There is no reason you should have to have an app on your phone to charge. The chargers should be ready to go at any time and they should work just like a gas pump. All you should have to do is pull up, put in your debit/credit card,plug it into your vehicle, and it should start charging. No app, No need to activate, or make a phone call, just pull up and charge. They have made the system too complicated.
ChargePoint seems to work with their RFID system. But EA struggles. It does need to become a more universal process, which I think would make it more seamless.
@@AllElectricFamily Even with their rfid card you have to setup an account with them and either deposit money into that account or tie a credit card to the account. The system that they are putting in place is all about Control and Surveillance. We have to start pushing back on our invasion of privacy or we will be completely imprisoned.
@@mayflowerconsulting5540 there is the generally poor availability ratio of the Electrify America network, but I was referring to a max charge rate of 150KW. This is really bad in a world where BEV's routinely see 250-350 if at least for short time to quickly put on miles for short stops. It removes the vehicle from viability on any trip longer than one charge.
Get use to it. When gas goes well over $5.00 per gallon after the mid terms and Ice vehicles begin to be eliminated. You'll choice will be made for you. A full EV or a PHEV. Both require plug in charging.
@@DWH300 Ice are going to be around a long time, when I do go EV and there are a bunch of reasons to do it I wont be buying a vehicle that cant charge competitively - and these gen 1 lightnings do not. Farley admitted charging was a much bigger challenge than they thought.
I’ve been making two trips from Iowa to Oregon a year for several years, making the 1850 mile trip in two days with my straight stick Toyota Corolla getting 40 mpg. Looks like it would take at least 3 days with a F-150 Lightning from what I’m finding out from your video.
This video reinforces why the day i bought my Lightning i also ordered the Tesla charging adaptor! Elon Musk may be nuts but their charging infrastructure can't be beat! If only they had longer cords...
Searching for working chargers and then having to install an app to charge sounds like a nightmare to me. I already have enough issues at work having to drive an alternative fuel vehicle (CNG). There’s hardly any pumps, and sometimes you’ll locate one just to find out it’s out of service.
It is nice that you keep smiling through all of this. What a pain of a way to go on a road trip. These charge station companies appear terrible, with non functioning and slow chargers. If more that 1 vehicle is charging, the power is divided? Really? Around town an EV looks good. A road trip, I don't see how it is possible. Imagine the chaos of hundreds of EVs on the interstates. Unreliable charging network.
Doing the math it makes no sense financially speaking to buy a lightning for public charging with these prices and miles/kwh but charging at home is a totally different story
The gas truck is cheaper if you factor in all costs and you can buy gas on any corner and fill up in 3 minutes and have far more miles also no range anxiety and shorter drive time. Maybe electric in the future but not at this time.
I drove model 3 once from Houston to Dallas in winter time. It turned out to be 5 miles range left when I reach a supercharger in the mid-way. I totally understand the feeling when your battery is dying.
If you watched the video they called and asked if 3 and 4 are working and the 150 was working like they said. Ea has no control over whether plug and charge works. Kyle had problems when he first got the Mach e and now I think people with Mach e are doing fine. One she used the app it worked. 150 kw units have only been around 4 years. Appreciate what you have not what you don’t . Everyone isn’t driving a truck with a enormous battery. And they are not always going to give max kw every time. 90 kw is not bad. The lightening doesn’t charge as fast as the rivian according to Alex on autos. You don’t see him complaining all the time. Your expectations are out of line with what is available. As long as you can charge be happy with that. You are not going to get a row of 350 kw units just for trucks and taycan s. There are other people to worry about other than 2 trucks.
@@markfitzpatrick6692 Appreciating what you have and not what you don't? Electrify America, et al: Hire this man right now! Just the attitude we're looking for! Let 'em eat cake!
We average 16.8 mpg on our 2014 F150 4x4. That's combo driving. We've not done an all highway drive yet. We live in rural Ky and from what I've heard the nearest charging station to us is in Lexington, an hour away. Electric vehicles would not be a feasible alternative for us. I've yet to see any owner videos on electric vehicles where they actually seem to enjoy the ownership experience. I'll stick with putting gas in my 36 gallon tank. That takes under 4 minutes on average.
Hello. Thank you for the video. I am getting my F-150 Lightening this week. I hope I made the right choice. I noticed the nice hard bed cover that you were closing. Can you pls tell more about it. Thank you
Awesome! I think you'll love it. If you haven't had an EV before there is a learning curve, but it's worth it. Our cover is from Ford, it's the F-150 2015-2023 Embark LS Retractable Matte Black Tonneau Cover for 5.5' Bed!
@@AllElectricFamily thank you for answering. I got my lightning and I love it. It did not take me long to realize that there is a difference between estimated mileage and actual mileage. I always thought that it's best to charge to 80% to extend the life of the battery pack. However every time I set Max charge to 80%, it reverts to 100%. Any advice on this? Thank you
Just like anything knew, its gonna take a comprehensive approach and demand. It is getting better and I am on board. I bought my truck three weeks ago anf ha e not had any issues thus far with recharging while traveling.
One thing to note for the Ford users. The 150kw chargers actually peak at around 175, which is incidentally the peak rate of the F150. There is really no reason to use the 350kw charger if you have a 150 available. **edit - This appears to be limited to cars with an 800v architecture such as the EV6/Ioniq 5 and the Taycan.
@@AllElectricFamily After looking into this some more, I believe my speeds were because I have an 800 volt architecture with the E-GMP platform that the EV6 is using. So.. ignore my last message as far as ford is concerned, but if you are in an 800v EV, know that you can get more power out of the 150kw cabinets. I've pulled a sustained 175kw in my EV6 multiple times from a 150kw station.
@@ingoldsby I get good charging upload speeds as well at 150KW EA stations with my Ioniq 5. I think that they may be more reliable as well over the 350Kw stations
There is no reason to use a 350 for bulk charging even if your car takes 250 or whatever. Those very high rates are for real short charges. If your car charges at an average of 150 that is all you need to "bulk charge". BTW very few EV's charge at an average of 150.
That Independence EA station was the only EA station I had trouble with this summer on my trip from MI to Wichita, KS. I had to try 3 towers before I could get it to work.
