Limited Lightning Tow Range

[Stubblejumper]

The only articles I've read suggesting that big of a drop in low temps have been written by stock sites populated by Tesla short sellers. Most of the customers in Norway (where it's a best-seller) report a much lower drop in range.

Here you go

https://www.fleetforward.com/359666/how-extreme-cold-and-heat-affect-ev-range

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[Larry Arizona]

Ouch, that is awful towing range. That is a deal killer for me.

I owned an EV before and they are ok. Range anxiety is real and cold weather effects are real.

None of the EV trucks coming to market will have sufficient towing range.

 

[Brian Head Yankee]

Ouch, that is awful towing range. That is a deal killer for me.

I owned an EV before and they are ok. Range anxiety is real and cold weather effects are real.

None of the EV trucks coming to market will have sufficient towing range.

Insufficient towing range to tow what and where? I'm curious about your comment.

 

[Larry Arizona]

8000# boat trailer to and from the lake.

if car and driver estimated range is under 100 miles, that is very limiting.

plus what charging network currently allows Ford products and accommodates truck and trailers?

I am sure a few exist, but Tesla’s superchargers do not accommodate a drive through arrangement for truck and trailers.

My typical summer boat trips are from metro Detroit to the traverse city area. 225 miles one way. That is appx 2 charges to get there towing boat and gear. Not even sure there is a charger between Detroit and TC, much less 2 chargers.

I think the lightning is cool, but as far as a legit ICE pick up replacement, it has its limitations, and that is fine.

Interesting read for EV towing perspective...... and this is written as a positive example. If this is positive.....yikes
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...-a-tesla-model-x-thank-elon-for-superchargers

 

[Brian Head Yankee]

I am not a tree hugger but I can work with one ICE and one EV at my household. The F150 is the first EV that excites me.

 

[Griddlez]

Even if the range while towing is as bad as these sites are currently guessing at - is that even that bad compared to the gas counterparts? Doing some looking into the eco-boost V6 I am seeing many comments saying MPG while towing at near capacity is in the 7-9 MPG range. Given a 23 gallon tank, that puts you at about 161-207 range.

If the lightning's range was 40-60% of 300 while towing close to capacity.. that puts you at about 120-180 miles. Very comparable to the lower end specifications, with the smallest fuel tank, of the eco-boost version. Obviously that's the lowest specs and you can fill up with gas faster than you can fast charge but strictly range wise it's pretty close with the low-end ranges of its gas counterparts.

So drive 1.25-2 hours then charge and then drive some more. Slower but doable and plus you get all the benefits of what an EV provides over an ICE. I feel that can work for many, many people, me included.

Other considerations - how have the computers and motors been tuned to tow vs any other (existing) EV available? This 40-60% data is coming from what a Tesla or some very aero-dynamic (not a brick) EV that was not designed with work-towing in mind. This thing was built ground up expecting to tow. Maybe a good chance for better towing figures vs what other EVs have done previously, better than the 40-60% range numbers?

 

[Larry Arizona]

A solar roof and bed cover would be like using a garden hose to put out a forest fire.
A standard solar panel on a sunny day can produce appx 1 kw per day. You would need about a 100 solar panels to charge a lightning each day.

https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/how-many-solar-panels-to-charge-an-electric-car/

 

[Blainestang]

It is one issue that the range may be cut to <150 miles, but I would ALSO worry about when you find that charging station, how the hell do you get into the spaces without unhitching? You may be double disadvantaged in that you have to 1) get to a charge station and dedicate up to an hour, and 2) find a way to unhitch safely in a lot or side street, drive to the charger, wait, and hitch up again.

We're definitely at the point with EVs where we still need to look at our use cases and routes carefully.

If your tow route is relatively consistent, here's what prospective buyers should do:

-Go on "Plugshare" and filter for the CCS/SAE plug (ONLY!)
-Confirm there's one every ~100 miles or so along your route
-Look at the pictures people have added to Plugshare of the site to see if they're set up as pull-through or not.
-Check the charge rate of the chargers at the site. 150kW+ is ideal, 50kW is going to take a while.

-For a little extra direction/estimation, go to ABetterRoutePlanner site and plug in your route and tell the system you're driving a Lightning (it's already on option on there). It will map the whole route for you, tell you how long you need to charge, etc.

For people who have owned EVs, this is nothing new, but for people who are newly considering them, it's not obvious how one might figure out if the Lightning will work for them, so hopefully this helps someone!

