Tow No! The Ford F-150 Lightning Struggled in Our Towing Test

The one I had went around 20 mph and I plugged it in once a week whether it needed a charge or not. I think the speed was as fast as it was due to the bigger offroad tires.
I used it everyday to run around the property but I couldnt give you a miles per charge.
And talk about Torque!!! This thing would climb hills that were damn near vertical!!
EVs are ok for little things like that, but imagine trying to get to work in that. Also EVs like a Tesla are only practical if only a small percentage of the population own them.

If we tried to make a switch to just 10% of our vehicles being EVs it would completely overwhelm the electrical grid.

Right now EVs only make up 1% of the car market.
 
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Well, the current electric F-150 likely cannot tow like a current gas or diesel F-150.
So stipulated.

But the thing is ....technology developments progress. They advance inexorably.

How did an electric vehicle do when towing an Airstream 5yrs ago? 3 years ago?
Is it better now than then?

Electric vehicles certainly seem to have a future....notwithstanding there will be much....much.....effort required in establishing an infrastructure.

But remember, (if you are really that friggin' old).....but remember when Henry Ford began to sell his first cars there weren't BP or Shell stations all over the place either. Or auto mechanics.

We move forward. Luddites be damned.
The government didn't mandate that people be driving ICE vehicles with a deadline of ten years either. The free market handled it.
 
Is anyone surprised? No one should be.


Before you hitch an Airstream to your electric truck and set out to circumnavigate the country, you need to understand this: With the largest available battery pack, a fully charged 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck has less energy onboard than a regular F-150 with four gallons of gas in its tank.​
Consider how far a combustion-powered F-150 tows on four gallons of regular unleaded. Fifty miles? Maybe 60 if you drive slowly?​
Now that you understand where we're starting from, you won't be as surprised to learn that the towing range of the electric F-150 is dismal. In MotorTrend testing, an F-150 Lightning Platinum saddled with a camper that nearly maxed out its 8,500-pound towing capacity couldn't even cover 100 miles. Range improved when we hooked up a significantly lighter trailer, but not by as much as you might expect.​

How Much Can the Ford F-150 Lightning Tow?


The Lightning's towing capacity ranges from 5,000 pounds up to 10,000 pounds. To hit the big number, you'll need an XLT or Lariat trim with the optional extended-range battery, and the Max Trailer Tow package that adds more battery- and motor-cooling capacity. To get there, you'll spend at least $75,094.​
...​

What's It Like To Tow With the Ford F-150 Lightning?


With 775 lb-ft of torque on tap, the electric F-150 shoves off from a stop smoothly and confidently, but that authority wanes as speeds climb. Equipped with single-speed transmissions at the front and rear motors, the Lightning can't just downshift into the meat of the torque curve like a gas truck does, so passing maneuvers at highway speeds require patience and planning with a heavy trailer.​
...​
Perhaps most important, the Lightning doesn't try to hide its limited towing range. The truck cut its estimated range in half every time we connected a trailer and punched the load's weight and dimensions into the 15.5-inch touchscreen. That number then fell rapidly during the first few miles of highway driving until it accurately reflected what was possible. Until someone figures out how to double or triple the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, that seems like the most we can ask of electric vehicles that are pressed into towing duty.​



This is why you gotta order them and wait 6-12 months to get one.
They ain't building many ahead of time!
 
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If the electric trucks can't tow efficiently at a reasonable price and no one is given a choice it will be the end of the RV and camper industry.

*****SMILE*****



:)
 
an F-150 Lightning Platinum saddled with a camper that nearly maxed out its 8,500-pound towing capacity couldn't even cover 100 miles.
Then what good does it do? A person hauling such a package likely wants to go a lot further than just 100 miles from home to camp and when they get there, the kinds of places they will want to go likely don't have a recharging station to get them home!

To get there, you'll spend at least $75,094.
I can do far better with a used conventional pick up that I can buy in nice condition for only $5,000.

Equipped with single-speed transmissions at the front and rear motors, the Lightning can't just downshift into the meat of the torque curve like a gas truck does, so passing maneuvers at highway speeds require patience and planning with a heavy trailer.​
You've exposed a fatal flaw in the EV's design. The battery technology will never be doubled or tripled in current dump capacity and adding a variable transmission greatly compromises the direct drive design and efficiency so depended on to get EVs as close to ICE technology as it is.

You see, there just is no beating the energy density efficiency of internal combustion. Compared to EV technology, the ICE vehicle works like this:

Fuel combustion → rotational energy transmission → power directed to wheels.

Compare that to an EV:

Remote hydro/nuclear/coal/gas/solar/wind power generation → transmission of high voltage across country to charging station → conversion of AC to DC → charging of cold storage battery → discharging of storage battery to DC motor to move battery and car around.

EV cars may be simple on the drawing board, but the total utilization of them as your sole transportation system is actually rather involved and complicated.

The ability to speed up at highway speed to pass safely in an ICE depends on simple force-multiplication by revving the engine higher while changing the gearing ratio to the wheel.

Force multiplication at highway speeds in an EV can only come from a massive current dump which the EV car does not have the overhead to do, as to design an EV to have that much overhead in terms of battery discharge rate and conductor size and armature capacity simply prices the EV out of the competition because that would cut driving range to a QUARTER, while quadrupling battery size, weight and cost, already too high to begin with!
 
