Ice & Easy: Winter Driving Tips from Ford

[LightningCanuckNB]

It would be great if Ford added a one-time departure time option. I don't have a regular commute schedule, so I'm forced to create one, and then delete it when not needed, rather than just having the option to apply one for the next day only. I imagine many people have one-off trips they'd love to precondition for.

We've only been asking for this feature over and over again for 3 years now.

It's something that I could likely code myself in under an hour if I was given access to the app.

It is mind boggling how little @Ford Motor Company seems to prioritize actually requested and useful things like this... instead deciding to overhaul the app UX to make it more confusing and worse and not actually give any real requested features... like this one or the laundry list of other easy to implement things.

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[Timeless Epoch]

We had our first heavy snow yesterday. I packed up the wife and puppy to go see some Christmas lights in the snow.

Here are a few things I found that help.

1) Its important to not only clear your windows, but also the hood on our lightnings. I found this a few weeks ago and it makes quick work of the job. I cleared the roof, windows, and hood in under 2 minutes. Use the corners to get down into the cowl.

2) I used the Ford charge port covers. They worked well. In a lighter snow without, I had to clear the charge port area in order to close the door. With this big (for southern OH) snow, I just pulled the plug and covers and shut the door.

3) While going out and viewing Christmas lights with the Mrs and the new pup, we did start to have issues with window fogging. (about 20 F out) I was in auto “3” and would occasionally hit the max defrost button to clear the glass. It worked, but it about roasted us out of the truck and annoying to have to constantly intervene. I found if I manually selected defrost and floor vents and set the fan to medium, cabin temperature stayed regulated and the glass stayed clear. No further action needed.

Observations: The truck performed well, and as many have said before, she’s a bit of a snow monster. I did find the truck a bit disconnected from what was going on where the rubber met the snow. With no engine feedback and a well dialed in traction control system, it was a little harder to determine the edge of the handling envelope. Which ironically sapped a little of my confidence and I ended up driving more conservatively than I am know I needed too.

Obligatory pup pic:

 

[Henry Ford]

Observations: The truck performed well, and as many have said before, she’s a bit of a snow monster. I did find the truck a bit disconnected from what was going on where the rubber met the snow. With no engine feedback and a well dialed in traction control system, it was a little harder to determine the edge of the handling envelope. Which ironically sapped a little of my confidence and I ended up driving more conservatively than I am know I needed too.

I wouldn't assume you are being too conservative. A lightly loaded Lightning with the big battery is over 7,000lbs. That's about 2,000lbs more than a similarly loaded gas F150. When things go wrong in a Lightning it is harder to correct because there is A LOT more mass. The good news is they handle well in the snow as long as you take it slow.

 

[RickLightning]

I wouldn't assume you being too conservative. A lightly loaded Lightning with the big battery is over 7,000lbs. That's about 2,000lbs more than a similarly loaded gas F150. When things go wrong in a Lightning it is harder to correct because there is A LOT more mass. The good news is they handle well in the snow as long as you take it slow.

This ^^^

My first winter I went down the small hill of our development, which enters a road of 55mph. As I got close, I hit the brakes, and started sliding, all the way out into the plowed main road. Luckily, no one was coming.

7,000 pounds of inertia is hard to stop.

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