How many charging stops did you make ? You posted 1 hr 22 min total charging time, so if you stopped 4 or 5 times, then the 1 hr 22 min total charging time seems way low.
We do use PlugShare. Unfortunately, sometimes there isn't another option or it's pretty far out of the way in our area. So, sometimes we have to use that charger or the only other option is a slow charger.
what they are charging again? amazing yes it is a relief i you can, can, can charge maybe possible slow and if they do not stop while charging wish i had your problems
So did I hear you the right that when the lightning is in a high state of charge, it doesn't have as good of breaking power as normal? What would define that high state of charge? Thank you...
Hey guys I’m looking into getting one but question as a family with kids is the down time of waiting for it to charge worth it? Oppose to a gas truck which can fuel up faster
lol you was just a few blocks from me at target, i will have to say i go there alot and i only see a few cars on those charger, but iam starting to see more though
It’s fun watching you guys work through the charging issues reminds me when I had the Mache. I find on my videos that I had to set my music to -5 DB to match my audio better. Enjoy your trip let’s see more!!
LOL Charging issues, I can just fill my tank and go! I would never feel safe driving an EV! So many things to go wrong, it's not worth it and these EV cars are NO better for our environment, you're all a bunch of clowns!
I'll drive my 2004 Silverado. The gas I'll purchase over my lifetime will never reach $80,000 .. What happens to the battery at the end of it's use. It becomes hazardous waste.
we used the E.A. on Wednesday morning and used #3 and #4. Both worked fine. 3 was slow so we went to #4 and it was fine at that time. we always start from the app.
After our first Road trip in a Tesla we stopped worrying whether or not the Supercharger was going to work and began to work on how to get done eating before the car was done charging.
You guys rule. Love the way your kids are part of the video at times. Keep reporting all the nutty chargers you find. (That last one was hilarious, but hey, it worked and was free!)
I just ordered my Lightning. Seems like the infrastructure isn't where it needs to be. I may just have to keep my current F-150 in case I actually have to go somewhere and just use my Lightning around town.
Charging seems like a headache when traveling. I considered the Lightning but with the Covid markups and this type of headache, I figured I'd wait. maybe next truck.
I have not gone out of town with my EV, watching other people experiences . trying to decide if it wize . thank you for the video you guys, put on a nice show
I just got my Lightning and turned off plug and charge immediately as joining EA makes the power much less expensive. Also on road trips turn off regen and use performance mode because when you let off the accelerator pedal it coasts. Also while it's illegal, I fold in my mirrors. Doing these things will allow you to get another 10% range.
It is.. its just that Tesla has a decade jump on the competition. I regularly go 700-ish miles from the east coast out in a Tesla and I don't miss a beat. Not a Tesla fan boy by any stretch of the imagination and I always thought Elon was a poser for the record.. ..but it's nice to know we're less than a decade out from everything being intact to take these cars from coast to coast without Tesla being the best all-around option.. most people will be owners and enjoying a renewed love for their vehicle 4-5yrs after purchase..
@Damien Earth I think 10 years from now not quite there...I don't think lithium is the answer .. there has to be another way . For now I'll drive my ice vehicle
@Joel Mora It's funny hearing people who have no experience with EVS say, "we're not there yet", when millions of others have been doing so for quite a while now 😂.
It does need to be addressed. I think everyone is trying to solve the problem in their own way...where it might be better to all work together for a faster solution!
We have a timeshare in Branson and we are 6 hours away in southern OK. I have had my deposit down since last year and still waiting. Wanted to know where in Branson the 80 amp unit was located. At this time our resort hasn't installed any Nema 1450 outlets.
Charging in Branson is limited! The 80 amp charger is in the parking lot with Owen's Theatre and the public restrooms at Veteran's Blvd & W Pacific Street.
in the new england area, DC fast charging seems to be much more consistent than in the greater mid west area. yes, there is inoperable equipment at many locations, but operable units seem to deliver power at rated speeds much more consistently. pricing here is also much higher; identical charge amounts would be a minimum of 15-20% higher in cost. unfortunately we most likely will never know the reasons why there is such a large variance in locations, so we are left to hypothesize. and i do feel it will get better, but the glide path is most likely long, in EV evolutionary timeframes at least.
Thanks for testing out the CCS network. I think all of us will look back on 2022 as the weird old days before the networks got built up and improved. Especially hard right now is driving bigger battery CCS EVs that really want to consistently feed on a diet of 150 kW chargers since those are the scarce sources out there. If you have a smaller more efficient CCS car right now all those first gen 50-70 kW units while not optimal are still going to get you back on the road in 30-40 minutes. I know you guys are super into the towing lifestyle and I respect that you’re paving the way by sharing this content but I just thought I’d point that out for pure road tripping w/out towing. Keep up the great work and sharing your experiences! It is really encouraging and watching you guys for years and it helped demystify EVs for me and gave me confidence to buy my first used EV last year and first new one this year!
That is awesome! So glad you took the leap! And you are right, we are definitely using big power hungry vehicles! Charging is different for different types of EVs! Thanks for watching!
all about the charging. and waiting. how much time do you need to add to a trip to charge. oh then the excuses start. i forgot to do this and that. and like any ev trip, the issues start. so complain. the whole trip seems to be about the stress of charging. how much time do you stress and how much time to charge, including messing around with the chargers, not just the charging times that no one includes. what the chargers do not work? how can that be, just add the hours lost in looking around for looking for chargers. lol the usual stress and waiting
Hi there! Nice video. I’ve done a similar drive from KC to Branson is a Tesla Model 3. Thankfully, my experience was for less interesting than yours was. Also have gone KC to Oklahoma City twice, and KC to Pittsburg, PA in Teslas. The difference between Tesla Superchargers and your experiences are dramatically different. Superchargers are much easier and they always work. 65Kw chargers are the slowest on Tesla’s network and the vast majority of them are 150Kw or 250Kw chargers. There is a lot of opportunity for improvement with non Tesla chargers. Hopefully this will improve with time. Charging should not be a stressful event. For now, Superchargers are far superior and have set the standard for other companies to strive for. I love how you guys rolled with the punches. Safe travels. Cheers!!
