21st Century Truck
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Folks,
Long 2-month trip - a fairly short trip report. "Just the facts, Ma'am"...
I picked up a(nother) 14-year old European nephew in NYC on 29 June 2025. We then spent 7 weeks and 5 days on a coast-to-coast trip and ended the road part in Grand Junction Colorado, where for lack of remaining time we left the Lightning and the teardrop camper and took the Amtrak Zephyr train to Denver, then took a flight to NYC where I put the boy on his return plane back to Europe. For the route, pls see the 1st two attached photos.
I flew back to Grand Junction Colorado and continued the return leg solo. I write this from my son's house in Louisville Kentucky, on my way back to Northern Virginia.
Total mileage together = 8,963 miles over the almost eight weeks. Additionally, I added / will add another 2 thousand miles before I return home to Northern Virginia later this week.
About 85+ percent of this Summer mileage was towing our 1,500 pound Timberleaf teardrop camper, in which we lived for 40+ of the 55 nights on the road.
The constantly shifting, pretty much unplanned 8-week route included large cities, the Eastern mid-Atlantic Coast, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the California coast, the Southwest deserts and everything else in between. Highest elevation = Monarch Pass in Colorado, at about 11,300 feet.
EQUIPMENT behavior: no malfunctions whatsoever, anywhere.
TOWING EFFICIENCY: with our teardrop camper in tow, the Lightning dash recorded these speed-dependent efficiency numbers - at or above 75 mph it was 1.2 or 1.3 miles/kWh or even a bit less if the truck was climbing a long incline. At 62 mph it was a steady 1.6 miles/kWh. At 51 mph it was a reliable 1.8 to 2.0 miles/kWh. Depending on the charging / endpoint situation that day we chose to drive at all these speeds, as necessary, to reach the next DC Fast charging point or the evening destination. We never ran out of juice.
DC FAST CHARGING: unlike on my 1st cross-country trip in 2023 in the Mach E Mustang with another teenage nephew, we found that DC Fast charging is just not a significant problem anymore. Between the Ford NAV and the occasional query of the Tesla app, we always found what we needed. And BTW, the occasional Tesla Supercharger does pop up on the Ford NAV... they are few and far between but some of the Superchargers really are in there. I just found and used one yesterday on the Western Kentucky Parkway between Paducah and Elisabethtown, and at least two others elsewhere in the past two months.
AC OVERNIGHT CHARGING: since about 44 of our nights were spent camping, we maximized the "free overnight fillup" wherever it was possible. We camped RV pads with 50 amp electricity receptacles in multiple state parks, in every military base which was near our route, in one Corps of Engineers camping park on the Upper Missouri River in South Dakota near Chamberlain, and in several National Forest camps. A great resource for such camping is a hard copy large-format book titled "Camping in America's City and Town Parks" published by the Ultimate Public Campground Project and sold on Amazon.com. We camped in three of the city parks listed in this book, and we also have several Ultimate Public Campground Project's other camping books and used them on this trip as well. I choose to avoid the KOA-type private RV parks because of their overcrowding and their overpricing.
BLUF: for the RV pad price of between $20 and $45 overnight price between National Park, National Forest, Corps of Engineers, military camps and similar publicly-run resources, we both agreed that this is a great way to spend the night while traveling for leisure. The price was higher on the Pacific Coast beaches but hey, it was right on Delmar beach at Camp Pendleton... and still WAYYY cheaper than at any SoCal hotel. At all these RV pads we got a nice location, a hot shower, a fire ring, a decent bathroom and a free juice fillup, which really paid its way in locations where we spent several nights, like at the Grand Teton National Park and at USMC's Camp Pendleton in Southern California. I didn't keep exact tabs but looking back, I think we filled up overnight in such places in over 30 of our 34 trailer camping nights. And as another bonus, we used the gyms at the military bases to keep in shape and to wear out the already very fit 14-year old haha. Nothing like several racquetball games to do this...
On the attached map we marked locations where we spent a night in orange, and circled the locations where we spent several days, in blue. There was a side trip to Hawaii which I threw in because the nephew is a great young man and besides, Hawaii is just too difficult for Europeans to get to, and there we were on the West Coast, so... during that 7-day stretch the Lightning stayed at LAX's "not really" economy lot, and the teardrop stayed at the Marine Corps RV storage lot at Camp Pendleton.
NOTABLE LIGHTNING EXPLOITS:
1). Well, there was the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway and by then, the nephew had, er, somehow learned to drive (sigh... these things happen
). So the Lightning did fifteen (!!) thunder runs down Bonneville. Top observed speed = 106 mph, on multiple runs with and against the wind. Notably, try as he might the nephew just could not make the Lightning drift its back end, except minimally. I guess the Ford power delivery modulation software is just too good haha.
There is a price to pay for running the Bonneville Salt Flats... pls see the final photo where we are scraping the inches (!!) of melted salt baked onto the suspension and underside. Luckily, this 1st major salt scraping was at the DC Fast charging station in nearby Wendover, Nevada while filling up.
2). At the Sand Hollow State Park in southern Utah, a haven of sorts for the off-road dune buggy crowd, we got into the OFF ROAD mode with the rear axle locked and, like, instantly buried the Lightning in the deep, deep red sand. I mean up to the rails, and within less than 10 seconds. Thankfully I have a tow strap and another truck pulled us right out. A good lesson was learned... I was the driver so I learned it
So, in conclusion:
- the Lightning (mine has the big battery) is a very, very good coast-to-coast vehicle even when towing a small camper teardrop. It has tons of room with the rear seats folded up and the frunk and my Decked drawer bed system, it is solid as a rock, it is easy to live with and to tow with, and it even puts up well with 14-year old boys... what's not to like?
