Diesel heater(new video of it running)

[LightningShow]

It's an excellent idea to help with range loss in very cold climates. Nice work! I love the ingenuity!

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[Dylanch]

This is killer! I have thought about doing this as well, as we've installed a few on boats. Kudos on the mod.

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It's an excellent idea to help with range loss in very cold climates. Nice work! I love the ingenuity!

It's amazing look at cabin temp vs exterior temp 0 loss to range I'm doing 320wh/km which is typically better than my summer driving

 

[Grumpy2]

If the diesel heater heated both battery and cabin to say 60 degrees F., would the Lightning have nearly the same range as it would if the ambient outside temperature is 60 degrees? Perhaps the one gallon of diesel used by this heater is better on the environment than driving in freezing temps using the Lightning as it is??

I wouldn't do it to my truck and lose the warranty, but if Ford did it, it would be great.

 

[Grumpy2]

Typical EV battery temp vs capacity curve:

Sure, preconditioning mitigates this initially, but on a long trip, battery power will be used to keep the battery comfy.

What was the source of this chart? What does "capacity" represent? Why isn't up to 100% at any temperature?
I would like to read more about this topic.

 

[Dylanch]

If the diesel heater heated both battery and cabin to say 60 degrees F., would the Lightning have nearly the same range as it would if the ambient outside temperature is 60 degrees? Perhaps the one gallon of diesel used by this heater is better on the environment than driving in freezing temps using the Lightning as it is??

I wouldn't do it to my truck and lose the warranty, but if Ford did it, it would be great.

It costs me less to travel in freezing Temps with the heater than without. I can also dcfc way faster with it, saving money in canada because our dcfc charge by the minute

 

[Maquis]

What was the source of this chart? What does "capacity" represent? Why isn't up to 100% at any temperature?
I would like to read more about this topic.

It’s from a paper on energy storage for a wind turbine published by The Rochester Institute of Technology.
A Web search will yield plenty of info.

 

[Vithar]

After my drive in 4F yesterday I'm on board for a heater. It's not even cold her yet, I'm on the fence if I should be taking my ice truck out of storage for winter. But something like this would be pretty cool alternative.

 

[ivan256]

Responding over here instead of in your new thread, because I don't want to encourage thread proliferation about this...

I'm extremely interested in this modification. I'm hoping you can answer some burning questions...

Can you share what model heater you chose and why?

How did you decide where to splice it in?

Do you have a coolant schematic that includes the heater and battery loop? Or did you just climb under there and follow the lines?

Do you have a max tow package?

What happens if the truck decides that the battery needs to be cooled? I've seen some speculation that there's a valve that unifies the battery and cabin loops when the battery needs to be cooled. Obviously it would be bad to heat the coolant in that situation....

What's your plan for a safe and permanent mounting of the tank?

 

[meow]

Do you have a coolant schematic that includes the heater and battery loop? Or did you just climb under there and follow the lines?

+1 on the schematic. I'd really like to see how the install actually integrates!

That said the Ford schematics are readily available. It would be pretty straight-forward to show integration points.

What happens if the truck decides that the battery needs to be cooled? I've seen some speculation that there's a valve that unifies the battery and cabin loops when the battery needs to be cooled. Obviously it would be bad to heat the coolant in that situation....

If the battery needs to be cooled you'd probably want to turn the heater off

I'd recommend watching the Munro teardown, they did a really great video showing the system and its nuance!

 

[ivan256]

If the battery needs to be cooled you'd probably want to turn the heater off

I'd recommend watching the Munro teardown, they did a really great video showing the system and its nuance!

Yeah, that is exactly why I asked. I know that's tongue in cheek, but that's exactly what I *don't* want to have to do. I'm not interested in installing anything in the truck that requires the operator to do some specific unusual thing to prevent damage. It needs to "just work" so that I don't have to worry about it being done incorrectly when it's not me driving.

 

[Dylanch]

Responding over here instead of in your new thread, because I don't want to encourage thread proliferation about this...

I'm extremely interested in this modification. I'm hoping you can answer some burning questions...

Can you share what model heater you chose and why?

How did you decide where to splice it in?

Do you have a coolant schematic that includes the heater and battery loop? Or did you just climb under there and follow the lines?

Do you have a max tow package?

What happens if the truck decides that the battery needs to be cooled? I've seen some speculation that there's a valve that unifies the battery and cabin loops when the battery needs to be cooled. Obviously it would be bad to heat the coolant in that situation....

What's your plan for a safe and permanent mounting of the tank?

Hey I got a webasto glycall heater so if the truck is turned off and the battery decides to heat it will aid the heater in heating the battery. It's fantastic at dcfc because it will heat the battery almost 50% faster. The coolint in temperature is only +20 of the battery temp so it doesn't get to hot. So if battery temp is at 0 the coolant temp will be at 20. Where normally it's +15 without the diesel heater. I spliced in right at the heater core. The hose I spliced into I purchased new ones to bring back to stock if I need to. Next year I'm going to remove everything and permanently mount it in the battery Co.partment. and the diesel tank in the box.

So when you ask for heat in the cab the ptc heater will turn on and heatbyou
When the truck is off the ptc will heat the battery. The diesel heater will work with both

 

[pbd05]

Interesting idea, and nice use of the Webasto!

 

[RedLightning86]

I mean...this kind of solves the issue of range degradation in the winter months, while sipping on the fuel and giving you close to normal battery range, no?

Buying a Powerboost would only benefit OP in the winter and come Spring/Summer/Fall would be back to paying an arm and a leg to fuel it.

Besides the obvious not-an-EV, my Powerboost didn't drive nearly as smoothly as my Lightning. Or as lazy, with Blue Cruise, which I seriously love for freeway driving. But it did have 500 miles of range on a full tank, which was pretty awesome on the backroads of Wyoming last summer.

 

[cvalue13]

Having been through the Lightning’s first winter, some of the critiques of this system have not aged well!

Ford may have tested the Lightning in cold weather, and may have found acceptable range losses, but it doesn’t mean physics cease to apply!

Also the Monroe tear down of the lighting seems to have proved up that in stuffing BEV guts into the F150 platform, one significant consequence was an inefficient cabin heating solution.

 

[speedy123]

Im reviving this thread, interested in your plan for the heater this winter.

it would be really interesting to see a youtube video or much more detailed write up or schematic of what you’ve rigged here and exactly where everything is plumbed and how you have all the pipes and wiring connected.
Do you have an on/off switch in the cabin? Is the cabin heat still adjustable with the regular climate control or is it all or none?

My lack of understanding of the system, still don’t get how this heats the battery if it is on the climate control loop and not the battery loop.
If you have a long time at a destination with the truck off, can you use the heater to still keep the battery warm for a few hours?

Frankly I think this is ingenious. Well done. The previous critics on this thread haven’t lived through a Canada winter. If it works as well as you say, and your truck hasn’t caught fire yet, Ford could sell this as an aftermarket add-on and it would have huge appeal.

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