Driving an EV pickup
- Thread starter sly_karma
- Start date
kaelc
Crew Member
Good insight @Bill 310. Shimano revenue is down a crazy amount, not sure about the car manufactures? I wish vehicles including the lightening were down in price a little. I don’t know how they can discount, dealer rebates of 10k don’t do much on a 100k truck when you have to pay taxes. My father in laws tundra finally sold for his asking price last week. He’s on the wait list for a highlander hybrid. Not much supply of good used inventory it seems. I did see a beautiful gmc dually gas with all the camper fixings a few months ago up in the interior, only truck I would downgrade from my beast too since I never drive the diesel. I thought leasing was cheaper? $2100 for a month for a truck lease? We are just downsizing with 0 sales last 6 weeks, no big expensive costs like that to cut for us but lots of businesses hurting with interest rates on things and cerb loan costs. We have lots of orders but 80-120k salaries aren’t enough to make people move right now.
sly_karma
Crew Member
Sounds about right. Lightning ER with full Max Tow package is rated for 10,000 towing like the gas half tons. You'd sneak it from home to nearby marina or mechanic maybe, but open road towing up in that area and above needs 3/4 or a 1 ton. Which as we've discussed previously are a ways off yet in Electric.
sly_karma
Crew Member
When I'm asked what mine cost, people are amazed it was "only" $70,000. Crazy how much new trucks cost at present. That 70K is almost double what I paid for a new Silverado 1500 crew in 2014.
The factories must be so frustrated. The pandemic and its supply chain disruptions caused unprecedented demand for new vehicles, but they couldn't get enough parts to capitalize. Then as they finally overcome parts shortages and ramp up full production, interest rates and inflation slam the door shut on demand, and suddenly they're stuck holding inventory. The fleet buyers and car rental companies are the only ones winning here.
I guess I could have saved some money if I'd waited to buy, but dammit, I'd waited 26 months already. And I've saved several thousand already in running costs. Depreciation doesn't really worry me as the trucks stay in the business until they're at least 18 years old. We recently got around to selling the oldest one, a 2000 GMC. The remaining ones are spread out for age, 2014 Silverado and a 2006 Ram. No sense in having them all old and fading into unreliability.
sly_karma
Crew Member
Feb numbers:
1526 km driven
562 kWh used
$63 spent
Av economy 36.8 kWh/100 km
Cost of travel $0.04/km
Numerous trips to Apex in Feb, drives up the energy use, even after regen. Warming trend in March and April should result in that kWh/100 km figure reducing.
Silverado 5.3L cost if driven same distance:
1526 km @15L/100 km = 229 L
@$1.60/L = $366 spent
Cost of travel $0.24/km
And that is using lifetime average fuel use figure. Winter + mountain driving would have produced higher actual numbers.
1526 km driven
562 kWh used
$63 spent
Av economy 36.8 kWh/100 km
Cost of travel $0.04/km
Numerous trips to Apex in Feb, drives up the energy use, even after regen. Warming trend in March and April should result in that kWh/100 km figure reducing.
Silverado 5.3L cost if driven same distance:
1526 km @15L/100 km = 229 L
@$1.60/L = $366 spent
Cost of travel $0.24/km
And that is using lifetime average fuel use figure. Winter + mountain driving would have produced higher actual numbers.
sly_karma
Crew Member
That really is an impressive result for an NCM battery. Hope mine does as well! I charge often and cap it at 90% unless needing all of it for a trip.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
If they could get batteries to last more then 10 years no one would ever buy a new vehicle
Except for keeping up with the jones
Except for keeping up with the jones
sly_karma
Crew Member
I expect mine to last the life of the vehicle. The temp control and management systems on current EVs are streets in front of what's in your laptop or smartphone. Tesla data shows their batteries at 320,000 km average 10-12% range loss, which is 20 years of driving for average Canadians. I'd be more worried about little but annoying stuff like door locks, power windows etc.
sly_karma
Crew Member
The truck has received several over the air updates over the past few weeks. Ford's practice is to roll them out to cohorts based on VIN. The first few have made little visible difference, but the most recent one is for the much heralded direct access to the Tesla Supercharger network. This is of only academic interest at the moment, as actually connecting to a Tesla charger requires an adapter. Ford is sending them out free of charge, but mine could take months.
