For my trip to CES 2025, I opted to take our company-owned 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat. The decision was easy; who wants to fly and do the dance of Uber, TSA, boarding, deplaning, and Ubering again when driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas will take just as long?
The night before my trip, I charged our F-150 Lightning up to 97 percent and hit the road with an optimistic 298 miles of indicated range, using the Ford navigation for route planning and BlueCruise hands-free driving assistance as much as possible. The latter was really some full-circle serendipity. My main reason for going to CES was to hand out MotorTrend’s third-annual Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Innovator awards, and one of the winners for 2025 is Alex Purdy, head of digital product at Ford—the guy responsible for many hardware and software systems in Ford’s Model e division, including … BlueCruise.
On paper, L.A. to Las Vegas is a zero-stop journey in our extended-range-battery-equipped F-150 Lightning. The navigation says the trip is only 282 miles, and the Lightning has an EPA-rated 330 miles of range. However, as we’ve covered ad nauseum, the Lightning’s EPA range is optimistic at best—the truck scores only 240 miles in our 70-mph Road-Trip Range test. As I piloted our electric F-150 out of the L.A. basin and up into the high desert, the Lightning recommended one familiar charging stop around Barstow, California, at a cluster of eight Electrify America chargers in a Walmart parking lot.
I’ve charged there several times before, so I had a bad feeling when I entered the lot and saw all chargers full, with a variety of EVs circling the lot waiting to swoop. After one slow lap, I decided to use the advantage sitting just under my right elbow, in the F-150’s center console storage bin: Ford’s official CCS1 to NACS charging adapter.
NACS to the Rescue
Because our Ford’s route planner doesn’t currently account for our F-150 Lightning’s NACS capability, I opened the Tesla app on my phone, hit the three-line “hamburger” menu in the corner, and scrolled down to select the “charge your other EV” option, which sent me to a map of the area. There I quickly found the closest Tesla charging station, which was 10 minutes down the road near Yermo, California. No waiting there; 40 Tesla Supercharger stations in operation, and only three were occupied when I pulled up.
With up to 250kW available via Tesla’s V3 Superchargers, my stop was fast and convenient. I pulled in with 44 percent charge on the battery and added 36 percent (or 50kWh, good for 111 miles of estimated range) in 23 minutes. That was just enough time to use the restroom, reply to some emails, and take a spin through Slack and social media. The only negative: Given the position of the Lightning’s charging port, below the A-pillar on the driver side, and shortness of Tesla charger cables, I had to park sideways to connect, effectively blocking two spots. Cost of this charging session: $29.66, or $0.59 per kWh, which is $0.11 per kWh more than the charging at the Barstow Electrify America station during last year’s trip out.
Charging on the Strip
Once I arrived in Las Vegas, I decided to avoid the two mistakes I made the previous year, which were getting my credentials late and charging just before leaving town. After catching Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address, I popped open the Tesla app again and found another set of 28 Tesla Superchargers in the nearby parking lot of the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets. Just a short stroll away, Roberto’s Taco Shop and my spot for two huge tacos (carnitas and adobada), chiles toreados, and a medium Jamaica aguas fresca. In the 40 minutes it took me to walk there, order, eat, and walk back, the Lightning charged from 23 percent to 82 percent, adding 79kWh of energy and 173 miles of estimated range. That “fill up” cost $36.27 for the electrons and $28.87 for la comida.
Leaving Las Vegas
After a successful CES show, I decided to stop again at the Yermo Supercharger station, primarily because the first time I was there I spotted a legit-looking taco shop that I was curious about. During my 35-minute charging session, I added 74 kWh of energy and164 miles of range to the Lightning (from 25 percent to 80 percent charge), and five of Ms Pinchis’ street tacos (three al pastor, two carnitas) to my belly. Total cost: $43.59 for the electrons and $17.53 for the taco combo, including drink.
What a Difference a Year Makes
Last year when I drove to CES, Tesla Superchargers were still incompatible with our CCS-port-equipped Lightning, making it a much more challenging trip. I spent far more time hunting for charge stations and waiting for a stall to open up than I did actually charging. There were also zero tacos. This year was a dream; I charged exclusively via NACS and never waited for anyone or anything—except hot and delicious meats wrapped in small, soft corn tortillas. In fact, during the two sessions where I stopped to eat, the Lightning’s battery hit 80 percent charge before my belly was full, so my takeaway for future roadtrips is to try to run the battery down as much as possible so I have more time to eat. One watch out: You do appear to pay a premium for the convenience of using NACS. I paid $0.59 per kWh during peak (daytime) charging sessions and $0.46 per kWh for the off peak charging session at dinner time. Generally, we’ve found Tesla’s Superchargers to cost more than rival systems throughout the country.
It must be mentioned the other stress reducer for me was opting to use the Lightning’s BlueCruise for the majority the freeway driving. I simply dialed in 70–75mph to keep the energy consumption reasonable (anything above 70 mph really crushes the Lightning’s range) and BlueCruised with my eyes on the road but hands off the wheel. I had zero incidents where I needed to take over of the wheel—a drastically different experience than my colleagues in our yearlong review Tesla Model Y equipped with Full Self Driving. The biggest challenge was keeping my eyes and attention from wandering from the road ahead (lest the ever-vigilant BlueCruise eye flash an alarm). Big thanks to SDV Innovator Award winner Alex Purdy for making practical semi-autonomous driving a reality.