This will be my last attempt at a Lightning Road Trip

[CavRider]

Sorry, rough night. I had started out to get to a supercharger that was in range. Halfway there a warning came up saying I didn't have enough to get there, and it took me to a blink Level 1 charger. I ended up having to take an Uber back to my hotel at 2:30 in the morning, then uber back to pick up the Lightning and family next morning. We had to adjust our travel plan...instead of an extra day to explore Savannah, we ended up just staying in Charlotte.
More later when I can get back on my laptop.
Still like my Lightning, by the way. Just disappointed that Ford has forgotten some of the hard lessons it had to learn in the '70s and '80s.

Sorry that you had that experience. I have come to the conclusion that none of the legacy auto manufacturers are any good at software and they should just stop. I have had very frustrating experiences with a late model product from BMW Motorrad who decided to roll their own Nav solution. They made some mind bogglingly poor choices in their architecture. All they had to do was implement CarPlay/AA. But no, they did not. In the worldwide K1600 forum we have collectively come to the conclusion that the main reason for this foolishness is that if they get you to use their own proprietary Nav system then they are in possession of your location data, which they can sell. I'm not quite sure how well that works for them in the EU but it is an open playing field here in NA.

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[1Jetpilot]

Sorry, rough night. I had started out to get to a supercharger that was in range. Halfway there a warning came up saying I didn't have enough to get there, and it took me to a blink Level 1 charger. I ended up having to take an Uber back to my hotel at 2:30 in the morning, then uber back to pick up the Lightning and family next morning. We had to adjust our travel plan...instead of an extra day to explore Savannah, we ended up just staying in Charlotte.
More later when I can get back on my laptop.
Still like my Lightning, by the way. Just disappointed that Ford has forgotten some of the hard lessons it had to learn in the '70s and '80s.

Just throw away all apps and just use the Tesla App to find a supercharger and have Apple Car Play guide you there. That is what we did from OH to FL and it went smoothly just using the Tesla App. Good luck

 

[Rip]

Yeah...I used the Tesla app for the 5 years I had a model y. On the advice of someone here I got it again. I haven't figured out how to use it yet, though. Right now it shows me in Mali.

 

[Rip]

I had it working for a minute...now when I clicked on "Find a Charger" nothing happens.

 

[PJnc284]

Yeah...I used the Tesla app for the 5 years I had a model y. On the advice of someone here I got it again. I haven't figured out how to use it yet, though. Right now it shows me in Mali.

ha that's where mine usually defaults. Sometimes it auto adjusts and other times I have to scroll. Seems a little slow today but appears to be working.

 

[1Jetpilot]

Yeah...I used the Tesla app for the 5 years I had a model y. On the advice of someone here I got it again. I haven't figured out how to use it yet, though. Right now it shows me in Mali.

Just click on "Find a Charger" and when it shows you the map with the chargers, zoom out not in so you can see them all and choose one to navigate to. I did this for my long journey and it worked

 

[evowner]

I have learned to slow it down a bit and experience the texture

I am still trying. I can go 70 in my Tesla or EV6 with only slight loss, but in this BAT (big assed truck) it really lowers the range.

They wrote that song for me "I can't drive 55" or 65, but I am trying.

 

[MacMike]

It just takes planning as several folks have stated. I have a 22 Lariat ER and the summer of 23 (July) I took it on a trip across the good ole USA. I hit 44 states and 10,000 miles in three weeks. All charging was done at EA stations for a total of 66 charging stops. I just used the EA app for NAV and did not ever use the Ford NAV. My longest charging stop was 55 minutes. I'm retired so I was not in a rush to get anywhere.

 

[Jimbalf]

I remember when I was a kid and my brother bought a Mercedes diesel car.

There were no regular gas stations with diesel. He had to know where the truck stops were and he kept 50-gallon drums in his garage. Can you imagine relying on ‘filling up’ your vehicle at home? ?

I had a 1973 VW Rabbit diesel and used a book to tell me where the truck stops were. You can imagine me pulling between tractor trailor rigs in my little Rabbit to fill up. Was quite the adventure in the 70’s . Geez, EV charging is a breeze compared to that!

 

[FloridaMan655321]

Without reading every post in the 5 pages of replies, I hope to not duplicate, but I might be....

Until there is a super charger at every gas station throughout the nation, you do have to do a minimum amount of planning.... In fact I've planned out a trip to very rural North Dakota and it looks that I'll need to charge at a L2 charger at a dealership. I plan on doing this by myself as to not inconvenient my wife (leaving her at the hotel), but she wouldn't care at all. For me, I can sit outside and enjoy a cigar, but I guess she doesn't mind reading inside the truck.

