Just completed longest trip, 5,461 miles

[Jseis]

Ha! In 1976 a gang of us rode our bikes from Seattle to New York… via Canada. Via Jasper and Banff/Ice Fields Parkway. Then east across the Great Plains, dropping into Minnesota at the “Angle”, then through the UP and east to Manatoulin Islands, Tobermory Peninsula, Niagara, NY. 4000 miles in 60 days.

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[Rayden]

Great trip report!

 

[jwrezz]

I’ve found that using the ford nav to fool it for preconditioning purposes seems to work well. Usually whatever site it suggests I can find a SC close by. I figure it helps, better than nothing. It’s absolutely ridiculous that ford can’t get their shit together and update our apim’s to show SC.

Can you elaborate on this process to precondition? It's gonna be a few months till I need to worry about it again, but I'm interested.

 

[astrand1]

Can you elaborate on this process to precondition? It's gonna be a few months till I need to worry about it again, but I'm interested.

Pretty much what I said above. I let the factory nav make the route and charging stops. Then I use PlugShare or the Tesla app to find a sc that is close to where the factory nav is routing me to charge. That way the battery does its thing and warms or cools as needed since the truck knows it’s about to hit a charger. Normally where ever the truck suggests to charge there is a SC close by. When I travel I use SC most of the time as they are the most reliable and usually cheaper than anywhere else. That’s been my experience at least. If you’re going on a trip I suggest paying for a month or however long of the Tesla membership and not using plug and charge to get cheaper rates.

 

[Rayden]

Can you elaborate on this process to precondition? It's gonna be a few months till I need to worry about it again, but I'm interested.

Same here. Florida to OBX next month, my first trip that will need more than 1 charging stop.

 

[carys98]

Same here. Florida to OBX next month, my first trip that will need more than 1 charging stop.

Going from Florida to NC in April you won’t need to precondition. I did NC to FL in February and easily hit 170+ kW as soon as I plugged in at every stop.

 

[Rayden]

Going from Florida to NC in April you won’t need to precondition. I did NC to FL in February and easily hit 170+ kW as soon as I plugged in at every stop.

Thanks, that's good to know! I'm fortunate my friend traveling with me has traveled extensively in his Model S and is used to the stop/charge/eat/bathroom breaks already.

 

[RickLightning]

Preconditioning is really only a thing when it's very cold. In the dead of winter, the battery gets down to freezing, or below, especially when it's not plugged in. Show up at a charger, and it is very slow as it pulls close to 10kW to warm the battery, which takes a good 10 minutes or more, all the time the charge rate is climbing.

I have data on my recent trip, just need to figure out how to break the charging sessions out on a graph and I can put up actual data showing the difference between a warm and cold battery charging.

 

[Rayden]

Preconditioning is really only a thing when it's very cold. In the dead of winter, the battery gets down to freezing, or below, especially when it's not plugged in. Show up at a charger, and it is very slow as it pulls close to 10kW to warm the battery, which takes a good 10 minutes or more, all the time the charge rate is climbing.

I have data on my recent trip, just need to figure out how to break the charging sessions out on a graph and I can put up actual data showing the difference between a warm and cold battery charging.

That's interesting. So if I'm traveling in 50+ temps, there's no preconditioning going on? If that's true, is there any advantage to using the Ford Navigation vs ABRP or something else?

 

[RickLightning]

That's interesting. So if I'm traveling in 50+ temps, there's no preconditioning going on? If that's true, is there any advantage to using the Ford Navigation vs ABRP or something else?

Preconditioning the battery, when plugged into 240v, heats it to 59 degrees max. So yes, when traveling in 50+ degree temps, just drive. It will quickly climb when plugged in.

On this trip, I charged in North Dakota, then parked at the hotel. When I charged, the battery 93 degrees, and showed 110.85kWh of energy. The next morning, the battery was 32 degrees and showed 99.09kWh of energy. In 1 hour of driving, with 30 degree air temps, the battery rose to 46.4. In 2 hours it rose to 54.

Another day I charged to 91% at a SuperCharger, and had 113.55kWh. The next morning, with 22 degree air temps AND being plugged into 120v all night and charging to 100%, I was at 114.42kWh, with the battery at 32F. On my 50 minute drive, it heated to 37.4.

 

[Rayden]

That was a pretty amazing trip, btw. Between your trip and the "Epic Truck Camping Weekend in the Rain" thread, I'm itching to get out soon!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Great report @RickLightning I always enjoy the nerdy data collected and shared!

@Ford Motor Company we've asked many times but still no answers, when will FORD implement enroute battery {WARMING} for winter drives on 2022 F150 Lightnings?

 

[RickLightning]

Great report @RickLightning I always enjoy the nerdy data collected and shared!

@Ford Motor Company we've asked many times but still no answers, when will FORD implement enroute battery {WARMING} for winter drives on 2022 F150 Lightnings?

Right after they put out the incentives for current owners to buy 2025s...

 

[21st Century Truck]

Pretty much what I said above. I let the factory nav make the route and charging stops. Then I use PlugShare or the Tesla app to find a sc that is close to where the factory nav is routing me to charge. That way the battery does its thing and warms or cools as needed since the truck knows it’s about to hit a charger. Normally where ever the truck suggests to charge there is a SC close by. When I travel I use SC most of the time as they are the most reliable and usually cheaper than anywhere else. That’s been my experience at least. If you’re going on a trip I suggest paying for a month or however long of the Tesla membership and not using plug and charge to get cheaper rates.

This is also my method to trick the truck to begin pre-conditioning in cold conditions.

The degree of value in pre-conditioning of course depends on the relative outdoor temperature and on influencing conditions like the wind, etc.

So the colder it is below about the mid 40s F, the better pre-conditioning works.

Additionally, it takes some time for pre-conditioning to work its prep magic on the traction battery, at least 15 - 20 minutes in my experience, a bit longer in really cold temps.

I use Ford NAV exclusively during trips except to find the hidden (non-Ford NAV) Tesla SuperChargers, and routinely pre-condition at or below 45 F. It does save DC Fast "pump" time.

 

[RickLightning]

This is also my method to trick the truck to begin pre-conditioning in cold conditions.

I tried the following:

Whispered to truck "you're a 2023, not a 2022". - Didn't work.
Told truck "But Ford said the update is coming." - Truck made a noise like a laugh.

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