I just went on a road trip from Kansas city to Los Angeles in my V-6 RAM. GOOGLE MAPS had us going on some highways for hundreds of miles with no sign of life. I'd never attempt that route in an EV truck. My trucks range is 500 miles
This was on the edge of frightening to me. It brings up another issue - power outages and government electrical allocating. I remember the gas quotas many years ago. Not a comforting event then and certainly not a situation I want anyone to go through.
That's why they are pushing EV's so hard. With people in electric vehicles they will be able to control your movements. That's why the charging network is being setup the way it is. That's what self driving is all about. We think these are cool features, but in reality they will be used to control our movement. Let's say the government issues another illegal Lockdown. With the features being installed on these new electric vehicles they could easily limit how far you could travel from your home. They could dictate exactly where you are allowed to go. Hell if they wanted to they would have the ability to still your car in the middle of the night without even sending someone to your house. Simply make your car start up and drive away to wherever they want to store it. Be Careful What You Ask For!!!
It seems that with electric vehicles, refueling (recharging) is the main issue when traveling, whereas with gasoline fueled vehicles refueling is not an issue AT ALL. There are gasoline stations on every corner in this country and refueling is a 5 minute pause in your trip.
The chargers are a weak point on road trips. When working properly it adds about ten minutes to a stop for our family of 5 that normally too 15 minutes per stop with our diesel truck.
The EA reliability would drive me nuts. I would worry too much about charging. Our 4 year old Tesla Model 3 has been a champ on long distance trips this year😃 This year has been trying. Four funerals😟. Four trips from NH to Iowa. Each 2600 Miles round trip, or over 10,000 miles. The Tesla chargers have been fantastic, 88 charges. A few times we had to change chargers, never a whole site out. Only once did we have to wait, Albany NY at full 20 charger site. The high point on Charger reliability came at a low point. My dad called and said mom only had a day or two to live. We packed quickly and drove through without any hotel stops. Made it in time to say goodbye. We drove 1300 miles in 24 hours with charging stops, averaging over 54 MPH. No quite as fast the Canon Ball Run Model 3 runs, but close. -Kurt
Sorry for your losses this past year. A rough reason to have to travel, but glad to hear your charging experience was good! When we start having trouble it makes us miss the Tesla network. But we have confidence that one day CCS will be as reliable as Tesla.
I've had that irrational fear if you can call it that which is why I don't think I would go all electric at least for the near future. It would kill me if I get that call and my EV is sitting in a charger for 20 plus minutes at a time. The stress would kill me.
@@AllElectricFamily I think the reliability is going to come from Tesla opening their superchargers to CCS. EA seems to be going downhill. Last summer I took a Bolt on a 5,000 mile journey. I’m not sure I’d try that now. I certainly won’t if I have the option of using a Tesla.
Wow….all of that mental energy preparing to recharge. Well at least we’re saving the planet. Not throwing shade on your content.,,but in the absurdity of planning a trip around the ability to charge. Imagine calling Buccee’s to find out if the pumps are working.
You guys are the pioneers of our modern world. EV’s have a long road ahead to be time efficient on long range trips. Load, speed, towing, weather, and personal driving habits have great effect on your drivable distances. Not mentioning the crappy charge points that are a gamble on whether they work, exist, or are located in a place that’s safe. I only do local driving and in almost 6 years of driving I have yet to use a single super charger or any charger outside my own. I am like the little kid who can only go to the neighborhood corner and would most likely get into trouble if I go past our own block, but I am very happy inside my 100 mile block. 😂
Every time I watch an EV road trip video that's NOT a Tesla it almost always ends in tears. As an exclusive Tesla household (soon to be Lightning too) I can saw that we have never once, in all of our travels, had an issue. Not once. We travel lot nationwide too and road tripping has quickly become one of our favorite hobbies. The Lightning will ONLY be a local vehicle for this exact reason. More attention needs to be brought to this massive issue because (aside from Tesla) this is the primary hurdle for EV adoption for most. Even more so than purchase price thanks to gas prices being so high now.
I loved my electric car when I had it, but the most frustrating thing was the charging stations didn't reliably work outside of the DC area. I even called and got the same as you that the chargers were working only to find they didn't when I got there. If it wasn't for having to do longer drives I would have kept the car because it was great around the city.
This was a fantastic clip.. Such a great, realistic adventure. I love the Lightning, the Rivian and the BMW i4. But as a current Tesla M3 owner, who regularly uses his car for long-ish trips, I never do any advance prep- i know the nav and the charging tech work perfectly. Having Supercharger access is unbeatable. They literally ALWAYS work, and are always expanding. Lately in my area (NYState) i've noticed i'm being routed to crazy fast 350w chargers.. Given how Tesla chargers are rarely if ever offline.. I don't know how others can't get theirs to be more reliable. It just doesn't make sense. Until that happens i'll stay in the Tesla world. But love your cars, and thank you!
Tweaked here are stealing wiring and stuff from the chargers. Since they’re not stealing more than $950, they’re getting a slap on the wrist. Too many chargers are going down that way
This is why I've also haven't sold my Model 3 and change to other EVS, even though they're very compelling new vehicles on the market from Ford, Rivian, Kia, Hyundai, Bmw. This is Tesla main advantage, 4 years of using superchargers and I can say that I've encountered only 2 or 3 broken supercharger. If I can't rely on the charging infrastructure that's available to the vehicle when I'm road tripping then what is the point.
Tesla (Elon) made such a great decision years ago to build out his own charging network. Tesla is eons ahead of the competition for folks that road trip with their EVs. At least right now. Hopefully in a couple of years someone will have improved the public charging network. Hopefully.
Thank you for sharing your fun and informative videos. My wife and I just took our Lighting with the extended battery on our first road trip, and we quickly learned about the limitations of our EV. Driving though the desert (El Centro, CA) on Interstate 8 with 109-degree weather and up the grade (4,250 elevation), going 70 mph to San Diego took a very quick toll on the battery. Unfortunately, we also had challenges with EA chargers on our trip.
