TheBigBezo
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I recently moved across the country from the Florida coast to the high deserts of California. As I am but a humble MY23 driver, I didn't have smart scales and loading one box after another into the bed led to a very over weight truck. With me driving, it was just shy of 9400lbs. Here's a recap of how it went:
Disclaimer: I would not recommend overloading your truck intentionally. Mine was an accident but too late to unpack. While the truck handled fine, it can lead to unknowns where you're operating outside manufacturer design and get yourself hurt or killed.
The good:
Truck handled the weight like a champ. 2400 miles, 15+ charging sessions, a high of 8000ft, and a low of 5ft. Saw it all. Had no issues climbing steep grades and it descended 7% grades with ease. Battery showed warm in 100+F temps but nothing abnormal. Typically held 1.9mi/kWh at 77mph the entire trip, only going lower when climbing the plains into the mountains. I almost exclusively used Tesla to charge, much harder here out west where it's a battle to find an open spot. I miss the South where EVs aren't widely adopter but Tesla has still built out tons of large charging stops. ABRP reliably accounted for elevation changed with a 2.0mi/kWh reference speed (for mountain crossing). Definitely took some believing getting 1.3 only to crest the top and see it improve. ABRP never failed me.
The bad:
Sync... Why does Spotify mute without a means of recovery every new chapter on audiobooks? It was annoying at first and maddening after 30 hours in the truck. I had to restart sync multiple times. Blue cruise... Handles driving fine but I swear sometimes it would throw a fit and yell about my eyes on the road, even if it was just me tilting my head towards the window since I was driving 14 hours! If I could never hear that damned Ford chime again lol, I swear I still hear it. Tesla's App... This thing freezes more than Fordpass I swear. I'm sweating in the heat reloading the app so it'll actually let me select my charger. It would always hang up when I selected the location but wouldn't let me select the post!
The Weird:
The truck felt weird so heavy, I could feel it reaching it's limits when the suspension compressed. The weight was spread in the front of the bed and in the rear row of seats, so I never felt the magic carpet feel, the front dug in fine, but it felt very underdampened and bouncy. At one point in Arizona, the road had these soft rolls and the truck would compress into the peak, expand into the trough, and slam into the next roll. It felt very positive feedback oscillating~y and got scary, several times I was floating in my seat. They were hard to see and by the time I felt them I was practically already bouncing out of control. Fortunately no damage to the truck or to my personal goods. Dog was scared tho.
Overall, I would not recommend overloading, but I offer this as a data point showing the capability of our vehicles. I drove a lot of miles through the rural southwest, with only the stop behind me and in front of me, good planning is key to survival (joking and also not, that heat is killer!). I never took the battery below 13% out of fear of the below 10% rollback people have experienced. Fortunately, that 10-15% range was normal for me and I didn't experience any weird power reductions. The truck was comfy, with the bed cap I had more room than sense to pack stuff in still leaving space for my dog to sleep in the back row behind me. Tesla Superchargers made worrying about availability a joke, I only checked plugshare when I had to use an EA station in Santa Rosa NM lol. Would I do it again? I have to in a year when I head back, but next time I'll keep the weight under control.
Extra Data:
Average temps: 90 - 105F
Typical speed: 77mph
Typical mileage: 1.9mi/kWh
Typical charge: 15-70% to drive 150 miles.
Charge rate: 165kW to start, then derated down to 80kW by 70+% (HOT!)
Interesting note: I got the full 165kW charging sprint 20min after getting off another charger (no bathroom close by)
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