[Heggo]

Hey all,
I’ve got about 5000 miles on my new XLT extended range lightning. I’m only averaging 265 miles of range per charge. What are you all getting so far. I was hoping to get 350 miles. Thanks

 

[Leaf to Lightning : )]

you'll have to decipher how you came about your end numbers - meaning that 'per charge' is not specific. To really 'know' what the Fully Charged miles-to-empty are is to actually have it charge to 100%, then drive it until it stops on it's own - not a fun option, but relative to how we perceive the real miles that a fully charged battery can typically provide. Also, you didn't mention 'how' you drive, lead-foot or easy-pedal, whether it's mostly flat roads, what 'speed' you are driving, the terrain, the weather, etc.

 

[Heggo]

you'll have to decipher how you came about your end numbers - meaning that 'per charge' is not specific. To really 'know' what the Fully Charged miles-to-empty are is to actually have it charge to 100%, then drive it until it stops on it's own - not a fun option, but relative to how we perceive the real miles that a fully charged battery can typically provide. Also, you didn't mention 'how' you drive, lead-foot or easy-pedal, whether it's mostly flat roads, what 'speed' you are driving, the terrain, the weather, etc.

you'll have to decipher how you came about your end numbers - meaning that 'per charge' is not specific. To really 'know' what the Fully Charged miles-to-empty are is to actually have it charge to 100%, then drive it until it stops on it's own - not a fun option, but relative to how we perceive the real miles that a fully charged battery can typically provide. Also, you didn't mention 'how' you drive, lead-foot or easy-pedal, whether it's mostly flat roads, what 'speed' you are driving, the terrain, the weather, etc.

Hey there ,

appreciate your response. I drive like a grandma 60-65 MPH almost all the time. Weather has been nice. Some windy days will effect range for sure. I leave home on a full charge everyday. I’m very easy in the pedal. Would it be possible that an error we made on delivery ? And my battery isn’t extended one ?

 

[sameye4m]

Hi heggo, welcome to the forum. I would type “range” or “guess-o-meter” in the search and start reading. There’s some pretty good posts and info about range and efficiency. If your window sticker says you got extended range battery, that’s what you have.

 

[Leaf to Lightning : )]

and you still didn't reveal how your are 'arriving' at these numbers... don't go by the guess-o-meter, go by math.

 

[208]

Hey there ,

appreciate your response. I drive like a grandma 60-65 MPH almost all the time. Weather has been nice. Some windy days will effect range for sure. I leave home on a full charge everyday. I’m very easy in the pedal. Would it be possible that an error we made on delivery ? And my battery isn’t extended one ?

If you are driving 60 to 65 and getting 265 mi, then you definitely have the extended range pack. The EPA rating is a mixture of City driving and highway, which is going to result in higher numbers. With pure highway driving, you will get less than EPA ratings. Your numbers sound about normal.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Hey there ,

appreciate your response. I drive like a grandma 60-65 MPH almost all the time. Weather has been nice. Some windy days will effect range for sure. I leave home on a full charge everyday. I’m very easy in the pedal. Would it be possible that an error we made on delivery ? And my battery isn’t extended one ?

Sure it's possible. It's also possible the moon will come hurdling into the earth tomorrow. Neither is likely.

I suspect you are reading the Guess-O-Meter, that display on the left side of your instrument panel that tells you your range. That is not a good indicator of the range you are actually getting. What has your energy efficiency been on your trips? That is a value in miles/kWh.

As for that GOM:

Don't trust the GOM! Best ways to calculate how far...

In EV forums there are always lots of new threads popping up from first time BEV drivers who are all worried or worked up because their Guess-O-Meter (GOM) is showing much less range than they think it should. This will especially happen in colder weather when the range drops. For new EV owners...

www.lightningowners.com

 

[Leaf to Lightning : )]

and we don't mean to sound rude, but I think some of us are current or past EV owners who already realize that technology is great, but it's not always perfect - there are just SO MANY variables and things that can move the needle when it comes to 'real' miles per full charge. Actually, the exact same is with any vehicle, gas or ev, but most folks don't worry NEARLY as much about these things with an ICE, since they are programmed to know that a fuel station is on nearly every corner.

