Bluecruise hands free and 80mph

[Rocket808]

I can come up with a rational argument of why 80, but I don’t recall bluecruise hands free not continuing to be hands free when the truck hits 81mph. Is this a new limitation?

so I can set any speed, and hands free clicks on and off at 80 depending on how the flow of traffic is going.

anyways, I don’t know if it is a feature or a setting, but sharing my experience.

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[Pioneer74]

The 81mph limit has always been there.

 

[RickLightning]

No, it's not new. 80mph is the handsfree limit, always has been. As soon as you hit 81 and hold that speed, handsfree will disengage.

 

[cdherman]

If there is one thing I have learned in 11 years of BEV ownership -- speed is what kills your range. I get that the Blue Cruise kicks off as a safety measure. But I can tell you -- you are going to be happier with ANY electric vehicle you drive, if you learn to be a bit more of a "right lane" driver. And with adaptive cruise, driving in the right lane is so much less painful than it used to be. So you arrive at your destination like 90 seconds later. I also was a "left lane driver" for years. Always at the edge of where I could get by and not get a ticket. But with the adaptive cruise in my new RAV4, plus wanting to get some extra range, I just settle in. If there is some jerk doing 55 in a 70 zone, sure he gets passed. But if grandpa wants to do 69, I just tool along behind him. He's prolly going to turn off in a mile or two anyhow!

Ok, off soap box.

Really looking forward to my Lightning!!

 

[Yellow Buddy]

If there is one thing I have learned in 11 years of BEV ownership -- speed is what kills your range. I get that the Blue Cruise kicks off as a safety measure. But I can tell you -- you are going to be happier with ANY electric vehicle you drive, if you learn to be a bit more of a "right lane" driver. And with adaptive cruise, driving in the right lane is so much less painful than it used to be. So you arrive at your destination like 90 seconds later. I also was a "left lane driver" for years. Always at the edge of where I could get by and not get a ticket. But with the adaptive cruise in my new RAV4, plus wanting to get some extra range, I just settle in. If there is some jerk doing 55 in a 70 zone, sure he gets passed. But if grandpa wants to do 69, I just tool along behind him. He's prolly going to turn off in a mile or two anyhow!

Ok, off soap box.

Really looking forward to my Lightning!!

Personally I find that I start drifting and falling asleep if I’m not engaged. I like bluecruise for when traffic picks up. But if it’s open, I’d rather be doing the driving and going at a speed to my liking. My mind is more enagaged looking at traffic, looking for cops.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

Personally I find that I start drifting and falling asleep if I’m not engaged. I like bluecruise for when traffic picks up. But if it’s open, I’d rather be doing the driving and going at a speed to my liking. My mind is more enagaged looking at traffic, looking for cops.

I agree 100%

 

[Calvin H-C]

If there is one thing I have learned in 11 years of BEV ownership -- speed is what kills your range.

I agree, though I only have 5.5 years EV experience, though with a Focus Electric and its 100-120 mile range, I suspect I get a few extra bones experience points when it comes to coping with range.

I also was more of a "left lane driver" and found with an EV, a road trip might have saved 20-30 minutes driving that way in an ICE. With an EV, it tends to add at least one extra fast charge stop along the way that requires 30 minutes just for charging, plus another 15-20 minutes minimum just to get off the highway and back on again.

 

[sotek2345]

I agree, though I only have 5.5 years EV experience, though with a Focus Electric and its 100-120 mile range, I suspect I get a few extra bones experience points when it comes to coping with range.

I also was more of a "left lane driver" and found with an EV, a road trip might have saved 20-30 minutes driving that way in an ICE. With an EV, it tends to add at least one extra fast charge stop along the way that requires 30 minutes just for charging, plus another 15-20 minutes minimum just to get off the highway and back on again.

On lower range vehicles that makes complete sense, and will likely make sense again once we have a more robust charging infrastructure. However, on my trip I typically find that my charging stops are more dictated by where the chargers are vs. when I would be out of charge. Given that, and the fairly flat charging curve on the Lightning, driving a little faster can get you to the charging location soon (that you had to stop at anyways) can cut overall time. It doesn't really matter if you get there at 37% or 41% (give or take).

 

[ivan256]

If there is one thing I have learned in 11 years of BEV ownership -- speed is what kills your range. I get that the Blue Cruise kicks off as a safety measure. But I can tell you -- you are going to be happier with ANY electric vehicle you drive, if you learn to be a bit more of a "right lane" driver.

If I'm only going to use 30% of my battery one way or another, I don't see how I'm going to be any happier driving slow.

If you want to be a "right lane" driver, have right at it! But please do it in the actual right lane so I can get by!

 

[cdherman]

I tend to find the prevailing speed in the right lane. So not really grandpa. In a three lane, I like the middle.

65 versus 80 over 200 miles is 34 minutes difference. But actually averaging 80 is hard in most places, and adds to the driving stress considerably.

I agree that if you are really going say 800 miles in a day, you are going to push to the max, unless the next charging station is a tight run and driving slower makes it certain you will arrive.......

But lets use my 18 mile one way commute as an example. I drive around 65, but usually just adapt to the middle lane of a 3 lane interstate. That's 65, but only about 12 miles of the 18. The rest I drive a fast as I can, which is to say varying speeds, often with brisk acceleration from a light, but gradual slowing. So in the 12 miles, at 73 takes a minimum of 10 min. (perfect world 9.867 min, calculated). At 65 it takes around 11 (11.08). But considerable parts of the 12 miles are not at 73, sustained.

So at best, being in the left lane, pushing the limits would get me 60 seconds. For that, I use more mental energy, more electrical energy.

Just saying......

BTW -- there is very little penalty for brisk acceleration in an BEV. Battery might get slightly hotter and thus have slightly more losses, but its negligible -- have fun! However, de-acceleration is a different beast. Even regenerative braking has something like 40% losses. And heaven forbid you brake hard enough to engage the mechanical brakes. Using partial pedal to coast is the trick. Some vehicles make that easier than others. Confessions of an occasional hypermiler...

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