First Road Trip in our F-150 LIGHTNING 

There is no reason you should have to have an app on your phone to charge. The chargers should be ready to go at any time and they should work just like a gas pump. All you should have to do is pull up, put in your debit/credit card,plug it into your vehicle, and it should start charging. No app, No need to activate, or make a phone call, just pull up and charge. They have made the system too complicated.

From a competitive charging perspective this is like stepping back almost a decade in time.

I’ve been making two trips from Iowa to Oregon a year for several years, making the 1850 mile trip in two days with my straight stick Toyota Corolla getting 40 mpg. Looks like it would take at least 3 days with a F-150 Lightning from what I’m finding out from your video.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Lightning. But that is why I went with Tesla over other EVs. Charging infrastructure.

It is nice that you keep smiling through all of this. What a pain of a way to go on a road trip. These charge station companies appear terrible, with non functioning and slow chargers. If more that 1 vehicle is charging, the power is divided? Really? Around town an EV looks good. A road trip, I don't see how it is possible. Imagine the chaos of hundreds of EVs on the interstates. Unreliable charging network.

I have not gone out of town with my EV, watching other people experiences . trying to decide if it wize . thank you for the video you guys, put on a nice show

Just like anything knew, its gonna take a comprehensive approach and demand. It is getting better and I am on board. I bought my truck three weeks ago anf ha e not had any issues thus far with recharging while traveling.

Now that ford can use theTesla supercharger system this will be a ton less stressful.

I definitely can do without the anxiety. It is like a constant worry about charging the damn thing.

Sharp truck ! It just sucks the charging issues . Have had 0 issues with Tesla.

I just got my Lightning and turned off plug and charge immediately as joining EA makes the power much less expensive. Also on road trips turn off regen and use performance mode because when you let off the accelerator pedal it coasts. Also while it's illegal, I fold in my mirrors. Doing these things will allow you to get another 10% range.

We average 16.8 mpg on our 2014 F150 4x4. That's combo driving. We've not done an all highway drive yet. We live in rural Ky and from what I've heard the nearest charging station to us is in Lexington, an hour away. Electric vehicles would not be a feasible alternative for us. I've yet to see any owner videos on electric vehicles where they actually seem to enjoy the ownership experience. I'll stick with putting gas in my 36 gallon tank. That takes under 4 minutes on average.

Hooray for making it. EA definitely needs to step it up. Thanks for showing us how it’s working.

Selecting the charger from the EA app and then swiping to initiate charge works best in my experience. 2021 Mach E 30,000+ miles

Hi there! Nice video. I’ve done a similar drive from KC to Branson is a Tesla Model 3. Thankfully, my experience was for less interesting than yours was. Also have gone KC to Oklahoma City twice, and KC to Pittsburg, PA in Teslas. The difference between Tesla Superchargers and your experiences are dramatically different. Superchargers are much easier and they always work. 65Kw chargers are the slowest on Tesla’s network and the vast majority of them are 150Kw or 250Kw chargers. There is a lot of opportunity for improvement with non Tesla chargers. Hopefully this will improve with time. Charging should not be a stressful event. For now, Superchargers are far superior and have set the standard for other companies to strive for. I love how you guys rolled with the punches. Safe travels. Cheers!!

I drove model 3 once from Houston to Dallas in winter time. It turned out to be 5 miles range left when I reach a supercharger in the mid-way. I totally understand the feeling when your battery is dying.

I think a lot of people who have been bit by the electric bug are going to soon wake up to the fact that it's not what they were told it is.

Better you than me. I'm too impatient to wait to charge.

It’s fun watching you guys work through the charging issues reminds me when I had the Mache. I find on my videos that I had to set my music to -5 DB to match my audio better. Enjoy your trip let’s see more!!

You guys rule. Love the way your kids are part of the video at times. Keep reporting all the nutty chargers you find. (That last one was hilarious, but hey, it worked and was free!)

Yea that's how I'd want to spend my time, hanging around the EV charger for hours. Sounds like fun. How long does it take anyways?

