I’m honestly super impressed with the mileage I’ve been getting. I know it says the max is 320 miles on a full charge, but with my driving history uncleared (which includes a lot of onboard power use— not sure if that affects the estimate), on a full charge, it shows I’d get about 340 miles now. Most of my driving is on the freeway (granted, I’m in SoCal, so there’s a lot of traffic, but when it’s clear, I usually drive around 65-70).
Just seems a lot more conservative and accurate on mileage than I’m used to! (I used to have a '22 Model 3 LR).
Emerson said: @Mal
Same here. I’m averaging 2.1 mi/kWh over the life of the truck so far.
Even when I push my Lightning hard, it still gets the equivalent of 80-90 mpg compared to my old PowerBoost, which got 26 mpg when gas was $3 a gallon. I pay $0.069 per kWh. If I drove like a grandpa, I could probably push it to about 100 mpg equivalent.
For the miles I drive yearly, I’m saving around $2,500 on energy costs and about $450 on oil changes. My insurance did go up by about $150 a year, but that could just be general insurance hikes.
Honestly, it’s the most convenient vehicle I’ve ever had.
My only complaint? The interface is slow and glitchy as hell. I got in a Tesla once, and the screen felt like it reacted before I even touched it. I wish Ford had spent a little more on making this system smoother.
@Mal
Agreed. If I could change two things, it’d be a snappier interface and comfier seats.
I pay $0.11 per kWh, but gas here is higher than most places. Works out to about 75 mpg with my 2.1 mi/kWh. My old F-150 got 15 mpg, so I’m coming out WAY ahead.
@Emerson
Now that you mention it, I’m not a fan of the seats either. I’m about 225 lbs, and it feels like the seat crinkles under me sometimes. The ventilated seats also don’t push air if there’s any pressure on them. My lower back and, uh, other areas get cool air while my upper back and thighs keep sweating.
@Mal
Lol! Yeah, I’m a similar size, and the Flash seats are just… meh. I actually want to swap them out eventually, but not sure how realistic that is.
@Wil
Supposedly it does, but it’s usually negligible. We’re talking single-digit gains at most. The only one I believe makes a real difference is on the Cybertruck, just because of the way the air would press down and circulate in the bed.
It’s better to compare efficiency (mi/kWh) than the estimated max range on a full battery.
Mine’s at 1.8 mi/kWh over the first nine months, but we had a brutally cold winter. My truck sat cold a lot until I finally built an outdoor charging setup.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Y have some of the most unrealistic EPA estimates, mostly because Tesla used a 5-cycle EPA test. But some of it is just truck dynamics. Reminds me of my old 5.9L Jeep Cherokee—I used to joke that it got the same 14 mpg no matter how I drove it.
Where you live makes a big difference. I’m not surprised to hear this. I had no problem beating the EPA rating in the summer, both on the highway and in the city.
I still drive a RAV4 Prime PHEV, and honestly, I’m shocked that its winter efficiency (cold DC winter) is about the same as my Lightning Flash—around low 2’s mi/kWh on similar drives, including freeway and city traffic.
