What's it like to take a road trip in a truck like the Terra (F-150 Lightning)?

[SpaceEVDriver]

This morning we last-minute decided to make a quick run up to the Grand Canyon since it was rainy and cold here.
The truck was at 94% after I’d run an errand this morning. We told it to warm up while we got ready.
Then we headed out.

The route we took is about 105 miles long and we came back the same way, so approximately 210 miles.

Sadly, the weather there wasn’t much better. It was rainy and cold there. By the time we got home, the sun was out at home, mocking us for looking for clearer skies elsewhere.

Assuming the EPA range estimate was correct would suggest that we should have used 66% of the battery on the round trip.
We arrived home with 17% state of charge. That is, we used 77%. It’s not really surprising, considering the speed and cold, and considering the elevation climb both on the way there and on the way home—yes, it really was uphill both ways.

Here’s the one-way elevation profile: We started at about 6700 feet elevation, climbed to about 7500 feet elevation, and descended a little bit to the rim.

 

[N Wilson]

I took another road trip yesterday, this one was shorter than my recent trip to Boston and back.

An old friend who lives in the Cooperstown area of NY and his buddy had put together a car for an enduro race at the Fonda Speedway in Fonda, NY on New Year's Day.

About 20 years ago, my friend and I drove in demolition derbies and we were pretty good back in our day, so I wanted to go and show support for him, and it was a good excuse to get some more experience taking the Lightning on trips and getting used to using DCFCs.

The trip from my house to Fonda Speedway is 99 miles one way. I had charged to 100% the night before, and rolled out of my driveway showing 326 miles of range. I knew I wasn't going to need to stop to charge on the way there, and looking at Plugshare ahead of time, I knew there was a Chargepoint charger right off the highway exit for Fonda, so I figured I'd decide when I got there if I needed to charge for the return trip. I could also see on Plugshare that there were many other DCFCs along the route, so I knew it was not going to be an issue finding a charger if needed. The infrastructure in the Northeast is really good, so you're never far from a charger on a trip on the highway.

The wild card was the temperature. We're in the middle of a nasty cold snap here in the Northeast and the high for the day was predicted to be 19°F in Fonda. It was in the low teens on the drive out in the morning, so I was using the heat which does cut into your range with an EV, not to mention the effect of the cold itself on the battery.

I got to Fonda with 56% battery SOC and decided to pull in and add a little charge at the Chargepoint location right off the exit ramp so I could just head straight home after the race. Chargepoint doesn't have CC readers so you have to use their app. I had created an account previously but hadn't added payment info, so I took a minute and did that quick. I waved my phone in front of the charger and it said to plug in and start charging. I grabbed the cable and tried to plug it into my truck, but it wouldn't plug in all the way. I pulled the plug out and looked at it. Packed with ice and snow. Not a big deal because there were 2 chargers and each charger had 2 plugs. I tried the other plug on the charger I was parked at, and it plugged in and started charging. The charge rate began ramping up, so I got in the truck to wait while it charged. After about 2 minutes or so it stopped charging and said charger fault. Since I didn't need to charge right then, I decided to go to the race, then charge afterward.

After the race, I took my friend for a ride in the Lightning to show it to him, and I may have done a few wide open throttle bursts to show him the acceleration, so that used up some battery charge. Before getting on the highway to head home, I pulled in to the other Chargepoint charger at the same travel plaza I stopped at that morning. Plugged in and it charged for 10 minutes, then stopped like the other on did earlier. In the 10 minutes it was charging, it added 10% to the battery. I knew there was a travel plaza just a few miles down the highway on my way home with 400kW chargers, so I left the Chargepoint location and got on the highway and headed home. I pulled into the Applegreen travel plaza and plugged into the charger there showing 54% SOC. No issues with that charger. I went inside and got some food and used the restroom. I went back out and the truck was at 80% SOC, so I stopped the charge session and headed home. I had to make a stop at my mom's house on the way home to help her with a few things. Got home with 35% SOC, so I definitely could have spent less time on the charger, but I'm still new to this, and still very much in the learning curve. My experiences are almost more about learning and getting accustomed to using DCFCs than actually needing to charge. I had no anxiety or worries about running out of battery, because like I said, there are chargers all along the route, so I had plenty of options. It's kinda like the practice run that @SpaceEVDriver suggested except without another driver in a second vehicle as a backup.

