F150 Lightning Towing Test vs GMC Denali (not Ike Gauntlet) by TFL

[Bannerman]

This was a great video that showed what i wanted to see, real life towing. My primary reason for having a truck is to tow my bass boat, 5,000 lbs. I don't commute, most of my lakes are 120 miles round trip. I thought the Lightning would work but i am rethinking this as the mileage is not good. Just too close to empty and with the lack of charging around here, not good. Yes, my boat is more aerodynamic than their trailer but i think weight is the more the factor. They were not really cruising fast enough that the box of a trailer would play into effect to the point it would make a big difference.

A 5000 bass boat will tow WAY easier than a 5000 travel trailer like this.

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[watchdoc]

This will be a deal breaker for a lot of RV owners.

 

[ftms]

A 5000 bass boat will tow WAY easier than a 5000 travel trailer like this.

Yes and no, they didn't tow far enough for wind resistance to be that big of a factor. Their speed really wasn't that high plus they even dropped speed when becoming more concerned. 100 miles and to drain the battery to 9% for 6,000 lbs not good. Now for 10,000 lbs not bad but still less than 50% of est range.

 

[watchdoc]

This thread makes me wonder how a 2.7T Plug in hybrid with a 20kw battery would perform? 50 miles all electric maybe? 500 miles total range? After driving one, I think the Lightning is more powerful than it needs to be.

 

[vandy1981]

Yes and no, they didn't tow far enough for wind resistance to be that big of a factor. Their speed really wasn't that high plus they even dropped speed when becoming more concerned. 100 miles and to drain the battery to 9% for 6,000 lbs not good. Now for 10,000 lbs not bad but still less than 50% of est range.

Weight doesn't matter that much for flat landscape. Aero is king and the toy haulers they were using were taller than a standard travel trailer or a box trailer.

The results weren't great in this test, but YMMV depending on the aero profile of your rig.

 

[adoublee]

I have no doubt it's a great commuter vehicle. I am talking about using it as a TRUCK to tow or haul, as this is the point of this thread. Why do yall keep missing this point?

It's a great people hauler too, largest electric one on the market right now. I will continue to consider it a TRUCK, despite how annoying TRUCK CULTURE is.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I look forward to towing my 7x14 V-nose twin axle weighing around 4000# to see how it does on a 220 round trip, I've got DCFC stops in my trip plans and should be able to make the entire round trip.

 

[Kev12345]

argh...I knew it but TFL just confirmed it. trucks need 500 mile range minimum and charging faster than 150kw. where's that cybertruck? btw cool to see Tommy in here. You guys at TFL are the best!

 

[personalt]

argh...I knew it but TFL just confirmed it. trucks need 500 mile range minimum and charging faster than 150kw. where's that cybertruck? btw cool to see Tommy in here. You guys at TFL are the best!

Charing rate is more important then range. Porsche Tycan and Sliverado EV which have higher voltages can put on a ton of miles in 20 minutes. That makes them must more usable for long trips(or towing). Yeah 20 minutes is more than a pee break but it is just about perfect for a rest-stop lunch break.

 

[Firestop]

argh...I knew it but TFL just confirmed it. trucks need 500 mile range minimum and charging faster than 150kw. where's that cybertruck? btw cool to see Tommy in here. You guys at TFL are the best!

My guess is Ford will have their 2nd gen design selling by the the time the Cybertruck hits the streets…and , who knows what the 2nd gen’s performance will be?

One thing Ford will have is two years of vehicle operating data in the real world to draw upon to fine tune their design and programming specs…….though, I’m not sure battery tech will have progressed enough by then to hit those specs……

 

[PungoteagueDave]

They should have used a PB

my PB towing my largest trailer has only 150 miles max range

 

[RickLightning]

Plenty are close to a water source ... around me I could launch a boat at 10+ different places in a 50 mile radius.

As they get older, kids will have to go pee plenty of times on road trips. Unless you plan on keeping them in diapers forever You want to drive for 2-3 hours straight? Nope. Kids got to pee every other hour.

Everyone has different use cases and tolerances. And, the f150L can do about 90% of regular truck use cases, yet there's some guy who thinks the only thing trucks do is tow a large load 200+ miles.

Back in my day, the only thing people used trucks for where to haul hay on a farm. If you wanted to boat, you'd build yourself a boat by the water whenever you wanted to use one.

 

[Bannerman]

Yes and no, they didn't tow far enough for wind resistance to be that big of a factor. Their speed really wasn't that high plus they even dropped speed when becoming more concerned. 100 miles and to drain the battery to 9% for 6,000 lbs not good. Now for 10,000 lbs not bad but still less than 50% of est range.

I'm not trying to be rude in my response here, but, there's no way around this fact, you're dead wrong. Wind resistance is a huge factor at and distance, so how far you tow is irrelevant. If you tow, 20 miles or 200, the wind resistance of a Camper is massively greater than a bass boat. I'm also not understanding why you say speed was not a factor? They were traveling at highway speeds. Roll your window down the next time you are moving at 65 mph and feel the wind. That trailer has a frontal surface area of 88 sq ft. Your hand has a surface area of about 1/8th a sq ft. I'll let you do the math. Weight is a huge factor in getting the load up to speed, but once it's at speed, a flat trailer doesn't take much extra HP to keep moving at speed (assuming a flat road).

EDIT: I may be wrong here and I'm sure I'll hear it if I am, but I believe as weight increases, the power required increases linearly as speed increases. But wind resistance increases exponentially as speed increases.

 

[ftms]

I am not saying it is not a factor, but the weight difference of a 1,000 lbs and the wind resistance difference on a 100 mile tow might increase milage by 20 miles further they could have traveled.

Trust me, i really want a Lighting over a whistle pig motor hybrid but since towing is all i do with my truck for the most part. When i park my boat for the winter i park the truck also. I am not looking for long distance towing, but it has to be able to do local towing for me.

 

[Tmack7]

While there are many factors that come into play wind resistant is one of the biggest factors killing range in this instance. This is a pretty well known thing with EVs and while I do like and appreciate TFL videos this one showed us nothing that wasn’t already well known. Nonetheless they still got me to watch it. The numbers are still nice to know but they should have included detailed speed info as it’s a very important detail. If they want to do a truly helpful video they would do a duplicate test at 55 and 65mph (maybe a third at 75 if they are bored). Some people like to tow as fast as they can or still like to be the one passing people even though they are pulling a 35ft brick but I’m someone that would be willing to and know that slowing to 55 would have a huge impact. Leave the passing like that to diesels. I drive different pulling the same trailer with a 350 vs 150 and would drive different pulling in the lightning. If you have ample dcfc availability then you can offset faster driving with frequent stops and come out even but I would rather stop less and also dcfc aren’t frequent everywhere then there’s the trailer parking issue. This truck isn’t ready for mainstream frequent towing but can work great for shorter frequent tows or occasional well planned longer tows. 95%+ miles will not be towing and be of no worry. Again if TFLtommy is truly on here he should do a well controlled 100mile long speed test comparison.

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