You can run some tests: Full charge before both. And, go the EXACT same place, highway, road, street, AND distance, but the change will be slow, cautious, and easy with the first, and all-out, FUN!, and fast on the second. See what the difference is. Take the whole family on the second run : )

 

[Heggo]

If you are driving 60 to 65 and getting 265 mi, then you definitely have the extended range pack. The EPA rating is a mixture of City driving and highway, which is going to result in higher numbers. With pure highway driving, you will get less than EPA ratings. Your numbers sound about normal.

Good to know. Thanks a bunch

 

[Heggo]

and we don't mean to sound rude, but I think some of us are current or past EV owners who already realize that technology is great, but it's not always perfect - there are just SO MANY variables and things that can move the needle when it comes to 'real' miles per full charge. Actually, the exact same is with any vehicle, gas or ev, but most folks don't worry NEARLY as much about these things with an ICE, since they are programmed to know that a fuel station is on nearly every corner.

You can run some tests: Full charge before both. And, go the EXACT same place, highway, road, street, AND distance, but the change will be slow, cautious, and easy with the first, and all-out, FUN!, and fast on the second. See what the difference is. Take the whole family on the second run : )

I love the truck and the technology also. I’m only concerned for my range at this time because once our cold canadien winters come my range will get significantly lower. All good. Thanks

 

[Fryballin]

I have the Lariat, ER battery, with all terrain tires and a tonneau bed cover. I have about 2500 miles on my truck so far and my avg for that distance is 2.4 mi/kWh. I went on a day trip today with the family, 137 mile trip one way to the Zoo. Charged to 100%, Guess O Meter estimated 343 miles of range (see pictures below). I drove very conservatively, took the slightly longer route (about 25 miles of parkway 70 mph driving) vs. the faster route (100 miles of interstate 70 mph driving) since I really didn’t want to have to fast charge before coming home (the closest fast charger on my route was about 30 minutes out of the way one way). The longer route only added about 5 minutes to the 2.5 hour drive one way. On the way home we stopped at an outlet mall right off the parkway we were on and the truck was running while my wife shopped and the kids napped for about 30 minutes with the AC blasting (probably dropped 1% of charge during this) and then basically came straight home.

The final stats for the trip were 274.8 miles driven, 81% battery used, averaging 2.5 mi/kWh (per the truck summary of the entire time the truck was running for the trip, my calculation was actually 2.58 mi/kWh so the truck must round down) and the remaining estimated range was 56 miles (19% battery remaining).

One thing I have noticed in my own driving experience and I’ve seen in range tests of the Lightning is that the battery percentages are slower to drop from 100% down to probably 50% versus 50% closer to 0. Today during my trip I had driven 40 miles using only 9% of my battery, then 74.5 miles using 20%, 111 miles using 30% and then 138 miles using 37%.

The way I analyze these numbers from today are
Total range based on the first 9% of battery use would have been 444 miles (40/0.09=444.4)
Total range based on first 20% would have been 372.5 miles (74.5/0.2=372.5)
Total range based on first 30%= 370 miles
Total range based on first 37% = 373 miles
I averaged 2.7-2.8 mi/kwh on the trip to the zoo as well as 2.7 mi/kwh on the trip home from the zoo.

Actual range for the day would have been 331 miles (274.8 travelled plus 56 remaining range). But total range would have been closer to 350 miles if no additional stopping factors or time with truck sitting still just running had happened (2.7 mi/kWh X 131 kWh = 353 miles).

Biggest takeaways:
1. The guess O meter was pretty accurate on initial range estimate when starting at 100%.
2. I think it’s important to calculate range yourself and not just rely on truck estimation but I’m finding that the truck is conservative in its estimates so you can pretty much say if the truck says you have the range for a trip, then you probably do.
3. Even when calculating your own remaining range with the battery percentage, be careful on the upper end 70-100% because obviously I didn’t get to go 444 miles today (even though my driving statistics were constant for the entire trip).
4. When navigating with the truck navigation, the estimated percentage when arriving has typically been 5-10 percentage lower than actual after completing the drive.
Hope this helps anyone getting confused. Feel free to comment or correct me where I’m wrong. I’m just super impressed with this trucks performance and range overall.