As I said before, the extreme cold was the variable here that I was learning how to account for. I had been out in the freezing cold all day at the race, so I wanted to be able to use the heat all the way home and I knew that would use more battery. That's the main reason I was conservative with staying on the charger longer.

 

[cyure]

I took another road trip yesterday, this one was shorter than my recent trip to Boston and back.

An old friend who lives in the Cooperstown area of NY and his buddy had put together a car for an enduro race at the Fonda Speedway in Fonda, NY which was on New Year's Day.

About 20 years ago, my friend and I drove in demolition derbies and we were pretty good back in our day, so I wanted to go and show support for him, and it was a good excuse to get some more experience taking the Lightning on trips and getting used to using DCFCs.

The trip from my house to Fonda Speedway is 99 miles one way. I had charged to 100% the night before, and rolled out of my driveway showing 326 miles of range. I knew I wasn't going to need to stop to charge on the way there, and looking at Plugshare ahead of time, I knew there was a Chargepoint charger right off the highway exit for Fonda, so I figured I'd decide when I got there if I needed to charge for the return trip. I could also see on Plugshare that there were many other DCFCs along the route, so I knew it was not going to be an issue finding a charger if needed. The infrastructure in the Northeast is really good, so you're never far from a charger on a trip on the highway.

The wild card was the temperature. We're in the middle of a nasty cold snap here in the Northeast and the high for the day was predicted to be 19°F in Fonda. It was in the low teens on the drive out in the morning, so I was using the heat which does cut into your range with an EV, not to mention the effect of the cold itself on the battery.

I got to Fonda with 56% battery SOC and decided to pull in and add a little charge at the Chargepoint location right off the exit ramp so I could just head straight home after the race. Chargepoint doesn't have CC readers so you have to use their app. I had created an account previously but hadn't added payment info, so I took a minute and did that quick. I waved my phone in front of the charger and it said to plug in and start charging. I grabbed the cable and tried to plug it into my truck, but it wouldn't plug in all the way. I pulled the plug out and looked at it. Packed with ice and snow. Not a big deal because there were 2 chargers and each charger had 2 plugs. I tried the other plug on the charger I was parked at, and it plugged in and started charging. The charge rate began ramping up, so I got in the truck to wait while it charged. After about 2 minutes or so it stopped charging and said charger fault. Since I didn't need to charge right then, I decided to go to the race, then charge afterward.

After the race, I took my friend for a ride in the Lightning to show it to him, and I may have done a few wide open throttle bursts to show him the acceleration, so that used up some battery charge. Before getting on the highway to head home, I pulled in to the other Chargepoint charger at the same travel plaza I stopped at that morning. Plugged in and it charged for 10 minutes, then stopped like the other on did earlier. In the 10 minutes it was charging, it added 10% to the battery. I knew there was a travel plaza just a few miles down the highway on my way home with 400kW chargers, so I left the Chargepoint location and got on the highway and headed home. I pulled into the Applegreen travel plaza and plugged into the charger there showing 54% SOC. No issues with that charger. I went inside and got some food and used the restroom. I went back out and the truck was at 80% SOC, so I stopped the charge session and headed home. I had to make a stop at my mom's house on the way home to help her with a few things. Got home with 35% SOC, so I definitely could have spent less time on the charger, but I'm still new to this, and still very much in the learning curve. My experiences are almost more about learning and getting accustomed to using DCFCs than actually needing to charge. I had no anxiety or worries about running out of battery, because like I said, there are chargers all along the route, so I had plenty of options. It's kinda like the practice run that @SpaceEVDriver suggested except without another driver in a second vehicle as a backup.

