I’m sure I sound dumb asking this, but I’m trying to figure out what all the costs come with investing in an electric truck. I’m loving the capability& functionality of the lightening. So my question is….how do we charge them if there aren’t any charging stations where we live? Can they be plugged in to our house directly? Or do we have to install a charging station? If so, does anyone know where we would get something like that from?
I’m new to the concept of electric vehicles
- Thread starter MelissaP
- Start date
4gfirstmax
New member
Ford includes an adapter with purchase. Trim and battery choice determine which one of three.
Welcome to the forum @MelissaP - We are all here to learn, so don't hesitate to ask any questions about the new Lightning!
Another cost is insurance. It was real Hight when I checked a few years ago for the Tesla with the aluminum frame but I called AARP to see what it was going to cost me. After a 1/2 hour they came up with an estimate. I was surprised. I have a 2008 Lariat supercrew and to go to the Ford Lightning at the $40,000 level it is $about $300 a year more and for the $80 to $90,000 level it was $500 to $600 more a year. I have no wecks or tickets in the past 5 years. I really think it is going to be cheaper to drive an EV
FunWDirt
New member
I will echo some of what has been mentioned above. One of the major turn-ons for us was that it can function as a whole home generator with the extended range option. With your F150⚡ you will get one of the charging stations to be installed at your home. It is totally worth having an electrician come out to install it. In my case, they would install that along with the transfer switch, etc.
One of my worries when I owned a Tesla for a hot minute was the charging when away from home. I was immediately impressed by just how many charging stations there are! ...and I live in the mountains of Georgia. Granted, the further you get out, the less likely to come across them. ...but within 20 minutes of my home I start encountering them. Once I get to the first city of note, they are all over the place. There are sites you can go to that find charging stations on a long trip route. I was REALLY surprise by just how many there were. I never needed them so I guess I just never noticed. ...but, when we left with the Tesla, it needed a charge. We found one immediately nearby and they were all over the place. The Tesla you could plug into a standard outlet but it was a very, very slow charge. So, keep that in mind while you wait for your home charging unit to be installed.
One of my worries when I owned a Tesla for a hot minute was the charging when away from home. I was immediately impressed by just how many charging stations there are! ...and I live in the mountains of Georgia. Granted, the further you get out, the less likely to come across them. ...but within 20 minutes of my home I start encountering them. Once I get to the first city of note, they are all over the place. There are sites you can go to that find charging stations on a long trip route. I was REALLY surprise by just how many there were. I never needed them so I guess I just never noticed. ...but, when we left with the Tesla, it needed a charge. We found one immediately nearby and they were all over the place. The Tesla you could plug into a standard outlet but it was a very, very slow charge. So, keep that in mind while you wait for your home charging unit to be installed.
corradoborg
Member
Yes, you can plug it right in to your house. Just be aware that charging your Lightning with a regular 120V outlet is going to take several DAYS to go from a low charge to a high charge in the battery. You can also plug into a 220V outlet, and that will charge faster. These are both "Level 1" charging, and are done with the "travel charger" that comes with the vehicle. If you don't drive much in a day, and you're just "topping off" your charge each evening, that may be enough.
Level 2 is a 32-, 48-, or 80-amp EVSE that will get you from a low to high battery charge in hours. This would involve equipment installed in your home specifically for vehicle charging, but it gives you more freedom to use up more of your battery on any given day if something comes up that requires more driving.
Level 3 is DCFC (Direct Current Fast Charging), and is what you would use on the road on a long trip that takes more than one full battery charge. They're set up like gas stations except it takes 40 minutes or so (with a Lightning) to get a good charge instead of 5-10 minutes with gasoline.
Levels 1 and 2 are the most affordable route. The electricity will just cost whatever it does for the rest of your house per kWH. Level 3 is more expensive, as you're paying the provider who owns the charging station, and they're charging a premium. It's still usually less costly than an equivalent amount of power with gasoline, but it's in that range.
