I towed a huge boat - 24' foot pontoon!

[bg226]

I drove to Lake Havasu last weekend to my friends dads place. His dad has a 24' pontoon boat, but he had no truck to tow it to the lake, so we used my Lightning.

It hooked up just fine and pulled amazingly. I wasn't able to use the back up assist since I left the checked stickers for it at home, so I backed up the old school manual way and it was a breeze. It was my first time ever doing it and the entire process was very smooth.

Pulling that boat out of the water afterwards was like nothing was attached, the Lightning is a beast. I also used my Tesla adapter that Ford sent me for the first time as well on the trip. It worked like a breeze at a stop in Barstow with 70 chargers! Never seen an EA site with that many chargers! It was a 277 mile trip each way from Socal and I ended up spending $97 on charging. Not a bad deal. I did experience some slow charging at one of the EA and Tesla charging sites I hit, charging only at 90kw, but other than that, a pretty successful Lightning trip.

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[KurtsRPMGarage]

Nice work! I go out to Lake Havasu a bunch. We need some high power DC chargers there badly! The closest being in Needles is ok but far from ideal. Luckily my friends who we stay with don't mind letting us trickle charge off the 120v when we visit but still.

 

[bg226]

Nice work! I go out to Lake Havasu a bunch. We need some high power DC chargers there badly! The closest being in Needles is ok but far from ideal. Luckily my friends who we stay with don't mind letting us trickle charge off the 120v when we visit but still.

Yes! I forgot to mention that. I took it for granted and thought for sure there would be a DC fast charger in the city. A couple days before the trip I was shocked to see nothing. I had to charge in Barstow and Needles both ways. The good thing about the Tesla spot in Needles was that they only charged $0.21/kwh. I also did trickle charge from my friends house on the 120v. It gave me an extra 20 or so miles each night. I never use that thing so I was surprised it charged so slow. My wife's Chevy Volt uses a 120v charger at home and charges up 45 miles overnight.

 

[RickKeen]

I also did trickle charge from my friends house on the 120v. It gave me an extra 20 or so miles each night. I never use that thing so I was surprised it charged so slow. My wife's Chevy Volt uses a 120v charger at home and charges up 45 miles overnight.

The difference is not the charger - both are going to be limited to 12amps @110v. Its because the Volt uses less than half as much energy per mile as the F150 Lightning when driving.

 

[bg226]

The difference is not the charger - both are going to be limited to 12amps @110v. Its because the Volt uses less than half as much energy per mile as the F150 Lightning when driving.

Ah, that makes sense.

 

[KurtsRPMGarage]

Yes! I forgot to mention that. I took it for granted and thought for sure there would be a DC fast charger in the city. A couple days before the trip I was shocked to see nothing. I had to charge in Barstow and Needles both ways. The good thing about the Tesla spot in Needles was that they only charged $0.21/kwh. I also did trickle charge from my friends house on the 120v. It gave me an extra 20 or so miles each night. I never use that thing so I was surprised it charged so slow. My wife's Chevy Volt uses a 120v charger at home and charges up 45 miles overnight.

Tesla used to (maybe they still do) do a poll on where to put new superchargers and Lake Havasu was always near the top. It never won though unfortunately. Its the one place I travel too that is severely lacking in DC charger, Tesla or otherwise. Come on guys, get it together!

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I drove to Lake Havasu last weekend to my friends dads place. His dad has a 24' pontoon boat, but he had no truck to tow it to the lake, so we used my Lightning. It hooked up just fine and pulled amazingly. I wasn't able to use the back up assist since I left the checked stickers for it at home, so I backed up the old school manual way and it was a breeze. It was my first time ever doing it and the entire process was very smooth. Pulling that boat out of the water afterwards was like nothing was attached, the Lightning is a beast. I also used my Tesla adapter that Ford sent me for the first time as well on the trip. It worked like a breeze at a stop in Barstow with 70 chargers! Never seen an EA site with that many chargers! It was a 277 mile trip each way from Socal and I ended up spending $97 on charging. Not a bad deal. I did experience some slow charging at one of the EA and Tesla charging sites I hit, charging only at 90kw, but other than that, a pretty successful Lightning trip.

WOW! Your Lightning is a ROCKSTAR. This is a great towing experience and thank you for sharing with the community.