The answer to your problems is the f150 powerboost no need to worry just pull up to a gas station fuel up in minutes and go not hours not to mention the 600 miles of fuel to your destination in the powerboost with no range anxieties but your experience with a ev they are just not there yet
I would never want to have this type of "fun" while traveling with my family. The equivalent would be having nails in every single tire not knowing when they're going to go flat when you're out in the middle of nowhere. I know that could be fun, but not for me and my family
Man, these EVs just aren’t close to being a viable option for long distance travel. No way I spend that much vacation time worrying and waiting on chargers. Thanks for the content. I am looking at a Rivian but intend to keep my tundra for road trips with boat in tow.
Your kids are BEYOND cute. As I might expect based on the size of your vehicle, the efficiency of the F-150 is about half of my Model 3, which means your charging times will be at least twice as long (even more at the lower power chargers you where able to use). One thing viewers should understand is that it is not the "range" of a vehicle that is important, it is the "efficiency" and "charging speed". Large vehicles such as the F-150 have decent range figures because they have a very large battery. While it is good to have more range, the added battery size lengthens the charging time and lowers efficiency by having to haul around a big heavy battery. That's no big deal when charging at home, but it becomes important when charging on the road. The "best" car is one that has the highest efficiency so that it can achieve good range with the smallest possible battery. Thank you for making such a great video and thank you to your children for putting a smile on my face.
While Chargepoint advertises '125kw shared' at their dual stations, my LIGHTNING has never pulled more than 1/2 of that, whether another EV is charging there, or not....
yeah, I'm out on this electric vehicle thing... I was excited to buy the Lightning for backup power for my house and travel from Woke Cali to Az to visit my kids but after watching this and MAAAANNNYYYY other like videos (hoovies garage) the complaints are all the same, 50% range and chargers are just not there yet. I have a big 12mpg truck that runs and drives reliably, guess I'm saving the $50k plus and not jumping on the electric car/truck fad....
Plug and charge should be a STANDARD. Like, just collect vehicle info and if the customer doesn't pay you can file a police report. Otherwise, as soon as someone plugs in and the handshake occours, the car should start charging.
Within 50 miles of my home, there are two F-150 Lightning shown as inventory vehicles for sale. One has MSRP of $66,554.00 and the selling price is $139,900.00. The other says to come to get pricing. I am guessing it would be about the same. They want $27,980 down and $1,854 per month for 6 years. Plus the property tax and insurance. Gas here is $3.49 per gallon today, a little cheaper if paying cash. That truck could run on pixie dust and still be a losing proposition by far.
Ughhh … sorry to hear about the continuing charge issues you are having. Hoping that with enough public posts like this will help things to get better. Also, as much as we are anxious to get our Rivian, I guess we’re being spared some of these issues and hoping things are better by the time we get our EV. Thanks again for continuing to provide helpful info to the community!
There is no reason you should have to have an app on your phone to charge. The chargers should be ready to go at any time and they should work just like a gas pump. All you should have to do is pull up, put in your debit/credit card,plug it into your vehicle, and it should start charging. No app, No need to activate, or make a phone call, just pull up and charge. They have made the system too complicated.
ChargePoint seems to work with their RFID system. But EA struggles. It does need to become a more universal process, which I think would make it more seamless.
How they gonna track and control you if you don’t have the phone app? Get real…do you even support the new liberal order, bro?
@@BillLaBrie I hope that was sarcasm.
@@AllElectricFamily Even with their rfid card you have to setup an account with them and either deposit money into that account or tie a credit card to the account. The system that they are putting in place is all about Control and Surveillance. We have to start pushing back on our invasion of privacy or we will be completely imprisoned.
What if your phone dies? And then your truck dies…just out of luck? Really?!?
From a competitive charging perspective this is like stepping back almost a decade in time.
The price and rarity of lithium is so expensive. There might be a future for electric but not now.
Agree. I have yet to call a gas station to see if their pumps will be working when I show up!
@@mayflowerconsulting5540 there is the generally poor availability ratio of the Electrify America network, but I was referring to a max charge rate of 150KW. This is really bad in a world where BEV's routinely see 250-350 if at least for short time to quickly put on miles for short stops. It removes the vehicle from viability on any trip longer than one charge.
Get use to it. When gas goes well over $5.00 per gallon after the mid terms and Ice vehicles begin to be eliminated. You'll choice will be made for you. A full EV or a PHEV. Both require plug in charging.
@@DWH300 Ice are going to be around a long time, when I do go EV and there are a bunch of reasons to do it I wont be buying a vehicle that cant charge competitively - and these gen 1 lightnings do not. Farley admitted charging was a much bigger challenge than they thought.
Now that ford can use theTesla supercharger system this will be a ton less stressful.
I’ve been making two trips from Iowa to Oregon a year for several years, making the 1850 mile trip in two days with my straight stick Toyota Corolla getting 40 mpg. Looks like it would take at least 3 days with a F-150 Lightning from what I’m finding out from your video.
It would take longer, that’s why we include the stats so people can have the full picture.
@@AllElectricFamily the electric reality
Not in a Tesla. Nearly the same as gas vehicles when traveling. Teslas are 10 years ahead in technology and especially in charging network!
@@deenobrown1 I can add 35 gallons to my Toyota in just a few minutes…
Diesel hi flow pumps
Blows a Tesla recharge away
@@deenobrown1 when you factor in all costs the gas is much cheaper. Only Tesla can service the vehicle and see what that costs.
This video reinforces why the day i bought my Lightning i also ordered the Tesla charging adaptor! Elon Musk may be nuts but their charging infrastructure can't be beat! If only they had longer cords...
Yeah you'd be an idiot not to get an adapter day one. I got mine immediately for 70 bucks
Searching for working chargers and then having to install an app to charge sounds like a nightmare to me.
I already have enough issues at work having to drive an alternative fuel vehicle (CNG). There’s hardly any pumps, and sometimes you’ll locate one just to find out it’s out of service.
It is nice that you keep smiling through all of this. What a pain of a way to go on a road trip. These charge station companies appear terrible, with non functioning and slow chargers. If more that 1 vehicle is charging, the power is divided? Really? Around town an EV looks good. A road trip, I don't see how it is possible. Imagine the chaos of hundreds of EVs on the interstates. Unreliable charging network.
