2600 Mile Trip Report From San Diego, CA->Moab, UT->Idaho Falls, ID->Colfax, CA->San Diego, CA

[Nick503955]

My family (5 people) completed a road trip about a week ago through a good portion of the Western US in our 2023 F-150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range. Overall, it wasn't as hard as I expected, and I didn't mind the stops.

Some takeaways:

1. The cold does hurt efficiency but not as much as hills. I saw efficiency as low as 1.5 mi/kWh climbing hills in the cold.
   
   
2. 75-80 mph speed limits drive efficiency down to 1.7-1.8 mi/kWh.
   
   
3. A Better Route Planner helped for planning, but I found I didn't use the app as much in Carplay while driving. I relied on Apple Maps since it provides additional directions in the heads up display and vibrates your watch ahead of a turn.
   
   
4. Electrify America plan pays for itself in 2 stops.
   
   
5. Expect at least 25% of chargers to have some malfunction.
   
   
6. The Tesla Magic Dock is neat but charging was expensive.
   
   
7. You get good at calculating range based on current efficiency. I mostly ignored the indicated range.
   
   
8. I assumed a 131 kWh pack, but comparing the Ford charge stats to Electrify America kWh-added seems to suggest a 142 kWh pack or so allowing for rounding.
   
   
9. The charge stops were great for catching up on notifications, emails, and work stuff. I didn't worry about drinking too much water and having to stop and pee with stops every 1.5-2.5 hours. Stay hydrated, friends!
   
   
10. Edit: I missed the Tesla efficiency analysis that identified the effects of cold, aggressive driving, etc. The efficiency analysis in the Ford is a little too basic.
11. Edit 2: No EA charger in Twin Falls made the stretch between Pocatello and Elko a bit tight.

My charge data:
202304-RoadTripAnalysis

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[Webbo85]

Nice report and spreadsheet, sounds like a fun trip! Two questions, what’s the Shadow Cost? And why are you thinking the pack is 142 kWh?

 

[Nick503955]

Nice report and spreadsheet, sounds like a fun trip! Two questions, what’s the Shadow Cost? And why are you thinking the pack is 142 kWh?

Shadow cost reflects amounts I didn’t actually pay. Specifically, Ford charge credits and charging at residences.
The 142 is implied based on the % change indicated in the Ford app charge history and the kWh reported by Electrify America. I expect this is due to charging losses or something.

 

[Txxthie]

Great trip, thanks for sharing your observations. The ER Lightning with blue cruise is one of the best road-trippers sold on the market today. It’s great at moving 4-5 people comfortably and all their luggage. ABRP works really well for pre planning a trip to know SOC at each stop. You can get really geeky with it and accuracy improves even more. The paid version only shows up on Apple CarPlay. I prefer to have my iPhone (mounted using MagSafe) displaying ABRP and Apple Maps like you mentioned on the center screen. The Lightning Achilles heel is thermodynamics and aerodynamics. Overall the adaption of the F150 chassis to an EV is surprisingly good. Myself being a first time truck owner and multiple Tesla owner I am happy.

 

[Nick503955]

Great trip, thanks for sharing your observations. The ER Lightning with blue cruise is one of the best road-trippers sold on the market today. It’s great at moving 4-5 people comfortably and all their luggage. ABRP is great for pre planning your trip to know what SOC you will have at each stop. The paid version only shows up on Apple CarPlay. I prefer to have my iPhone (mounted using MagSafe) displaying ABRP and Apple Maps like you mentioned on the center screen. The Lightning Achilles heel is thermodynamics and aerodynamics. Overall the adaption of the F150 chassis to an EV is surprisingly good. Myself being a first time truck owner and multiple Tesla owner I am happy.

100%
I’m curious how the R1S compares for road trips.

 

[Txxthie]

Definitely

100%
I’m curious how the R1S compares for road trips.

More of a midsize truck and not nearly as cavernous inside as Lightning. A little bit more efficient at highway speeds especially in (FWD only) conserve mode. Ford should implement a similar setting if it’s not hardware restricted. With a conserve/eco mode (FWD or RWD) + a heat pump + DCFC preconditioning + better aerodynamics the Lightning would be hard to beat even with the upcoming competition of bespoke EV trucks.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

My family (5 people) completed a road trip about a week ago through a good portion of the Western US in our 2023 F-150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range. Overall, it wasn't as hard as I expected, and I didn't mind the stops.

