OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
Two journalists quickly learned about how difficult it is to recharge the Ford 150 Lightning EV truck.
In order to travel from the lower 48 states to Alaska, it requires an incredible amount of planning compared to driving a gas-powered vehicle.
🚨 POLL: Would you buy an electric truck?
YES 👍 or NO 👎
At a campground, it took about 5 days to fully charge their F-150 using a standard 120 outlet. The truck also already had 22 percent battery when the charging started.
The outlet was a level 1 in EV parlance with a larger 240-volt option used by recreational vehicles and fifth-wheel trailers to run air conditioners, refrigerators, etc.
WATCH:
More on this story via Western Journal:
The pair then plugged into the 240 volt — Level 2. The result was much better, but it was still going to take about 14 hours to get to a full charge.
The standard range on an F-150 Lightning is 240 miles and depending on the terrain, the truck load and other factors, can be significantly less.
So finding a fast charging station or a Level 2 option is really the only realistic way to make a trip of any distance beyond the initial charge much less to Alaska.
Tom and Andre noted there is potentially an ethical dilemma to charging one’s EV truck at a campground.
“You have a big battery, a big vehicle and if every spot had an electric vehicle all drawing energy that the price of energy would go up,” Andre pointed out.