Level 2 is a 32-, 48-, or 80-amp EVSE that will get you from a low to high battery charge in hours. This would involve equipment installed in your home specifically for vehicle charging, but it gives you more freedom to use up more of your battery on any given day if something comes up that requires more driving.
Level 3 is DCFC (Direct Current Fast Charging), and is what you would use on the road on a long trip that takes more than one full battery charge. They're set up like gas stations except it takes 40 minutes or so (with a Lightning) to get a good charge instead of 5-10 minutes with gasoline.
Levels 1 and 2 are the most affordable route. The electricity will just cost whatever it does for the rest of your house per kWH. Level 3 is more expensive, as you're paying the provider who owns the charging station, and they're charging a premium. It's still usually less costly than an equivalent amount of power with gasoline, but it's in that range.
Erik
Member
One of the best benefits of an EV is being able to charge at home. You’ll start every day with a full battery. You’ll want to install an EVSE (charger) though otherwise it will take days to charge. Another great benefit is the low maintenance cost. Brakes last 100,000 miles, there is no oil to replace, and regular service is mainly replacing the cabin air filter once every 20,000 miles. If the insurance costs more, that cost will be offset by the savings in maintenance cost.
80 amp EVSE
If you get the extended range battery, then Ford will include the 80 amp EVSE which requires an 100 amp breaker to leave some buffer. If you have 100 amp service from your utility, then you may need to increase that to 150 or 200 amp service. I checked with my utility, and they don’t charge any fees for upgrading the service because their lines are already capable of handling 200 amp service. That fee could be as high as $7,000 though if you have underground lines that need to be replaced.
You or an electrician can install the 80 amp EVSE as a regular charger. However, if you want to power your house from the F150 during an outage then you should get Sunrun to install it.
Other EVSE
If your home electricity connection or panel can not handle a 100 amp circuit, then you can buy a 40 or 48 amp EVSE. Ford sells a 48 amp EVSE, but you don’t have to buy it from Ford as all level 2 chargers are compatible. Costco sells a Juicebox 40 for $599. Some utilities will give you a rebate when you buy one. If you mainly plan to charge at night, then there should not be an issue to add a 40 amp charger to an existing 100 amp main panel as all other devices will be off.
80 amp EVSE
If you get the extended range battery, then Ford will include the 80 amp EVSE which requires an 100 amp breaker to leave some buffer. If you have 100 amp service from your utility, then you may need to increase that to 150 or 200 amp service. I checked with my utility, and they don’t charge any fees for upgrading the service because their lines are already capable of handling 200 amp service. That fee could be as high as $7,000 though if you have underground lines that need to be replaced.
You or an electrician can install the 80 amp EVSE as a regular charger. However, if you want to power your house from the F150 during an outage then you should get Sunrun to install it.
Other EVSE
If your home electricity connection or panel can not handle a 100 amp circuit, then you can buy a 40 or 48 amp EVSE. Ford sells a 48 amp EVSE, but you don’t have to buy it from Ford as all level 2 chargers are compatible. Costco sells a Juicebox 40 for $599. Some utilities will give you a rebate when you buy one. If you mainly plan to charge at night, then there should not be an issue to add a 40 amp charger to an existing 100 amp main panel as all other devices will be off.
Whitetiburon
Member
Hi Melissa P
The key to switching over to electric means you have to have a plan. That plan consists of ensuring that you have a way to charge your vehicle on a regular basis. Most people don't know this but most areas have some sort of charging systems . They're not as ubiquitous as we all want them to be but we are getting there. If you know for sure that you don't have a lot of charging stations where you live, then you need to make sure that you have a charging system in your home If you purchase the long range battery with the Ford F150 lightning you will get a charging system that comes with it. You of course would have to pay for the cost of installing the system by an electrician but it is definitely worth it and you should recover your costs fairly quickly especially if you have rebates from local utility companies in your area . If you're serious about going electric you have a lot of homework to do . Just on a personal note, I have a 2018 model 3 and it's by far the best vehicle I've ever owned I'm 51 years old and I've had a number of cars in my life. Needless to say I will most likely not go back to an ice vehicle as long as we continue to advance electric vehicles in this country.
