Just earlier than 6:30 a.m. on a February morning, my telephone lit up with a notification: The Ford F-150 Lighting in my driveway had stopped charging.
“That’s not good,” I stated to my spouse Karen, noting that the truck was plugged in and never but totally charged.
By the way in which, it was about 20 levels beneath zero Fahrenheit.
I’ll get again to what occurred with the charger on a chilly morning. But if the video headlines screaming in all caps on the Internet are to be believed, electrical vehicles don’t work within the chilly in any respect as a result of they lose all their vary. After every week of utmost cold-weather testing of the Ford F-150 Lightning I’m right here to let you know that is some grade-A clickbait.
I froze my tuchas off throughout that week of subzero climate in Minnesota with a Ford F-150 Lightning to separate truth from fiction. I by no means ran out of juice, and I don’t even personal a Level 2 house charger.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
What I did
Everything incorrect. On objective.
Most EV house owners could have a Level 2 charger at their house and, when it’s this chilly outdoors, precondition the car (the cabin, and maybe the battery) whereas it’s nonetheless plugged in. I did neither of these issues—though the FordCross app makes these issues straightforward to determine.
Parking an EV inside a storage would assist too. But 35% of America does not personal a single household house, many Americans don’t have a storage, and people who do may not even have the ability to match the 231.7-inch lengthy F-150 Lightning inside it.
For them, I checked out three eventualities:
1) I let the truck sit outdoors in ambient temperatures starting from -5 to -22 levels Fahrenheit for 12.5 hours straight unplugged. This was to cold-soak the battery and each different element within the car and see the way it impacts the Lightning.
2) Another night time with the very same circumstances I plugged the Lightning into an everyday 120-volt outlet with the usual charging wire that comes with each F-150 Lightning for 12.5 hours. This state of affairs trickle-charged the truck and replicated what would possibly occur ought to somebody discover themselves parking at a pal’s home on a street journey (or at work).
3) With a virtually empty battery I fast-charged the truck at an Electrify America station within the chilly, which itself proved to be an expertise.
4) With a hotter battery I charged the truck on public L2 chargers and a slower, much less highly effective, L3 charger.
Here’s what I discovered.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
EV vary and effectivity go down within the chilly
In honest to heat temperatures our crew has seen the Lightning common anyplace from 2.1 to 2.6 mile per kwh. That’s a wide range with numerous variables, simply as with the gasoline financial system of a gas-powered car.
The finest I noticed on this week of cold-weather testing with the Lightning, in a 44-mile freeway run at 16 levels, was a 1.8 mile/kwh common. And over the course of the entire 358 miles of blended driving, the Lightning averaged 1.5 mile/kwh—amounting to about 200 miles of vary from the 131-kwh Extended Range Pack, rated for 320 miles.
So total, the Lightning misplaced a few third of its effectivity—and vary—within the chilly.
This type of effectivity and vary loss isn’t extraordinary for gasoline autos both, in such chilly climate. My spouse’s Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V-8 engine sees a one-third drop in gasoline effectivity (from about 16 mpg to 12 mpg) in the identical circumstances. Friends with turbo-6 F-150s report about the identical acquire in thirst.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
While some EVs are experiencing points retaining power within the chilly, the F-150 Lightning didn’t point out it misplaced any power throughout a 12-hour chilly soak regardless of the estimated vary dropping 38 miles.
The F-150 Lightning doesn’t have a warmth pump, which could have helped it within the chilly. A warmth pump acts like an air-con system in reverse to maneuver warmth power to the cabin moderately than create it. It can enhance cold-weather vary by as much as 20%. That could be the distinction between attending to a charger or not on a street journey.
Gitanjli McRoy, chief engineer of Ford’s EV power administration methods for the F-150 Lightning, instructed Green Car Reports the truck doesn’t have a warmth pump as a result of Ford balanced what was technically prepared, could possibly be optimized, and ship one of the best worth whereas getting the truck developed. The means the plumbing is finished provides the Lightning alternatives to heat-share the place it might, in line with McRoy. The engineer wouldn’t touch upon the Lightning’s roadmap for such a function however famous the crew is constant to enhance the truck.
Another commentary that carries over from gasoline autos is that the extra excessive the circumstances get, the extra wildly the estimated vary swings—and the much less you must fixate on what it may be at any second. It’s the results of an algorithm leading to an informed guess of how far the remaining power will take the truck.
For occasion: In the span of half-hour whereas sitting within the driveway with the truck turned off, the Ford iOS app instructed me with a full cost the Lightning’s vary can be simply 153 miles and two minutes later claimed 189 miles of vary.
In quick, relying wholly on the estimated vary is unrealistic, however it makes for excellent YouTube movies. Just as would occur with a gas-powered automotive that encountered a handful of 0-60 mph runs, the vary remaining quantity is well influenced and never utterly correct. As Senior Editor Bengt Halvorson so casually put it: “Like in a gas car, you should just follow the fuel gauge.”
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
Charging: Can you freeze an EV charger?
Trickle charging off the 120-volt outlet in a single day on common provides simply over 1 kwh per hour, which interprets to 1 to 2 miles of vary per hour within the circumstances I skilled. Importantly, it took a number of the stress off the battery to maintain itself heat within the chilly.
But that’s when Ford’s 32-amp house charger give up on me mid-charge. A fast examine of the house owners guide on-line knowledgeable me that the blinking amber gentle meant the charger had encountered a fault; unplugging to reset didn’t clear up it both.
