[THEsocalledfan]

Hello all,

I sure appreciate all the road trip posts on efficiency, etc. However, there is a big problem. They are generally from the banana belts of the country. For definition sake, that includes the entire east (I'll cut Maine some slack) and west coasts, most of Canada east of Minnesota, and anything south of South Dakota. LOL

On a serious note, I get the impression many don't understand the unique challenges those of us in cold climates face. (Think Wyoming, Montana, ND, SD, Minnesota, and the UP of Michigan, Manitoba, Saseketwan, Alberta, etc)

So, I'm going to take my brand new ER Lariat Lightning to a Minnesota Wild hockey game on January 28th. I have snow hitting Sioux Falls which should be letting up when I plan to leave, and temps are going to be around 0F. I'm going to provide some real world efficiencies in typical winter weather for us, along with wind, road conditions, and how the chargers function. I honestly think this is going to go just fine, but who knows. I may break a few things if the EA chargers run at 25 kw......

I took a big chance plunking 90K down on a vehicle in this climate, and it has to perform for me on this trip, as it has many, many trips to Fargo, ND in its future. (I still don't have good chargers on that route, so just can't do it yet.) This will give me a good realistic picture of what those will be like once i have chargers since this route does. (I even get to use a EA station in Worthington, MN for the first time!)

Best part is I'm taking my 21 you daughter with me who has been begging me to take her to a Wild game forever. Going to a hockey game in winter with a Lightning seems appropriate to me if EVs are truly the future of transportation. I tend to think we need to get to 500 miles of range due to this kind of trip and curious what I'll think when I'm done.

So, follow along for the journey; I think this will be fun!

 

[btreece]

I was getting around 1.6 in WI staying around 63mph when the temperatures where in the teens. Waiting to see what you get.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

I was getting around 1.6 in WI staying around 63mph when the temperatures where in the teens. Waiting to see what you get.

Yep, WI is real winter.... sorry for leaving you out!

I've gotten 1.4 going 80 in the 20s .....I won't be going as fast on this trip.

 

[KElkhorn]

Looks like you also have the option to top off in Mankato if needed, only 50 kW but better than most of my options for trips here. Very curious to see how this goes for you. Very interested to see your mi/kW at different speeds along the way with those temps. I think we are supposed to be sub zero next week, not sure if I have any road trips planned.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Looks like you also have the option to top off in Mankato if needed, only 50 kW but better than most of my options for trips here. Very curious to see how this goes for you. Very interested to see your mi/kW at different speeds along the way with those temps. I think we are supposed to be sub zero next week, not sure if I have any road trips planned.

There is also a 62 kw Chargepoint charger in Mankato, but tougher to get to with less food around it. I'll probably just do the 50 kw station and eat there; I should not need much as I will hit the EA station in Worthington first.

I have a plan for some level 2 charging once there, but not sure it will work out. I may have to run over the Woodbury to the single EA station before heading home.

 

[KElkhorn]

If you are going to park plug and eat you should be just fine with 50 kW.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

So, my understanding is there is no battery dc fast charging preconditioning like tesla.... will u be able to pull 150 kw at EA in the cold?

 

[KElkhorn]

Good question. Assuming you will precondition before you leave, and will be driving under load on the way there, I'd think it still would. Question will be the next morning if you aren't able to leave it on a level 2 overnight.

 

[TheHey]

Good question. Assuming you will precondition before you leave, and will be driving under load on the way there, I'd think it still would. Question will be the next morning if you aren't able to leave it on a level 2 overnight.

Per this quote from FoMoCo over on F150LightningForums, if you set your Ford Navigation to your desired DCFC, it'll precondition the battery prior to arrival, meaning you should be able to take advantage of the 150 kW EA charger's full capabilities.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Per this quote from FoMoCo over on F150LightningForums, if you set your Ford Navigation to your desired DCFC, it'll precondition the battery prior to arrival, meaning you should be able to take advantage of the 150 kW EA charger's full capabilities.

That is phenomenal news! I will do this on Saturday!

 

[TheHey]

That is phenomenal news! I will do this on Saturday!

I haven't had a chance to try it myself yet, so I can't speak to how well it works.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Don't touch that dial! Trip report is about to start. Not sure I'll get it through it all today, but it has a lot of fun and drama as part it.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Segment #1: Sioux Falls to Worthington, MN Electrify America Station

On a cold winter's morning, with snow falling we began.....
Beginning SOC: 100%
Beginning Temperature: 8F in Sioux Falls, SD
Beginning Wind: 10 MPH NE
Speed Setting: 70 MPH
Ending SOC: 58%
Ending Temperature: 3F in Worthington, MN
Ending Wind: 14 MPH NNE
Distance Traveled: 64.6 miles (mainly travels east)
Efficiency: 1.1 m/KWH

Since I still don't have my Ford Charge Station Pro set up (I do have it), I was plugged into my dryer outlet overnight and charged to 100%. I also preconditioned my vehicle when plugged into this for a departure of 9AM.

