Since Ford dropped off an F-150 Lightning last Thursday, we’ve been putting it through its paces doing normal truck stuff. It picked up a 75-inch TV, hauled some landscaping accessories, and delivered people to places they were going.
But can it tow?
Well, we’re about to find out. As my wife forgot her laptop this morning and has apparently been …
Do you have any hills or inclines?
In reply to yupididit :
Have you been to Florida? ;)
I would expect the Lightning to suffer less towing in an urban environment or when there are hills because it can recapture energy that an ICE cannot. Florida interstate at a constant speed is probably the worst case.
yupididit said:Do you have any hills or inclines?
In Florida all of the uphills and downhills are emotional.
Early analysis: it tows BRILLIANTLY. Just not for very long.
JG Pasterjak said:Early analysis: it tows BRILLIANTLY. Just not for very long.
Do I need to pick you up?
Had to stop because this dumb cat wouldn't get out of my way.
David S. Wallens said:JG Pasterjak said:Early analysis: it tows BRILLIANTLY. Just not for very long.
Do I need to pick you up?
No, he'll be back in 3 or 4 hours after he charges it.
JG Pasterjak said:Had to stop because this dumb cat wouldn't get out of my way.
Flagler cat.
JG Pasterjak said:Early analysis: it tows BRILLIANTLY. Just not for very long.
about six and a half minutes, with a bitchin' guitar solo?
I was wondering how much not blasting Metallica at appropriate volume would add to the range, given the title.
What's 0-60 with the trailer hooked up?
David S. Wallens said:JG Pasterjak said:Had to stop because this dumb cat wouldn't get out of my way.
Flagler cat.
At least it wasnt a Flagler dog
Back on subject, JG how do you get the ducks to run on the tread mill to power your level 2 charger?
thatsnowinnebago said:What's 0-60 with the trailer hooked up?
Insane. This thing has power forever (for a limited time)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
When I go to Florida I rarely get to get out lol. I did drive throught there in 2021 but it was mostly night.
This thing would be perfect for me most of the time. I tow a 24' enclosed about 10 mi at a shot to do T&T about 5-10x a year. The other three a year are big tows but may be manageable with some planning on charging on the way. Hard to beat a paid off gas truck though 
stafford1500 said:Back on subject, JG how do you get the ducks to run on the tread mill to power your level 2 charger?
No need for that. Just need a windmill that withstands hurricane winds. Charge a giant house battery and then the truck from there.
Which version of the truck do you have? Regular range or long range? Pro, XLT, Lariat, or Platnium?
Toyman! said:Which version of the truck do you have? Regular range or long range? Pro, XLT, Lariat, or Platnium?
Get up, go outside, and do something. - Me, mostly talking to myself.
Extended range Lariat
Keith Tanner said:I would expect the Lightning to suffer less towing in an urban environment or when there are hills because it can recapture energy that an ICE cannot.
One thing that I've found interesting is that EV trucks seem to lose a greater percentage of their range when towing than ICE trucks do. My F-250 goes from 14-15 mpg unloaded to 10-11 when towing my big, heavy, aerodynamic brick of a trailer, call that around a 40% hit. Reports I've seen of Lightnings and Rivians sound more like a 60% hit.
I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that the EVs can't do regen on the trailer brakes?
stafford1500 said:Back on subject, JG how do you get the ducks to run on the tread mill to power your level 2 charger?
My napkin math shows it would take 14,075 duckpower to charge it, so you'd need a lot of tread mills.
I thought this thread was about this:
Which probably sucks at towing since they won't haul more than one medium-build buddy and a spare set of tires in the back, but might actually do a burnout with a trailer.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Keith Tanner said:I would expect the Lightning to suffer less towing in an urban environment or when there are hills because it can recapture energy that an ICE cannot.
One thing that I've found interesting is that EV trucks seem to lose a greater percentage of their range when towing than ICE trucks do. My F-250 goes from 14-15 mpg unloaded to 10-11 when towing my big, heavy, aerodynamic brick of a trailer, call that around a 40% hit. Reports I've seen of Lightnings and Rivians sound more like a 60% hit.
I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that the EVs can't do regen on the trailer brakes?
The problem is you're comparing to a vehicle that gets crap mileage to begin with. The ICE f15s do 20+ unloaded and 8-10 with an enclosed trailer, which is in the same ballpark of range loss.
As for 0-60, our 3.5eb could out accelerate most normal traffic to about 40mph while towing a 7k lb enclosed trailer, so I'd guess the lightning would do even better.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Keith Tanner said:I would expect the Lightning to suffer less towing in an urban environment or when there are hills because it can recapture energy that an ICE cannot.
One thing that I've found interesting is that EV trucks seem to lose a greater percentage of their range when towing than ICE trucks do. My F-250 goes from 14-15 mpg unloaded to 10-11 when towing my big, heavy, aerodynamic brick of a trailer, call that around a 40% hit. Reports I've seen of Lightnings and Rivians sound more like a 60% hit.
I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that the EVs can't do regen on the trailer brakes?
There's a limit to how fast vehicles can capture regen. It varies a bit depending on things like battery temp and state of charge, but I can certainly see how a towing pickup might have to rely on the wasteful friction brakes fairly often. My diesel has an engine brake that behaves like regen in terms of amount of decel available, and it's really only useful at highway speeds without the friction brakes. So yeah, that's a good theory.
You really need to do a proper apples-to-apples test to see how much range is lost. Like a gas F150 vs a Lightning with the same trailer, and separate the different driving modes (city, hilly, flat highway cruise). That would be interesting data to see.
Trailers with onboard batteries and their own regen capability would be interesting - camping trailers first.
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