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

[SpaceEVDriver]

Charging time can slow with extreme cold or heat. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but extreme cold affects the battery and extreme heat affects the charger/cable as it relates to charge speed.

Extreme cold can also impact the coolant in some chargers causing them to have to spend a fair amount of their energy warming the coolant before it can produce a reasonable amount of power. But thats North Dakota in the dead of winter in the dead of night extreme cold, not Sierra Nevadas in the summer cool. The extreme heat can also cause the EV battery to need cooling so the heat pump runs, which lowers the power to the battery.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Took another road trip for the weekend. Total round trip distance was 588 miles, 294 each way.

Started in the Flagstaff, AZ at 99%. I had to run a quick errand before we left and didn’t bother to recharge.

We started at ~7000 ft as usual. We climbed a total of 15,207 feet and lost 16,006 feet, for an elevation loss of 799 feet. But some of those climbs were pretty steep.

According to Google, the drive is about 5 hours. We did it in 5.5 hours.

We stopped for lunch in Kanab for 30 minutes and plugged into a 50 kW (relatively slow) DCFC in the center of town. That gave us 24 kWh, bringing us from 48% to 67%. We didn’t need the charge, but the phrase, “always be charging” is a good one to toss into your lexicon. If you have the opportunity, it’s not blocking someone else from an emergency charge, and it’s worth the cost, always plug in to charge.

To get to Kanab, we used 99%-48% = 51%, or ~66 kWh. For the ~202 miles, that’s ~3 miles/kWh. The highway, 89/89A, is a 65 mph speed limit highway, with some slower sections; the total drive time was 3 hours (traffic sometimes demands a bit higher speeds than the limit). It’s also a lot of elevation loss and gain. Lower drag due to lower speeds beats out elevation gain.

Going to a bit north of Cedar City involved a climb over the mountains, hitting about 9900 feet elevation. That 92 mile drive required about 24% of the battery (31 kWh), for an efficiency of ~3 miles/kWh. It’s amazing how going slow saves a ton of energy. The speed limit on most of that road was, again, 65 mph, with several sections much slower. The total time it took to drive this section was 2 hours.

Total efficiency was (294 miles / 97 kWh) ~= 3 miles/kWh.

The drive back was the same drive run the opposite direction. We had more wind going back, my partner drove because I was ill, and she likes to drive a bit faster, and our total elevation change was positive rather than negative. On the way back, we used almost exactly 100% of the battery, 130 kWh. That gave us an overall efficiency of 2.2 miles/kWh.

For the total drive of 588 miles, we used 223 kWh for 2.6 miles/kWh average. That’s a fair amount over the EPA estimated range of 320 miles on a full battery. At 2.6 miles/kWh, we get about 346 miles range.

 

[dreamweaver]

Took another road trip for the weekend. Total round trip distance was 588 miles, 294 each way.

Started in the Flagstaff, AZ at 99%. I had to run a quick errand before we left and didn’t bother to recharge.

We started at ~7000 ft as usual. We climbed a total of 15,207 feet and lost 16,006 feet, for an elevation loss of 799 feet. But some of those climbs were pretty steep.

According to Google, the drive is about 5 hours. We did it in 5.5 hours.

We stopped for lunch in Kanab for 30 minutes and plugged into a 50 kW (relatively slow) DCFC in the center of town. That gave us 24 kWh, bringing us from 48% to 67%. We didn’t need the charge, but the phrase, “always be charging” is a good one to toss into your lexicon. If you have the opportunity, it’s not blocking someone else from an emergency charge, and it’s worth the cost, always plug in to charge.

To get to Kanab, we used 99%-48% = 51%, or ~66 kWh. For the ~202 miles, that’s ~3 miles/kWh. The highway, 89/89A, is a 65 mph speed limit highway, with some slower sections; the total drive time was 3 hours (traffic sometimes demands a bit higher speeds than the limit). It’s also a lot of elevation loss and gain. Lower drag due to lower speeds beats out elevation gain.

Going to a bit north of Cedar City involved a climb over the mountains, hitting about 9900 feet elevation. That 92 mile drive required about 24% of the battery (31 kWh), for an efficiency of ~3 miles/kWh. It’s amazing how going slow saves a ton of energy. The speed limit on most of that road was, again, 65 mph, with several sections much slower. The total time it took to drive this section was 2 hours.

Total efficiency was (294 miles / 97 kWh) ~= 3 miles/kWh.