This is when we ran into our first problem. My truck quit communicating with Ford Pass again. (same 2023 issue all kinds of folks are having, including me, initially) I did not have time to call until today, but Ford confirmed at this point it is know issue and it is planned to be fixed in February and that I just have to do without for now.......now, back to the story.

Snow was still falling, but was letting up from some mild winter weather we had moving through. I had about 3 inches of snow on my driveway I had snow blowed that morning before we left. Roads were okay for winter driving, but not perfect.

20230128_092925.jpg

• THEsocalledfan
• 2 mo ago

As I often say to folks, if you aren't willing to travel in this kind of weather, you need to move....

As for the drive, it was fairly non-eventful. Truck handled great. Biggest learning on this part of the drive is how Blue Cruise behaves in snow. It appears it turns off whenever it can clearly "see" the road lines. I was on Interstate 90, so it was interesting to see this go in and out on the drive. As noted above, efficiency was terrible. Note, temperature was dropping and we were bucking the wind to some degree. Elevation was fairly flat. We had had cabin temp at 68F and heated seats on. Efficiency aside, it was a fun start to our adventure and we pulled into the Worthington, MN Electrify America Station with no issues.

20230128_092929.jpg

• THEsocalledfan
• 2 mo ago

At the station, I used Plug and Charge to use my free KWH from Ford (is it really free? LOL) Worked flawlessly, but I only maxed out at 110 kW on a 350 kW station. Note, due to my connectivity issues, for some reason the navigation system could not find the charger. I did set a different charger in Worthington, MN but unclear if the battery was preconditioned by the system or not.

We went in to Casey's, got some coffee (great coffee at any Casey's) and hung out for a bit. (note, could not use Ford Pass to watch remotely) We got in the truck when it was at about 80% SOC, and watched the well described drop in charge speed. I was hoping it would stay around 50 kW, but it did not. (Wanted some extra juice to get the next 100 miles in.) At 86%, we called it good when the charger was down to 36 kW.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Segment #2: Worthington, MN Electrify America Station to Mankato, MN

Beginning SOC: 86%
Beginning Temperature: 3F in Worthington, MN
Beginning Wind: 13 MPH NNE
Speed Setting: 65 MPH
Ending SOC: 26%
Ending Temperature: 10F in Mankato, MN
Ending Wind: 8 MPH N
Distance Traveled: 94.7 miles (traveling Northeast)
Efficiency: 1.2 m/KWH

We pushed off from Worthington knowing this was the most challenging stretch to do in very cold weather. The weather was still snowing and blowing a bit, but as expected, we drove out of it about 15 miles into our drive on MN 60. This is a very nice 4 lane road to Mankato, MN.

The efficiency improved over this stretch. We were getting 1.1 m/KWH, but improved to 1.2 m/KWH at the end, on average.

Mankato has a lot of 50 KWH DC fast chargers, but no really good chargers. There is one 62 KHW Chargepoint station, but it was out of the way (more on that later). I settled on a Zef Energy charger downtown as it was near a bagel shop where we could have lunch while we charged as I knew this one could get long. I was a bit gun shy on range and wanted to be darn sure we had enough for the rest of the drive; I put enough energy on to make it even if we got 0.9 m/KWH. Thus, I charged all the way to 70%. This, of course, took 1 hour and 15 minutes.....oh well, but the bagels were good! (Lesson, if you can't handle this, don't get an EV until faster chargers are more widely available.)

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Segment #3: Mankato, MN to Hyatt Place in St. Paul, MN

Beginning SOC: 70%
Beginning Temperature: 10F in Mankato, MN
Beginning Wind: 8 MPH N
Speed Setting: 65 MPH
Ending SOC: 29%
Ending Temperature: 6F in St. Paul, MN
Ending Wind: 10 MPH N
Distance Traveled: 83.6 miles (traveling Northeast)
Efficiency: 1.5 m/KWH

This was a very, very surprising section of the trip to me. Efficiency was much, much better than expected despite more hills and a gain in elevation. My best guess for the reason is a good section of this is protected from wind in the Minnesota River valley. I really don't have another explaination.

The next interesting thing I found is the Ford must be building out their Blue Cruise mapped roads further. When I was still quite ways south of the main metro (like 20 miles), Blue Cruise kicked on! That was quite the surprise, as always, driving without hands is a lot of fun!

We got to the Hyatt Place in St. Paul, uneventfully, but I had quite the pleasant surprise..... I knew I wanted to charge to 100%, and of course, that is best done on a level 2 for obvious reasons for folks who know EVs. As a Hyatt globalist, I get free parking on free stays (using a free hyatt voucher which saved me over $200). However, no level 2 at the hotel. Looking in plugshare, there was a level 2 charge point in a heated parking garage across the street. After unpacking, I decided to check it out. I pulled up the garage, door opens and I take a ticket. Super nice heated garage! However, it was a bit unclear how much parking would be. (I know how terrible it would typically be in Minneapolis....) Yet, I drive in, see the 2 level 2's wide open! I park, fired one up with my my chargepoint app (since ford pass was broke for me). Worked perfect and was getting 6kW! Truck estimated I'd be at 100% shortly before I planned on leaving on Sunday. Perfect!