Better you than me. I'm too impatient to wait to charge.
Doing the math it makes no sense financially speaking to buy a lightning for public charging with these prices and miles/kwh but charging at home is a totally different story
The gas truck is cheaper if you factor in all costs and you can buy gas on any corner and fill up in 3 minutes and have far more miles also no range anxiety and shorter drive time. Maybe electric in the future but not at this time.
I drove model 3 once from Houston to Dallas in winter time. It turned out to be 5 miles range left when I reach a supercharger in the mid-way. I totally understand the feeling when your battery is dying.
Hooray for making it. EA definitely needs to step it up. Thanks for showing us how it’s working.
Glad to share. We are confident it will get better!
If you watched the video they called and asked if 3 and 4 are working and the 150 was working like they said. Ea has no control over whether plug and charge works. Kyle had problems when he first got the Mach e and now I think people with Mach e are doing fine. One she used the app it worked. 150 kw units have only been around 4 years. Appreciate what you have not what you don’t . Everyone isn’t driving a truck with a enormous battery. And they are not always going to give max kw every time. 90 kw is not bad. The lightening doesn’t charge as fast as the rivian according to Alex on autos. You don’t see him complaining all the time. Your expectations are out of line with what is available. As long as you can charge be happy with that. You are not going to get a row of 350 kw units just for trucks and taycan s. There are other people to worry about other than 2 trucks.
@@markfitzpatrick6692 do you often arrive at gas stations with half of them not working? Isn’t that the gas stations job to fix that?
@@markfitzpatrick6692 Appreciating what you have and not what you don't?
Electrify America, et al: Hire this man right now! Just the attitude we're looking for! Let 'em eat cake!
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Lightning. But that is why I went with Tesla over other EVs. Charging infrastructure.
Our Lightning charges FAST on Tesla stations. Too bad this video predates the new Tesla adaptors like A2Z that allow Fords to supercharge
We average 16.8 mpg on our 2014 F150 4x4. That's combo driving. We've not done an all highway drive yet.
We live in rural Ky and from what I've heard the nearest charging station to us is in Lexington, an hour away. Electric vehicles would not be a feasible alternative for us.
I've yet to see any owner videos on electric vehicles where they actually seem to enjoy the ownership experience.
I'll stick with putting gas in my 36 gallon tank. That takes under 4 minutes on average.
Hello. Thank you for the video. I am getting my F-150 Lightening this week. I hope I made the right choice. I noticed the nice hard bed cover that you were closing. Can you pls tell more about it. Thank you
Awesome! I think you'll love it. If you haven't had an EV before there is a learning curve, but it's worth it. Our cover is from Ford, it's the F-150 2015-2023 Embark LS Retractable Matte Black Tonneau Cover for 5.5' Bed!
@@AllElectricFamily thank you for answering. I got my lightning and I love it. It did not take me long to realize that there is a difference between estimated mileage and actual mileage. I always thought that it's best to charge to 80% to extend the life of the battery pack. However every time I set Max charge to 80%, it reverts to 100%. Any advice on this? Thank you
Just like anything knew, its gonna take a comprehensive approach and demand. It is getting better and I am on board. I bought my truck three weeks ago anf ha e not had any issues thus far with recharging while traveling.
One thing to note for the Ford users. The 150kw chargers actually peak at around 175, which is incidentally the peak rate of the F150. There is really no reason to use the 350kw charger if you have a 150 available. **edit - This appears to be limited to cars with an 800v architecture such as the EV6/Ioniq 5 and the Taycan.
Is this all of EA units? My experience with some 150kW charger haven't even hit 120kW. When you looked at the unit it says max output of 350amp.
@@AllElectricFamily After looking into this some more, I believe my speeds were because I have an 800 volt architecture with the E-GMP platform that the EV6 is using.
So.. ignore my last message as far as ford is concerned, but if you are in an 800v EV, know that you can get more power out of the 150kw cabinets. I've pulled a sustained 175kw in my EV6 multiple times from a 150kw station.
@@ingoldsby I get good charging upload speeds as well at 150KW EA stations with my Ioniq 5. I think that they may be more reliable as well over the 350Kw stations
There is no reason to use a 350 for bulk charging even if your car takes 250 or whatever. Those very high rates are for real short charges. If your car charges at an average of 150 that is all you need to "bulk charge". BTW very few EV's charge at an average of 150.
That Independence EA station was the only EA station I had trouble with this summer on my trip from MI to Wichita, KS. I had to try 3 towers before I could get it to work.
What if it’s snowing & extremely cold. & your running the heater how much time to charger
I definitely can do without the anxiety. It is like a constant worry about charging the damn thing.
How many charging stops did you make ? You posted 1 hr 22 min total charging time, so if you stopped 4 or 5 times, then the 1 hr 22 min total charging time seems way low.
Check plug share before you pull into electrify americas. Usually people check in at each charger and they will let you know if the charger works.
We do use PlugShare. Unfortunately, sometimes there isn't another option or it's pretty far out of the way in our area. So, sometimes we have to use that charger or the only other option is a slow charger.
what they are charging again? amazing yes it is a relief i you can, can, can charge maybe possible slow and if they do not stop while charging wish i had your problems
So did I hear you the right that when the lightning is in a high state of charge, it doesn't have as good of breaking power as normal? What would define that high state of charge? Thank you...
Regenerative breaking is decreased at a around 95% SOC. Using the traditional brakes work the same.
@@AllElectricFamily okay, thank you very much for the quick response and I appreciate the information... 😎👍
Sharp truck ! It just sucks the charging issues . Have had 0 issues with Tesla.
Hey guys I’m looking into getting one but question as a family with kids is the down time of waiting for it to charge worth it?
Oppose to a gas truck which can fuel up faster
lol you was just a few blocks from me at target, i will have to say i go there alot and i only see a few cars on those charger, but iam starting to see more though
Lol that was our first time but will be back.
It’s fun watching you guys work through the charging issues reminds me when I had the Mache. I find on my videos that I had to set my music to -5 DB to match my audio better. Enjoy your trip let’s see more!!
Thanks 👍
LOL Charging issues, I can just fill my tank and go! I would never feel safe driving an EV! So many things to go wrong, it's not worth it and these EV cars are NO better for our environment, you're all a bunch of clowns!