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2022:
"EV cars may be simple on the drawing board, but the total utilization of them as your sole transportation system is actually rather involved and complicated."
True that!


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1896 :

Internal Combustion automobiles may have been simple on the drawing board but the total utilization of them as the sole transportation system in America was actually rather involved and complicated....and took decades to accomplish.

Also true!
 
I was going to post about this but I see the topic has already been made...so I'll just revive this one.

I'm in the market for a truck. Well, soon anyway. Is 2024 soon?

I was considering an electric truck but these early tests have really put me off. I have a Keystone Passport SL. It's 23' long and it weighs about 6500 pounds fully loaded wet. I'd be afraid of buying one of these trucks, having reduced power due to the weight of the camper, and running out of power in the middle of nowhere. As far as towing goes gasoline and diesels are still king.

Another concern I have is lifespan...the batteries cost so much money to replace. Will towing reduce the lifespan of the battery? Towing is going to require a lot that regular drivers don't need.
 
I was considering an electric truck but these early tests have really put me off. I have a Keystone Passport SL. It's 23' long and it weighs about 6500 pounds fully loaded wet. I'd be afraid of buying one of these trucks, having reduced power due to the weight of the camper, and running out of power in the middle of nowhere. As far as towing goes gasoline and diesels are still king.
What;s your current MPG when towing?
 
I was going to post about this but I see the topic has already been made...so I'll just revive this one.

I'm in the market for a truck. Well, soon anyway. Is 2024 soon?

I was considering an electric truck but these early tests have really put me off. I have a Keystone Passport SL. It's 23' long and it weighs about 6500 pounds fully loaded wet. I'd be afraid of buying one of these trucks, having reduced power due to the weight of the camper, and running out of power in the middle of nowhere. As far as towing goes gasoline and diesels are still king.

Another concern I have is lifespan...the batteries cost so much money to replace. Will towing reduce the lifespan of the battery? Towing is going to require a lot that regular drivers don't need.

The tech isnt there yet when it comes to electric trucks.
Not only that but they're heavy as hell which would make them worthless for off road applications.
Electric vehicles have a place,mainly the golf course and for soccer moms who never drive very far from home.
 
I was considering an electric truck but these early tests have really put me off. I have a Keystone Passport SL. It's 23' long and it weighs about 6500 pounds fully loaded wet. Will towing reduce the lifespan of the battery?

I would not go electric. Meaning battery-powered. Hauling heavy weight in a diesel or gas truck just means more FUEL! You maintain a constant pulling force by simply pressing the pedal closer to the floor until you reach full throttle with the pedal all the way down. That is where your capacity runs out and towing capacity or speed BEGINS to fall off.

With a battery-driven truck, increased load means increased battery CURRENT. Just doubling the load then from empty means a QUADRUPLING of current. Increased current means more heat so shortens both the life of the battery as well as exponentially reduces the drain capacity.

In either regard, an electric truck called on to haul heavy loads, after eight years, I'd be planning on needing to replace the battery pack which in a truck like that is liable to run you over $20,000.
  • If I run out of fuel in some remote location, all I need is a gallon of fuel and ten seconds to pour it in to get back on the highway.

  • In an electric truck, if you run out of fuel in some remote location, first, totally discharging the battery damages it. Second, you will need towed to a charging station perhaps 50 miles away then left sit there for several hours to get it fully charged again.

No way does EV technology sound like a practical replacement alternative for anything other than stop and go local driving except in the minds of an idiot.
 
That F250 Diesel is an awesome truck! Maybe a bit loud but definitely up to any towing job. Electric pales in comparison.

Loud? That 6.7 (assuming his truck is 2011 or later) is VERY quiet compared to MY F250 diesel. I've got the old 7.3. That thing SOUNDS like a diesel. You can hear me coming from a mile away. But my truck has 250000 miles on it and it purrs like a kitten.

In fact my 7.3 is arguably louder than the Cummins X15 in my Peterbilt.
 
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Loud? That 6.7 (assuming his truck is 2011 or later) is VERY quiet compared to MY F250 diesel. I've got the old 7.3. That thing SOUNDS like a diesel. You can hear me coming from a mile away. But my truck has 250000 miles on it and it purrs like a kitten.

In fact my 7.3 is arguably louder than the Cummins X15 in my Peterbilt.
I've got a 2011 6.7 Powerstroke and I've never had any real problems with it. I'd rather travel in it than in our car and it gets nearly as good mileage--I cringe when I look at the per gallon price of diesel though.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, the current electric F-150 likely cannot tow like a current gas or diesel F-150.
So stipulated.

But the thing is ....technology developments progress. They advance inexorably.

How did an electric vehicle do when towing an Airstream 5yrs ago? 3 years ago?
Is it better now than then?

Electric vehicles certainly seem to have a future....notwithstanding there will be much....much.....effort required in establishing an infrastructure.

But remember, (if you are really that friggin' old).....but remember when Henry Ford began to sell his first cars there weren't BP or Shell stations all over the place either. Or auto mechanics.

We move forward. Luddites be damned.


Electric motors are governed by the laws of physics so they will NEVER be as good for towing as an ICE.
 

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