Will it fit me?

[Azpt22]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum and hoping to receive some insight into a big upcoming vehicle decision.

A little backstory - I work in sales and currently have a company vehicle. I am in the process of accepting a new position which does not have this benefit and thus am looking to purchase a vehicle of my own.

I want a 2023 Lariat ER which is why I am here -just curious on how you think it would fit my situation…

I average daily commuting between 60 miles up to 200 miles, and ~3 days per month where I must travel ~400 miles round trip to and from a rural site.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona so it gets hot, but of course avoids frigid winters.

I would be parking the truck outside and likely installing the Ford power pack for home charging. Only charging outside the home on my round trip commutes where it’s unavoidable.

I have read up quite a bit on the Ligtning and here are some concerns:

- Highway driving: In AZ I will be on a highway/freeway a lot due to how sprawling it is here. How much will this realistically crush my range?

- Charging time: Using Tesla’s network is awesome, but sounds like the time it takes to charge a Lightning is painful. Can this ever improve with OTAs or are these models limited like this forever?

- Heat: I know the battery has a protection feature for hot temps, but this is only active when plugged in. During my work day I may travel 200 total miles but this could include visiting 3 different locations and parking (unconnected) in the hot sun. Will this significantly impact my range, overall battery health, etc. to where I am regretting having the truck in a year or two?

I have plenty more questions but wanted to start here. I want a Lightning bad, but also want to be realistic. Appreciate any comments that you all can share.

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[Dan C]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum and hoping to receive some insight into a big upcoming vehicle decision.

A little backstory - I work in sales and currently have a company vehicle. I am in the process of accepting a new position which does not have this benefit and thus am looking to purchase a vehicle of my own.

I want a 2023 Lariat ER which is why I am here -just curious on how you think it would fit my situation…

I average daily commuting between 60 miles up to 200 miles, and ~3 days per month where I must travel ~400 miles round trip to and from a rural site.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona so it gets hot, but of course avoids frigid winters.

I would be parking the truck outside and likely installing the Ford power pack for home charging. Only charging outside the home on my round trip commutes where it’s unavoidable.

I have read up quite a bit on the Ligtning and here are some concerns:

- Highway driving: In AZ I will be on a highway/freeway a lot due to how sprawling it is here. How much will this realistically crush my range?

- Charging time: Using Tesla’s network is awesome, but sounds like the time it takes to charge a Lightning is painful. Can this ever improve with OTAs or are these models limited like this forever?

- Heat: I know the battery has a protection feature for hot temps, but this is only active when plugged in. During my work day I may travel 200 total miles but this could include visiting 3 different locations and parking (unconnected) in the hot sun. Will this significantly impact my range, overall battery health, etc. to where I am regretting having the truck in a year or two?

I have plenty more questions but wanted to start here. I want a Lightning bad, but also want to be realistic. Appreciate any comments that you all can share.

It really depends on your driving speed mostly. Ball park you are going to get around 250 miles from a full charge. So on your 400 mile day you will need to find another 150 miles. I would say about a half hour on a super charger. Then charge at home. I don't think that charging to a high level on an ac charger is going to do great harm to your battery, but plan your days and charge what you need. The biggest change to ev driving is planning. If you have a plan it will work out.

 

[Peddyr]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum and hoping to receive some insight into a big upcoming vehicle decision.

A little backstory - I work in sales and currently have a company vehicle. I am in the process of accepting a new position which does not have this benefit and thus am looking to purchase a vehicle of my own.

I want a 2023 Lariat ER which is why I am here -just curious on how you think it would fit my situation…

I average daily commuting between 60 miles up to 200 miles, and ~3 days per month where I must travel ~400 miles round trip to and from a rural site.

I live in Phoenix, Arizona so it gets hot, but of course avoids frigid winters.

I would be parking the truck outside and likely installing the Ford power pack for home charging. Only charging outside the home on my round trip commutes where it’s unavoidable.

I have read up quite a bit on the Ligtning and here are some concerns:

- Highway driving: In AZ I will be on a highway/freeway a lot due to how sprawling it is here. How much will this realistically crush my range?

- Charging time: Using Tesla’s network is awesome, but sounds like the time it takes to charge a Lightning is painful. Can this ever improve with OTAs or are these models limited like this forever?

- Heat: I know the battery has a protection feature for hot temps, but this is only active when plugged in. During my work day I may travel 200 total miles but this could include visiting 3 different locations and parking (unconnected) in the hot sun. Will this significantly impact my range, overall battery health, etc. to where I am regretting having the truck in a year or two?

