(WWJ) – It's not the first thing that most people do when they buy an electric vehicle – a cross-country road trip. But that’s exactly what a man from St. Mary’s, Georgia did last month.
"I love to drive," said Sergio Rodriguez, the proud owner of a brand new electric Ford-F 150 Lightning.
"I have zero problems jumping in a vehicle and driving across the country. I find it enjoyable and find it therapeutic,” he told WWJ Auto Beat Reporter Jeff Gilbert.
Rodriguez ordered the Lightning when he lived in California. But when it came in, he'd moved to Georgia and the truck was at a dealership in Hemet, California, not far from San Diego.
Time for some therapy.
"I ended up flying out to California with my four year old daughter, picked up the truck and ended up on a nice fun road trip on Father's Day weekend,” he said.
Trips in EVs require far more planning than trips in gasoline powered vehicles.
Like many electric vehicles, the F-150 lightning has a navigation system that will map out a route with fast charging in mind.
"The truck did everything for us,” he said.
Well not exactly everything, during half hour fast charging breaks, there were certain things that Rodriguez and his daughter had to take care of.
"My daughter and I would go to take potty breaks, or we'd grab something to eat,” Rodriguez said.
The breaks were strategically timed, and also made for some good father-daughter time.
"We'd sit in the bed of the truck and have our lunch or snack or whatever because the longest I ever sat at a charger was 35 minutes,” he said.
There are those times that owners of gasoline powered vehicles call "driving on fumes." Rodriguez calls them “static."
And yes there was the occasional prayer as the range meter started getting low and he wasn't quite close to the charging station.
"There was a couple of times when I pulled in and was like OK I'm definitely really low," said Rodriguez. "But no problems. I was still able to pull in, plug up and I was good to go."
The total cost of charging for the trip was $268.61. Various travel apps put the gasoline costs of taking the same trip in a V-8 powered pickup at over $700.
The F-150 Lightning is not Rodriguez’s first electric vehicle. It replaces a Tesla Model Y, because he needs more towing power. The pickup shares a garage with another Ford EV, the Mustang Mach E.
That's common in California. Not so common in Georgia.
"With this truck, everywhere I've stopped here in the south everybody recognizes what it is," said Rodriguez.
That wasn't the case with his Mustang Mach E. Many didn't know what it was...and weren't necessarily sure of its styling.
But Georgia is pickup country. Rodriguez feels that electric pickups could help with buyers who are generally resistant to the idea of electric vehicles.
This is an F-150 truck – with some signature items for the Lightning – that you can drive and not feel like you're “sticking out like a sore thumb."
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