I'll drive my 2004 Silverado. The gas I'll purchase over my lifetime will never reach $80,000 .. What happens to the battery at the end of it's use. It becomes hazardous waste.
we used the E.A. on Wednesday morning and used #3 and #4. Both worked fine. 3 was slow so we went to #4 and it was fine at that time. we always start from the app.
Yea that's how I'd want to spend my time, hanging around the EV charger for hours. Sounds like fun. How long does it take anyways?
30-45 minutes
Awesome honest video. Thanks guys.
After our first Road trip in a Tesla we stopped worrying whether or not the Supercharger was going to work and began to work on how to get done eating before the car was done charging.
You guys rule. Love the way your kids are part of the video at times. Keep reporting all the nutty chargers you find. (That last one was hilarious, but hey, it worked and was free!)
Glad you're enjoying the videos! We haven't found one quite as good as that charger since then! 😅
Selecting the charger from the EA app and then swiping to initiate charge works best in my experience. 2021 Mach E 30,000+ miles
Thanks for the tip!
I just ordered my Lightning. Seems like the infrastructure isn't where it needs to be. I may just have to keep my current F-150 in case I actually have to go somewhere and just use my Lightning around town.
Charging seems like a headache when traveling. I considered the Lightning but with the Covid markups and this type of headache, I figured I'd wait. maybe next truck.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Regards.
Loving the Lightning content. You both are natural on camera and the details are clear.
Glad you're enjoying it!
I have not gone out of town with my EV, watching other people experiences . trying to decide if it wize . thank you for the video you guys, put on a nice show
I just got my Lightning and turned off plug and charge immediately as joining EA makes the power much less expensive. Also on road trips turn off regen and use performance mode because when you let off the accelerator pedal it coasts. Also while it's illegal, I fold in my mirrors. Doing these things will allow you to get another 10% range.
Ver interesting. We're enjoying learning about how the Lightning works.
We've had our Volt for 10 years (176,000 miles).
Steve's favorite pasttime is finding a good charger. :D
Nice video. What is the color of that lightning?
I think a lot of people who have been bit by the electric bug are going to soon wake up to the fact that it's not what they were told it is.
It is.. its just that Tesla has a decade jump on the competition. I regularly go 700-ish miles from the east coast out in a Tesla and I don't miss a beat. Not a Tesla fan boy by any stretch of the imagination and I always thought Elon was a poser for the record..
..but it's nice to know we're less than a decade out from everything being intact to take these cars from coast to coast without Tesla being the best all-around option.. most people will be owners and enjoying a renewed love for their vehicle 4-5yrs after purchase..
@Damien Earth I think 10 years from now not quite there...I don't think lithium is the answer .. there has to be another way . For now I'll drive my ice vehicle
I and my employees drive EVs since 2019 without any problems whatsoever in Europe. Long trips of course only with Teslas.
yep. weve been LIED to.
@Joel Mora It's funny hearing people who have no experience with EVS say, "we're not there yet", when millions of others have been doing so for quite a while now 😂.
Thanks for documenting the charge issues. They need to fix this pronto.
It does need to be addressed. I think everyone is trying to solve the problem in their own way...where it might be better to all work together for a faster solution!
I go either to Shell, Citgo, Exxon, or Sunoco and never have a issue. Then drive 75 mpg to keep up with traffic, making good time.
Not sure what your talking about but glad your making good time.
@@AllElectricFamily My best stories about keeping my vehicle fueled any great driving range, almost 600 miles.
When did you guys put in your F-150 Lightning reservation?
Immediately. And when I say immediately, I mean we were refreshing as soon as the event went live. 😂
@@AllElectricFamily same here. Sounds like I did the same as you guys. I still haven’t heard anything though. 😢
As long as you don't go very far. , Or use it like a truck. ?
We go long distances all the time. And tow our 30’ trailer with it.
We have a timeshare in Branson and we are 6 hours away in southern OK. I have had my deposit down since last year and still waiting. Wanted to know where in Branson the 80 amp unit was located. At this time our resort hasn't installed any Nema 1450 outlets.
Charging in Branson is limited! The 80 amp charger is in the parking lot with Owen's Theatre and the public restrooms at Veteran's Blvd & W Pacific Street.
@@AllElectricFamily What brand is the charger you'e talking about? Chargepoint or EVgo?
who buys a timeshare in Branson? Oh, and idiot with an EV.
in the new england area, DC fast charging seems to be much more consistent than in the greater mid west area. yes, there is inoperable equipment at many locations, but operable units seem to deliver power at rated speeds much more consistently. pricing here is also much higher; identical charge amounts would be a minimum of 15-20% higher in cost. unfortunately we most likely will never know the reasons why there is such a large variance in locations, so we are left to hypothesize. and i do feel it will get better, but the glide path is most likely long, in EV evolutionary timeframes at least.
Thanks for testing out the CCS network. I think all of us will look back on 2022 as the weird old days before the networks got built up and improved. Especially hard right now is driving bigger battery CCS EVs that really want to consistently feed on a diet of 150 kW chargers since those are the scarce sources out there. If you have a smaller more efficient CCS car right now all those first gen 50-70 kW units while not optimal are still going to get you back on the road in 30-40 minutes. I know you guys are super into the towing lifestyle and I respect that you’re paving the way by sharing this content but I just thought I’d point that out for pure road tripping w/out towing. Keep up the great work and sharing your experiences! It is really encouraging and watching you guys for years and it helped demystify EVs for me and gave me confidence to buy my first used EV last year and first new one this year!
That is awesome! So glad you took the leap! And you are right, we are definitely using big power hungry vehicles! Charging is different for different types of EVs! Thanks for watching!
Just buy a Tesla and all of your traveling headaches will go away! None of this crap happens on road trips in a Tesla!
Mine. Went up to 178 max speed of charging on my platinum
Nice video! But, you convinced me that electric seems to be a huge hassle. Will stick with gas till the technology advances more.
Thanks! For your stats, MpGe is a strange metric. Could you please include kWh/100 km or kWh/100 mi as consumption metrics?