I have plenty more questions but wanted to start here. I want a Lightning bad, but also want to be realistic. Appreciate any comments that you all can share.

it will likely work out fine for your daily commute. As Dan C pointed out, it will depend on your driving habbits. If you average between 70-75 on the highway, you'll probably be fine. For the 400 mile trip, the app plugshare is your friend. Identify a charging station that has good uptime and plan accordingly. As you get into a routine, managing trips will become easier. My round trip commute is north of 100 miles per day, with about 60% of that being highway miles, and during the warm weather I usually get home with more than 50% left on my battery. I know some people have had mechanical issues with their trucks, but I've had mine for about 20 months now and it's the best vehicle I've ever owned, and its really not even close. Good luck with your decision and if you have any other questions, click on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner. Chances are its already been asked and answered.

 

[farmtruck]

I hope some of your neighbors in AZ chime in on what your true range will be. I run about 220 miles max here in SD with my Lariat ER. High winds will cost me around 20% of range. Locate charging that fits your travel needs. It may mean your 400 mile drive will become a 450 mile drive just so you can safely reach usable fast chargers.

 

[tubby]

These are all good answers here for you and there are many others throughout this forum which will help also which was stated earlier. Here in IA, I tend to agree with John on farmtruck from SD on the 220 range, since we have lots of wind in this area compared to AZ. In summary, there is a good chance you will not be happy on your mandatory 400 miles trips. That, to me, is not what the first version of the Lightning was designed for. If your travels could always allow you to charge at home, you would never go back to an ICE. I know I never will, especially when charging rates here are less than 1/5 the price of gas. It is hard to put a total cost savings on it though, since the truck is still a bit high priced and with an unknown battery replacement cost in X years, which depreciates the value of the vehicle very fast. Also, insurance is becoming more known to cost around 25% more on an EV due to accident repair costs. If you do pull the trigger and do not worry about the limited anxiety trips (and are very patient when taking all that time to charge), it will likely be the best and most favorite vehicle you will have owned to date.

 

[Maquis]

The charging speed will not be markedly improved - it’s limited by battery voltage. That said, it’s not terrible. Your probably looking at a 40-45 minute charging stop on your 400 mile trip if the charging location is somewhat near the midpoint.

 

[djwildstar]

Hi!

I have driven my ER Lariat for over a year and 21,000 miles so far. Overall my wife and I love the truck. My driving is a mix of commuting, local errand-running, and so far 5 road trips in the 800-1200 mile range. My lifetime to-date efficiency is 2.3 mi/kWh. I wanted a pickup truck because I do woodworking as a hobby -- and the Lightning hauls a few hundred board-feet of hardwood like a champ.

Range and Speed: In an EV, the faster you go, the faster you burn through the battery. Motor Trend did a set of highway range tests, driving from 100% to 5%. They got 304 miles at 60, 240 miles at 70, and 194 miles at 80. In normal use, you'll more likely to be driving from 90% to 10%, so expect to go about 255 miles at 60 MPH, 200 at 70 MPH, and 160 at 80 MPH.

Commuting: I don't drive every day, but when I do drive (about 3 times a week) it is a 75-mile day. The Lightning has absolutely no problem doing that day after day, potentially every day if you need to. This is about half of my total mileage. The road trips are about a quarter, and local errand-running is another quarter.

Your 200-mile days are do-able with an ER Lightning, driving from 90% down to 10% if you can keep your efficiency above 1.9 mi/kWh. This is quite do-able, depending on how much time you spend on the highway over 70 versus local roads under 50. If your longer days are predicatable in advance, the Lightning can charge to 100% the night before; this should give you a good bit of cushion.

Road Trips: Your 400-mile trips will require charging. I suggest putting the trip into ABRP (A Better Route Planner, website or app) and seeing what it comes up with in terms of route and charging. If you'll be staying overnight at the destination, see about charging while you sleep; many rural locations have 240V outlets for power tools. While the Ford mobile charger only plugs into 14-50 outlets, there are chargers out there that can use a variety of 240V outlets including 15A, 20A, 30A, and 50A variations. Before I got my Charge Station Pro hardwired, I charged my truck from a 6-20 (240V 20A) power tool outlet in my shop: 9 hours on that would put 75-80 miles back in the battery.

