Ford knows that F-150 Lightning owners will be new to EVs, so it wants to make the transition easy.
If you haven’t converted to EVs, there’s likely only one of three reasons: 1- you’re a gearhead that loves the smell of gas and the sound of an engine revving to 7,000 rpm, 2- you can’t afford the still relatively expensive EVs, or 3- you probably have range anxiety and feel the current crop of circa-250-mile EVs aren’t going to take you where you need to go. But, if you’re an early EV adopter and a fan of trucks, Ford has given an immense amount of thought to range anxiety, particularly when towing.
The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is the most significant departure in F-Series thinking in decades, swapping out combustion for electrification. But Ford knows that Lightning buyers are still truckers, and they still need to do truck things like towing or hauling large payloads. Using a slew of new connected technologies, Ford claims your Lightning can accurately estimate range while towing, so you never fall short because of optimistic onboard computers.
The first of these technologies is Intelligent Range. Using a variety of sensors to detect traffic speed, ambient temperature, battery state of charge (SOC), driving style, driver habits, and route topography, the F-150 Lightning feeds these metrics into a cloud-based computer that will leverage the prior experience of Ford EVs in a similar situation to provide accurate range data that becomes more accurate over time. When paired with the available Ford Onboard Scales, the Lightning can detect how much weight you’re towing or hauling and refine the calculations further. The F-150 Lightning’s over-the-air (OTA) updates will enhance the accuracy of these systems further in time.
“Whether you’re towing with a gas-powered or electric truck, range degradation as a percentage is basically the same – determined primarily by overall cargo and trailer weight at low speeds and by the aerodynamic profile at higher speeds,” said Linda Zhang, chief engineer, F-150 Lightning. “That’s why we expanded the capabilities of Intelligent Range on the F-150 Lightning with the available Onboard scales to also measure the load effects of trailers and cargo to further refine range calculations when towing.”
Ford
Ford
The second bit of tech that vastly improves the F-150 Lightning’s capabilities is called Power My Trip. Utilizing the latest FordPass mobile app connected to your vehicle, Power My Trip pre-plots your route to maximize efficiency and range and find charging stations en route to keep you on the road for longer. The system utilizes the entire Ford BlueOval Charge Network, comprising more than 20,500 locations and 70,000+ plugs across North America. Of those, which Ford says makes it the largest public charging network in the US, there are more than 7,300 DC fast chargers, some of which are capable of recouping 15-80% SOC in 41 minutes – specifically on the Electrify America chargers.
For slower charging on overnight routes, the onboard cord charger is capable of 120- or 240-volt AC charging, while extended-range-model owners can utilize a home-installed 80-amp charge station to prepare for the journey ahead – a $1,210 option.
“We know many F-150 Lightning customers will be first-time electric vehicle owners who expect that familiar Built Ford Tough capability along with robust towing,” said Zhang, highlighting Ford’s innovative technologies to improve range and reduce range anxiety concerns. “By giving customers the most accurate range assessments possible and the charge tools they need to tow reliably, we believe they’ll move past the myths about towing with an electric truck and embrace the value-added benefits F-150 Lightning provides.”
She further says that with time, owners driving styles will adapt to maximize range, whether it’s finding DC fast chargers along their routes, stopping for lunch at the right time to charge, or simply adapting their routes in day-to-day life.
Ford
Ford
