While on vacation......

[SimplyAnAdventure]

For those thinking of an EV as a commuter here are my particular numbers.

Vehicle F150 Lightning Extended Range
Summer miles/kW range 2.3
My daily commute 52 miles total
52 / 2.3 = 22.6 kW uses daily
My home Electricity rate $0.18/kW
22.6 x $0.18 = $4.07 per day.


A normal F150 gets around 18MPG so in my commute that’s 52 / 18 = 2.9 gallons of fuel a day. Gas here is…. Hmmmmm idk because I don’t buy it. Google says our avg is $3.59/ gallon. So $10.40/ day if I was driving a normal F150.

$6/day savings isn’t too bad. Now I charge 100% free (to me) at work so I save $10/day which is even better! As a commuter for most people EV’s kick ass. Obviously a small Tesla will be much for efficient than my Lightning just like a Civic would be much for efficient than a ICE Truck.

EV’s definitely are here to stay, but as a remote travel vehicle? Not a great choice for my uses.

FWIW my Lightning is the most overland EV ever. Here’s the proof! See attachment

 

[Ex Animo]

For those thinking of an EV as a commuter here are my particular numbers.

Vehicle F150 Lightning Extended Range
Summer miles/kW range 2.3
My daily commute 52 miles total
52 / 2.3 = 22.6 kW uses daily
My home Electricity rate $0.18/kW
22.6 x $0.18 = $4.07 per day.


A normal F150 gets around 18MPG so in my commute that’s 52 / 18 = 2.9 gallons of fuel a day. Gas here is…. Hmmmmm idk because I don’t buy it. Google says our avg is $3.59/ gallon. So $10.40/ day if I was driving a normal F150.

$6/day savings isn’t too bad. Now I charge 100% free (to me) at work so I save $10/day which is even better! As a commuter for most people EV’s kick ass. Obviously a small Tesla will be much for efficient than my Lightning just like a Civic would be much for efficient than a ICE Truck.

EV’s definitely are here to stay, but as a remote travel vehicle? Not a great choice for my uses.

FWIW my Lightning is the most overland EV ever. Here’s the proof! See attachment

I haven't look a ton into the Lighting, what is your observed range (lets say on a summer day) and DC fast charge times?

For reference my Bolt is getting about 3.5-4 mi/kWH so 2.3 doesn't seem too bad to me given the size difference.

 

[SimplyAnAdventure]

I haven't look a ton into the Lighting, what is your observed range (lets say on a summer day) and DC fast charge times?

For reference my Bolt is getting about 3.5-4 mi/kWH so 2.3 doesn't seem too bad to me given the size difference.

Summer and ideal conditions on my drive to work which is almost all 55 MPH best I ever average is 2.5 miles per kW which if I filled my truck 100% is 131 useable kW, so 327 miles of range. Most days I can get 2.3 realistically with AC running so that’s 300 miles of range. Winter time I drop to 1.6-1.8 miles per kW so 225-ish…. Real world range I/E 20% to 80% or about 80 kW of useable battery call it 170-180 miles of “useable” range.

Again this is plenty as a commuter. And while 330 miles of range may seem great no one ever charges to 100% nor do they run to 0% so it’s a lot less.

This truck is actually very comparable to my Tesla Model Y in range and use the battery is just twice as big to do it.

Charging on the Ford is no where near the Tesla for top end speed mine maxes out at about 175 kW/hr but does hold that curve up until about 80% which is pretty good. What that means is if I roll into a DC fast charger at 20% it takes me about 35 mins ish to pick up that charge from 20-80. I consider it acceptable.

Generally when I travel long distance I just stop along the Thruway or something when we need to use a bathroom or grab a coffee and plug it in then. This has been fine on quite a few trips. When we go more remote like to visit some family in Maine we just take my wife’s Rav4 because the trip just gets slowed down too much with the EV.

