Towing with EVs

BlackFlareSide

BlackFlareSide

Member
If you dreamed of showing up at an event pulling your Gen 1 or 2 on a trailer behind your brand new Lightning, I hope you live close!

If math and engineering puts you to sleep skip to about 12 minutes in.

https://youtu.be/S4W-P5aCWJs

This is not meant to put down Electric Vehicles. Just information for those that are interested.

Both Tesla and Ford talk about towing capacity but do not give any information (that I’ve seen) on range while towing.

He doesn’t even take into account that it is recommended to only charge your battery to 80% normally unless you anticipate needing more. And that you will need a little bit of reserve or buffer to not run completely out of energy.
I’d estimate that in real life you would have a spontaneous towing capacity of 50-80 miles with the extended range batteries. Not good in my opinion. It’s a 30 mile trip just to get to town for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BlackFlareSide said:
If you dreamed of showing up at an event pulling your Gen 1 or 2 on a trailer behind your brand new Lightning, I hope you live close!

If math and engineering puts you to sleep skip to about 12 minutes in.

https://youtu.be/S4W-P5aCWJs

This is not meant to put down Electric Vehicles. Just information for those that are interested.

Both Tesla and Ford talk about towing capacity but do not give any information (that I’ve seen) on range while towing.

He doesn’t even take into account that it is recommended to only charge your battery to 80% normally unless you anticipate needing more. And that you will need a little bit of reserve or buffer to not run completely out of energy.
I’d estimate that in real life you would have a spontaneous towing capacity of 50-80 miles with the extended range batteries. Not good in my opinion. It’s a 30 mile trip just to get to town for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

One thing Ford is pushing is that it will have "intelligent" range reporting especially when towing. We'll see!
 
I read somewhere, that the generator in the bed may be an option, enclosed in a thing that looks like a bed mounted toolbox. Thus making it a carbon fueled hybrid.
 
Barber said:
Guess a feller could keep a generator in the bed.. lol
Click to expand...

cbxer55 said:
I read somewhere, that the generator in the bed may be an option, enclosed in a thing that looks like a bed mounted toolbox. Thus making it a carbon fueled hybrid.
Click to expand...

Let me get this right.... use a GAS powered generator, in the bed, to charge the battery to get a longer driving range??... something doesn't seem right with that.....
 
Funny. Over at Zero Hedge, we're always saying that tesla owners could tow a fossil fueled generator on a trailer behind their cars to increase the range. They talk about how fast they are, yet when you drive it like you stole it, the range is cut way down. And you can't just pull into any station and fill it up again in five minutes. And towing appears to cut the range way down as well. Not that I tow or anything, but when I get my Lightning out of the garage, I drive it like I stole it. Then pull into the station and pump more 93 octane into it, in five minutes or less.
 
On a Tesla you cant charge the car while driving. So i doubt Ford would let you do it too.
Towing with an EV does reduce your range significantly, almost by half of your range. Thats why an EV truck needs at least 500+ mile range if you plan to do a lot of towing in my opinion.
 
Matrixslave said:
On a Tesla you cant charge the car while driving. So i doubt Ford would let you do it too.
Towing with an EV does reduce your range significantly, almost by half of your range. Thats why an EV truck needs at least 500+ mile range if you plan to do a lot of towing in my opinion.
Click to expand...


Like I said, I read somewhere it may be an option for a bed mounted generator. Probably the $90,000 version.
 
I think the "generator" thing is where you can plug the truck in to your house. The hybrid F-150's will auto start to charge the on-board battery if you have it plugged in to your house it's called something like "job site" option or whatever.
 
EV’s are a great novelty. Just NOT quite ready for “real world” everyday work.

Great to run across town (which here is SATX is an hour drive w/o traffic.

Myself I go weekly (150mi rd trip) to my land currently often towing my trailer. I bet that this elec F150 with a good load couldnt make the round trip. No pwr on place yet either.

Loong way to go before ev’s take the place of ice powered ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BlackFlareSide said:
Makes me wonder what the “word on the street” was when EFI came out.
Click to expand...

The guys on the street mockingly changed "Cross Fire Injection" to "Cease Fire Injection" and went back to setting their points and rejetting their carbs (I was one of them!).

Within a few years we had Tuned Port Injection and the beginning of real EFI performance in surprising technology like the original SHO V6, followed closely by our trucks.

Now we have vehicles that we don't even think about maintaining beyond changing the fluids and air filter, and we get pouty when we have to deal with spark plugs every 200K miles.

I guess I've been through too many automotive paradigm shifts to be phased by the inevitability of EVs.
 
200,000 spark plug changes? Haven't come across that yet. My damn 98 V-6 Ranger, it eats plugs like candy. Ate set of E3s in less than 5000 miles. Same with NJK Iridiums. Eats a set of double platinums every three years. Have to change them this weekend, last time was 2018. Don't want to talk about plug changes on my 04 Lightning. The only time I've done them, the blower was off, so it was a cake walk. I did put extended COP screws on it at the time. SO maybe it won't be so bad next time. Or, maybe I'll just yank the blower again. LMAO!!
 
As of now EV's aren't good for towing. And imo ford screwed up by making it a high light that their truck can tow. Once customers buy these trucks thinking they can tow for 300 miles,they will be very unhappy.
Also the Electrify American chargers are having a lot of issues charging the Mach-E now. Imagine when the truck comes out!
 
Just saw a YouTube video where the guy said ford said the range of the truck is the EPA rated range with a 1000lbs of payload. Maybe that is full of passengers? Either way that means with 100% charged battery that range could be well over 400 miles unloaded.... Interesting. I would get in line if it had 300 miles of range while say towing 6000lbs or so. 500-600 miles of range unloaded is when it will start peaking my interest.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 
slow94 said:
Just saw a YouTube video where the guy said ford said the range of the truck is the EPA rated range with a 1000lbs of payload. Maybe that is full of passengers? Either way that means with 100% charged battery that range could be well over 400 miles unloaded.... Interesting. I would get in line if it had 300 miles of range while say towing 6000lbs or so. 500-600 miles of range unloaded is when it will start peaking my interest.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah batteries have a ways to go before we'll get those ranges. But who knows at the rate the tech is advancing, I also think the hybrid F-150 is now being overlooked. That one would be cool in one of those "Pro/Commercial" setups and you'd have both worlds, elec for commuting and gas for towing/long trips.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top