Flat Tow the Lightning- Towed by RV??

[CoyoteChaser]

I've been searching for information on the ability of pulling the 2022 Lighting behind my RV with all 4 tires on the ground!
Can anyone share information concerning this topic??

Sponsored

 

[Fastnf]

The Lightning has permanent magnet motors which are not suitable for flat towing. Since the motor always rotates when the wheels rotate it is either being driven (electricity supplied to the motor) or generating (electricity coming from the motor). There is no neutral with a permanent magnet motor.

 

[sotek2345]

I've been searching for information on the ability of pulling the 2022 Lighting behind my RV with all 4 tires on the ground!
Can anyone share information concerning this topic??

we don't have any specific information on the Lightning (unless I missed something), but this is explicitly forbidden on the Mach-e so I don't think it would be OK for the Lightning.

 

[Kanuck]

You will have to trailer it. If you spin a PM motor it now becomes a generator. Can cause lots of damage electrically by back feeding power into the trucks systems.

 

[Pedaldude]

It might be possible that the aftermarket could use Ford's own IWEs, which are now electro-magnetic, to disengage the wheels from the half shafts.

Otherwise, Ford would have had to designed some kind of clutch into the transaxles, which isn't cool these days.

Jeep's going in the other direction, their EV Wrangler concept keeps the entire legacy drivetrain and simply swaps out the V-6 engine for a low speed electric motor. Just keep the 6-speed manual in neutral and you'll be fine!

 

[CoyoteChaser]

It might be possible that the aftermarket could use Ford's own IWEs, which are now electro-magnetic, to disengage the wheels from the half shafts.

Otherwise, Ford would have had to designed some kind of clutch into the transaxles, which isn't cool these days.

Jeep's going in the other direction, their EV Wrangler concept keeps the entire legacy drivetrain and simply swaps out the V-6 engine for a low speed electric motor. Just keep the 6-speed manual in neutral and you'll be fine!

LOL!
Thanks, but all my parking spots are reserved for Ford vehicles!!
However Jeeps are pretty cool (maybe I can park it at a friend's)!?

 

[Pedaldude]

If you're that hardcore, you can always just remove all the half shafts every time you tow. Otherwise, you're stuck having to get a trailer.

 

[DadBald]

What about a smaller issue... running it through an automated car wash? Usually have to put it in neutral for that.

 

[HtownHog]

What about a smaller issue... running it through an automated car wash? Usually have to put it in neutral for that.

You can put it in neutral and it will push it along generating a small amount of energy but the regen over 200 ft won’t be much. Flat towing 100’s of miles will overvolt so many things.

 

[kdkool]

What about a smaller issue... running it through an automated car wash? Usually have to put it in neutral for that.

Not an issue. There will be a temporary neutral mode for that.

 

[techguydave]

What about a smaller issue... running it through an automated car wash? Usually have to put it in neutral for that.

It'll be a very short distance over extremely slow speeds, it should be fine in this scenario versus traveling hundreds of miles at 60+ MPH.

 

[jefro]

The Chevy Bolt has two ways to enter Neutral. One will be for only a few feet and parking brake will go in after some amount of length. The other is intended for car washes. I've not seen any EV that one can tow flat. If one disabled the 12v battery they might defeat things like wheel sensors and automatic brakes but my guess is you won't be able to flat tow at least in the first version. You won't be able to use a dolly either.

 

[GarageMahal]

I swear I read something that said it could not flat tow but cannot find it again.

Maybe someone will come up with a creative way to disconnect the half-shafts quickly (or better still, electronically)

 

[jefro]

The photos of front and back of truck make me think only a few brave would attempt some disconnect on all shafts. Just not a lot of room.

 

[RidetheLightning]

(not applicable for long distance RV towing) but if you have the F150L in D or L with a tow bar, I fail to see how flat towing in this mode is different from going downhill for a long period of time. (disclaimer: I have never towed a vehicle, consult an expert, I’m just another idiot on the internet) I don’t know about the drag on the towing vehicle in D or L, safety around turns, etc, but at least to generate a short term charge it seems possible, but you better have a powerful tow vehicle. Darren Palmer of Ford talks about it a bit here:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/how-to-flat-tow-recharge-electric-vehicles/

Sponsored