Towing With An Electric Truck - Is It Cheaper Than Gas? Rivian R1T vs Ford F-150 PowerBoost

[Formerly]

TBH, I don't really blame them. Not that there would be a lot of competition for something that I assume would normally be rented from a dealership. I wonder if you could get more range with a perfectly tuned motor? Unlike a normal generator, which would have a range, you could tune the engine for a very narrow power/efficiency band - assuming it is worth the cost to do so.

This is how the Edison logging truck is designed.

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[wilmerfjohnson]

To answer the original question - is it cheaper? In my use case, Y E S !!! I'm sure there are 18000 ways that this is not a 'fair' comparison, but here is what I've learned towing. Every summer I need to tow a 7000# high top enclosed utility trailer about 14 times. Drive to where the trailer is stored, tow it to various sites between 45-50 miles from where the trailer is stored, drop the trailer at the site for a week, then pick it up and return it to storage. No long-distance road trips. With the 2010 5.4L F-350, each loop burns about $60 in gasoline. The SR Lightning does the same loop using $22 worth of electricity (that is charging at home, not L3 on the road.)

So you are saying - how does he do it with an SR? I leave home at 100%. When I get to the trailer storage site, I can L2 charge while I am doing PTI on the trailer (and chatting with various people at the storage site) - this gives me about an hour on 24 amp L2. I'm not sitting around waiting for the truck to charge, I'd be there for an hour anyway so I plug in.

The economics work in favor of the EV if you can complete your tow & get back home (or to the shop) to charge.

 

[davehu]

To answer the original question - is it cheaper? In my use case, Y E S !!! I'm sure there are 18000 ways that this is not a 'fair' comparison, but here is what I've learned towing. Every summer I need to tow a 7000# high top enclosed utility trailer about 14 times. Drive to where the trailer is stored, tow it to various sites between 45-50 miles from where the trailer is stored, drop the trailer at the site for a week, then pick it up and return it to storage. No long-distance road trips. With the 2010 5.4L F-350, each loop burns about $60 in gasoline. The SR Lightning does the same loop using $22 worth of electricity (that is charging at home, not L3 on the road.)

So you are saying - how does he do it with an SR? I leave home at 100%. When I get to the trailer storage site, I can L2 charge while I am doing PTI on the trailer (and chatting with various people at the storage site) - this gives me about an hour on 24 amp L2. I'm not sitting around waiting for the truck to charge, I'd be there for an hour anyway so I plug in.

The economics work in favor of the EV if you can complete your tow & get back home (or to the shop) to charge.

agreed.. If you have to use DCFC's you won't be saving money on gas.

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