Winter Range Extender - would you do this?

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Hey! a fellow NW Ontario 2024 SR Lightning !! LOL
I wonder about additional heat sometimes - for similar reasons.
have you considered an electric heater running from a separate battery system for the cabin?

Since I build LFP batteries for various projects and my home battery (solar) I was toying with trying out one connected to an electric heater placed in the rear of the cab. A 8kWh pack could supply 24,000 BTU's.
Maybe a 'solar generator' type of unit (bluetti/Jackery/Ecoflow) could be another option to power a heater for the day - charge it at home overnight if you need a battery source.

When we get some cooler weather I will take a look at the truck energy graphics - that show the % energy going to cabin vs battery/motor vs traction - to see what potential saving may be available

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[RLXXI]

No I would not buy it.

1) Still under warranty.
2) Doesn't get cold enough for long enough.
3) My commute is 4 miles round trip.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

When we get some cooler weather I will take a look at the truck energy graphics - that show the % energy going to cabin vs battery/motor vs traction - to see what potential saving may be available

We have some near freezing stuff 32F/0C and I took a look at the Trip Energy display:
This display is in the menu settings, and shows "Climate Use" ie cabin, "Route" ie travel energy, "Accessories" infotainment stuff, and "Exterior Temperature" ie keeping the motors and battery happy in the current weather.

First thing in the AM after preconditioning, the Climate Use was 0% and so was Exterior Temperature. But driving a short distance the Climate Use started to click 3%, 5% 7%
The "Exterior Temperature" energy use climbed up as well, 8%, 10% 13%
AFter about half an hour of driving these seemed to settle in at a steady state of 9% cabin, and 11% Exterior - total of 20% of the truck energy. You can be sure it will be more when the weather gets colder.

So a few comments:
if you put an electric heater in the cabin and ran it from an Ecoflow or similar power source - you might save 9% of the truck battery load heating the cabin.

if you tied in a diesel inline heater into the thermal management system, maybe you could save the 20% energy the truck will otherwise get from the EV battery to heat the cabin, motors and battery. - I can't recommend such an approach myself, although I have used online heaters in the past on various cars, because the lightning is a far more complex system, and I have no idea what the auxilary heating might do to other parts of the truck, its' controls approach or unintended consequences of inputting heat where the controls don't expect it.
The main issue - if you input too much heating, what will happen ...how will you know, how will it be controlled.

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