Nonetheless, it's intriguing to look around the roads of BC in the app and see how many more fast chargers are out there now. I don't take many highway trips that would require using public charging, so I'll make it through this summer just fine. Meanwhile though, lots of guys are paying north of 100 USD for a third party adapter so they can be paying Tesla charging rates ASAP.
Ford are trying to make it easier/attract more customers by tying together everything under their Blue Oval charging network. They've made agreements with existing networks like Flo, Shell Recharge, Chargepoint, and now Tesla. Everything runs through the one account and credit card so it's plug in and go. Petro Canada, Electrify Canada and Chevron haven't joined up yet, but you can of course use those and pay through their own apps or credit card direct.
Screen shot from 'nearby chargers' page in my Ford app this morning:
Nonetheless, it's intriguing to look around the roads of BC in the app and see how many more fast chargers are out there now. I don't take many highway trips that would require using public charging, so I'll make it through this summer just fine. Meanwhile though, lots of guys are paying north of 100 USD for a third party adapter so they can be paying Tesla charging rates ASAP.
Ford are trying to make it easier/attract more customers by tying together everything under their Blue Oval charging network. They've made agreements with existing networks like Flo, Shell Recharge, Chargepoint, and now Tesla. Everything runs through the one account and credit card so it's plug in and go. Petro Canada, Electrify Canada and Chevron haven't joined up yet, but you can of course use those and pay through their own apps or credit card direct.
Screen shot from 'nearby chargers' page in my Ford app this morning:
Max123
Well-Known Member
Access to the Supercharging network seems like a big deal for anyone taking Highway 3 through Manning. I just drove through last weekend and noticed that they have just installed quite a few superchargers at Manning park lodge.
In the past I've heard that the superchargers in Hope could get slammed with long weekend traffic and next stop after that is Princeton, or that single BC Hydro charger at Manning Park Lodge. I can just imagine that if you timed it wrong, you could end up in a lineup of vehicles waiting to top up at that single charger.
Anyway, long term I hope to convert to an EV. I'd love something that can do Van to Osoyoos in a single shot, but if not it would be nice to have access to chargers that only need a few minutes for a quick top-up during a bathroom break.
In the past I've heard that the superchargers in Hope could get slammed with long weekend traffic and next stop after that is Princeton, or that single BC Hydro charger at Manning Park Lodge. I can just imagine that if you timed it wrong, you could end up in a lineup of vehicles waiting to top up at that single charger.
Anyway, long term I hope to convert to an EV. I'd love something that can do Van to Osoyoos in a single shot, but if not it would be nice to have access to chargers that only need a few minutes for a quick top-up during a bathroom break.
-Jim-
Active Member
I finally got a close look, and even sat in a Lightning at the Vancouver Auto Show on Saturday. (It was chaos as they set a one day attendance record. The most people in one day in the last 100 years!) I really liked the interior. It would make a great work truck for my oldest son's HVAC business as they work all over the Lower Mainland all the way up to Whistler. (I'm assuming there's charging all over this area.) And judging by the price of the other vehicles at the show it was a "reasonable" $61K.
sly_karma
Crew Member
Hope is always going to be a bottleneck on long weekends and such - 5 highways converging there. Lineups for gas pumps at peak periods has been a thing for years, so it won't be a surprise to see the same happen with EV. Always tough to get the balance right - do you build your gas or EV station big enough for anything, and eat the capital costs until they pay out long term, or size it for normal traffic and muddle through the chaos on long weekends?
