Over the previous few weeks, the crew on the Out of Spec Motoring YouTube channel has offered a wealth of nice data on the present lineup of EV vehicles and their capabilities. Whereas the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning are a reasonably identified amount at this level, seeing them compete towards the not too long ago launched Chevy Silverado EV and Tesla Cybertruck has been fascinating to observe.
Of their newest car comparability, 4 groups get behind the wheel and pit these EV vehicles towards each other in a coast-to-cost race from Florida to California.
Get Absolutely Charged
The EV truck market is rising
EV vehicles goal to fill a vital area of interest for American consumers. However whether or not they can maintain as much as the calls for of towing and hauling with out shedding an excessive amount of vary stays to be seen with a number of new fashions.
Partially one in every of this sequence, we get an excellent demonstration of every truck’s capabilities on a long-distance street journey. Whereas every truck has its strengths, they share one main hiccup: numerous charging points and limitations. Not even the Cybertruck was capable of present a very seamless charging expertise.
Thanks to an enormous battery pack measurement, the Chevy Silverado EV’s first charging cease got here a lot later than the opposite vehicles. This regardless of starting the race 6 miles behind and at a decrease state of cost than the remaining.
Sadly, the Silverado EV can at the moment solely quick cost at CCS stations, limiting the crew’s choices, though this limitation ought to quickly be lifted as Common Motors’ EVs go to the Tesla NACS plug quickly. Staff Chevy’s first cease was at an Electrify America (EA) station the place one of many Hyper Quick models (which peaks at 350 kW) was out of service and the opposite station was occupied.
With solely 4 stalls this might have been a serious situation. To keep away from charging on the slower 150 kW models, the crew supplied to pay for the opposite EV driver’s cost in the event that they swapped spots. Moreover, the Silverado bumped into a difficulty the place turning on the A/C resulted in charging pace fluctuations. That is doubtless a software program bug that must be remedied in future software program updates.
The Tesla Cybertruck additionally carried out effectively within the preliminary leg of this street journey. The crew did criticize the Cybertruck’s high charging pace of 250 kW in comparison with rivals. However they had been pleasantly shocked to seek out the cost curve has improved following earlier complaints.
As a result of the Cybertruck depends closely on slippery aerodynamics for vary, sturdy winds and heavy rain impacted effectivity sufficient that they needed to cost sooner than deliberate.
After stopping, they discovered the Cybertruck wouldn’t provoke a cost. Shifting to a unique unit did the trick on this case. Nevertheless, the F-150 pulled up shortly after and efficiently charged on the similar unit that originally failed for the Cybertruck.
On the following Supercharging cease, this situation occurred once more. It appears that evidently the truck was not fairly prepared to just accept a cost instantly after parking. Their answer was to park the car and wait a number of seconds earlier than plugging in. Fortunately this is a matter that’s unlikely to happen for drivers casually charging their vehicles everyday.
The Ford F-150 crew famous that they don’t belief the truck’s vary estimates or the anticipated battery buffer when driving lengthy distances. They’d been stranded by the F-150 not as soon as however twice within the current previous. So that they weren’t keen to run the pack right down to 2 or 3% like the opposite groups.
With a max cost pace of solely 150 kW, the F-150’s charging usually appeared erratic on this journey, they usually consulted Tom Moloughney for assist optimizing future quick charging classes. Additionally they needed to change models at a Supercharger to hit their max cost pace.
Just like the Cybertruck, the R1T’s effectivity was impacted by the heavy storms within the early a part of the race. In consequence, they needed to cut back their pace early to achieve their first charger. At this primary cease, that they had their EA session minimize quick after solely a minute of charging. That is sadly a fairly widespread prevalence with EA stations.
Regardless of the charger troubleshooting, each crew has made good progress, already buying and selling first place a number of instances. We will probably be keeping track of the remainder of this sequence to see which EV truck comes out on high.
Which one could be your choose in 2024?