What are you getting mile per kWh while towing?

[JSJ]

Want to tow my boat (3500lbs) down to my slip for the season, not sure if it’s going to make it. 115 mile trip, 100 miles of towing (40 miles at 65mph, 45 miles at 55mph, 15 miles at 35mph). I average 2.3 m/kWh without towing. Wondering if I can get 1.2+ m/kWh towing a more aerodynamic boat, most people on here tow campers. I have a SR lariat. I’m considering throwing my gas generator in the bed just for good measure. There are no working chargers along the way aside from tesla. Curious what everyone is averaging while towing, what trailer/weight and speeds you’re doing. Thanks.

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[Pioneer74]

You may need to hook your boat up and go for a test run. Try it out on the 65mph leg and see what efficiency you get.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Want to tow my boat (3500lbs) down to my slip for the season, not sure if it’s going to make it. 115 mile trip, 100 miles of towing (40 miles at 65mph, 45 miles at 55mph, 15 miles at 35mph). I average 2.3 m/kWh without towing. Wondering if I can get 1.2+ m/kWh towing a more aerodynamic boat, most people on here tow campers. I have a SR lariat. I’m considering throwing my gas generator in the bed just for good measure. There are no working chargers along the way aside from tesla. Curious what everyone is averaging while towing, what trailer/weight and speeds you’re doing. Thanks.

Lariat ER
1.9mi/kWh w/o towing. (I averaged about 2.3mi/kWh on my Pro SR)
1.3-1.7mi/kWh towing a camper in the mountains of PA (1.5mi/kWh avg) mostly between 50-70mph.

My guess is you'll be cutting it close. Will your boat be covered? Or will it be open? It might not be as aerodynamic as you think if it's open...

 

[astricklin]

The boat will fare better than a camper but possibly not by much. Keeping your speed under 65 will help. With the sr battery, 100 miles is probably not realistic. Is the 115 miles round trip or one way? If it's round trip, are there any campsites that have a 50amp RV hookups? You could charge there with your mobile evse and the 14-50 plug. Trying to charge on 110v is going to take you several days to recharge. You are going to need 220v or dcfc. If the 115 miles is one way, even the ER battery would be cutting it close.

 

[3rdgenfan]

Got 1.7mi/kWh over 85 miles of driving with this setup.

 

[JSJ]

115 miles one way, roughly 100 miles towing. I average 2.0 without a trailer on the highway going down but I’m hitting 70+ mph for part of it. Figured I could do 55-65 for 80 miles and the rest will be around 35 stop and go. I did a short test run city and highway but wasn’t long enough on the highway to yield reasonable results (was 1.8+ still).

Has anyone ever charged from a generator in the bed while driving? I’m going to be very very close if I keep it slow, luckily this is all warm weather driving. The boat has a cover but it isn’t very tight so I feel that would act as a sail and slow it down. It’s a center console without a T-top canopy so it should be more aerodynamic than a camper. When I towed Jetskis with my tesla, it had better efficiency than a much lighter landscaping trailer that was as aerodynamic as a brick.

 

[Adventureboy]

I ran 1.7 mi/kwh in a run with a 4000lb utility trailer (bricks on a low utility trailer so low wind resistance). A boat will have more wind resistance and that is a large factor. I'd take it for a test run to see what you get before counting on it.

 

[FinsNBolts]

I will be towing a boat in a Lariat SR for the first time this weekend. I will try to keep track of the numbers. Empty trailer one way, boat on way back. I will try to remember to post my results.

 

[Texas Dan]

BTW, Texas has speed limit of 70 mph when towing. The max towing speed for California is 60 mph. Just saying.

 

[LightningLover]

BTW, Texas has speed limit of 70 mph when towing. The max towing speed for California is 60 mph. Just saying.

Nope. Maximum speed for towing in CA is 55.

 

[LightningLover]

Want to tow my boat (3500lbs) down to my slip for the season, not sure if it’s going to make it. 115 mile trip, 100 miles of towing (40 miles at 65mph, 45 miles at 55mph, 15 miles at 35mph). I average 2.3 m/kWh without towing. Wondering if I can get 1.2+ m/kWh towing a more aerodynamic boat, most people on here tow campers. I have a SR lariat. I’m considering throwing my gas generator in the bed just for good measure. There are no working chargers along the way aside from tesla. Curious what everyone is averaging while towing, what trailer/weight and speeds you’re doing. Thanks.

Do you have any pictures of the boat on the trailer, preferably behind an F-150? The reason is the aerodynamics are much more important than the weight.

What sort of elevation change is there?

I'd recommend slowing down. Towing a 24' travel trailer behind our Lightning across country and back really showed us the impact of speed. 60 mph: 0.94 mpk, 55 mph: 1.09 mpk, 50 mph: 1.26 mpk

 

[JSJ]

 

[JSJ]

I’m in Delaware and towing to MD. All flat driving, I’m not aware of any speed limits in either state while towing. Fastest speed limit is 65mph and I will probably be doing 60 then (for 40 miles) then 50mph for another 40-45 miles then it’s stop and go for another 20 miles.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

My guess is you’re going to get under 1.3mi/kWh with that if you go 65-70. That windscreen is a parachute. It sits higher than the truck and far enough back so that you’ll smack all of the wind.

 

[JSJ]

I definitely won’t be going above 65, and if I do go 65 it’ll only be for 30-40 miles. I’m hoping to get 1.5mi/kWh overall which will get me to the beach where I can charge. There’s zero chargers the entire trip, pretty frustrating. I’ll be moving the boat around tomorrow so I’ll see what I get at 65mph but it’s very windy/rainy where I’m at.

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