 

[Heggo]

Great info. Thanks

 

[Jerm2006]

Also, unless you need to actually drive a full battery, I would not leave with full charge each day. Not good for the battery. I would only charge to 80% daily, use what you use for your day driving / commute, then plug in each day. Charging to full battery will degrade it and will not charge to as full later in life. Some degradation is guaranteed, but you can control it not to be more than say 5-10% over life of truck. Assuming Ford put good battery chemistry in this.

 

[Heggo]

Also, unless you need to actually drive a full battery, I would not leave with full charge each day. Not good for the battery. I would only charge to 80% daily, use what you use for your day driving / commute, then plug in each day. Charging to full battery will degrade it and will not charge to as full later in life. Some degradation is guaranteed, but you can control it not to be more than say 5-10% over life of truck. Assuming Ford put good battery chemistry in this.

I understand that. But unfortunately I drive a lot fro run my business about 60000 miles per year. I can’t only charge to 80-90% a day. I need all the range possible In a day. I also don’t live or work close to many charging stations. So I have to plan my travels well.

 

[208]

I understand that. But unfortunately I drive a lot fro run my business about 60000 miles per year. I can’t only charge to 80-90% a day. I need all the range possible In a day. I also don’t live or work close to many charging stations. So I have to plan my travels well.

Just confirming you are using Plugshare to look for said charging stations, not the Ford app, right? I am running into more and more hapless EV newbies being led astray by the Ford (and Volvo & GM) apps.

This weekend I watched a lady sitting at a hotel 6.6kw L2 charging. She was sitting in her car, obviously trying to get enough charge to continue. I struck up a conversation with her and sure enough, she was planning on sitting there for the 6+hrs it would take on the anemic supply to continue her trip. I pointed out to her that she was 3 blocks from a DCFC that was not listed in her OEM app. I got her setup on Plugshare and on her way.

It would surprise me if anybody in these forums are struggling that badly with the charging learning curve, we are all information seeking types. But, there are a ton of people that are starting to buy Ford, Kia, Volvo etc EVs that just expect the vehicle to show you everything that is available. They don't. It will get better...

 

[Jerm2006]

I understand that. But unfortunately I drive a lot fro run my business about 60000 miles per year. I can’t only charge to 80-90% a day. I need all the range possible In a day. I also don’t live or work close to many charging stations. So I have to plan my travels well.

No problem. I was just making sure because sometimes people just do not know. If you are driving that much daily, I applaud you for still going with electric. I hope a DC fast charger gets around your area soon to help out with that, since driving the entire range daily is not ideal. Also got to be expensive on the mileage.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

No problem. I was just making sure because sometimes people just do not know. If you are driving that much daily, I applaud you for still going with electric. I hope a DC fast charger gets around your area soon to help out with that, since driving the entire range daily is not ideal. Also got to be expensive on the mileage.

My understanding is if he is not sitting full for an extended period, nor really low, that should help a lot. I'm going to be in a similar boat when I get my truck. I drive fairly regularly Sioux Falls, SD to Fargo, ND. Not a single CCS DC fast charger between, other than a since DC 62.5 kwh charging going into Brookings, SD right now. (60 miles north of Sioux falls, more helpful coming home) I will have to leave at 100% SOC no ifs ands or buts about it. In winter, I'm honestly not convinced I'll even be able to make the drive until the infrastructure bill takes hold. Thankfully, we have a Ford Flex I can use in a pinch.

 

[Jerm2006]

Yeah, I was looking at that ride on a better route planner, which if you do not have, I would recommend using for trips. But there is no good charging infrastructure for CCS in the area. All the charge points and such are 25-60kW which is way to slow for a good trip. especially for the large battery of the F150. Trip would be easy in a model 3 or something though. I hope they get building the network up quicker, but it will be there eventually. Charging has been growing at an almost expediential rate over the last several years.

 

[Pat Mitchell]

Dude, I had exactly the same thought: "did they actually install the ER battery?!". The truck tells me I get 400k at 100% charge.

....trying to find where the reset button is...

 

[terik2005]

I understand that. But unfortunately I drive a lot fro run my business about 60000 miles per year. I can’t only charge to 80-90% a day. I need all the range possible In a day. I also don’t live or work close to many charging stations. So I have to plan my travels well.

That's ok bc even at 100 percent you aren't charged to 100 percent. You are actually charging to the usable 100 percent limit. Usually like 9 percent less than the actual size of your battery. Don't feel guilty.