Long 2-month trip - a fairly short trip report. "Just the facts, Ma'am"...
I picked up a(nother) 14-year old European nephew in NYC on 29 June 2025. We then spent 7 weeks and 5 days on a coast-to-coast trip and ended the road part in Grand Junction Colorado, where for lack of remaining time we left the Lightning and the teardrop camper and took the Amtrak Zephyr train to Denver, then took a flight to NYC where I put the boy on his return plane back to Europe. For the route, pls see the 1st two attached photos.
I flew back to Grand Junction Colorado and continued the return leg solo. I write this from my son's house in Louisville Kentucky, on my way back to Northern Virginia.
Total mileage together = 8,963 miles over the almost eight weeks. Additionally, I added / will add another 2 thousand miles before I return home to Northern Virginia later this week.
About 85+ percent of this Summer mileage was towing our 1,500 pound Timberleaf teardrop camper, in which we lived for 40+ of the 55 nights on the road.
The constantly shifting, pretty much unplanned 8-week route included large cities, the Eastern mid-Atlantic Coast, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the California coast, the Southwest deserts and everything else in between. Highest elevation = Monarch Pass in Colorado, at about 11,300 feet.
EQUIPMENT behavior: no malfunctions whatsoever, anywhere.
TOWING EFFICIENCY: with our teardrop camper in tow, the Lightning dash recorded these speed-dependent efficiency numbers - at or above 75 mph it was 1.2 or 1.3 miles/kWh or even a bit less if the truck was climbing a long incline. At 62 mph it was a steady 1.6 miles/kWh. At 51 mph it was a reliable 1.8 to 2.0 miles/kWh. Depending on the charging / endpoint situation that day we chose to drive at all these speeds, as necessary, to reach the next DC Fast charging point or the evening destination. We never ran out of juice.
DC FAST CHARGING: unlike on my 1st cross-country trip in 2023 in the Mach E Mustang with another teenage nephew, we found that DC Fast charging is just not a significant problem anymore. Between the Ford NAV and the occasional query of the Tesla app, we always found what we needed. And BTW, the occasional Tesla Supercharger does pop up on the Ford NAV... they are few and far between but some of the Superchargers really are in there. I just found and used one yesterday on the Western Kentucky Parkway between Paducah and Elisabethtown, and at least two others elsewhere in the past two months.
AC OVERNIGHT CHARGING: since about 44 of our nights were spent camping, we maximized the "free overnight fillup" wherever it was possible. We camped RV pads with 50 amp electricity receptacles in multiple state parks, in every military base which was near our route, in one Corps of Engineers camping park on the Upper Missouri River in South Dakota near Chamberlain, and in several National Forest camps. A great resource for such camping is a hard copy large-format book titled "Camping in America's City and Town Parks" published by the Ultimate Public Campground Project and sold on Amazon.com. We camped in three of the city parks listed in this book, and we also have several Ultimate Public Campground Project's other camping books and used them on this trip as well. I choose to avoid the KOA-type private RV parks because of their overcrowding and their overpricing.
BLUF: for the RV pad price of between $20 and $45 overnight price between National Park, National Forest, Corps of Engineers, military camps and similar publicly-run resources, we both agreed that this is a great way to spend the night while traveling for leisure. The price was higher on the Pacific Coast beaches but hey, it was right on Delmar beach at Camp Pendleton... and still WAYYY cheaper than at any SoCal hotel. At all these RV pads we got a nice location, a hot shower, a fire ring, a decent bathroom and a free juice fillup, which really paid its way in locations where we spent several nights, like at the Grand Teton National Park and at USMC's Camp Pendleton in Southern California. I didn't keep exact tabs but looking back, I think we filled up overnight in such places in over 30 of our 34 trailer camping nights. And as another bonus, we used the gyms at the military bases to keep in shape and to wear out the already very fit 14-year old haha. Nothing like several racquetball games to do this...
On the attached map we marked locations where we spent a night in orange, and circled the locations where we spent several days, in blue. There was a side trip to Hawaii which I threw in because the nephew is a great young man and besides, Hawaii is just too difficult for Europeans to get to, and there we were on the West Coast, so... during that 7-day stretch the Lightning stayed at LAX's "not really" economy lot, and the teardrop stayed at the Marine Corps RV storage lot at Camp Pendleton.
NOTABLE LIGHTNING EXPLOITS:
1). Well, there was the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway and by then, the nephew had, er, somehow learned to drive (sigh... these things happen
). So the Lightning did fifteen (!!) thunder runs down Bonneville. Top observed speed = 106 mph, on multiple runs with and against the wind. Notably, try as he might the nephew just could not make the Lightning drift its back end, except minimally. I guess the Ford power delivery modulation software is just too good haha. There is a price to pay for running the Bonneville Salt Flats... pls see the final photo where we are scraping the inches (!!) of melted salt baked onto the suspension and underside. Luckily, this 1st major salt scraping was at the DC Fast charging station in nearby Wendover, Nevada while filling up.
2). At the Sand Hollow State Park in southern Utah, a haven of sorts for the off-road dune buggy crowd, we got into the OFF ROAD mode with the rear axle locked and, like, instantly buried the Lightning in the deep, deep red sand. I mean up to the rails, and within less than 10 seconds. Thankfully I have a tow strap and another truck pulled us right out. A good lesson was learned... I was the driver so I learned it
So, in conclusion:
- the Lightning (mine has the big battery) is a very, very good coast-to-coast vehicle even when towing a small camper teardrop. It has tons of room with the rear seats folded up and the frunk and my Decked drawer bed system, it is solid as a rock, it is easy to live with and to tow with, and it even puts up well with 14-year old boys... what's not to like?
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