So, headed back to hotel, found a Saturday evening mass to go to, and we were all set for the game!

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Intermission: Buffalo Sabres vs Minnesota Wild

Well, this was the reason we took the trip! My daughter was born in the Twin Cities Metro and we lived in Duluth, MN until she finished kindergarten. She grew up going to many Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog hocket games, a premier NCAA Division 1 hockey program. Even after we moved to Sioux Falls, since she loved hockey so much, we went to many Sioux Falls Stampede hockey games, a USHL affiliate. (think 1 step lower than NCAA D1 hockey) She has always loved hockey, and she had always wanted to go to a Minnesota Wild game (she is a big fan), so taking the truck for a winter road trip helped spur me to make it a reality.

First decision was to eat before or at the game. Since she had never by to Xcel Energy Center (I'd been to 3 games there in the past; last time was a Western Conference Finals game in 2003), we decided to eat there to maximize our times. I had a cheese curd, jalapeno brat. I think it may have been the best brat I've ever had. Olivia got French Fries, with pulled pork and brown gravy; very Canadian type of thing and she loved it!

20230128_191406.jpg

• THEsocalledfan
• 2 mo ago

Best part is it was Hockey Day in Minnesota. There are lots of outdoor games across the state, particularly high school teams. The day ends always with a home Minnesota Wild game, in the State of Hockey. We each received a Hockey Day scarf that was super cool:

20230128_195609.jpg

• THEsocalledfan
• 2 mo ago

The game was incredibly close. At the end of the second period, the Sabres buried a goal right at the end of the period, however, on further review, it was determined the clock had expired. Whew!

The game stayed tied 2-2 all 3rd period and ended that way, despite numerous great chances for the Wild. Game went into 3 on 3 OT for 5 minutes, still no goals despite great chances. It went to a shootout, and the Wild won! Woo hoooo! Olivia was so exited; what a fantastic night!

20230128_224534.jpg

• THEsocalledfan
• 2 mo ago

So, we walked back to the hotel (we had walked), and the truck was happily charging the entire time. We went to bed very happy!

Note: Day 2 was way, way crazier. Stay tuned, I have 3 more adventure posts to go, then some reflections on lessons learned and other thoughts.

 

[R.I.P.]

Thanks for the travelogue!

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Segment #4: St. Paul, MN to Mankato, MN

Beginning SOC: 96%
Beginning Temperature: -6F in St. Paul, MN
Beginning Wind: 2 MPH NNW
Speed Setting: 65 MPH
Ending SOC: 52%
Ending Temperature: 1F in St. Mankato, MN
Ending Wind: 7 MPH NW
Distance Traveled: 86.3 miles (traveling SW)
Efficiency: 1.5 m/KWH

Sunday morning, and it was time to roll home. We got up and had a good breakfast the the hotel, checked out, and headed to the parking ramp where we were charging. I had it set to precondition for an 9 AM departure, and I had thought it should be at 100% by about 8:30 AM. (Remember, I could not connect via phone.) To my surprise, it had only charged to 96% despite being in a heated parking garage. Oh well; it did have the cabin toasty and ready to roll. I had pulled 102 KWH out of that level 2 charger, and it only cost me $12.23. However, still did not know how much parking was.....after carefully navigating a full size truck out of an urban garage, I got to the ticket reader. Parking was only $4! Woo hoo score! Price of it, all together, was not much more than I'd pay at home!

I was very worried about efficiency with how cold it was. Noted, I had preconditioned the day before in a heated garage, and still had crappy efficiency. So, off I went! To my shock and delight, efficiency was way, way higher than I expected. I averaged 1.5 m/KWH on this leg; I could not believe it! All in all, with one stop for some coffee, it was a very delightful trip back down to Mankato, MN through the Minnesota River Valley.

I openly debated skipping Mankato, MN and pressing on to Worthington, MN the next charger stop which is 95 miles away as I was still over 50% SOC. Math seemed good: 50% X 131 usable KWH = 65.5 KWH. 65.5 KWH X 1.5 = 98 miles. However, that was pretty fleeting as i knew that is just cutting it way too close and the efficiency seemed strangely high. I was thinking hey, its warming up a bit, efficiency is good, so let's minimize the time charging here in Mankato since the chargers are not good.

I went first to a 63 kw output chargepoint station at a car dealer. I go hooked up, and almost immediately, it quit charging and went off-line. So, I went back the 50 kw charger I was at the day before. My initial plan was to charge to 64%. After crunching some more number based on a worst case 1.2 mi/kwh efficiency (remember, I was getting 1.5 so far this day), I cut it off at 60% figuring I'd had enough to make the drive. That kept the session to only 15 minutes, which was fantastic! So, off we went, on our way to segment 5......

 

[KElkhorn]

Does the long delay between 4 and 5 indicate that you are still between Mankato and Worthington?

 

[THEsocalledfan]

My strategy has been "wet the appetite" and keep them wanting more! I think I'll get it up tomorrow...... It is not to be missed!