If anyone needs help with this or has questions, let me know!

 

[Peanutsparisinsyrup]

So I registered for the forum because the YouTube engineering master himself has an explanation about the physical limitation EVs have with towing. The problem is independent of the vehicle involved and is more of a function of the thing having a rechargable battery.

 

[SBrentnall]

Here you go

https://www.fleetforward.com/359666/how-extreme-cold-and-heat-affect-ev-range

That's a handy tool! At the moment, the data set (4200 cars TOTAL, across all makes) is too small to make accurate predictions for specific models, but I've bookmarked it and will keep checking as their data set increases.

 

[ChasingCoral]

My typical summer boat trips are from metro Detroit to the traverse city area. 225 miles one way. That is appx 2 charges to get there towing boat and gear. Not even sure there is a charger between Detroit and TC, much less 2 chargers.

Sure. Charging in Midland and Cadillac.
Try A Better Route Planner.

 

[daemonic3]

We're definitely at the point with EVs where we still need to look at our use cases and routes carefully.

If your tow route is relatively consistent, here's what prospective buyers should do:

-Go on "Plugshare" and filter for the CCS/SAE plug (ONLY!)
-Confirm there's one every ~100 miles or so along your route
-Look at the pictures people have added to Plugshare of the site to see if they're set up as pull-through or not.
-Check the charge rate of the chargers at the site. 150kW+ is ideal, 50kW is going to take a while.

-For a little extra direction/estimation, go to ABetterRoutePlanner site and plug in your route and tell the system you're driving a Lightning (it's already on option on there). It will map the whole route for you, tell you how long you need to charge, etc.

For people who have owned EVs, this is nothing new, but for people who are newly considering them, it's not obvious how one might figure out if the Lightning will work for them, so hopefully this helps someone!

If anyone needs help with this or has questions, let me know!

I was thinking about this more while camping over the weekend.

The last few places I've gone camping have been up hill getting there. I get maybe 7.5-8mpg getting there, but get it all back one the trip home. Sacramento to Reno for example is a super easy 2hr trip by car (130 miles, over a 7.2k ft summit) but I don't even think I could make it on one charge in the Lightning while towing, which is very sad.

Then I had the more general thought of, let's say you make it to your campground. Now do you want part of your vacation to be finding the nearest place to charge and sit with your truck, or else you will never make it home?? That's crazy stress and planning to add to what is supposed to be relaxing.

Then I thought more (yeah I know) about it. Maybe if you have a 50A hookup site, you can use the proper adapter to charge your truck and power your rv from the truck?!? I wonder if the Lightning will allow simultaneous charging and "generator" mode because THAT would be perfect! Of course for boondocking you need to arrive with plenty of banked juice, there's just no way around it.

All this thinking just reinforced that I made the right (current) decision with the powerboost as my daily driver and tow vehicle. The Lightning is so cool and so much capability but cannot compete as a tow vehicle to distant places or remote campgrounds.

 

[Pedaldude]

I think they need to adjust their marketing.

If I were in the market for an Electric car, of all the options available right now the F150 Lightning is the coolest looking BY FAR and THAT bar is pretty damn low.

So you can't "tow" with it... big deal!

Would you rather be driving the embarrassingly hideous Mach E or the Chevy Bolt?

Exactly! Price/range on Bolt is similar to the Base Lightning's numbers:

If they are going down the path of offering the Lightning as a full fledged replacement for the ICE F150, showing it towing a double axle trailer and fail to provide an adequate charging network, Lightning will be a loser just because of that one detail that it shares with every other battery electric vehicle. Had they come out and said flat out, that it's not meant to replace your F150 with a gasoline engine but be an alternative to the battery electric sedans being used now and the battery electric trucks on the horizon, it would have been a lot more realistic.

Also, a plug in hybrid based on the Lightning, with a very small ICE engine and tank for highway cruising would have been more impactful, however not as much of something to brag about because hybrids are considered old fashioned by now.

 

[Larry Arizona]

Sure. Charging in Midland and Cadillac.
Try A Better Route Planner.

Personally I will stick with a 36 gallon tank F150 and save the extra 3-4 hours charging time, weekends are already short enough.

 

[Brian Head Yankee]

Good, you made a decision.

Terry,
If you are going up HWY 50, there are charge stations in Strawberry on HWY 50 at the general store where the VW bus sits. I don't travel on 80 but you should be able to charge at Auburn and make it to north shore.

I am lucky to own a RV as my camping tool.

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