The reply primarily was, sure, I did freeze the charger. It’s solely rated and authorized to -22 levels Fahrenheit. A number of hours warming up inside my home after which the charger was nearly as good as new.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford stated the extra highly effective 80-amp charger that comes commonplace with the Extended Range Lightning, which my Lariat tester was optioned with the bigger battery pack, is licensed to -40 F. An proprietor would theoretically have this charger put in, both of their storage or outdoors at their very own expense. Standard Range Lightning house owners must pony up $1,310 to purchase this charger if they need it.
As a reference level Rivian charges each its house and transportable chargers to -22 F, and GMC stated the out there Hummer EV house wall charger can be rated to -22 F. The commonplace transportable charger that comes with the Hummer EV is rated to -40 F, although Tim Esterdahl of Pickup Truck + SUV Talk froze it in an analogous state of affairs as me (although at 240V) when it was (+)2 F outdoors.
I used to be unable to get any definitive gauge of how the chilly was affecting the Lightning at an Electrify America fast-charging station. One 350-kw charger was offline, one refused to reply or acknowledge the truck, and the road of 150-kw chargers all displayed a message (which was displayed two weeks prior when charging an Audi This autumn E-Tron) stating the utmost energy of the chargers had been briefly diminished as a way to enhance service and carry out an replace. The FordCross Plug and Charge function labored as billed although.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
Does chilly scale back EVs’ energy output?
Starting up a gas-powered truck after sitting outdoors in sub-zero temperatures is extraordinarily arduous on the engine. The oil is like sludge; the starter strains from a torpid 12-volt battery; the engine ultimately fires, after which runs wealthy because it involves life. And it will be downright irresponsible to faucet into peak energy within the first couple of minutes after beginning chilly in climate like this.
No matter how chilly, the Lightning, and different EVs, have none of that. Almost.
Unlike each different electrical automotive the Lightning shows out there energy output on the left aspect of the gauge cluster—and that gauge indicated energy output was diminished practically your complete week I spent with it. The motive? The battery pack was too chilly more often than not to ship full energy to the electrical motors.
Since the F-150 Lightning is a truck, and duties like towing rely upon with the ability to faucet into full energy, Ford is useful in together with this gauge, and I noticed energy pulled again to as little as 61% of full, although it principally averaged between 68% and 78% except I warmed the pack totally by hooking to quick chargers.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
Throughout the week the battery temperature gauge indicated when the pack was chilly, however solely as soon as did I get the pack so chilly the gauge turned orange; it felt like an achievement.
Ford verified that battery temperature and state of cost each play a think about energy output. In the center of summer season with a heat pack and the battery at 13% energy output can be restricted as effectively, in line with McRoy. The battery temperature bars that house owners see within the higher left of the digital gauge cluster is a direct measurement by way of a sensor moderately than an inferred studying by way of cell monitoring.
While Standard Range Lightnings make do with simply 452 hp and 580 lb-ft of torque, my Extended Range Lightning with the bigger 131-kwh battery pack had 580 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque. With the large battery Ford stated the Lightning rips from 0 to 60 mph in lower than 4.0 seconds. Even with solely 60% energy output, or 75%, the Lightning isn’t sluggish. Unless a driver is doing stoplight sprints, the gauge is the one motive they’d remember that energy output is being restricted.
The Rivian R1T will merely present a snowflake image within the gauge cluster ought to the powertrain be too chilly to offer full energy, and the GMC Hummer EV doesn’t show something or make the motive force conscious that energy output is proscribed. Other EVs don’t both outdoors of some displaying an emblem like Rivian.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
The Lightning rode on General Grabber HTS all-season rubber. In the chilly these tires should not nice. On dry, chilly pavement all 4 tires can chirp from a begin. On slick, snow-covered pavement they slip and slide shortly. An actual set of winter tires—and a Snow or Slippery Conditions drive mode, which different Fords just like the F-150s have—would do wonders for the Lightning (as they do for any car) within the chilly.
Via an over-the-air replace Rivian added a Snow Mode to its R1T and R1S that does recalibrate these methods, and Ford can be sensible to comply with right here.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
Just like different EVs within the chilly
Nearly every thing laid out above isn’t distinctive to Ford’s electrical pickup truck. Loads of it could possibly be a few Mustang Mach-E, a Tesla, a Lucid, or a Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Where issues are totally different is the actual fact the Lightning is a pickup truck that’s marketed to do truck issues.
Today, large electrical pickups should not splendid for towing lengthy distances or taking street journeys in chilly climate. Both of those info say extra about at this time’s battery expertise and infrastructure than they do in regards to the F-150 Lightning.
Two key variations assist put this all in perspective. The first is the truth that a gallon of gasoline is by quantity 13 instances extra power dense than one of the best lithium-ion batteries at this time. However, electrical vehicles are way more environment friendly at utilizing the power they do have. The most effective gasoline engine in manufacturing is at about 40% whereas electrical motors function close to 90% effectivity.
The overarching query for truck patrons: Do you actually want to have the ability to drive 300 or 400 miles at any time with a second’s discover? A latest research confirmed F-150 house owners regularly use their vehicles to run errands 87% of the time and solely regularly tow 7% of the time. Seems for a big swath of shoppers shopping for pickup vehicles, if you happen to’re sincere with your self, the F-150 Lightning shall be greater than ample for Starbucks runs, soccer follow, and hitting up Home Depot, if there’s time.
Source: www.greencarreports.com