Tow to charge?

[jjerabek]

Hey everyone!

I am planning a business that may require me to have 2 vehicles and one of them will be my 23 SR XLT. It will likely be remote places, so I wonder:

Has anyone tried to tow your Lightning to charge it?

I saw some videos and thought: if I have a HD diesel truck, it may even be cheaper and quicker to tow charge the Lightning for parts of the journey. Thoughts? Experiences?

Edit:

Turns out that some places, including BC Canada, it is illegal to tow a vehicle that has persons inside. However, if a friend of a friend ever decides to go ahead with this heinous crime in some remote places, I'll ask them for the numbers and experience, for science.

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[hturnerfamily]

The F150 is not allowed to be 'towed', for that very reason... per the manual

 

[hturnerfamily]

plus, you would find that the 'towing' of an EV, while the EV is IN GEAR, would be extremely taxing on ANY tow vehicle, and would waste more fuel in the tow vehicle that negates the whole reason...

 

[jjerabek]

The F150 is not allowed to be 'towed', for that very reason... per the manual

Is there, however, a mechanical reason it wouldn't be possible? If it's in the manual, I am sure you would void your warranty at that point. But in theory, putting it into one pedal drive and towing it should work for regen?

 

[jjerabek]

plus, you would find that the 'towing' of an EV, while the EV is IN GEAR, would be extremely taxing on ANY tow vehicle, and would waste more fuel in the tow vehicle that negates the whole reason...

Absolutely. But without real world data, we are unsure. Example: saw a 3500 Ram pull 14000lb with 21l/100km economy. I don't think Lightning with a full regen puts out that much pull. In 100km, how much juice could you put back in? Empty ram did 13l so 8l difference, that's about $16 cad atm. Hence my question. Anyone tried?

 

[hturnerfamily]

Is there, however, a mechanical reason it wouldn't be possible? If it's in the manual, I am sure you would void your warranty at that point. But in theory, putting it into one pedal drive and towing it should work for regen?

take a stab at it and see, as yes, anything is 'possible', but the reality is that the tow vehicle will STRUGGLE to pull such a weight AND the wheels NOT WANTING to spin easily... regeneration after the truck is already at speed is one thing, but trying to TOW a regenerating vehicle will be almost impossible, like trying to TOW a vehicle that is in PARK and the wheels aren't turning.

 

[Maquis]

Is there, however, a mechanical reason it wouldn't be possible? If it's in the manual, I am sure you would void your warranty at that point. But in theory, putting it into one pedal drive and towing it should work for regen?

1PD will apply the friction brakes when at rest. I don’t know exactly what would happen if you tried to tow it from that state, but my guess is something not good!

 

[hturnerfamily]

so, let's look at the real-world LOGISTICS of trying to make this 'work':

- first, the LIGHTNING would have to be 'ON'
- next, someone would have to put the truck in GEAR, before even starting to tow it
and would likely have to continue RIDING in the truck
- next, the truck would have NO stopping power, use of brakes, etc, in 'Normal' or 'Sport' mode
- the truck would also ALWAYS be applying the brakes CONSTANTLY if in One-Pedal mode

so, you'll find that trying to 'tow' an EV while it is 'regenerating' power is not a 'real' thing...

 

[RickLightning]

so, let's look at the real-world LOGISTICS of trying to make this 'work':

- first, the LIGHTNING would have to be 'ON'
- next, someone would have to put the truck in GEAR, before even starting to tow it
and would likely have to continue RIDING in the truck
- next, the truck would have NO stopping power, use of brakes, etc, in 'Normal' or 'Sport' mode
- the truck would also ALWAYS be applying the brakes CONSTANTLY if in One-Pedal mode

so, you'll find that trying to 'tow' an EV while it is 'regenerating' power is not a 'real' thing...

So, you're saying it IS DOABLE?

 

[jjerabek]

so, let's look at the real-world LOGISTICS of trying to make this 'work':

- first, the LIGHTNING would have to be 'ON'
- next, someone would have to put the truck in GEAR, before even starting to tow it
and would likely have to continue RIDING in the truck
- next, the truck would have NO stopping power, use of brakes, etc, in 'Normal' or 'Sport' mode
- the truck would also ALWAYS be applying the brakes CONSTANTLY if in One-Pedal mode

so, you'll find that trying to 'tow' an EV while it is 'regenerating' power is not a 'real' thing...

Yes, it has caveats, however, my specific application would involve at least 2 drivers at all times anyway, so in those circumstances, eg. You have to drive 2 trucks for 800km and one is an EV, are you able to pull the EV for sections of the trip to avoid regular charging completely? Has anyone tried? Thanks hturnerfamily for all the relevant drawbacks and potential issues!

 

[Heliian]

Rivian did it to get through parts when they did their americas trip.

It's 100% doable but it would be tricky and possibly illegal.

 

[Toby57]

I am so looking forward to this You tube.

 

[invertedspear]

putting it into one pedal drive and towing it should work for regen?

By no means do I think what you're doing is a good idea, but I really wish this myth would die. The truck will still regen when using 2 pedal mode. Applying the brakes lightly will regen instead of using friction brakes. YOU DO NOT NEED 1PD TO REGEN ENERGY.

Again while I don't think you should do this, if I were to do it, I would be using 2 pedal mode so that 1PD doesn't engage the friction brakes at any point, and I'd put it in sport mode for the more aggressive "engine braking" regen. Also would need a driver as the truck will freak out if no one is torquing the wheel every so often, and to apply brakes when needed, expecially if using a tow rope/chain.

I swear I've seen a youtube of someone running the F150L to zero and then trying to push it with another vehicle to recharge, I think they did a couple miles like that but weren't seeing any results, so there may be other factors at play. I can't find the video now though so maybe it was an R1T instead.

 

[COrocket]

Is there a reason you’d hesitate to use a 10,000W generator and a 40A mobile cord to keep the truck charged as needed? Direct electrical generation is most likely to be a more efficient method.

Fuel -> AC electrical generation -> AC to DC conversion -> battery

The tow to charge as you describe would be:

Fuel -> mechanical motion from truck engine -> AC motor electrical generation -> AC to DC conversion -> battery

Each of these energy conversion steps incurs a power loss, so if you can eliminate the drivetrain losses from towing that seems preferable even if you have to carry a generator. I think that there would be an enormous MPG loss with the Tow vehicle considering you are not only towing a 6500 lb vehicle but the vehicle is not free rolling and resisting forward motion. So either method would require carrying a large amount of fuel

 

[jjerabek]

The truck will still regen when using 2 pedal mode. Applying the brakes lightly will regen instead of using friction brakes. YOU DO NOT NEED 1PD TO REGEN ENERGY.

Again while I don't think you should do this, if I were to do it, I would be using 2 pedal mode so that 1PD doesn't engage the friction brakes at any point, and I'd put it in sport mode for the more aggressive "engine braking" regen.

I think this is a great point. Considering I am intending to have 2 drivers anyway, might as well do 2 pedal. Both drivers need to be engaged anyway, this way the application of friction brakes would likely be minimized. Thanks!

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