Penticton to Vancouver is a one stop for my Lightning. Most people from the interior stop to top off fuel in Hope/Chilliwack/Abby to avoid paying the transit tax prices, so for us a stop in Hope is long habit. It takes me 20-25 minutes to add enough charge to finish the trip with a bit of a cushion; unnecessary, slow and discourteous to charge to 100% at a fast charger, as usually you can charge at destination. So that one Hope stop is 5-10 minutes longer than our typical gas/washroom/coffee stops of old.
sly_karma
Crew Member
The interior mostly looks like a regular F-150, right? I've been working mine like any other of our trucks and it's been great. If there had been the usual choices available, I would have traded rear seat space for a longer box, but the Super Crew/short box combo all there is for now.
Driving around the lower mainland all the time would really add up on km, the running cost savings by going electric would be impressive. Most of the time they won't have to charge out on the road, just plug in at the end of the work day and hit the road every morning with a full tank. Cheapest rates and job done while you sleep. If Whistler was a reasonably regular trip then maybe it would be worth getting the extended range battery, another 100 km range but costs $16,000 more; it does charge a bit faster though - 175 kW vs 150 kW for the standard range pack.
Umos
Well-Known Member
Looking to pull the trigger on a 2023 XLT ER tomorrow for $71k plus tax. Talk me out of it someone.
For others that like to nerd out, here's my projections for 7 years ownership cost for my specific case (currently 2014 Tundra w 220000km plus 2006 Jetta, 12000km/yr). The scenarios I ran are to stick with current vehicles vs selling them both and either buying the XLT ER or waiting for a 2024 Pro. I love it when you can play w numbers until you convince yourself you will make money by selling your beaters and buying a flash new truck.
For others that like to nerd out, here's my projections for 7 years ownership cost for my specific case (currently 2014 Tundra w 220000km plus 2006 Jetta, 12000km/yr). The scenarios I ran are to stick with current vehicles vs selling them both and either buying the XLT ER or waiting for a 2024 Pro. I love it when you can play w numbers until you convince yourself you will make money by selling your beaters and buying a flash new truck.
| Net purchase | 7 years fuel | Repairs/Ins | Resale | Interest | Total $ | Net cost | |
| XLT extended | 56088 | 2800 | 0 | -43000 | 9000 | 24888 | -7240 |
| Pro | 32120 | 2800 | 0 | -25000 | 5000 | 14920 | -17208 |
| Tundra | 0 | 28728 | 15400 | -12000 | 0 | 32128 | 0 |
sly_karma
Crew Member
First, wow! ER for what I paid for an SR! Epic. Faster DC charging, an extra 100 km of range, and 580 hp! The XLT 312A has loads of extra equipment on it that its gas counterpart lacks. Basically everything but leather and sunroof. Great deals on those runout 23s.
Energy costs check: $2800/7 years = $400/year. Over a full year, you'll track somewhere between 25 and 30 kWh/100 km, so at 22,000 km annually, you'll use around 6000 kWh. Your hydro rate would need to be 6.7 cents/kWh to achieve that - is that about what you're paying?
Now the good part: what you'll save on that gas guzzling Tundra. At a rather optimistic 16L/100 km, and assuming today's gas price of $1.65/L holds for seven years (snort), you'll spend $5800/year. Chuck in four annual oil changes and you'll have spent a total of $44,000 over 7 years. So you're a solid 40 grand in front; it doesn't take a crystal ball to see gas prices going up way faster than hydro rates that are controlled and reviewed. Final bonus: 70 tons of CO2 not going into the atmosphere in that 7 years, you've easily offset your boat emissions.
Umos
Well-Known Member
no rebate on the ER though, so actually $9k up from your SR. I do drive over 20k a year, but ran my numbers on 12k to be conservative, thinking some of my longer trips might not happen w the lightning, and I might have some other changes ahead. So normal 13c hydro rate on 12k. Glad you mentioned the carbon, that’s a big one for me actually. Don’t see a way around it for the boat, but the truck is a no brainer.
A good friend designed and built a carbon fibre electric drive sailing cat (check out open waters yachts), just one example of innovation in that space. But planing fishing boats that don’t lose hydro foils to deadheads are way off is my guess.
A good friend designed and built a carbon fibre electric drive sailing cat (check out open waters yachts), just one example of innovation in that space. But planing fishing boats that don’t lose hydro foils to deadheads are way off is my guess.
