Tow Mode vs Regular Mode Mileage

[Fuego14]

Hi,
I’m getting ready to tow my 16’ single axel camping trailer on a short 100 mile trip. It is very light and I can wheel it freely in my driveway by hand. It’s that light.

When I put the truck in tow mode it basically cuts my range in half. But, the trailer is so light, I have a hard time believing that it would have that much impact on my range.

Question: Can I just tow it in regular mode?
Will the range be significantly different?

Thank you.
Pat

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[TaxmanHog]

Leave it in tow mode, also create a specific trailer profile, your truck will learn the actual energy needs for that particular trailer and should show more optimistic ranges in time.

 

[niall]

You should set up a trailer and tow it and truck will adjust everything accordingly and will heat or cool the truck components .
It doesn’t matter about the weight it’s the height of the trailer at speeds will cause loss of range and it’s just under half on highways

 

[Fuego14]

You should set up a trailer and tow it and truck will adjust everything accordingly and will heat or cool the truck components .
It doesn’t matter about the weight it’s the height of the trailer at speeds will cause loss of range and it’s just under half on highways

Thank you - this is all great info - I will set up the profile for the trailer.

Pat

 

[jdmackes]

I'd setup the trailer like everyone has said, but it seems to take a long time to adjust the values. I'd drive it around a bit and see what kind of miles/kw you're getting and go off of that. Whenever I hook up my travel trailer the truck still says I can only go 120 miles or so, but I get 1.7 miles per kw so I know it's really closer to 150-170.

 

[Fuego14]

I'd setup the trailer like everyone has said, but it seems to take a long time to adjust the values. I'd drive it around a bit and see what kind of miles/kw you're getting and go off of that. Whenever I hook up my travel trailer the truck still says I can only go 120 miles or so, but I get 1.7 miles per kw so I know it's really closer to 150-170.

Great, thank you.

 

[Heliian]

Normal mode and watch your consumption trip for averaging.
Or tow/haul mode, probably won't make a difference, might even be worse efficiency.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Until you really understand the dynamics of your camper/trailer relative to your Lightning I encourage the appropriate drive mode.

 

[RickLightning]

Hi,
I’m getting ready to tow my 16’ single axel camping trailer on a short 100 mile trip. It is very light and I can wheel it freely in my driveway by hand. It’s that light.

When I put the truck in tow mode it basically cuts my range in half. But, the trailer is so light, I have a hard time believing that it would have that much impact on my range.

Question: Can I just tow it in regular mode?
Will the range be significantly different?

Thank you.
Pat

axle..

To be clear, that is not your range, that is a prediction. When you setup the trailer, plug in, then ensure it sees the connected trailer (if not, select it in settings), it will start accumulating history for that trailer. As you drive, the range prediction will fluctuate as it adjusts.

By using the Trailer profile, all the poor efficiency you get by towing goes into that bucket. Then, when you aren't towing, the efficiency prediction ignores that history.

Tow/Haul is irrelevant as far as prediction.

When you unplug, make sure it goes back to No Trailer. Unplugging with the truck running may help. If it doesn't, select No Trailer, may have to do it more than once.

Also remember that the efficiency you get in winter is not the efficiency you will get in summer. And if it is windy, that will dramatically impact efficiency too.

 

[Fuego14]

axle..

To be clear, that is not your range, that is a prediction. When you setup the trailer, plug in, then ensure it sees the connected trailer (if not, select it in settings), it will start accumulating history for that trailer. As you drive, the range prediction will fluctuate as it adjusts.

By using the Trailer profile, all the poor efficiency you get by towing goes into that bucket. Then, when you aren't towing, the efficiency prediction ignores that history.

Tow/Haul is irrelevant as far as prediction.

When you unplug, make sure it goes back to No Trailer. Unplugging with the truck running may help. If it doesn't, select No Trailer, may have to do it more than once.

Also remember that the efficiency you get in winter is not the efficiency you will get in summer. And if it is windy, that will dramatically impact efficiency too.

Thank, great explanation. I’m learning a lot about my Lightning on this forum.

 

[Fuego14]

Until you really understand the dynamics of your camper/trailer relative to your Lightning I encourage the appropriate drive mode.

Thank you.

 

[Fuego14]

Normal mode and watch your consumption trip for averaging.
Or tow/haul mode, probably won't make a difference, might even be worse efficiency.

Thank you.

 

[21st Century Truck]

I've towed our teardrop camper all over the country, coast to coast+, with our Lightning.

BLUF: yes DO use the TOW mode. There are unseen software and vehicle sway & wheel force factors that are active in TOW which aren't active in NORMAL.

Weight of the towed trailer practically doesn't matter for the Lightning. Air resistance matters, a lot.
As a result of air resistance, speed while towing also matters, and the impact of speed on mileage changes logarithmically - the faster, the worse and above a certain speed the increase is geometric and not in a straight line. I found that below about 62 - 63 mph the towing range tax seems negligible. However, anything above 64 - 65 mph eats the remaining range. At a sustained 80 - 85 mph... forget it

Your profile doesn't give Your location... so if there are mountains (steep inclines) in Your camping trips, that also eats more range, when towing and overall, on any EV. However, this is a different loss than on a gasoline / diesel vehicle. On internal combustion vehicles, the elevation eats range available power, as altitude = less oxygen to burn, which means the fuel mixture gets richer with altitude. An EV doesn't burn anything so it doesn't care if You're driving at 14,000 feet... but an EV will absolutely feel the steepness of the incline while getting there. So the steepness of the mountain incline, added to the air resistance towing tax = significantly less range overall. Of course You'll get some back in descent, but not all of it.

Hope this is useful info for You.

 

[21st Century Truck]

I've towed our teardrop camper all over the country, coast to coast+, with our Lightning.

BLUF: yes DO use the TOW mode. There are unseen software and vehicle sway & wheel force factors that are active in TOW which aren't active in NORMAL.

Weight of the towed trailer practically doesn't matter for the Lightning. Air resistance matters, a lot.
As a result of air resistance, speed while towing also matters, and the impact of speed on mileage changes logarithmically - the faster, the worse and above a certain speed the increase is geometric and not in a straight line. I found that below about 62 - 63 mph the towing range tax seems negligible. However, anything above 64 - 65 mph eats the remaining range. At a sustained 80 - 85 mph... forget it

Your profile doesn't give Your location... so if there are mountains (steep inclines) in Your camping trips, that also eats more range, when towing and overall, on any EV. However, this is a different loss than on a gasoline / diesel vehicle. On internal combustion vehicles, the elevation eats range available power, as altitude = less oxygen to burn, which means the fuel mixture gets richer with altitude. An EV doesn't burn anything so it doesn't care if You're driving at 14,000 feet... but an EV will absolutely feel the steepness of the incline while getting there. So the steepness of the mountain incline, added to the air resistance towing tax = significantly less range overall. Of course You'll get some back in descent, but not all of it.

As You discover the quirks of Your Lightning when towing something, when in doubt about the remaining range, slow down. Even wayyy down. Getting there, even with a delay is far better than not getting there

Hope this is useful info for You.

 

[Fuego14]

Thank you for the great inof. I will also update my location. I live in Los Angeles and I'll be only beach camping at sea level no grades.

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