SpaceEVDriver
Well-known member
There's a myth that 120v isn't "good enough." That's only true in certain circumstances, mostly related to very cold temperatures. We went for two years on Level 1 charging with our Mustang before I got off my duff and installed our L2 charger. It is true that it's far, far more convenient to have a L2 charger wherever the vehicle spends its nights.
If you get the extended range, you'll have around 320 miles range of mixed speed driving. If you take a slightly slower route, you'll have more like 350-370 miles range.
Let's say you arrive at the farm and need 80 miles of additional range to make the return trip. Also assume you're not towing. I can get 2.8 miles/kWh on the freeway doing 70-73 mph, but if I'm on country roads doing 45-55 mph, I can get closer to 3.5 miles/kWh. However, let's be pessimistic and assume 2.4 miles/kWh.
A 120 volt charger will provide you with ~1 to 1.4 kW of power. Assume 1 kW to make this really pessimistic. If you arrive at the farm on Friday night at 1900 and plug in right away, then don't use the truck until Sunday morning at 0700, that's 36 hours and you'll regain 36 kWh. If you can get 2.4 miles/kWh average efficiency, that's an additional 86 miles gained while the truck is sitting, charging at the farm. That should be enough to get you home. If you can wait a few more hours before heading home on Sunday, then you can improve that even more. If you stop for a meal on either leg of the drive, find a place where you can charge on a L2 charger for the 30-60 minutes you're having lunch. The Love's on the 55 just south of McComb has L2 chargers and is installing fast chargers.
If you can put in a 240 volt outlet or a level 2 charger, you can, at minimum, double the charge rate and more likely bring it up to 7 kW or even 11 kW. I got the Ford Charge Station Pro with the purchase of my ER Lariat, so I can get at least 16 kW and sometimes up to 19 kW charge rate. A L2 will easily bring you to full before you head home.
We've driven >50,000 miles with our EVs, more than half on long road trips (200 miles is a day trip to us). We have gone from the mountains of Arizona to Houston, TX to Redding, CA, and all over the US Southwest, where charging stations are sometimes few and far between.
If you approach the idea of the road trip as being about the journey, then you'll find that the stops to charge work out great for getting up and moving around. We don't sit in the car while it's charging--we go use the restroom, get lunch, for for a walk, go shopping, get a haircut, whatever. Usually the truck has charged to a higher % than we'd intended by the time we're done. Charging is not at all as big an inconvenience as many people think.
One of my regular stops in Los Angeles is usually a two or three day stop and I charge on an L1 charger there. Because I usually also drive around the city on these visits, the L1 almost never brings me to 100% charge, but it's enough to get me back on the freeway headed home--this drive is usually about 550 miles one way.
If you get the extended range, you'll have around 320 miles range of mixed speed driving. If you take a slightly slower route, you'll have more like 350-370 miles range.
Let's say you arrive at the farm and need 80 miles of additional range to make the return trip. Also assume you're not towing. I can get 2.8 miles/kWh on the freeway doing 70-73 mph, but if I'm on country roads doing 45-55 mph, I can get closer to 3.5 miles/kWh. However, let's be pessimistic and assume 2.4 miles/kWh.
A 120 volt charger will provide you with ~1 to 1.4 kW of power. Assume 1 kW to make this really pessimistic. If you arrive at the farm on Friday night at 1900 and plug in right away, then don't use the truck until Sunday morning at 0700, that's 36 hours and you'll regain 36 kWh. If you can get 2.4 miles/kWh average efficiency, that's an additional 86 miles gained while the truck is sitting, charging at the farm. That should be enough to get you home. If you can wait a few more hours before heading home on Sunday, then you can improve that even more. If you stop for a meal on either leg of the drive, find a place where you can charge on a L2 charger for the 30-60 minutes you're having lunch. The Love's on the 55 just south of McComb has L2 chargers and is installing fast chargers.
If you can put in a 240 volt outlet or a level 2 charger, you can, at minimum, double the charge rate and more likely bring it up to 7 kW or even 11 kW. I got the Ford Charge Station Pro with the purchase of my ER Lariat, so I can get at least 16 kW and sometimes up to 19 kW charge rate. A L2 will easily bring you to full before you head home.
We've driven >50,000 miles with our EVs, more than half on long road trips (200 miles is a day trip to us). We have gone from the mountains of Arizona to Houston, TX to Redding, CA, and all over the US Southwest, where charging stations are sometimes few and far between.
If you approach the idea of the road trip as being about the journey, then you'll find that the stops to charge work out great for getting up and moving around. We don't sit in the car while it's charging--we go use the restroom, get lunch, for for a walk, go shopping, get a haircut, whatever. Usually the truck has charged to a higher % than we'd intended by the time we're done. Charging is not at all as big an inconvenience as many people think.
One of my regular stops in Los Angeles is usually a two or three day stop and I charge on an L1 charger there. Because I usually also drive around the city on these visits, the L1 almost never brings me to 100% charge, but it's enough to get me back on the freeway headed home--this drive is usually about 550 miles one way.
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