I’ve made three trips in my Lightning Pro SR over 500 miles: Up-and-back to Las Vegas from Southern California. To Phoenix and back from Southern California. And 1500 miles from Southern California to Arkansas.

With one qualification (the stretch from Indio to Phoenix could use more DC fast chargers), I never had a serious case of range anxiety.* And that is in an EV with a range (about 230 miles EPA, 200 real at highway speeds) that is towards the low end of the range spectrum. It does, however, require becoming used to seeing a “range remaining” of less than 40 miles.

One reason the Phoenix run was a bit fraught was that a key ElectrifyAmerica station at Quartzsite, AZ was completely down on my leg east. I still made it into the Phoenix metro area with range to spare, but I would have preferred to have skipped a stop at a relatively slow charger in Blythe for the hyperchargers that EA uses.

So, yeah, reliability needs to improve. But the basic presence of DC fast chargers along most interstate corridors is ok-to-good, and it is only 2023 and the impact of multiple federal programs to increase EV infrastructure has not yet been felt.

The bottom line for me: Once you’ve gone EV, it is VERY hard to go back. I love my Lightning and withdrew from my Maverick order (while a hybrid, it did not begin to match the Lightning’s feature set) because I couldn’t imagine returning to the gasoline-powered experience. As another commenter noted, the Lightning is a remarkably pleasant vehicle to drive on a long road trip - quiet, smooth, roomy.

* Once in Arkansas, I did an in-state road trip of about 500 miles that required some careful planning, because right now, SW Arkansas is an EV charging desert. I had to push the range to the limits (one stop was made with 14 miles left), but I never worried that I would get stranded. By the way, a shout-out to Franklin's Charging in Little Rock and Hot Springs. This is an enlightened approach to EV charging that needs to be supported and replicated: https://franklinscharging.com/

 

[Txxthie]

Great to see a SR going long range . There is no range anxiety just charger anxiety.

 

[Roy2001]

1. Edit: I missed the Tesla efficiency analysis that identified the effects of cold, aggressive driving, etc. The efficiency analysis in the Ford is a little too basic.

Which testla efficiency analysis? I never see it.

 

[Nick503955]

Which testla efficiency analysis? I never see it.

Looks like what is shown in this video:

 

[GoodSam]

Nice work. I would like to add a few columns (underlined) to your Charge data tracking spreadsheet: Date, Time start, Time end, Network, Location, Odometer, Miles Driven, Start%, ~Start kW Rate, End%, ~End kW Rate, Diff%Added, kWh Added, Charge Time req'd, Cost, Price/kWh, Shadow Price, Total Price, Total Price/kWh, Ford App Add, Implied Pack Size, Ford App Miles Added, Ford App Mi/kWh.
Would be great if Ford did all this tracking accurately and automatically and showed it on the display and in FordPass!

FordPass Charge Log does show Date, Location, %Added, Est. Dist Added, Charge Time, Start%, Time Start, End%, Time End. But App consistency is not there yet as it is amazing how many times it misses logging my charging and driving. @Ford Motor Company

 

[Amps]

FordPass Charge Log does show Date, Location, %Added, Est. Dist Added, Charge Time, Start%, Time Start, End%, Time End.

Conspicuously missing the kWh added to the battery after the charging session ends, when and if Ford Pass Charge Log does log the session. I just don't understand their reasoning.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Conspicuously missing the kWh added to the battery after the charging session ends, when and if Ford Pass Charge Log does log the session. I just don't understand their reasoning.

Amen, I'd love to see more of the data from the current charging session (while it's plugged in) under [Home / Charging / Details] transfer to the [Charging / Charge Logs / Battery Charge Logs section], and to have it consistently happen, I'm OK with this event occurring when the vehicle is unplugged.

 

[davehu]

My family (5 people) completed a road trip about a week ago through a good portion of the Western US in our 2023 F-150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range. Overall, it wasn't as hard as I expected, and I didn't mind the stops.

...

Thanks for posting. always good to see real world data. You should check out the article and video on the EA CEO's trip from LA to Virginia

 

[Roy2001]

Looks like what is shown in this video:

Thank you. Don't know how to find it on X though.

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