TBH EV’s are sort of a lifestyle and you just have to be into it to make them work. It takes a lot more thought and planning to do things using one. I for one actually enjoy it but anyone who’s telling you it’s just as easy as a ICE car isn’t being truthful.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

12 US States Are Planning to Ban the Sale of Gas-Powered Cars

To curb tailpipe emissions and boost EV and plug-in hybrid sales, California is working toward banning the purchase of combustion cars. Eleven more US states announced plans to follow suit.

www.cnet.com

You are not correct. Not by a long shot.

I live in NY. Trust me there are mandates on the horizon. I simply said I disagree with them but trust me they are signed laws right now. They’re for the future but they are already on the books.

My opinion on EV’s is all fact based, as I said I’m on my third so clearly I’m not anti EV….

As a separate point I have a degree in engineering as well as having decades of work in and around power generation at the highest level including inside Nuclear Power plants. I understand electricity.

EV’s are fine and like I said people are free to do what they want but people need to be realistic in their expectations. EV’s aren’t the same as gas, not yet anyway.

“The regulations don't force anyone to stop driving their current automobile or prevent them from buying a used car. They also don't prevent you from buying an ICE vehicle in another state and registering it locally.”

From the article you sourced

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

I stumbled upon this thread, participated, and am now leaving. I have come away with my mind blown that anyone who has ever set foot outside of any decent sized city would think this way. I'm not sure what world you live in or what kind of people you think the Expedition Portal would be about. Overlanding, vehicle expeditions, remote off road travel, etc. are about self sufficiency and EV's don't currently fit that definition anywhere on the planet.....for more than a few hours of driving. I can only imagine the extra time it would take to attempt the Pan American by EV.

I'm done, no need to respond. You're dreaming if you think there are going to be charging stations along the Mojave trail, or in remote Alaska, or perhaps the whole entire continent of Africa or Australia in the next 10, 20, 50 years.

FWIW, I'd love to own an EV. They fit the use case of my wife. As a world traveler, preferrably by vehicle, I see no other use case that they fit.

Gotta run, just filled my tank in the time it took to post this. <5 minutes and I'm off and running for another few hundred miles.

Mojave trail is only 150 miles, well within the range and ability of most stock EV pickups. Charging is easy to find at both ends. Barstow ffs

https://www.rivianforums.com/the-mojave-road_trip-report/

Even a modified 3 did it.

An Off-Road-Modified Tesla Model 3 Tackles the Mojave Road

A team of YouTubers find the limits of their Tesla in the desert.

www.caranddriver.com

You know, this sight used to instill a sense of adventure. I remember some of my favorite trip reports were of people doing things that weren’t easy. A Mercedes wagon across Africa or a Trail 90 through Vietnam. Why does the fuel source trigger some people?

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

Summer and ideal conditions on my drive to work which is almost all 55 MPH best I ever average is 2.5 miles per kW which if I filled my truck 100% is 131 useable kW, so 327 miles of range. Most days I can get 2.3 realistically with AC running so that’s 300 miles of range. Winter time I drop to 1.6-1.8 miles per kW so 225-ish…. Real world range I/E 20% to 80% or about 80 kW of useable battery call it 170-180 miles of “useable” range.

Again this is plenty as a commuter. And while 330 miles of range may seem great no one ever charges to 100% nor do they run to 0% so it’s a lot less.

This truck is actually very comparable to my Tesla Model Y in range and use the battery is just twice as big to do it.

Charging on the Ford is no where near the Tesla for top end speed mine maxes out at about 175 kW/hr but does hold that curve up until about 80% which is pretty good. What that means is if I roll into a DC fast charger at 20% it takes me about 35 mins ish to pick up that charge from 20-80. I consider it acceptable.

Generally when I travel long distance I just stop along the Thruway or something when we need to use a bathroom or grab a coffee and plug it in then. This has been fine on quite a few trips. When we go more remote like to visit some family in Maine we just take my wife’s Rav4 because the trip just gets slowed down too much with the EV.

