Dream Tow Truck !

[Pjlightning]

While range may be an issue,
At the risk of stating the obvious, This truck is amazing at towing.

Just pulled a 5,000 lb boat and trailer through the rolling hills of northwest Connecticut, and the lightning was a dream to drive with that weight behind it. Up some very steep grades, and around twisting turns,the torque and power of this truck cannot be overstated. So quiet and effortless.

I was almost sad to unhook the trailer at my destination!

went 150 miles and started with a 100% charge, and ended at 40%.
Not too shabby I thought.

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[Aminorjourney]

Clearly you are wrong. We’ve all seen how Tyler Hoover only got 30 miles at 2 mph towing a little old truck…

And those folks at transport Evolved “claiming” to tow a car with an F150 all the way to Colorado from Portland. Clearly they’d still be stuck at the side of the road.
I bet you just towed it with your dialog and moved the f150 lightning in there for a photo…

Roflol. Yes, that was just satire. I had to deal with a bunch of “your truck can’t tow” comments on our YouTube channel.

I can’t believe there are people out there so determined to bad mouth the best F150 Ford has made.

I’m so glad your pricing the haters wrong.

It’s a great tow truck, isn’t it?

 

[Silenze]

Clearly you are wrong. We’ve all seen how Tyler Hoover only got 30 miles at 2 mph towing a little old truck…

And those folks at transport Evolved “claiming” to tow a car with an F150 all the way to Colorado from Portland. Clearly they’d still be stuck at the side of the road.
I bet you just towed it with your dialog and moved the f150 lightning in there for a photo…

Roflol. Yes, that was just satire. I had to deal with a bunch of “your truck can’t tow” comments on our YouTube channel.

I can’t believe there are people out there so determined to bad mouth the best F150 Ford has made.

I’m so glad your pricing the haters wrong.

It’s a great tow truck, isn’t it?

The OP has an extended range truck. Youtube Man had a standard range truck.
YMMV when towing

 

[Tony Burgh]

Clearly you are wrong. We’ve all seen how Tyler Hoover only got 30 miles at 2 mph towing a little old truck…

And those folks at transport Evolved “claiming” to tow a car with an F150 all the way to Colorado from Portland. Clearly they’d still be stuck at the side of the road.
I bet you just towed it with your dialog and moved the f150 lightning in there for a photo…

Roflol. Yes, that was just satire. I had to deal with a bunch of “your truck can’t tow” comments on our YouTube channel.

I can’t believe there are people out there so determined to bad mouth the best F150 Ford has made.

I’m so glad your pricing the haters wrong.

It’s a great tow truck, isn’t it?

Gladys and Marvin were right. Believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear. That’s my philosophy concerning the Lightning on this forum (see) and YouTube (hear).

 

[lancersrock]

While range may be an issue,
At the risk of stating the obvious, This truck is amazing at towing.

Just pulled a 5,000 lb boat and trailer through the rolling hills of northwest Connecticut, and the lightning was a dream to drive with that weight behind it. Up some very steep grades, and around twisting turns,the torque and power of this truck cannot be overstated. So quiet and effortless.

I was almost sad to unhook the trailer at my destination!

went 150 miles and started with a 100% charge, and ended at 40%.
Not too shabby I thought.

so if you had about 40% left was the GOM showing about 100-120 of range left? If so that would be pretty great! what were the average speeds like? I wonder if a boats general aero dynamics prevent it from being as bad something like a camper. I may be wrong but i figure weight is less of a concern vs aero on a trailer.

 

[RainorshinePNW]

Nicely done! I think it just reinforces the aerodynamics aspect. I towed for the first time last weekend, a 7k GVWR 2 horse trailer (full of hay) that's basically a giant block- 9 ft tall and about 15 ft long. Mostly 70 mph on the freeway for ~50 miles each way. Charged to 80% at an EA station and GOM forecast 120 miles. Up and back to the same charger and got there with about 20 miles/~10% range left.

 

[lightspeed]

Yeah that boat shape looks relatively slippery compared to a RVs front flat wall. Plus, he was probably going relatively slow given the rolling hills description. Towing locally at lowish speeds gives pretty good range overall.