Half the trip charging bet the kids were thrilled
Almost as excited as you:)
all about the charging. and waiting. how much time do you need to add to a trip to charge. oh then the excuses start. i forgot to do this and that. and like any ev trip, the issues start. so complain. the whole trip seems to be about the stress of charging. how much time do you stress and how much time to charge, including messing around with the chargers, not just the charging times that no one includes. what the chargers do not work? how can that be, just add the hours lost in looking around for looking for chargers. lol the usual stress and waiting
Hi there! Nice video. I’ve done a similar drive from KC to Branson is a Tesla Model 3. Thankfully, my experience was for less interesting than yours was. Also have gone KC to Oklahoma City twice, and KC to Pittsburg, PA in Teslas. The difference between Tesla Superchargers and your experiences are dramatically different. Superchargers are much easier and they always work. 65Kw chargers are the slowest on Tesla’s network and the vast majority of them are 150Kw or 250Kw chargers. There is a lot of opportunity for improvement with non Tesla chargers. Hopefully this will improve with time. Charging should not be a stressful event. For now, Superchargers are far superior and have set the standard for other companies to strive for. I love how you guys rolled with the punches. Safe travels. Cheers!!
I just went on a road trip from Kansas city to Los Angeles in my V-6 RAM. GOOGLE MAPS had us going on some highways for hundreds of miles with no sign of life. I'd never attempt that route in an EV truck. My trucks range is 500 miles
It's not for everyone and those roads are abundant in Nebraska:)
@9:27 and @14:25 is the “just hanging elbow” indicating you are turning into a skeleton loosing your charge while waiting for a charge.
You have tesla before why you change to ford? Just asking
This was on the edge of frightening to me. It brings up another issue - power outages and government electrical allocating. I remember the gas quotas many years ago. Not a comforting event then and certainly not a situation I want anyone to go through.
That's why they are pushing EV's so hard. With people in electric vehicles they will be able to control your movements. That's why the charging network is being setup the way it is. That's what self driving is all about. We think these are cool features, but in reality they will be used to control our movement. Let's say the government issues another illegal Lockdown. With the features being installed on these new electric vehicles they could easily limit how far you could travel from your home. They could dictate exactly where you are allowed to go. Hell if they wanted to they would have the ability to still your car in the middle of the night without even sending someone to your house. Simply make your car start up and drive away to wherever they want to store it. Be Careful What You Ask For!!!
Thanks for sharing the numbers in the metric system also!
You bet!
It seems that with electric vehicles, refueling (recharging) is the main issue when traveling, whereas with gasoline fueled vehicles refueling is not an issue AT ALL. There are gasoline stations on every corner in this country and refueling is a 5 minute pause in your trip.
The chargers are a weak point on road trips. When working properly it adds about ten minutes to a stop for our family of 5 that normally too 15 minutes per stop with our diesel truck.
The EA reliability would drive me nuts. I would worry too much about charging. Our 4 year old Tesla Model 3 has been a champ on long distance trips this year😃
This year has been trying. Four funerals😟. Four trips from NH to Iowa. Each 2600 Miles round trip, or over 10,000 miles. The Tesla chargers have been fantastic, 88 charges. A few times we had to change chargers, never a whole site out. Only once did we have to wait, Albany NY at full 20 charger site.
The high point on Charger reliability came at a low point. My dad called and said mom only had a day or two to live. We packed quickly and drove through without any hotel stops. Made it in time to say goodbye. We drove 1300 miles in 24 hours with charging stops, averaging over 54 MPH. No quite as fast the Canon Ball Run Model 3 runs, but close.
-Kurt
Sorry for your losses this past year. A rough reason to have to travel, but glad to hear your charging experience was good! When we start having trouble it makes us miss the Tesla network. But we have confidence that one day CCS will be as reliable as Tesla.
I've had that irrational fear if you can call it that which is why I don't think I would go all electric at least for the near future. It would kill me if I get that call and my EV is sitting in a charger for 20 plus minutes at a time. The stress would kill me.
@@AllElectricFamily I think the reliability is going to come from Tesla opening their superchargers to CCS. EA seems to be going downhill. Last summer I took a Bolt on a 5,000 mile journey. I’m not sure I’d try that now. I certainly won’t if I have the option of using a Tesla.
I have done that far in under 19 hours with a ICE vehicle.
$32 was for how much energy? Did you start the trip with a full (80%) charge?
Great stuff and real world function, thank you for sharing.
Wow….all of that mental energy preparing to recharge. Well at least we’re saving the planet. Not throwing shade on your content.,,but in the absurdity of planning a trip around the ability to charge. Imagine calling Buccee’s to find out if the pumps are working.
Pretty sad
Other drivers probably stared at you on the highway. Nobody ever sees an EV on the interstate. They are a real novelty.
In the Lightning not many people realize what it is!
You guys are the pioneers of our modern world. EV’s have a long road ahead to be time efficient on long range trips. Load, speed, towing, weather, and personal driving habits have great effect on your drivable distances.
Not mentioning the crappy charge points that are a gamble on whether they work, exist, or are located in a place that’s safe.
I only do local driving and in almost 6 years of driving I have yet to use a single super charger or any charger outside my own.
I am like the little kid who can only go to the neighborhood corner and would most likely get into trouble if I go past our own block, but I am very happy inside my 100 mile block. 😂
Every time I watch an EV road trip video that's NOT a Tesla it almost always ends in tears. As an exclusive Tesla household (soon to be Lightning too) I can saw that we have never once, in all of our travels, had an issue. Not once. We travel lot nationwide too and road tripping has quickly become one of our favorite hobbies. The Lightning will ONLY be a local vehicle for this exact reason. More attention needs to be brought to this massive issue because (aside from Tesla) this is the primary hurdle for EV adoption for most. Even more so than purchase price thanks to gas prices being so high now.
Those ChargePoint chargers tend to be pretty solid.
I loved my electric car when I had it, but the most frustrating thing was the charging stations didn't reliably work outside of the DC area. I even called and got the same as you that the chargers were working only to find they didn't when I got there. If it wasn't for having to do longer drives I would have kept the car because it was great around the city.
In my Tesla Model 3, I just skip any charger less than 150 kW and favor the 250 kW ones.