FunWDirt
New member
Of topic and I apologize, but I am pretty new to EVs. While I have done some planning for local use, I know, at some point, we'd like to go all electric meaning that both of our vehicles are electric. The one real issue I see is long drives. Not that it is impossible. Just not too sure how to handle it. A common road trip for us is an easy 750 miles. Of course, recharge along the way. Normally, this is a stop for lunch and a 15 minute fill up. From what I am reading, it is suggested that I find a charge station and go get something to eat as it will take 30 minutes to an hour to fully recharge. Otherwise, we'd need to stop for the night and let it charge away at a hotel properly equipped. We really like to get the driving in one shot and get it out of the way. Do you take long trips? How do you handle the recharge stops?
Erik
Member
Some newer cars can charge at 800 volt as opposed to most cars that can only charge at 400 volt. Electrify America has 800 volt chargers that can go up to 350 kW. Theoretically you could add almost 6 kWh per minute and mid size cars can go 3 to 4 miles per kWh. So let’s assume a theoretical 20 miles of range per minute. You would need to charge 10 to 15 minutes after 3 hours of driving.
So far I think only the Porsche Taycan, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6 will be able to charge at 800 volt and they are not able to reach 350 kW yet. The Ioniq 5 can charge up to 180 miles (20% to 80%) in 15 minutes. I would expect EVs to reach the 350 kW charge rate in a few years.
The F150 Lightning is only expected to go 2 miles per kWh and less when towing. Even at 350 kW you would only add about 10 miles per minute if the Lightning could charge at 350 kW. Maybe a future F150 Lightning can have two charge ports, one on each side to double the speed.
Whitetiburon
Member
I have taken long trips with my vehicle and Tesla has a charging system throughout the US that is very good. The way they have designed it is to get you to charge a bit more frequently but with less time at each charger. Often my charge times are between 10 and 20 min and they usually run over 150 to 200 miles apart. This is what I hope FORD will consider when building out their charging system. The Truth is, as I am watching the youtube videos on the mach E. The charging system is not the best, because FORD is relying on a third party charging system instead of building their own . That is a mistake and I hope we start seeing FORD chargers in the near future throughout the US. If this is not accomplished, FORD is going to have alot of unhappy people driving their electric vehicles. I hope they listen to existing Mach E drivers because I am.
FunWDirt
New member
Will definitely need a transfer switch. The Ford site says so anyways. ...unless the charger will also have the transfer switch built into it.
They say it is built in to the 80 amp charger i posted earlier
FunWDirt
New member
I'll have to check that out. The site is still saying you'll need the transfer switch to disconnect from the grid.
This is not the one I posted but read this
Ford F-150 Lightning Can Keep the Lights On When Your Power Goes Out
The electric F-150 will be able to double as a home power station when it's not doing truck things.
www.caranddriver.com
FunWDirt
New member
Yup, at the very end it says a transfer switch is needed. What they are talking about is the charger can reverse the power flow bit you'll need the transfer switch to change the source of your house's power from the mains to the Lightning via the Charging Station.This is not the one I posted but read this
Ford F-150 Lightning Can Keep the Lights On When Your Power Goes Out
The electric F-150 will be able to double as a home power station when it's not doing truck things.
Two years free charging
On the road, Ford has worked hard to ensure a hassle-free charging experience. Ford is providing two years of complimentary access5 to North America's largest network – the FordPass Charging Network – for easy and convenient pay-as-you-drive charging.
On the road, Ford has worked hard to ensure a hassle-free charging experience. Ford is providing two years of complimentary access5 to North America's largest network – the FordPass Charging Network – for easy and convenient pay-as-you-drive charging.