The drive back was the same drive run the opposite direction. We had more wind going back, my partner drove because I was ill, and she likes to drive a bit faster, and our total elevation change was positive rather than negative. On the way back, we used almost exactly 100% of the battery, 130 kWh. That gave us an overall efficiency of 2.2 miles/kWh.

For the total drive of 588 miles, we used 223 kWh for 2.6 miles/kWh average. That’s a fair amount over the EPA estimated range of 320 miles on a full battery. At 2.6 miles/kWh, we get about 346 miles range.

View attachment 8020

These real world driving experiences are great. Thanks posting.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I forgot to mention that while in Cedar City, we plugged into the airbnb wall and did a level 1 charge from 42% to 100%. Yes, it took 65 hours, but we were visiting family and most of the time was spent hanging out by the pool. If necessary, we could have gone to a DCFC to recharge.

 

[J Alynn]

I forgot to mention that while in Cedar City, we plugged into the airbnb wall and did a level 1 charge from 42% to 100%. Yes, it took 65 hours, but we were visiting family and most of the time was spent hanging out by the pool. If necessary, we could have gone to a DCFC to recharge.

Great to know people actually can do it and telling your story helps us EV newbies to better understand

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We’re considering a 5500 mile trip that would to take us from northern AZ to Seattle, Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and back to Northern Arizona.

While in the US, we would likely drive for 4-6 hours and then stop to do half a day’s remote work. This would mean maybe one DCFC stop per day and the rest would be done on hotel or RV L2 charging. We would likely also stop for a few days once every week or two just to explore the area. The drive back home from Chicago would probably be more “go-go-go” because by then we’d be pretty tired.

One of the benefits of traveling by EV is the flexibility of how to acquire energy for the next leg of the trip.
We’ll likely pay significantly less for energy on this trip than we would if we were driving a gas vehicle, despite the fact that DCFC charging has reached a cost that’s similar to that for gasoline.

What are some good places to visit along this route? What diversions from this route are worthwhile?

 

[cyure]

We’re considering a 5500 mile trip that would to take us from northern AZ to Seattle, Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and back to Northern Arizona.

While in the US, we would likely drive for 4-6 hours and then stop to do half a day’s remote work. This would mean maybe one DCFC stop per day and the rest would be done on hotel or RV L2 charging. We would likely also stop for a few days once every week or two just to explore the area. The drive back home from Chicago would probably be more “go-go-go” because by then we’d be pretty tired.

One of the benefits of traveling by EV is the flexibility of how to acquire energy for the next leg of the trip.
We’ll likely pay significantly less for energy on this trip than we would if we were driving a gas vehicle, despite the fact that DCFC charging has reached a cost that’s similar to that for gasoline.

What are some good places to visit along this route? What diversions from this route are worthwhile?


View attachment 11442

First of all wow! WOW! My husband and I took the Supra to California and back. 4400 miles. Fun but lots of driving. I can’t wait for you to take us along on your trip.

Chicago is a great city! So much to do. My favorite museum is the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. There’s a German U Boat that was captured and the government wanted to sink it but the captain of the boat that captured it was from Chicago asked to have it brought to a museum. And they did! They parked it next to the museum and built the building around it. That exhibit alone is worth it. Then there’s the Shedd Aquarium, the Field museum with Sally the T Rex skeleton, architectural boat tour and we are in Central Illinois off of 55 if you pass by our way let us know.

St Louis is the Arch of course and there’s a great BBQ place near it called Salt + Smoke. Delicious. They have these huge cheesy popovers that my husband says are delicious.

When are you going?

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

We’re considering a 5500 mile trip that would to take us from northern AZ to Seattle, Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and back to Northern Arizona.

While in the US, we would likely drive for 4-6 hours and then stop to do half a day’s remote work. This would mean maybe one DCFC stop per day and the rest would be done on hotel or RV L2 charging. We would likely also stop for a few days once every week or two just to explore the area. The drive back home from Chicago would probably be more “go-go-go” because by then we’d be pretty tired.

One of the benefits of traveling by EV is the flexibility of how to acquire energy for the next leg of the trip.
We’ll likely pay significantly less for energy on this trip than we would if we were driving a gas vehicle, despite the fact that DCFC charging has reached a cost that’s similar to that for gasoline.

What are some good places to visit along this route? What diversions from this route are worthwhile?


View attachment 11442

This kind of trip on pure EV gives me anxiety. So many open/rural places that would stress me out. I look forward to seeing how it goes for you, but I couldn’t do it.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

First of all wow! WOW! My husband and I took the Supra to California and back. 4400 miles. Fun but lots of driving. I can’t wait for you to take us along on your trip.