Heat: I live in Georgia, so not as hot as Arizona, but no slouch in the heat department. My truck lives outside 24/7, and the Charge Station Pro is installed on the outside wall of the house next to where I park. I've had no problems with parking and charging outside. No problems with heat, either: the truck has been parked outside in 100F+ days here, and one of our road trips was to Disney World in July, where it sat in Disney's parking lots in the full sun. Despite that, battery degradation is less than 1% in the first year. The operating temperature range for lithium-ion batteries is from -4F all the way up to 140F, so even in Arizona you should be good.

Charging Time: Ford's specifications say that your best charging time will be 41 minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. This speed is limited by the truck's battery chemistry, architecture, and the truck's systems. Software updates are unlikely to change this by more than a few percent: after the fast-charging updates late last year, I saw a 5% improvement ... so 39 minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. Since this is the truck's limit, as long as the charger can supply at least 150kW, the charger doesn't make a significant difference either. All of the compatible Tesla SuperChargers can provide these kinds of speeds, as can chargers Electrify America, Pilot/Flying-J, and Buc-Ees charging stations.

Other Benefits: Waking up to a truck that has a "full" (90%) battery every morning is one of the best things about owning an EV. You don't realize how much you resent having to take time out of your day to pump gas until you don't have to do it any more. Also, the entire maintenance schedule for the first 100,000 miles is to rotate the tires every 10,000 miles and change the cabin air filter every 20,000 miles. That's it.

 

[RocketGhost]

I think you'd be a good use case. The only concern I have is the available of DCFC on your 400 mile route. Don't rely on just one - it could be occupied or out of order. Always make sure you have backup station(s) in mind. Also keep in mind that charging 80%+ on a fast charger is painfully slow, so don't rely on having to go past that.

Ford says for regular use charge to 90% but it's fine to charge to 100%. If you know you'll have a 200 mile day, I'd go ahead and go to 100% for that extra cushion. If you aren't sure, it's ok to do 100%. A full charge on an ER will be enough to comfortably go 200 miles as long as you keep your speed down.

As for your home charger, it's not necessary to have more amps than you really need. If you can plug it in for 10 hours every night, you don't need to charge at 80a. That can significantly reduce installation costs (don't need a 100a circuit) and gives you more options for chargers. Many people view the Ford pro charger as an overkill (although it can be set to lower amps). For me I'm selling mine and I got a basic 40a charger and will come out ahead. I could have just as well set the Ford charger to 40a and used my existing 50a circuit.

One side recommendation is to consider the Ford PremiumCare EV warranty. It covers pretty much everything other than the big battery. You'll burn up your 3/36 warranty pretty quick with your mileage. You can get a 10/100 warranty for about $2,500 from an online seller (such as Grainger Ford). Your local dealer may be twice that. There are many time and mileage options.

Finally, if you haven't already, run the numbers and see how much you'll save in fuel costs. If your electricity is cheap at home, you could save a ton of money with your miles.

 

[MTBAZ]

An AZ owner here. Have had my 22 for 1.9 years and 20,000 miles. I park outside but do not do the longer tips as consistently as you will. Here is my 2 cents.

HW driving. I get about 1.7 Mi/kwh on average on the 10/17/and 8 keeping it under 85. I'm able to drive to Sedona and back on a single charge, but I'm under 10% when I getting home. My typical week consists of 2-5 miles/weekday, and 75-100 miles/week end day. 200 miles per day should be no problem.

Charging - I charge 99% of the time at home with the ford charge station pro set to 40 amps (maybe 48. I do this to save on cable and electrical system stress). 1 plug the truck in 2-3 times per week and charge to 85% unless I'm planning a longer trip. My charging will not start before 7 pm during the week, and I could likely save some energy if is delayed that until 10 pm to allow for things to cool after the sun goes down. Charge times do get longer in the summer/fall due to the battery conditioning that is needed while charging. A charge on June 8 that stared at 7 pm took 8.24 hours to add 71 kWH (53%). If your 200 mile days are back to back to back, I would look at getting charger capable of 50+ amps, but if it's 200 miles once a week. You should have no issues, you may not get a full charge (or back to whatever you set your charge level to) the first night, but you will get there the second night.

AC - AC will effect range, but not like heating. 1-5% of your battery max for the day. It should not effect your 200 mile range for typical daily you described.

Parking outside not being plugged in - as stated my truck is parked outside uncovered 100% of the time and only plugged in 2-3 nights per week. My battery heath reads 98% but I only started monitoring it this spring and I have yet to read it in heat above 105.

Not sure what your coming from or what your needs are. but if your key need is travel in town for work there are other EV's that will be cheaper to buy and charge and will be much easier to maneuver on the roads and park than the F150.