Why would anyone put themselves through this nonsense. Pay too much for an unreliable new Vehicle. Unreliable due to not being able to go straight to your destination. All the time you spend Charging is a total pain. Plus when you try to trade this unreliable Vehicle who is going to want it when no one seems to know how long a Battery will last for. Electric Vehicles is a hoax. They certainly are not the answer.

When your life is too simple buy an EV Your thirst for complications will be quenched

was really excited about these as i commuted 160 miles once a week to a resident job. but you cant load them or tow them like my gasser without losing half the range. So why pay for a truck you cant use as a truck? anyway enjoyed your vid , the little girl mimicking her dads speech was the best.

Wow. This makes me want to cancel my Rivian/Ford orders. Just not there yet. Commuting only, road trips TBD.

Covered wagon has a chance of a comeback.

In my Tesla Model 3, I just skip any charger less than 150 kW and favor the 250 kW ones.

I hope EA gets this together before I get my Lucid.

I just went on a road trip from Kansas city to Los Angeles in my V-6 RAM. GOOGLE MAPS had us going on some highways for hundreds of miles with no sign of life. I'd never attempt that route in an EV truck. My trucks range is 500 miles

Thanks for another great video. That music at 11:13 is bangin!

This is insane. Why don't these chargers just work off of credit cards like gas pumps? Until that happens these EV's will be a JOKE for trips away from home.

The kids made the most of it! WTG Kids!

I love that background music btw lol

I loved my electric car when I had it, but the most frustrating thing was the charging stations didn't reliably work outside of the DC area. I even called and got the same as you that the chargers were working only to find they didn't when I got there. If it wasn't for having to do longer drives I would have kept the car because it was great around the city.

The F-150 EV charger maxes out in a 150 station. The 350 kw unit is not any benefit. Good luck on your trip. (2022 Ioniq 5). Thanks

I don't. like EV's, mes amis, as they take all the "carefreeness" out of a roadtrip and make you a slave to the motorcar !

I'll drive my 2004 Silverado. The gas I'll purchase over my lifetime will never reach $80,000 .. What happens to the battery at the end of it's use. It becomes hazardous waste.

Searching for working chargers and then having to install an app to charge sounds like a nightmare to me. I already have enough issues at work having to drive an alternative fuel vehicle (CNG). There’s hardly any pumps, and sometimes you’ll locate one just to find out it’s out of service.

Your wife is a saint. My wife would kill me if road trips were this bad. I would never buy a non Tesla vehicle. The charging network sucks for everyone but Tesla. Your experience is so typical of a non Tesla EV. Teslas are a breeze on road trips!

I would never want to have this type of "fun" while traveling with my family. The equivalent would be having nails in every single tire not knowing when they're going to go flat when you're out in the middle of nowhere. I know that could be fun, but not for me and my family

When you're waiting for a train you can charge your EV. YAYYYYYY!!!!

After our first Road trip in a Tesla we stopped worrying whether or not the Supercharger was going to work and began to work on how to get done eating before the car was done charging.

Doing the math it makes no sense financially speaking to buy a lightning for public charging with these prices and miles/kwh but charging at home is a totally different story

The gas truck is cheaper if you factor in all costs and you can buy gas on any corner and fill up in 3 minutes and have far more miles also no range anxiety and shorter drive time. Maybe electric in the future but not at this time.

The more I watch these videos the more I know we are years away from really going to EV's. This is totally unacceptable.

I just ordered my Lightning. Seems like the infrastructure isn't where it needs to be. I may just have to keep my current F-150 in case I actually have to go somewhere and just use my Lightning around town.

One thing to note for the Ford users. The 150kw chargers actually peak at around 175, which is incidentally the peak rate of the F150. There is really no reason to use the 350kw charger if you have a 150 available. **edit - This appears to be limited to cars with an 800v architecture such as the EV6/Ioniq 5 and the Taycan.

This is exactly why a BEV is not for us at this time. We have a PHEV which works for us.

This is a nightmare. I love the lightning but as of now i would only buy it for work.

