Joined
·
372 Posts
I just completed a 2000+ mile road trip with my new Lightning. I went from SW Wisconsin out to Gypsum Colorado and back. Overall it was a very easy and enjoyable drive, the Lightning performed at or above my expectations. Here are some key takeaways from the trip:
Blue Cruise and Adaptive Cruise - Awesome features and work great 95% of the time. But, I found that when heading East directly into early morning sun BC would not engage until the vehicle was in shadows for a bit. It would then disengage when back into direct sun. Speed sign recognition works great only picking up a few errant signs. My big complaint with BC is the handoff between it and the driver. It definitely needs something like a heads up display or lighted steering wheel (ala Chevy). If you look down at the dash to see if BC is engaged you get the 'eyes on the road' warning. It seems BC will not engage at speeds over 80 mph.
Adaptive Cruise worked as expected, no issues or complaints.
Distance at Highway Speeds - Driving on I-80 and I-76 highway speed limits are 75 mph much of the way. If you go the speed limit expect to see around 1.7 miles per kWh. Increasing the speed to 80 mph dropped me down to 1.6. Going up mountain roads at highway speeds also impacts range. But you really gain some range back on the downhill side. I went through the Ike tunnel on the way out (TFL and Out of Spec use that stretch for testing).
Charging - I signed up for the Electrify America $4 monthly plan for the trip. If you purchase a plan make sure you initiate your charge session before connecting your truck to the charger - otherwise the Ford Plug-and-Charge kicks in. In Nebraska and Iowa many EA chargers were down. I encountered multiple stations where either 0 or 1 charger only were functioning. EA (and others) can roll out hundreds more charge stations but they need personnel to maintain these stations!
Sometimes a station would begin a charge speed of 60 kW or less. In this case I would stop a session and start again or move to another station at that site. I saw starting charge rates close to 170 kW at the 350 kW stations. I did have a strange thing happen when the vehicle ended a charging session at 90% (I was talking to someone). I disconnected from the EA charger and left. When I got to the next charger location I could not start a charge session because EA thought I was still connected to the previous charger. A quick call to EA customer service resolved the situation.
I used a brand new EA charging location in Edwards Colorado. This is what I would hope the future holds. There were 4 working stations that were all active at the same time and delivering full power. There was a squeegee and window wash available. There were trash and recycling receptacles. There was outdoor seating and tables with umbrellas for people to have a picnic while waiting. There was a Tesla Supercharger station in the lot next to the EA station. There was a convenience store and Wendy's at the location also. But still no love for those who will be towing at this one.
Navigation - As others have experienced, the navigation does some strange routing occasionally. Make sure when routing to chargers that you use the filters (esp. charger speed). Also pay attention to the direction arrow for where the charger is located from your location. It will route you to the closest one even if it is in the opposite direction. Pick the nearest one ahead of you and set that as a waypoint or destination instead. The nav also seems to want to get you to your destination with a certain state of charge. This may cause your route to be longer than if you use Google maps. It also may add an additional stop to charge because of this.
Other Things - The frunk is very useful and caught a few people's attention when it popped open. I did see 2 other Lightnings on the return trip. It was great talking with them and other EV owners at the charging stations. Most EV owners are so friendly and offer helpful tips and recommendations! I talked to a crew that was doing testing for a Freightliner EV Semi at a charge station in Frisco, CO. They were friendly and informative to talk with. One of the crew was picking up his XLT when he returned home.
This is my first EV so some of this is probably obvious to the experienced EVers. I am sure others have covered many of these things in their posts, this is just my POV - your mileage may vary.
Blue Cruise and Adaptive Cruise - Awesome features and work great 95% of the time. But, I found that when heading East directly into early morning sun BC would not engage until the vehicle was in shadows for a bit. It would then disengage when back into direct sun. Speed sign recognition works great only picking up a few errant signs. My big complaint with BC is the handoff between it and the driver. It definitely needs something like a heads up display or lighted steering wheel (ala Chevy). If you look down at the dash to see if BC is engaged you get the 'eyes on the road' warning. It seems BC will not engage at speeds over 80 mph.
Adaptive Cruise worked as expected, no issues or complaints.
Distance at Highway Speeds - Driving on I-80 and I-76 highway speed limits are 75 mph much of the way. If you go the speed limit expect to see around 1.7 miles per kWh. Increasing the speed to 80 mph dropped me down to 1.6. Going up mountain roads at highway speeds also impacts range. But you really gain some range back on the downhill side. I went through the Ike tunnel on the way out (TFL and Out of Spec use that stretch for testing).
Charging - I signed up for the Electrify America $4 monthly plan for the trip. If you purchase a plan make sure you initiate your charge session before connecting your truck to the charger - otherwise the Ford Plug-and-Charge kicks in. In Nebraska and Iowa many EA chargers were down. I encountered multiple stations where either 0 or 1 charger only were functioning. EA (and others) can roll out hundreds more charge stations but they need personnel to maintain these stations!
Sometimes a station would begin a charge speed of 60 kW or less. In this case I would stop a session and start again or move to another station at that site. I saw starting charge rates close to 170 kW at the 350 kW stations. I did have a strange thing happen when the vehicle ended a charging session at 90% (I was talking to someone). I disconnected from the EA charger and left. When I got to the next charger location I could not start a charge session because EA thought I was still connected to the previous charger. A quick call to EA customer service resolved the situation.
I used a brand new EA charging location in Edwards Colorado. This is what I would hope the future holds. There were 4 working stations that were all active at the same time and delivering full power. There was a squeegee and window wash available. There were trash and recycling receptacles. There was outdoor seating and tables with umbrellas for people to have a picnic while waiting. There was a Tesla Supercharger station in the lot next to the EA station. There was a convenience store and Wendy's at the location also. But still no love for those who will be towing at this one.
Navigation - As others have experienced, the navigation does some strange routing occasionally. Make sure when routing to chargers that you use the filters (esp. charger speed). Also pay attention to the direction arrow for where the charger is located from your location. It will route you to the closest one even if it is in the opposite direction. Pick the nearest one ahead of you and set that as a waypoint or destination instead. The nav also seems to want to get you to your destination with a certain state of charge. This may cause your route to be longer than if you use Google maps. It also may add an additional stop to charge because of this.
Other Things - The frunk is very useful and caught a few people's attention when it popped open. I did see 2 other Lightnings on the return trip. It was great talking with them and other EV owners at the charging stations. Most EV owners are so friendly and offer helpful tips and recommendations! I talked to a crew that was doing testing for a Freightliner EV Semi at a charge station in Frisco, CO. They were friendly and informative to talk with. One of the crew was picking up his XLT when he returned home.
This is my first EV so some of this is probably obvious to the experienced EVers. I am sure others have covered many of these things in their posts, this is just my POV - your mileage may vary.