TBH EV’s are sort of a lifestyle and you just have to be into it to make them work. It takes a lot more thought and planning to do things using one. I for one actually enjoy it but anyone who’s telling you it’s just as easy as a ICE car isn’t being truthful.

Does Ford do route planning yet? I test drove one before we bought the Rivian. It is quieter and a smoother ride than the Rivian, it just felt too big to me. The wife did not feel comfortable driving it. There really isn’t a huge difference in size but it definitely feels bigger.

 

[SimplyAnAdventure]

Does Ford do route planning yet? I test drove one before we bought the Rivian. It is quieter and a smoother ride than the Rivian, it just felt too big to me. The wife did not feel comfortable driving it. There really isn’t a huge difference in size but it definitely feels bigger.

Yeah and it’s ok…. But a long way from the Tesla.

BUT my iPhone somehow learned that I drive a Lightning and it does 100% perfect job so far and makes things seamless. Once it’s connected to the car on CarPlay all nav goes through it while it gets feed back from the battery.

The Tesla was superior only because it had real time feedback from not only the charging stations as far as what was working and what was available but also what other vehicles were being routed there. It also pre conditioned your battery for optimal charge.

And yes the Ford is super nice and comfortable to drive I really enjoy it.

 

[SimplyAnAdventure]

“The regulations don't force anyone to stop driving their current automobile or prevent them from buying a used car. They also don't prevent you from buying an ICE vehicle in another state and registering it locally.”

From the article you sourced

Yeah… and I live in the RUST belt. Not really any cars older than 10 up here they pretty much fall apart. I know they aren’t forbidding them they are just (planning) to make it harder and harder. As i said in my first first first comment way back I prefer the carrot to the stick. Show people the benefits and encourage it rather than choking them with it. Plus this kind of stuff hurts lower income people a lot more. Not everyone can afford a stable of vehicles.

 

[jchasse]

But the 51 other weeks…

If it's the vehicle you want to use for the trip, the other 51 don't matter.

 

[jchasse]

I'm not anti-EV. But it's not where it needs to be for me as an overlanding vehicle (this is an overlanding forum, right?)

We were simply car camping with friends on the Dolores river in SW CO. They had their camping rig (a fossil fuel burning Tundra). But the mom came out later in her Tesla - not towing or carrying anything, just drove out in the sedan. At some point around day 2 they realized they probably couldn't get home without either driving to Cortez, CO on the way back and spending ~3 hours hanging around doing nothing while the car charged, or making an unplanned 2 hr round trip to Telluride for a fast charger.

They blew off a hike and did the T'ride drive. And yes, I understand driving the Tesla to Telluride is a first world harship. But an unplanned out of the way drive to go there on 4th of July weekend and dealing with throngs of tourists isn't something I want to be forced into...that's why I'm camping. (My wife and daughter tagged along and they had a fabulous dinner at a French restaraunt while my buddy and I ate brats at the campsite, so they survived...but that's not the point)

Until EV ranges are a lot longer I still like being able to go to any old gas station.

 

[NevadaLover]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's pretty clear from this thread you have a grudge against EV advocates and that's different from typical "Ford vs Chevy" conversations, it's personal for you. You've resorted to name calling and mistakingly think I am somehow "offended" by your personal opinion on the matter, I really don't care. I care that a few people in the EV forum are legit excited to try a new form of travel but are quickly drown out by naysayers who have no interest or more importantly no experience in it. It all feels too much like culture war noise and not a honest conversation about a new means to explore the world.

Honestly it seems like you have a good thing going for you, a rig you clearly love, 2 different travel trailers?, time to enjoy them and I think you even mentioned a girlfriend? Why spend so much time trying to bring others down?

I have CLEARLY stated my position about the current crop of EV's not working for me, I have also CLEARLY said that if an EV works for other users then more power to them, and I have been misquoted and called out by mostly a certain user here who absolutely cannot tolerate anything posted that isn't 100 percent pro-EV here on the portal.