I've been on a few trips with my wife, and she has never complained about waiting. In fact I usually cut it off early and she says we should wait longer, but I am always scared she would find it inconvenient. Maybe OP's wife is more of a tiktok wife than a book reader wife (kidding OP). In any case, OP, you should over plan IMO, and have your wife help out. It's really not a huge deal.

 

[CavRider]

I am still trying. I can go 70 in my Tesla or EV6 with only slight loss, but in this BAT (big assed truck) it really lowers the range.

They wrote that song for me "I can't drive 55" or 65, but I am trying.

Yeah, the F-150 is definitely aero challenged.

 

[RyZac]

A little details on your route would be GREAT info to supply.
I was considering taking the Lightning on a guys trip from Mpls to Deadwood in a few weeks but the route, for me, is too iffy. Would need to rely on mostly EA as the SC on the route are largely V2s.
If it was just me I'd probably do it but one of my friends would be going crazy on me if there was too much of a hiccup in the drive. Thankfully I still have my Model Y.

 

[GDN]

I am in one hotel, and my lightning is languishing at another hotel, hooked up to a slow-ass Blink L1 charger because it was all I could find. I had to take an Uber back to my hotel, and will have to take an uber back to the other one tomorrow morning, and hope that it picked up enough miles to get me to a real charger.
Until Ford decides to get serious and actually build a freaking network I will confine my Lightning driving to local only. The Ford Pass "network" is just a list. It doesn't work. What i have now are two nav systems (Google and Ford). Google is flawed and unreliable when it comes to charging, but at least I can get somewhere with it. Ford can't find many locations, has all the functionality of Garmin 2004, and looks awful. The FordPass app can find chargers and sometimes feed them to Google Maps, but it's as likely to take me to the wrong place or to a charger that is not available or compatible. After two long days of driving 2 hours to charge for an hour (when I can actually find a charger close to the route), collecting charging apps so I can sit in an isolated spot with no rest rooms and no amenities, I have had it. My wife is ready to leave the Lightning at an airport and rent an ICE so we can finish driving to our vacation destination.
Ford, if you're listening, quit making us beta test your tech. Get it together.

You've nailed what was the first big farce Ford ever tried to sell. I've been saying it since day 1. They thought they could freeload and cobble together a network from other vendors. It was crap from day 1.

The only half way relenting thing is when Farley showed defeat and went to Elon (or which ever way it happened) and got us access to the Tesla chargers. It still has miles to go to be fully integrated and they need to update quicker, etc., however Ford is still showing you their hand that they aren't in on EV's in that you don't see any Ford branded chargers. They tried short cutting this whole mess and really didn't care about you after you bought the truck.

My guess is that the Lightning won't see the '26 Model year and you won't have a T3 either.

 

[CavRider]

You've nailed what was the first big farce Ford ever tried to sell. I've been saying it since day 1. They thought they could freeload and cobble together a network from other vendors. It was crap from day 1.

The only half way relenting thing is when Farley showed defeat and went to Elon (or which ever way it happened) and got us access to the Tesla chargers. It still has miles to go to be fully integrated and they need to update quicker, etc., however Ford is still showing you their hand that they aren't in on EV's in that you don't see any Ford branded chargers. They tried short cutting this whole mess and really didn't care about you after you bought the truck.

My guess is that the Lightning won't see the '26 Model year and you won't have a T3 either.

Huh. I have just as much interest in <Insert Auto Brand here> branded chargers as I do <Insert Auto Brand Here> branded gas pumps, which is precisely zero. But, that's just me I guess.

 

[GDN]

Why on earth would Ford need to create its own charging network? Because Tesla did? Tesla built its network out of necessity—there were virtually no chargers at the time. That was over a decade ago. In 2025, with nearly 70,000 chargers in existance, the idea that Ford needs its own branded network is crazy. The navigation system already finds any available charger, not just ones with a Ford logo.

Would you expect to fuel a Ram truck exclusively at Ram-branded gas stations?

Bottom line: Ford is already investing billions in manufacturing. Expecting them to sink billions more into a charging network—when dozens of networks already exist—just to support a mere 70,000 EV sales per year? That would be financial suicide.

I guess you joined the Ford party late didn't you. They don't need a full Ford branded network and I didn't say that. They do need to contibute. Likely the very biggest selling point at Ford for their EV's was their biggest network of charging ever. It was and still is a disaster today. You might want to go to your truck and confim it can find and route you to Tesla chargers as part of a normal route.

Why does everyone suggest 3 to 5 alternatives to help you plan a route in a Ford vehicle? Because the original plan and concept still doesn't work. You'll never need that in a Tesla.

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