Driving an EV pickup

[CiscoCat]

Nice, how much was the transfer switch? Any code issues setting that up?

Do you have a 285 Conquest? Nice you have the right trailer for it. Takes some of the edge off when towing on the margins. Doesn't look like much squat so you won't get rubber-necking cops as I will with my dam "leveling kit" in the front, making it look like I'm thousands of pounds overweight with the truck and camper and boat.

No code issues with the transfer switch. Just need a permit and the skills. Probably cost me $2500

My whaler is a 280 - pre 285 series. Its actually larger than a 285. More inline with 315. Its a project that I’ve restored her over the last few years. Been a major labor of love.

She sits on that trailer perfectly. Very little tongue weight. The lightning has a trailer weight scale built in and it hardly even registered it. Also the lightning has way beefier tires and suspension compared to a regular f150 due to the battery weight. She sits nice and square with her attached.

 

[kaelc]

Nice, 2,500 to have some nice backup power is pretty good thanks for the tip. Trailer weight scale, that is sick.

Wicked boat.

 

[sly_karma]

I’m curious about the costs of charging.

Power is cheap and completely renewable in BC, no wonder we have the most EVs in Canada. The home rate for most of us is 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Battery in my Lightning is 98 kWh. So a complete 0-100% charge would cost $9.31. A more likely scenario is charging from 20% to 85% (most auto makers say to cap everyday charging at 80-90% to extend battery lifespan). That would cost $6.05 (98 × 65% × $0.095)

Out on the highway it's a different story, just like eating at home is a lot cheaper than eating at a restaurant.

Petro Canada is 50 cents/minute for their DC fast chargers. That same 20% to 85% charge equals 64 kWh. 64 kWh @ 150 kW = 0.42 hours, or 26 minutes. @$0.50/min, charge cost would be $13.

BC Hydro charges 27.4 cents per kWh for its faster chargers. For that 20-85% charge consuming 64 kWh, cost is $17.55. Now compare to half a tank of gas for a typical half ton, say 50 litres. At $1.75/L, cost is $87.50.

 

[trophywife]

with the bam road getting somewhat of an upgrade, i wonder what hydro would charge me for a power drop and meter in the parking lot. i could run a ev station

 

[doug78]

Great to see some are trying it out. Looks like you did all the same research and gave it some serious thought.

I went a slightly different direction got a model 3 4 years ago and love it. One regret is getting the rear wheel drive, but with winter tires it performs better than expected. It does all my local driving, occasionally to the Okanagan. I find it can be a little bit to optimistic on range, hopefully Ford is a bit more pessimistic. Glad ford has the route planning, that's something Tesla really has nailed down.

Also have a f450 tow rig...wasn't ready to haul distances and weight with the electric as I am often well off the beaten path. By the time I wear this beast out the electric trucks will be the only way to go.

 

[Capt. Jack]

First impression: so quiet. Modern gas vehicles have good mufflers, but this is next level. A touch of motor whine off the line, and then... nothing. Can't hear tire noise, not at street speeds anyway. Likewise, no wind noise. I think I'll use cruise control around town for the first week or so to avoid getting a speeding ticket. I hadn't realised that we use engine noise as a subconscious cue for speed until it's not there.

Second impression: quick. I didn't go out and attempt quarter mile passes, but let's just say it's pretty spicy off the mark or in a roll-on situation. Street bike type acceleration, in a pickup. And it just goes, no noise. Very intriguing.

Yeah, Nissan nismo edition GTR no longer got the title Godzilla killer.
There's hybrids that go 0-100 in one second.
Still waiting for my sportage phev.

 

[Daveroo]

Great to see some are trying it out. Looks like you did all the same research and gave it some serious thought.

I went a slightly different direction got a model 3 4 years ago and love it. One regret is getting the rear wheel drive, but with winter tires it performs better than expected. It does all my local driving, occasionally to the Okanagan. I find it can be a little bit to optimistic on range, hopefully Ford is a bit more pessimistic. Glad ford has the route planning, that's something Tesla really has nailed down.