I am sorry for offending you, but I will always respond when called out and sometimes I get annoyed by the same comments from the same user or users who just can't accept that me and some other users here have differing opinions!

That's what this type of community is about, the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, when certain users demand all other follow their lead with no exceptions then the whole community suffers, a simple comment of disension is not grounds for certain users to become upset and demand that other be excluded from threads for not toeing the line, so with that I say goodnight and tomorrow will be another day.

 

[NevadaLover]

Until EV ranges are a lot longer I still like being able to go to any old gas station.

I have found that many remote ranchers and farmers in the west will sell a tankful of fuel to honest, friendly people, especially with a few beers or a cocktail or two in the evening to enjoy, and it's always a pleasure for us to meet good folk on the remote roads and trails who do so.

Maybe an EV could be plugged in enough to fully charge in these instances but it's so much easier to refuel than to recharge so I will stick with fuel for the foreseeable future.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

I'm not anti-EV. But it's not where it needs to be for me as an overlanding vehicle (this is an overlanding forum, right?)

We were simply car camping with friends on the Dolores river in SW CO. They had their camping rig (a fossil fuel burning Tundra). But the mom came out later in her Tesla - not towing or carrying anything, just drove out in the sedan. At some point around day 2 they realized they probably couldn't get home without either driving to Cortez, CO on the way back and spending ~3 hours hanging around doing nothing while the car charged, or making an unplanned 2 hr round trip to Telluride for a fast charger.

They blew off a hike and did the T'ride drive. And yes, I understand driving the Tesla to Telluride is a first world harship. But an unplanned out of the way drive to go there on 4th of July weekend and dealing with throngs of tourists isn't something I want to be forced into...that's why I'm camping. (My wife and daughter tagged along and they had a fabulous dinner at a French restaraunt while my buddy and I ate brats at the campsite, so they survived...but that's not the point)

Until EV ranges are a lot longer I still like being able to go to any old gas station.

That’s a planning issue that could easily happen with any vehicle. I’ve been there many times in the southwest with combustion, difference is I didn’t have a computer with gps and mapping to guide me. My Rivian has a longer range than my Ranger did.

Yes more chargers would be great, but the round trip could have been added to the nav system in the Tesla and the car would have told her.

 

[crazysccrmd]

That’s a planning issue that could easily happen with any vehicle. I’ve been there many times in the southwest with combustion, difference is I didn’t have a computer with gps and mapping to guide me. My Rivian has a longer range than my Ranger did.

Yes more chargers would be great, but the round trip could have been added to the nav system in the Tesla and the car would have told her.

Yeah, planning better could have given them a heads up sooner that the Tesla might not be able to make the round trip on one charge but it doesn’t change the fact that the Tesla couldn’t make the trip on one charge and was inconvenient. An equivalent ICE Camry wouldn’t have had a problem and could’ve been topped off at a local town with far less hassle. It’s just an easy example of how EV ownership can interfere with travel plans in more remote areas.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

I have CLEARLY stated my position about the current crop of EV's not working for me, I have also CLEARLY said that if an EV works for other users then more power to them, and I have been misquoted and called out by mostly a certain user here who absolutely cannot tolerate anything posted that isn't 100 percent pro-EV here on the portal.

I am sorry for offending you, but I will always respond when called out and sometimes I get annoyed by the same comments from the same user or users who just can't accept that me and some other users here have differing opinions!

That's what this type of community is about, the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, when certain users demand all other follow their lead with no exceptions then the whole community suffers, a simple comment of disension is not grounds for certain users to become upset and demand that other be excluded from threads for not toeing the line, so with that I say goodnight and tomorrow will be another day.

Your comments are not offensive, they’re just down right banal. Not hurting anyone’s feelings, you’re not “owning the libs”.