Charging seems like a headache when traveling. I considered the Lightning but with the Covid markups and this type of headache, I figured I'd wait. maybe next truck.

the Ford dealer by me has one 2022 Lightning on the lot. sticker price $98,000. What a bargain. lol

This was a fantastic clip.. Such a great, realistic adventure. I love the Lightning, the Rivian and the BMW i4. But as a current Tesla M3 owner, who regularly uses his car for long-ish trips, I never do any advance prep- i know the nav and the charging tech work perfectly. Having Supercharger access is unbeatable. They literally ALWAYS work, and are always expanding. Lately in my area (NYState) i've noticed i'm being routed to crazy fast 350w chargers.. Given how Tesla chargers are rarely if ever offline.. I don't know how others can't get theirs to be more reliable. It just doesn't make sense. Until that happens i'll stay in the Tesla world. But love your cars, and thank you!

The EA reliability would drive me nuts. I would worry too much about charging. Our 4 year old Tesla Model 3 has been a champ on long distance trips this year😃 This year has been trying. Four funerals😟. Four trips from NH to Iowa. Each 2600 Miles round trip, or over 10,000 miles. The Tesla chargers have been fantastic, 88 charges. A few times we had to change chargers, never a whole site out. Only once did we have to wait, Albany NY at full 20 charger site. The high point on Charger reliability came at a low point. My dad called and said mom only had a day or two to live. We packed quickly and drove through without any hotel stops. Made it in time to say goodbye. We drove 1300 miles in 24 hours with charging stops, averaging over 54 MPH. No quite as fast the Canon Ball Run Model 3 runs, but close. -Kurt

Loving the Lightning content. You both are natural on camera and the details are clear.

If this is the charging experience that I have to look forward to having, I'm not interested in road tripping an EV.

As long as you don't go very far. , Or use it like a truck. ?

EA is simply pathetic ... hah

Hey guys I’m looking into getting one but question as a family with kids is the down time of waiting for it to charge worth it? Oppose to a gas truck which can fuel up faster

This is dumb electric car are not ready for real world

Fyi, I have never been to a casino that doesn't have ev chargers. Usually a full charge cost me 2 to 3 hundred dollars🤑

Ev has a long way to go

This is why plugin hybrids are superior to EVs. Almost all driving - like 95% - consists of trips under 30 miles. The limited range of the plugin hybrid is enough. For the occasional long trip - or towing (especially towing) - plugin hybrids shine. I drive a Pacifica Hybrid and rarely get gas - can go months without filling up. Unless, of course, I take a long trip, in which case I get 450+ mile range and can recharge - I mean, refuel - in 5 minutes at any exit. I'm still getting close 30-35 mpg when the battery is depleted. I also won't worry as much about battery degradation over time. And the vehicle - a minivan - is less expensive and more versatile than most EVs. As long as there are decent plugin hybrids available, I'll never buy an EV.

a headache no thank you I'll stick my diesel

All electric trucks are inefficient, they are superbly large, heavy bricks. The faster you cruise the hungrier they get. If you tow you get to charge twice as often too. They do however have much higher performance than gas trucks since they have the torque of a super heavy duty. Cars are a different story. On my EQS I can drive from Wisconsin to Washington DC with 4 30 minute stops at 70 mph. 2 hrs of total charging. Since I still have free DC fast charging total cost would be ZERO.

Good video.. I don’t think I will be buying an EV any time soon.

The frustration of non-Tesla DC fast charging. The charging infrastructure needs to improve drastically. It will get better for non-Tesla EV's when Tesla opens their network to other manufacturers. I have a Tesla Model 3, but 99% of my charging is via a level 2 charger in my garage. The few times I have road tripped I have had zero issues with Tesla SuperChargers.

Thanks for the metric stats for us Canadians :)

Kum and Go charging station. 😂😂😂

Thanks for being the pioneers of this technology. I'm hesitant to step in because of all these issues and of course the fuel for electric cars is still fossil based. We need to work out all these kinks to have the viable infrastructure and prove the tech though. I think when fusion based fuel cells become a reality (which there is speculation it can already be viable) that will be the true game changer. No batteries and no charging just slip in a disk of hydrogen and get where you need to go. Anyway first time viewer I appreciated this perspective and the honesty of the frustration.