Also have a f450 tow rig...wasn't ready to haul distances and weight with the electric as I am often well off the beaten path. By the time I wear this beast out the electric trucks will be the only way to go.

I read just today that third party testers found Tesla to be by the far the most "optimistic" vendor with regards to their published range specs. Almost all other companies including Ford were publishing pretty accurate ranges. In Korea Tesla was fined for their misleading range claims.

 

[doug78]

I read just today that third party testers found Tesla to be by the far the most "optimistic" vendor with regards to their published range specs. Almost all other companies including Ford were publishing pretty accurate ranges. In Korea Tesla was fined for their misleading range claims.

Ya it's not perfect but it's not a dealbreaker. It mostly a matter of breaking old habits especially for those that like to run around with the gas light on.

I never got close to claimed.milage on my f150 EcoBoost...they all do it. If I lived Alberta or Saskatchewan it would make rated range in the warm weather.

 

[sly_karma]

On the Lightning forums they refer to remaining range readout as the GOM - the Guess-O-Meter. It seems to be generally pessimistic, ie, Ford protecting owners from being stuck on the roadside with 0% battery. Over time the GOM learns your driving habits and becomes more accurate.

 

[wildmanyeah]

How much % battery do u use going to work and back?

 

[sly_karma]

How much % battery do u use going to work and back?

My daily drive is never the same. Job sites located all over Pemticton and surrounding areas. Sometimes multiple trips to suppliers depending how things work out - renovation is never completely predictable. But a typical day of 60-80 km is using 20-25% of range. It's down below 35% now so will charge tonight.

 

[sly_karma]

Interior will be very familiar to those who have a recent F series truck. Most vehicle controls use the same switches and buttons as auto makers have for decades. Knobs for audio volume and climate control right where you expect them. Easy to reach out and adjust them with taking eyes off the road. One thing I love already is the steering wheel switch that toggles the lane keeping system on and off. Useful on the highway but a real PITA on a narrow country road where you tend to straighten things out a bit when possible.

The pure EV makers like Tesla have gone for a clean look with almost everything controlled via a screen, nary a knob to be found. I can see the advantages for them in terms of cost and integration, and I'm sure I'd figure it out, but I think some physical controls is a good thing. Flipping through 2 or 3 levels of screen menus while driving seems a bit less safe. I've been in a Chevy for the last 8 years but this has been pretty easy to adapt to.

Not really that much on the dash or the centre screen for the EV side.of things, majority of it is just typical automotive stuff like heat/AC, infotainment, mirrors, door locks, windows etc.

 

[Tips Up]

Does power consumption change drastically when towing or hauling?

 

[wildmanyeah]

A

Interior will be very familiar to those who have a recent F series truck. Most vehicle controls use the same switches and buttons as auto makers have for decades. Knobs for audio volume and climate control right where you expect them. Easy to reach out and adjust them with taking eyes off the road. One thing I love already is the steering wheel switch that toggles the lane keeping system on and off. Useful on the highway but a real PITA on a narrow country road where you tend to straighten things out a bit when possible.

The pure EV makers like Tesla have gone for a clean look with almost everything controlled via a screen, nary a knob to be found. I can see the advantages for them in terms of cost and integration, and I'm sure I'd figure it out, but I think some physical controls is a good thing. Flipping through 2 or 3 levels of screen menus while driving seems a bit less safe. I've been in a Chevy for the last 8 years but this has been pretty easy to adapt to.

Not really that much on the dash or the centre screen for the EV side.of things, majority of it is just typical automotive stuff like heat/AC, infotainment, mirrors, door locks, windows etc.

View attachment 95386

Looks almost identical to my work truck

 

[sly_karma]

Does power consumption change drastically when towing or hauling?

Certainly energy use goes up with a load or when towing, same as it does with a gas or diesel. EV are affected more because they're already highly efficient whereas IC vehicles absorb some of the added load in the 65-70% of waste heat they produce.

