Short 553 mile weekend trip. Northern AZ to Tucson and back. This truck just keeps getting better.

[SpaceEVDriver]

Took a short weekend trip to Tucson from the Flagstaff area.

On the way to Tucson, I stopped south of Phoenix for a quick restroom break and snack. Didn’t need to charge, but did it anyway.

The truck says my efficiency was 2.9 miles/kWh on the way down for this first leg. It was mostly downhill. I set the cruise control at 73 mph.

I hadn’t finished eating before I got the notification from the truck that it had reached 80% and was going to slow its charge rate. By the time I had thrown away my trash and gotten back to the truck, it was at 82%. Just 21 minutes after I plugged in, the truck was well-past ready to go again.

The second leg of the outbound trip was only a little over 100 miles on flat ground and with a head wind. I only achieved 2.3 miles/kWh.

The outbound average efficiency was 273 miles / ((169 miles / 2.9 miles/kWh) + 104 miles / 2.3 miles/kWh)) = 2.64 miles/kWh. Nearly exactly what the truck guessed I would get at the beginning of my trip.

Spent the weekend in Tucson charging on an L1 charger. I used the Lightning to run a couple of errands while there, but most of the weekend was spent hanging out with friends at a rental house. Got recharged to 100% by Sunday afternoon.

Drove home Monday. Google said the 17 was closed for construction at one point, so I took the back way home. I prefer that drive, so didn't need much convincing. I stopped in Payson for a restroom and nap break. Didn't need to charge, but plugged in anyway since I was there. Took a 15 minute nap, woke up to about 35% more charge than I needed to get home, but whatever.

Total distance from Tucson to home was 280 miles at an average of 2.2 miles/kWh. Despite the lower speed on the state highway vs the interstate, the climb up the mountain with a minimum elevation of ~1400 feet to maximum elevation of about 7650 feet elevation.

Overall, I made two DCFC stops--at least one of which was unnecessary--for the 553 mile round trip. I could have skipped the stop on the way down but the L1 charge would likely not have put the truck all the way up to 100%, so I may have needed the stop in Payson. Or I could have skipped the charge in Payson. But I needed the shut-eye anyway.

Round trip efficiency was 2.4 miles/kWh, not counting the low speed errands in town over the weekend. That efficiency gives 314 miles range on the 131 kWh useable battery.

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[Maxx]

great report. My overall average is 2.4 but I feel like I am getting better numbers this year than I did last year. in similar weather on a local drive I used to get 3.6 mi/KWh last year but this year I have gone as high as 4.1 on the same trip. I am not sure if one of the update has changed the gessometer, or conditions are just better. The truck just loves this time of the year.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

great report. My overall average is 2.4 but I feel like I am getting better numbers this year than I did last year. in similar weather on a local drive I used to get 3.6 mi/KWh last year but this year I have gone as high as 4.1 on the same trip. I am not sure if one of the update has changed the gessometer, or conditions are just better. The truck just loves this time of the year.

Yeah, our overall average is 2.4 and climbing up. We’ve only had it for just over a year, so I expect, like our Mustang, that the efficiency will continue to climb over the next year or two as I learn how to drive it—not punching it every time is a good thing for efficiency.

 

[Zprime29]

What was your average speed on the way back up to Flagstaff? That's really good efficiency. I get similar when I pop up to Phoenix but haven't made it up past there yet.

 

[Maxx]

Yeah, our overall average is 2.4 and climbing up. We’ve only had it for just over a year, so I expect, like our Mustang, that the efficiency will continue to climb over the next year or two as I learn how to drive it—not punching it every time is a good thing for efficiency.

Unlike the first few months of ownership, these days, I have more fun cheaping out on energy than I did with the go pedal. I try to keep the power band as short as possible in both directions (acceleration and deceleration). The less regen, the less power loss on power conversion. I know impact is minimal but I like getting obsessive about this to see how high I can get the numbers. It is just cool to have the utility of F150, acceleration of a sport car and the option to get the efficiency of a Bolt when you need it.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

What was your average speed on the way back up to Flagstaff? That's really good efficiency. I get similar when I pop up to Phoenix but haven't made it up past there yet.

I was nearer to Oracle than downtown Tucson, so I took the 77-79-Florence-Apache Junction route. As you know, that route has a lot of lights, stop signs, traffic in some areas, etc.

The total drive time to Payson was about 3.25 hours. Total distance was about 180 miles, so the average speed was about 55 mph. That’s the speed limit on many sections of that drive, and my speeding days are long past. I don’t think I increased speed much past Payson to the Flagstaff area, so that part was likely between 55 and 60 mph average.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Unlike the first few months of ownership, these days, I have more fun cheaping out on energy than I did with the go pedal. I try to keep the power band as short as possible in both directions (acceleration and deceleration). The less regen, the less power loss on power conversion. I know impact is minimal but I like getting obsessive about this to see how high I can get the numbers. It is just cool to have the utility of F150, acceleration of a sport car and the option to get the efficiency of a Bolt when you need it.

Yeah, that’s where I am too. I’ve got a motorcycle if I really feel the need for acceleration and adrenaline.

 

[broncoaz]

I’ve made the drive from Flagstaff to Tucson approximately 784 times in ICE vehicles. I always got good efficiency on the Flag to Phx run, average on the flat to Tucson, and poor on the way back up the hill as I was usually setting cruise at 79 mph. I could see the regen being great on the flag to Phx part.

It’s good to hear the Lightning works in AZ. I’d be hesitant because of the distances involved compared to the relatively short hops in MA. I typically drove diesel vehicles from 2009-2020 that got 600+ miles per tank. I was driving 60-70K miles per year doing consulting work with routine trips as far as Roswell, NM. I considered a Model 3 in 2018, but there was so little charging infrastructure that it wasn’t feasible like today.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I’ve made the drive from Flagstaff to Tucson approximately 784 times in ICE vehicles. I always got good efficiency on the Flag to Phx run, average on the flat to Tucson, and poor on the way back up the hill as I was usually setting cruise at 79 mph. I could see the regen being great on the flag to Phx part.

It’s good to hear the Lightning works in AZ. I’d be hesitant because of the distances involved compared to the relatively short hops in MA. I typically drove diesel vehicles from 2009-2020 that got 600+ miles per tank. I was driving 60-70K miles per year doing consulting work with routine trips as far as Roswell, NM. I considered a Model 3 in 2018, but there was so little charging infrastructure that it wasn’t feasible like today.

I’ve driven the routes between Tucson and Flagstaff hundreds and hundreds of times over the past ~40 years.

We’ve driven 65k miles in our Mustang and Lightning, about 75% of it road tripping. I wouldn’t hesitate to take either pretty much anywhere in North America. The red lines map most of our past adventures in our EVs—I’m certain I’ve forgotten several and the shorter local trips while on these road trips aren’t mapped. The Blue routes are just some of our planned adventures this year. We have many more planned for the near future.

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