Thank you for sharing your fun and informative videos. My wife and I just took our Lighting with the extended battery on our first road trip, and we quickly learned about the limitations of our EV. Driving though the desert (El Centro, CA) on Interstate 8 with 109-degree weather and up the grade (4,250 elevation), going 70 mph to San Diego took a very quick toll on the battery. Unfortunately, we also had challenges with EA chargers on our trip.

That Independence EA station was the only EA station I had trouble with this summer on my trip from MI to Wichita, KS. I had to try 3 towers before I could get it to work.

It easier to carry an electric generator

Nice novelty, but I would never drive one long distances until you have as many charging systems as you do gas stations. The anxiety of trying to find a charging system that works no, that’s unacceptable.

This video reinforces why the day i bought my Lightning i also ordered the Tesla charging adaptor! Elon Musk may be nuts but their charging infrastructure can't be beat! If only they had longer cords...

This was on the edge of frightening to me. It brings up another issue - power outages and government electrical allocating. I remember the gas quotas many years ago. Not a comforting event then and certainly not a situation I want anyone to go through.

So many annoying issues.

Other drivers probably stared at you on the highway. Nobody ever sees an EV on the interstate. They are a real novelty.

150 kw is fastest an F150 will charge a faster plug woul not change your max charging rate. If your EA charger is 150 and has 2 plugs, and someone else is using at the same time (or is defective), all you will get is 75. There are a variety of EA models all with different capabilities. Finally, Fords are not very quick chargers As far as fast is charging speeds are concerned (avg charge rate, not peak) they are smack in the middle of EV's. Lastly, your charging speed may have been due to lack of battery conditioning. If you don't put the charger on your nav to get there (preconditioning must be enabled) your truck may be throttling the speed of the charger.

EVs are a joke. You spend 100k on a truck and 3 days to figure out how to get from point a to point b.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Regards.

Steve's favorite pasttime is finding a good charger. :D

The problem with Electrify America is that you're allowing a disgraced auto group (Volkswagen AG) be responsible for setting up an electric charger infrastructure as part of their 'punishment' for the diesel engine scandal. I doubt that they put their best and brightest forward. If we want a decent and expansive charging system, the government is going to have to step in, come up with design guidelines, and contract the work out or have government agency build it, so that it's a.) reliable b.) charges as quickly as possible c.) is as prevalent across the US as a gas station chain. I think EVs are an interesting concept, and the tech still has to continue to build upon itself, but we should probably wait before we start reducing the number of ICE engines, so that viability is improved.

Can’t believe people are falling for the EV thing…… funny 😆, read up on the whole thing……

Whoah texting and driving, with kids in the car. Wow...

The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad. - Advice from a president of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford’s lawyer Horace Rackham.

To much crap to worry about. My ICE F150 can go 700 miles on a tank of gasoline!

Well, I Cancelled my LIGHTNING ORDER (THANK'S F O R D) for NOT Being there!!! That Said, Perhaps one of those NEW Trailer's that you TOW Behind the Lightning to "C H A R G E FROM" would take the JITTERS Away??? I don't know. I bought an F-150 ICE 2022 LOADED LARIAT, So far, 965 MILES driven, It Gets 20 MPG On the HIGHWAY. Not so Impressive, But I did get the Extended Range Fuel TANK 36 GALLON'S. And..... with the Price of GAS (In CALIFORNIA) I have to say, It SUCK'S, But, I We can go Nearly 700 Miles on A TANK "IF" We got 20 MPG. Probably be more Like 400 I suppose. However, If TIME is a Factor, We would be done Gassing up in Less than 10 Minutes and be on our way. GREAT VIDEO, and the KID'S got a Chance to Get some exercise in while your LIGHTNING CHARGED UP.

