By Heidi Haugen-Grohs
I will start this article by saying I probably picked the worst time to put our Ford Lightning through a North Dakota winter driving test.
With that being said, I used the Lightning to commute from Kenmare to Columbus during January’s cold snap. The actual air temperatures during this time ranged from 20 degrees above zero to 19 degrees below zero and dropped to around 60 degrees below zero with the windchill.
Every evening, I parked the Lightning inside the Kenmare shop to charge. Each morning, I started with an estimated range of 317 miles, which quickly deteriorated as I drove down the highway.
I always travel using the heated seat. On these extremely cold days, I also used the heated steering wheel and the heating system was on high to stay warm, even while donning all my winter outer gear.
Upon arriving at the office in Columbus, the pickup’s system advised charging it due to the cold outside temperature. I complied and plugged into a 110-volt outlet with the pickup’s portable charger. It charged for around 15 minutes, but stopped when the charger froze due to the cold temperatures. I left the pickup parked outside for the day, just to see how it would perform on the drive home. Needless to say, more power was used to warm the batteries, because of the cold exterior temperatures.
When the pickup was charging inside a heated shop, I averaged 1 mile per kilowatt-hour. I learned 11% of the battery was being used for climate control, 13% to warm the batteries, 1% for accessories and 75% for driving.
In contrast, when the pickup was parked outside and not plugged in, I averaged 0.8 miles per kilowatt-hour. Then, 24% of the battery was being used for climate control, 22% to warm the batteries, 2% for accessories and 52% for driving.
I drove the Lightning for a few days again when the temperatures were between 20 and 40 degrees. It performed better in these conditions, averaging around 1.6 miles per kilowatt-hour. Then, 7% of the battery was being used for climate control, 5% to warm the batteries, 1% for accessories and 87% for driving.
In the end, I feel the Lightning is realistically a three-season vehicle in North Dakota. I wouldn’t want to rely on it as my only mode of transportation, especially in the winter.