 

[Bills R Electric]

I drove to Lake Havasu last weekend to my friends dads place. His dad has a 24' pontoon boat, but he had no truck to tow it to the lake, so we used my Lightning. It hooked up just fine and pulled amazingly. I wasn't able to use the back up assist since I left the checked stickers for it at home, so I backed up the old school manual way and it was a breeze. It was my first time ever doing it and the entire process was very smooth. Pulling that boat out of the water afterwards was like nothing was attached, the Lightning is a beast. I also used my Tesla adapter that Ford sent me for the first time as well on the trip. It worked like a breeze at a stop in Barstow with 70 chargers! Never seen an EA site with that many chargers! It was a 277 mile trip each way from Socal and I ended up spending $97 on charging. Not a bad deal. I did experience some slow charging at one of the EA and Tesla charging sites I hit, charging only at 90kw, but other than that, a pretty successful Lightning trip.

I have a boat (29 foot - 7000lbs) I tow locally and in & out of the boat ramp, the Lightning has so much torque it is a breeze. I have never towed very far though.

Chargers. As a nation we need more chargers. Period. And, ones that work. Everyone should buy Charging stations from Tesla and slap their own logos on them. Chargepoint, EA, EVGo, you name it. Some of their Pods just suck. While when I use Teslas, they simply work.

 

[Adventureboy]

I backed up the old school manual way

Not sure hooking up with a high-quality backup camera qualifies as "old school", but I may be older than the majority.

The truck pulls like a champ! I had a 9000# trailer on it - levelled it out nicely with hardly a squat and it drove like it wasn't there. We need to start regenerative braking much earlier though.

 

[RickLightning]

Yes! I forgot to mention that. I took it for granted and thought for sure there would be a DC fast charger in the city. A couple days before the trip I was shocked to see nothing. I had to charge in Barstow and Needles both ways. The good thing about the Tesla spot in Needles was that they only charged $0.21/kwh. I also did trickle charge from my friends house on the 120v. It gave me an extra 20 or so miles each night. I never use that thing so I was surprised it charged so slow. My wife's Chevy Volt uses a 120v charger at home and charges up 45 miles overnight.

Needles is 27 cents per kWh. If you were a member, it would be 20% lower, i.e. 21 cents.

 

[RickKeen]

For an EV, every bit of friction braking applied is that much less energy returned to the battery by regen, so it would be advantageous to utilize the truck regen and not the trailer brakes as much as safely possible. With electric brakes,. this is something you can usually adjust with the brake controller.

But a lot of boat trailers have hydraulic surge brakes. They are not easily adjustable as to how much braking is applied by the trailer vs. the truck. The ratio is fixed.

The key to avoiding losing friction energy to those surge brakes is to avoid using them. When driving, brake as little as possible by anticipating stops and coasting into them slowly without applying the brakes. Even using the truck's regen will activate the trailer friction brakes, so you have to just let air resistance slow you down, not the regen. You need to start slowing down WAY sooner and much more gradually for anticipated stops.

 

[bg226]

Not sure hooking up with a high-quality backup camera qualifies as "old school", but I may be older than the majority.

The truck pulls like a champ! I had a 9000# trailer on it - levelled it out nicely with hardly a squat and it drove like it wasn't there. We need to start regenerative braking much earlier though.

Well I was just using the side mirrors. That boat was too big to see anything in the cameras when backing up.

 

[Adventureboy]

Well I was just using the side mirrors. That boat was too big to see anything in the cameras when backing up.

Take a look at the camera next time. The camera shows both the hitch and the trailer tongue regardless of trailer/boat size. You can put it right on the money regardless of the size of trailer. It even has a dashed black line guiding you in and showing you the curve based on the turn angle of the wheel. Just turn the wheel until the line touches the tongue and back up. It's pretty sweet and way easier than the "old school trucks" with no cameras.
Not sure if all the trim levels are like that but you have a Lariat like mine - pretty sweet for connecting any trailer.

 

[bg226]

Take a look at the camera next time. The camera shows both the hitch and the trailer tongue regardless of trailer/boat size. You can put it right on the money regardless of the size of trailer. It even has a dashed black line guiding you in and showing you the curve based on the turn angle of the wheel. Just turn the wheel until the line touches the tongue and back up. It's pretty sweet and way easier than the "old school trucks" with no cameras.
Not sure if all the trim levels are like that but you have a Lariat like mine - pretty sweet for connecting any trailer.

Oh yeah, I did use it to connect the trailer. Definitely the easier part of the job.

 

[Adventureboy]

Oh yeah, I did use it to connect the trailer. Definitely the easier part of the job.

I haven't used the trailer assist. Had it on my 2018 and put the stickers on one of my trailers but..... no, I just turn the wheel the right way to begin with. I've been backing trailers for 45 years so the knob is wasted on me. (Interpret as old fart).

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