Appreciate the stats.

@14:20,...the little lady needs her own channel! ...her mimic'ing Dad was too funny! Edit: Based on a quick Electric cost for the same 408 mile trip,...and assuming you could manage an average 22 Mpg hwy,...at $3.25 per gallon, the per mile cost would be $0.147 vs .08. Now, another question would be, how much time would be saved had you driven an ICE over electric and factoring in a cost for "time" wasted charging over time to gas up and go!

This is painful to watch. I would be so stressed relying on electrify america.

A lot of you talk like EVs can't improve. Tesla's are already capable of pretty hassle free road tripping thanks to their charging network. And it looks like Tesla may become the main charging station company in a few more years the way things are headed; other manufacturers are signing on to use Tesla stations, and they are switching to the Tesla charge plug as well which is now referred to as NACS (North American Charging Standard). I expect Tesla will further build out their charging network, and it's extremely easy to use. Then EVs just need slightly improved batteries. We are close to having no compromise EVs. It's coming.

yeah, I'm out on this electric vehicle thing... I was excited to buy the Lightning for backup power for my house and travel from Woke Cali to Az to visit my kids but after watching this and MAAAANNNYYYY other like videos (hoovies garage) the complaints are all the same, 50% range and chargers are just not there yet. I have a big 12mpg truck that runs and drives reliably, guess I'm saving the $50k plus and not jumping on the electric car/truck fad....

It is government mandated for people who can afford an $80,000 toy. There is no "worker truck" version like there is in the regular F 150. A 5 liter F 150 XLT can get 21 miles a gallon easy, go 800 miles on the extended fuel tank and refuel in 10 minutes for less than a $100 at these prices. It cost $30,000 less to buy and can go for 250,000 miles. The only alternative fuel that can compete is hydrogen fuel cells coupled to the electric drivetrains. And no one is working on it because they can't get rich enough fast enough. Wake up America. Speak up and take action in Nov, your country and freedom depend on it. My opinion

If you want to fastcharge, you need to get it below 10% at least.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 . Give me gas anyday of the week.

Plug and charge should be a STANDARD. Like, just collect vehicle info and if the customer doesn't pay you can file a police report. Otherwise, as soon as someone plugs in and the handshake occours, the car should start charging.

Lol, have to call ahead

You need an app and Internet to charge these EV, I say, this is the definition of controlling people, and people are falling for it

Our Lightning charges FAST on Tesla stations. Too bad this video predates the new Tesla adaptors like A2Z that allow Fords to supercharge

When all said in done you get stuck in a snow storm on the highways ... And thats the end of your fairytale trip and the nightmare begins with all those extra accessories that you are running , And they will have a charging systems in at all exits ? And then the fun begins if everyone owns one waiting to plug in add that time up if in line to plug in , No thanks I will stick to gas when I can fill up in 5 or 10 minutes run all my accessories and not worry or half to guess where charging systems are and more or less keep my brains in tact , And I guess them tracking your every move along with your mouths is ok well have at it , Not in my car but don't kid yourselfs they even got it and these new cars what alot of yous don't know , And let's be real they don't have enough "Power Grids" To power all of these EV's that still use Fossil Fuels ... And I wasn''t mistaken wasn't this the whole purpose in making the EV... ? And then going to pollute our land in our country from the chemical waste of these batteries did anyone think of what mess that is being left for Our Children Nope ... And the ones who will Profit Trillions Care Nope ... Why should they when they have little children as old as yours in Africa... Digging these chemicals out of there land and risking thier life they make nothing living in Filth And Housing is just unbelievable to make peanuts, And you call that fair for them poor mothers and thier little children that are probably killing them so You can drive one of these that make no sense at all , And for them ones who don't care about Humanity And Their Own Pockets Sad But True, Look it up yourselfs where they get the Kolbot... And how will shock you all how they get it and who is getting it out of the ground a real eye opener , I really think when having children risk their lifes to do men's dirty work to pollute the world is where you draw the line in the sand when in fact it's evil to even buy into this lie Wakeup People