100%-20%) x 1.9 = 199 miles.

Leg 2 and on - Drive from 80% to 20%. 131 x (80%-20%) x 1.9 = 149 miles.

Last leg, arrive home with 10% or less.

This can all vary greatly based on temperature (worse), topography or speed (worse). But, if you drive 65 instead of 75, and get 2.3 instead of 1.9, then math changes.

131 x (100% - 20%) x 2.3 = 241, you gained 42 miles.

As you get used to the truck, you'll have a number in your head easily. My Mach-E is 2.9 to 3.0, I use 2.7 for planning. 2.7 x 91 = 246 miles. I can't drive close to that without stopping for a bathroom break, and charging.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

Thanks for the info. As part of my research I've downloaded the app and created an account on the site to play with the trip planner using it for a few of the trips I've taken.
So is the consensus anything more than 100 miles plan ahead and find charging? For example, a couple of weeks ago we did a weekend trip which was ~100 miles each way and some driving while there. Looking at our destination there were no fast chargers and only a handful of level 2 chargers. Since staying overnight I'm thinking find a hotel that has charging and charge up there so to not have to sit for long periods at a slower charger.

Yeah, on that trip you would need to be charged to 100% before you leave, and limit driving while there, if you plan to do it without charging. Going more than 100 miles from home without planning ahead for charging, it gets very sketchy on making it back, and it limits your ability to go use the truck to go to dinner, etc. while you are visiting friends or family. Not very cool to show up in the new truck, and say "Yeah, we can take it to dinner, but then I have to go find a WalMart to sit at so I can make it back home."
I love my truck, but compared to being able to take the wife's car and put gas in it anywhere I go...the Lightning stays at home.

 

[RickLightning]

I'd also point out that today, charging is very location dependent. Texas is not California, is not Virginia, is not Michigan. Parts of some states are wastelands for charging. Some states have an enormous amount of charging that has lines at times. Other states are ghost towns at chargers. Some states (West Virginia) have zero CCS charging options. ZERO.

Come Spring 2024, when Telsa opens 12,000 Superchargers to Ford, it's a game changer. The $7.5B is a game change WHEN enough of it gets done.

We have driven through 14 states with our EVs in the past 2 years. We have had ONE location that was full and we bypassed. We have had ONE location where we had a line for the one working charger. We have had more than a handful where we had to switch chargers. We have had many locations in 2021, and some in 2022, and even 2023, where it was a ghost town. We drove 2,950 miles in February, from Michigan to Florida and back.

It's all changing. It will get better, and worse, for a while. Go for it!

 

[MM in SouthTX]

Come Spring 2024, when Telsa opens 12,000 Superchargers to Ford, it's a game changer.

I hope you're right, but Elon Musk has a very long track record of overpromising and underdelivering. Maybe with GM, Ford, etc. participating, he will have to deliver on this one. It would be a game changer for me in this charging desert...but as you say ("and worse") there still might not be enough chargers to service the HUGE number of EV's coming online.

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