Every tow is different, though. Weight, weight distribution, shape, frontal area all contribute to energy required to move it. Not hard to see that an empty flat car trailer will need less energy to move than an empty cargo trailer of equivalent weight, because the frontal area is so much less.

So I don't know yet how my rig will behave, I havent towed with it yet. The boat is a 19 ft runabout. Frontal shape is, well, pointy. Bow and windshield profile is low, no radar arch or hardtop. Behind my Silverado 5.3L it bumps up fuel consumption by about 20% on average. I'm guessing I'll see 30% ish energy hit behind the Lightning. Might take it to Osoyoos or something like that this weekend to start gathering data.

 

[Bill 310]

This is going to be a very interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.

Our parking lot in our building at work is likely 20% Tesla.

I was interested about the Tesla's overly optimistic range issue.

One of the people I know at work has a Model Y and with 4 bikes on a hitch rack he told me the reduction in range on their way to Kamloops was quite disconcerting and they had to recharge more than twice as often, than if they had no bikes. Tesla's aerodynamics may be critical to their range estimates

 

[CiscoCat]

This is going to be a very interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.

Our parking lot in our building at work is likely 20% Tesla.

I was interested about the Tesla's overly optimistic range issue.

One of the people I know at work has a Model Y and with 4 bikes on a hitch rack he told me the reduction in range on their way to Kamloops was quite disconcerting and they had to recharge more than twice as often, than if they had no bikes. Tesla's aerodynamics may be critical to their range estimates

I think the tesla mentality is who cares I can just supercharge it. . This is at least the attitude of my friends with them. They are not concerned.

I find the range estimate in my Lightning pretty exact, or underestimated. Ive had quite a few times where I haven’t plugged in the night before and then I get asked to make a meeting far away. Its never left Me stranded and always able to get home. Ive got a little over 18000km on her now and I have been watching every km closely. Ford did an update back in December and the range predictions got way better. From that update alone I gained almost 30km on a full charge.

We have been to Whistler and back on a single charge. That was cool. Especially in the middle of winter and all 4 of us running heated seats the whole time.

Next will be an actual trip while towing. My wakeboat is roughly 8500lbs with boat and trailer. The ford trip planner say I can get from my home in delta to Osoyoos with one charge for 37min in Princeton. We will have to see about that. There are lots of hills along the way. Im kinda figuring on the need to charge twice.

Its pretty fun figuring all this stuff out to do with a EV. With my Chevy ive never thought twice about it. Its just hitch up and pump diesel whenever you need it.

 

[chris73]

Love my Lightning work truck! Towed some boats around with it but only shorter distances. The dash computer suggests the range drops to 50-60% but I get the feeling this is overly pessimistic; but have no actual proof of that yet. A heavy 21' alu centre console boat - don't even feel it when towing. Haven't played with all the different towing modes and backup features yet but it offers lots. Only thing that annoys me so far is that when setting up for a charge and you don't want to go to 100% you have to manually limit each time again to say 90%. It doesn't save this setting for some reason.

 

[Coyote Spooner]

If you’re towing a boat, and need to charge? Is there enough room, at the charge stations? Or do you have to disconnect first? That would get old fast

 

[sly_karma]

If you’re towing a boat, and need to charge? Is there enough room, at the charge stations? Or do you have to disconnect first? That would get old fast

I had a long wait for my truck, some of the time I used to look up charging locations along highway routes I use, then go take a look at these facilities when I was in the area. Some will require you to unhitch, but some could accommodate the full rig.

Just like parking a truck and boat rig at a supermarket, it's a lot easier at the more quiet times of the day when there's few people around to object to you taking 2 spots. And, just like gas stations on busy routes, there'll be a better chance of the chargers you've targeted being unoccupied during the less busy times of day.

Having said that, I don't have a big heavy boat and trailer. Mine takes less than 60 seconds to unhitch or re-hitch. Not a deal breaker for me, but others will have a different take.