 

[HaroldCal]

Local towing at surface-street speeds is where this thing is really going to shine. At non-highway speeds, the aero is far less relevant, so much less of a hit to range.

 

[Pjlightning]

so if you had about 40% left was the GOM showing about 100-120 of range left? If so that would be pretty great! what were the average speeds like? I wonder if a boats general aero dynamics prevent it from being as bad something like a camper. I may be wrong but i figure weight is less of a concern vs aero on a trailer.

thats exactly right - I had 120 miles left once I unhooked the trailer and the truck readjusted the range.

I was on back roads mostly, so average speed was around 40mph, though I was on the highway for a little stretch too, doing 60ish.

I hardly knew I was towing anything,
- the silence was deafening .

My old ‘18 ICE f150 would have been bearing down hard to get up those steep pitches.

And from a dead stop, to have the lightning pull that weight straight uphill, with no hint of strain - really Cool stuff.
With an EV, I guess I was expecting it, but driving it and feeling it in action - I never want to tow with anything else. So smooth……

of course I don’t go the distances towing that others do. But I’ll take it !

 

[Pjlightning]

Clearly you are wrong. We’ve all seen how Tyler Hoover only got 30 miles at 2 mph towing a little old truck…

And those folks at transport Evolved “claiming” to tow a car with an F150 all the way to Colorado from Portland. Clearly they’d still be stuck at the side of the road.
I bet you just towed it with your dialog and moved the f150 lightning in there for a photo…

Roflol. Yes, that was just satire. I had to deal with a bunch of “your truck can’t tow” comments on our YouTube channel.

I can’t believe there are people out there so determined to bad mouth the best F150 Ford has made.

I’m so glad your pricing the haters wrong.

It’s a great tow truck, isn’t it?

indeed ! Quite a feat of engineering! Love it ! ( and loved watching all your videos - gave me inspiration that I could do this! )

 

[Aminorjourney]

The OP has an extended range truck. Youtube Man had a standard range truck.
YMMV when towing

‘‘Twas a bit of satire

 

[RedLightning86]

With a silent truck pulling in the NE right now, I bet that was a gorgeous drive, too, with all the Fall colors

And glad to see it can haul a decent weight better when it is more aerodynamic. Can’t wait to receive my Lightning next month!

 

[Joneii]

I read another report from someone pulling a pop-up type camper and they got similar efficiency results. The picture looks like that boat doesn’t stick up too much above the truck. I think if you can keep what you’re towing lower and narrower than the truck (preferably lower than the tailgate) you will get really reasonable results. I towed an Airstream (25’, 7300lbs, 8.5’ wide, and 9.5’ tall) for 700 miles and averaged 1.2 m/kW. I did a bit better on the back roads going slower (plus they are prettier) and more like 1.0 at highway speeds.
Overall I agree that it is a great towing machine and hope the infrastructure improves to the point that we don’t have charging black holes. I liked it enough that we sold the Ram 2500 with the Cummins that used to perform this duty. It is so much more relaxing to travel in the Lightning.

 

[RickKeen]

Just wanted to point out that towing a boat may not be as aerodynamic as one might assume. Boats are designed to be hydrodynamic when they are skimming on the top of the water. Little thought is given to the aerodynamic efficiency (unless its a sailboat).

Sure, the front is pointy, but its big. The typical runabout is going to be 8 or 8.5 feet wide which is wider than the truck. And on the trailer, the boat sits up high with the windshield extending above even the cab line of the truck. Many boats have a tower, or bimini or canopy that extends even higher up and will need to get dragged through the air. If the cockpit of the boat is not enclosed by a tight cover, the interior of the boat is a very irregular shape. The back of boats are also generally just squared off which creates a lot of drag.
Unlike a camper or enclosed trailer that also aerodynamically somewhat encloses the undercarriage, the boat trailer itself will be fully exposed to the airflow under the boat - all those cross beams, struts, rollers, and even the fenders, wheels, and spare tire will be dragging through the full airflow.

 

[dpause]

I just towed a 22’ pontoon on a 75 degree day with no hills and used 62% battery to go 65 miles in my Lariat extended range. Love the truck for daily use but an abysmal towing experience.

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