Chicago is a great city! So much to do. My favorite museum is the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. There’s a German U Boat that was captured and the government wanted to sink it but the captain of the boat that captured it was from Chicago asked to have it brought to a museum. And they did! They parked it next to the museum and built the building around it. That exhibit alone is worth it. Then there’s the Shedd Aquarium, the Field museum with Sally the T Rex skeleton, architectural boat tour and we are in Central Illinois off of 55 if you pass by our way let us know.

St Louis is the Arch of course and there’s a great BBQ place near it called Salt + Smoke. Delicious. They have these huge cheesy popovers that my husband says are delicious.

When are you going?

We’ve been to Chicago and love the city and are eagerly looking to go back.
I’ve been to St. Louis, but didn’t have a chance to explore the city.

We’re not sure when we’re going to go. It’s a long drive and would require some vacation time. And we would be meeting people along the way so we don’t yet know if we can make the timing work for meeting up with people on opposite sides of the country.

 

[cyure]

We’ve been to Chicago and love the city and are eagerly looking to go back.
I’ve been to St. Louis, but didn’t have a chance to explore the city.

We’re not sure when we’re going to go. It’s a long drive and would require some vacation time. And we would be meeting people along the way so we don’t yet know if we can make the timing work for meeting up with people on opposite sides of the country.

I can’t wait to hear all about it!

 

[cyure]

We’ve been to Chicago and love the city and are eagerly looking to go back.
I’ve been to St. Louis, but didn’t have a chance to explore the city.

We’re not sure when we’re going to go. It’s a long drive and would require some vacation time. And we would be meeting people along the way so we don’t yet know if we can make the timing work for meeting up with people on opposite sides of the country.

How long will it take you to do the whole trip?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

This kind of trip on pure EV gives me anxiety. So many open/rural places that would stress me out. I look forward to seeing how it goes for you, but I couldn’t do it.

After so many road trips, none of the EV-related aspects give me anxiety. There are so many charging stations along this route that we have backups for the backups. And we’ll be starting every travel day at 100%. The flexibility we’ll be planning (half-day of travel many days) means if anything goes wrong, it’s not a big deal.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

How long will it take you to do the whole trip?

Probably around six weeks.

 

[cyure]

Probably around six weeks.

How fun. We did 4400 miles in a week! We were flying.

 

[J Alynn]

After so many road trips, none of the EV-related aspects give me anxiety. There are so many charging stations along this route that we have backups for the backups. And we’ll be starting every travel day at 100%. The flexibility we’ll be planning (half-day of travel many days) means if anything goes wrong, it’s not a big deal.

Sounds like an exciting trip. Hope it works out

 

[J Alynn]

Probably around six weeks.

Wish I could take off for 6 weeks ?

 

[cyure]

Wish I could take off for 6 weeks ?

Right?!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Wish I could take off for 6 weeks ?

It won’t be six weeks of vacation. It’ll be 2 weeks of 50-75% working, 2 weeks of full-time working, and no more than 2 weeks of truly time-off vacation.

 

[nolen]

First of all wow! WOW! My husband and I took the Supra to California and back. 4400 miles. Fun but lots of driving. I can’t wait for you to take us along on your trip.

Chicago is a great city! So much to do. My favorite museum is the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. There’s a German U Boat that was captured and the government wanted to sink it but the captain of the boat that captured it was from Chicago asked to have it brought to a museum. And they did! They parked it next to the museum and built the building around it. That exhibit alone is worth it. Then there’s the Shedd Aquarium, the Field museum with Sally the T Rex skeleton, architectural boat tour and we are in Central Illinois off of 55 if you pass by our way let us know.

St Louis is the Arch of course and there’s a great BBQ place near it called Salt + Smoke. Delicious. They have these huge cheesy popovers that my husband says are delicious.

When are you going?

if you go to the Museum of Science and Industry, I hope they still have the fighter simulators. I went a few years ago for Pittcon and they let us do those and it was amazing. I am NOT a pilot and my gunner was not a gunner so we gave up on trying to shoot down anyone and just did continuous barrel rolls. It was great!

 

[THil08]

if you go to the Museum of Science and Industry, I hope they still have the fighter simulators. I went a few years ago for Pittcon and they let us do those and it was amazing. I am NOT a pilot and my gunner was not a gunner so we gave up on trying to shoot down anyone and just did continuous barrel rolls. It was great!

Sound like my team for Disney worlds Star Wars Millennium Falcon ride.