This was a fantastic clip.. Such a great, realistic adventure. I love the Lightning, the Rivian and the BMW i4. But as a current Tesla M3 owner, who regularly uses his car for long-ish trips, I never do any advance prep- i know the nav and the charging tech work perfectly. Having Supercharger access is unbeatable. They literally ALWAYS work, and are always expanding. Lately in my area (NYState) i've noticed i'm being routed to crazy fast 350w chargers.. Given how Tesla chargers are rarely if ever offline.. I don't know how others can't get theirs to be more reliable. It just doesn't make sense. Until that happens i'll stay in the Tesla world. But love your cars, and thank you!
Tweaked here are stealing wiring and stuff from the chargers. Since they’re not stealing more than $950, they’re getting a slap on the wrist. Too many chargers are going down that way
This is why I've also haven't sold my Model 3 and change to other EVS, even though they're very compelling new vehicles on the market from Ford, Rivian, Kia, Hyundai, Bmw. This is Tesla main advantage, 4 years of using superchargers and I can say that I've encountered only 2 or 3 broken supercharger. If I can't rely on the charging infrastructure that's available to the vehicle when I'm road tripping then what is the point.
Tesla (Elon) made such a great decision years ago to build out his own charging network. Tesla is eons ahead of the competition for folks that road trip with their EVs. At least right now. Hopefully in a couple of years someone will have improved the public charging network. Hopefully.
This
Seems like a lot of issues and frustration, is it really worth it?
Hope u find a spot to charge and not too long a wait
Thank you for sharing your fun and informative videos. My wife and I just took our Lighting with the extended battery on our first road trip, and we quickly learned about the limitations of our EV. Driving though the desert (El Centro, CA) on Interstate 8 with 109-degree weather and up the grade (4,250 elevation), going 70 mph to San Diego took a very quick toll on the battery. Unfortunately, we also had challenges with EA chargers on our trip.
Thanks for another great video. That music at 11:13 is bangin!
Glad you enjoy it!
Wow, how much is your time worth?
Really Enjoy your content. Enjoyed the energy and laughter alongside the info. Will continue following!
Glad you like it! Thanks for following along! 🙂
Wow. This makes me want to cancel my Rivian/Ford orders. Just not there yet. Commuting only, road trips TBD.
You used more power than my house uses for one month to go 400 miles. Do you think that is a sustainable system? 🙂
Yes, we do think it is. And it will only become more sustainable as we move forward with the technology.
The answer to your problems is the f150 powerboost no need to worry just pull up to a gas station fuel up in minutes and go not hours not to mention the 600 miles of fuel to your destination in the powerboost with no range anxieties but your experience with a ev they are just not there yet
You will love stormy point my cousin owns there and we have been there many times.
Stormy Point is great! Perfect for a family.
Should have gone to oak park mall
We did on the way home.
I would never want to have this type of "fun" while traveling with my family. The equivalent would be having nails in every single tire not knowing when they're going to go flat when you're out in the middle of nowhere. I know that could be fun, but not for me and my family
If you want to fastcharge, you need to get it below 10% at least.
Man, these EVs just aren’t close to being a viable option for long distance travel. No way I spend that much vacation time worrying and waiting on chargers. Thanks for the content. I am looking at a Rivian but intend to keep my tundra for road trips with boat in tow.
I hope EA gets this together before I get my Lucid.
We hope they get it together quickly, too. It really shouldn't be this difficult.
Your kids are BEYOND cute. As I might expect based on the size of your vehicle, the efficiency of the F-150 is about half of my Model 3, which means your charging times will be at least twice as long (even more at the lower power chargers you where able to use). One thing viewers should understand is that it is not the "range" of a vehicle that is important, it is the "efficiency" and "charging speed". Large vehicles such as the F-150 have decent range figures because they have a very large battery. While it is good to have more range, the added battery size lengthens the charging time and lowers efficiency by having to haul around a big heavy battery. That's no big deal when charging at home, but it becomes important when charging on the road. The "best" car is one that has the highest efficiency so that it can achieve good range with the smallest possible battery. Thank you for making such a great video and thank you to your children for putting a smile on my face.
What if they don't want a tesla
Tesla does that now as well all high state of charge. Blends friction breaks have to enable it though
The F-150 EV charger maxes out in a 150 station. The 350 kw unit is not any benefit. Good luck on your trip. (2022 Ioniq 5). Thanks
While Chargepoint advertises '125kw shared' at their dual stations, my LIGHTNING has never pulled more than 1/2 of that, whether another EV is charging there, or not....
the Ford dealer by me has one 2022 Lightning on the lot. sticker price $98,000. What a bargain. lol
This is exactly why a BEV is not for us at this time. We have a PHEV which works for us.
yeah, I'm out on this electric vehicle thing... I was excited to buy the Lightning for backup power for my house and travel from Woke Cali to Az to visit my kids but after watching this and MAAAANNNYYYY other like videos (hoovies garage) the complaints are all the same, 50% range and chargers are just not there yet. I have a big 12mpg truck that runs and drives reliably, guess I'm saving the $50k plus and not jumping on the electric car/truck fad....
Plug and charge should be a STANDARD. Like, just collect vehicle info and if the customer doesn't pay you can file a police report. Otherwise, as soon as someone plugs in and the handshake occours, the car should start charging.
Within 50 miles of my home, there are two F-150 Lightning shown as inventory vehicles for sale. One has MSRP of $66,554.00 and the selling price is $139,900.00. The other says to come to get pricing. I am guessing it would be about the same. They want $27,980 down and $1,854 per month for 6 years. Plus the property tax and insurance. Gas here is $3.49 per gallon today, a little cheaper if paying cash. That truck could run on pixie dust and still be a losing proposition by far.
Ughhh … sorry to hear about the continuing charge issues you are having. Hoping that with enough public posts like this will help things to get better. Also, as much as we are anxious to get our Rivian, I guess we’re being spared some of these issues and hoping things are better by the time we get our EV. Thanks again for continuing to provide helpful info to the community!
Yes, we hope that things will get ironed out with the early adoption.
I wont get Rivian until tesla agrees to open its charging network to non-tesla EVs.