 

[invertedspear]

Let's talk. I'm in central Phoenix and drive out to mesa just about every other day. While on the freeway, I'm hovering around 2.0 m/kWh. 1.8 if I'm driving 75, 2.2 if I'm driving 55 with a bit of stop and go. Your daily up to 200 miles is not going to be a problem. Even in the summer nastiness. I've only had the Lightning for a few months but was driving the MachE the last 2 summers.

Where about do you live? Where are you likely to be going on those 400 mile days? You will need a DCFC, and there are a few options while you wait for your NACS adapter, though I would recommend you buy one from A2Z immediately so you'll have it in a few weeks instead of waiting till October/November to get the free one from Ford.

As fas as heat goes. We're doing some experimentation in another thread https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/ah-summer-is-here-in-the-valley-of-the-sun.19700/ I'm trying out using a couple automated "departure times" strategically placed at the hottest parts of the day to cool down the battery even though I'm not going anywhere. But even if I didn't when the truck measures something around 125F (which it will measure that temp if it's in the sun and it's only about 110) it will actively cool the battery if it's plugged in, even if it's only plugged in to a standard 110v outlet. So it's a good idea to see if you can keep it covered during the day, or at least have it plugged in to something. FWIW, even if you don't precondition the battery with a deployment time, it doesn't take long to cool it down to a more optimal temperature. When in operation the truck does a great job keeping the battery cool, so you aren't going to fry it like those poor mid 2010s Nissan Leafs that were dead in Phoenix after their first summer.

I don't know if it makes a big difference, but I went with the max tow package since it adds extra cooling for the battery. I'm thinking this will help in Phoenix, and so far I think it has. In the MachE When it got super hot I could feel the AC get warmer periodically, likely when the car determined the battery needed more chill than the occupants did. I haven't felt that yet in the lightning, but it's also not the worst of summer yet.

 

[JRT]

Great feedback so far, can you post the 400 mile trip, at least just the city to city so we can look at real charging options. Tesla is great, but not all Tesla stations will be available, we can only access v3 and magic dock, there are a ton of v2 still out there and we cannot use those

 

[shutterbug]

- Heat: I know the battery has a protection feature for hot temps, but this is only active when plugged in. During my work day I may travel 200 total miles but this could include visiting 3 different locations and parking (unconnected) in the hot sun. Will this significantly impact my range, overall battery health, etc. to where I am regretting having the truck in a year or two?

That isn't correct. when it's very hot, my truck kicks in battery cooling even when not plugged in. I did splurge on max tow package, on the assumption that the extra cooling loop will help.

Since your daily travel will include 200 mile days, definitely look at extended range battery. You will probably want to to start cooling the cabin 10-15 minutes before getting on your way.

I would be parking the truck outside and likely installing the Ford power pack for home charging. Only charging outside the home on my round trip commutes where it’s unavoidable.

If the truck comes with a charger, then ok. If it does not, look at 3rd party chargers that are can be hard-wired. My truck lives outside, and I installed the charger just inside the garage, so that I can plug in every day, closing the garage door on top of the cable.

 

[Azpt22]

First, you all are absolutely amazing with this feedback, input, and perspective.

I will respond in more detail after I return from a current trip I am on, but for those who have asked regarding the “400 mile” roundtrip. Most of this sentiment was in reference to the times I need to go from Gilbert AZ to the following locations on day trips, or the occasional “overnight”:
-Flagstaff AZ
-Yuma AZ
-Kingman AZ
-Safford AZ (infrequently)

 

[invertedspear]

Gilbert to Flagstaff: Dangerous in winter. There are currently no DCFC options between Anthem (North Phoenix for those of you outside the area) and Flagstaff. My ER Barely made it from central PHX to Flagstaff starting at 80%. This was for a thanksgiving trip at night, so cold was absolutely a factor. You need an ER, you need to be at 80% or charge to it at the Anthem outlets. The alternative is to route through Sedona, but that's going to add a lot of time to the trip. The only Tesla chargers on the route (Cordes Junction) are V2 and will never be available to us unless they expand with some V3s someday.

Gilbert to Yuma: no problem. Chargers already in place in Yuma and Dateland. More chargers will be available with the NACS adapter

Gilbert to Kingman: Sketch unless you follow the route through Flagstaff and the advice above. Wikenburg really needs a charger install. They have a dealership there, but I wouldn't count on being able to get a charge from them.

Gilbert to Safford: No experience, but there's an Electrify America in Globe, and that's likely going to be enough for you.

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