As I said before, the extreme cold was the variable here that I was learning how to account for. I had been out in the freezing cold all day at the race, so I wanted to be able to use the heat all the way home and I knew that would use more battery. That's the main reason I was conservative with staying on the charger longer.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I really appreciate it.

How much does using the heat reduce your range?

Thanks!

 

[N Wilson]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I really appreciate it.

How much does using the heat reduce your range?

Thanks!

It depends on a few factors.

1. The outside temperature.
2. How high you set the temp on the vehicle's HVAC system. (This probably has the biggest effect on range)
3. Whether the vehicle's HVAC system is a resistive heater or a heat pump based system. Heat pumps are more energy efficient than resistive heaters.

The 2022 and 2023 Lightnings have a resistive heater. Ford switched to a heat pump system for the 2024 and 2025 model years. I have a 2023, so my truck has a resistive heater. With the extreme cold the day of my trip, I knew I was going to take a hit on range using the heat. I tried to mitigate that by setting the heater to 68° which felt perfectly warm and comfortable to me.

I can't remember if Scout has confirmed yet whether they will use a resistive heater or a heat pump system. @J Alynn do you recall any discussion at the reveal or since about what type of HVAC system Scout plans to use?

 

[cyure]

it depends on a few factors.

1. The outside temperature.
2. How high you set the temp on the vehicle's HVAC system. (This probably has the biggest effect on range)
3. Whether the vehicle's HVAC system is a resistive heater or a heat pump based system. Heat pumps are more energy efficient than resistive heaters.

The 2022 and 2023 Lightnings have a resistive heater. Ford switched to a heat pump system for the 2024 and 2025 model years. I have a 2023, so my truck has a resistive heater. With the extreme cold the day of my trip, I knew I was going to take a hit on range using the heat. I tried to mitigate that by setting the heater to 68° which felt perfectly warm and comfortable to me.

I can't remember if Scout has confirmed yet whether they will use a resistive heater or a heat pump system. @J Alynn do you recall any discussion at the reveal or since about what type of HVAC system Scout plans to use?

I don’t think they have confirmed but it sounds like heat pump is the way to go so let’s hope that.

 

[J Alynn]

I don’t think they have confirmed but it sounds like heat pump is the way to go so let’s hope that.

Scott said it would be an inventive method for heating and cooling

 

[N Wilson]

Scott said it would be an inventive method for heating and cooling

I wonder if that's referring to the Harvester models and they plan to capture waste heat from the engine to augment heating in the cabin?

Did he specify if the "inventive" heating method would be on both BEV and Harvester models?

 

[J Alynn]

I wonder if that's referring to the Harvester models and they plan to capture waste heat from the engine to augment heating in the cabin?

Did he specify if the "inventive" heating method would be on both BEV and Harvester models?

I don’t recall but I’ve been thinking exact same thing. Just makes sense and if they are using the giant one at the plant-why not smaller for the vehicles. So I would agree with you

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I really appreciate it.

How much does using the heat reduce your range?

Thanks!

The 2023 Lightning has a resistive heater, which when it’s running, uses about 4-5 kW (max is 6 kW).

On a 1-hour drive, if the heater were running the entire time (it doesn’t), that would use about 5 kWh, or about 4% of the battery capacity in the Lightning with Extended Range. In reality, unless it’s really, really cold, you’ll probably use no more than 2.5 kWh in an hour of cold driving. So about 2% of the battery capacity.

The heat pump on the later Lightnings uses about 1 kW (I think it’s a 3 kW max), or 1/2 to 1/5 of the power draw by the resistive heater. So in the same drive, you’d probably use about 1% or less of the vehicle’s battery capacity.

The heat pump vs resistive heater isn’t as big a deal because the Lightning’s battery is so big. But if Scout uses a smaller battery, it’ll matter more. It really starts to matter for vehicles with even smaller batteries.

For marketing reasons, I don’t think Scout’s BEV will be able to get away without using a heat pump unless they have an even more clever HVAC system (I can’t imagine what it would be, but Scout’s engineers certainly could).