Truth or Bunk? Claims Lightning can't handle the tow outside city limits

[3LCD]

https://www.motorious.com/articles/features-3/ford-lightning-towing-test/

Curious on others thoughts on this and figured I'd share it

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[merek]

Any regular towing beyond 100 miles is not a good fit for the Lightning. This isn't news, and anyone with a brain could have said as much a year ago.

 

[Kev12345]

I was expecting to tow a travel trailer more than 100 miles.

 

[vandy1981]

https://www.motorious.com/articles/features-3/ford-lightning-towing-test/

Curious on others thoughts on this and figured I'd share it

This video has been discussed ad nauseum in another thread.

Would not waste your time reading the article linked by the OP.

 

[3LCD]

This video has been discussed ad nauseum in another thread.

Would not waste your time reading the article linked by the OP.

Didn't realize this was a lazy article based on the video.. My bad.

 

[EVTruckGuy]

I was expecting to tow a travel trailer more than 100 miles.

I think that's going to be a very frustrating endeavor.

There are so many barriers to prevent the Lightning, or any other currently produced EV, from being good at long distance towing.

Charging stalls aren't pull though (will need to unhook trailer at many places to charger), the range the Lightning will drop by at least 50-60% towing most travel trailers, you will have to spend time meticulously planning your charging stops before leaving (even more so than when road tripping in n EV without a trailer), and the list goes on. These points have been addressed in multiple threads. The same discussions have been hashes out on Rivian forums as well.

A few YouTube reviewers have confirmed you really won't be able to go more than 100 miles between charging stops while towing a travel trailer.

It can be done on occasion when needed, but it cannot do it well.

 

[Firestop]

I was expecting to tow a travel trailer more than 100 miles.

You may (just a little more) depending on the size of the air dam/sail you plan to drag behind you……??

 

[Easycamper]

I’ve had that shared with me by a couple of people on Facebook who know I’m interested in towing with the Lightning. No surprise really that it’s not a great long-distance cross-country machine with a big camper in tow.

Still perfectly fine for my use which is 98% NOT going on long-distance cross-country trips with a camper in tow.

So it might be a bit inconvenient to charge once or twice per year with the trailer attached. But it saves me the inconvenience of visiting the gas station 20-30 times per year. Still a win.

 

[Theo1000]

So it might be a bit inconvenient to charge once or twice per year with the trailer attached. But it saves me the inconvenience of visiting the gas station 20-30 times per year. Still a win.

Hah! More like twice a week with my Tundra at a minimum. The ole 9-11 mpg in city dead weight. $140 a fillup in current prices.

Surely don't miss it.

 

[metroshot]

Don't you just love clickbait video/reviews ??

I never tow anything. Maybe a Home Depot / Lowes pickup item.

Looking forward to my "short" 230 mile range Lariat...

 

[beatle]

From the article:

But Ford has been boasting about how with the larger chassis in the F-150 Lightning, it has that much more juice so you can really go out there and not have to worry about running the battery dry.​

​

Literally nobody has ever said that. It doesn't even make sense. "Journalists" love sensationalized headlines because they get clicks from people taking the bait, not because they actually inform.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

From the article:

But Ford has been boasting about how with the larger chassis in the F-150 Lightning, it has that much more juice so you can really go out there and not have to worry about running the battery dry.​

​

Literally nobody has ever said that. It doesn't even make sense. "Journalists" love sensationalized headlines because they get clicks from people taking the bait, not because they actually inform.

Yeah, they have, in so many words if you've been paying attention. The long range has one of the biggest batteries in the EV world, and the unladen range is excellent, towing "capacity" is strong, just with range limitations - and Ford has been crowing about this for the last year, with tons of marketing pics and videos towing big boats, campers, heavy construction equipment, horse trailers, etc. - all stuff previously the domain of Super Duty trucks Even for a contractor doing local jobs with a bobcat or backhoe, or pull a trailer to a paint job, plumbing job, carpentry job, etc., it will do just fine. It will tow my 12'6" tall 9,000-lb boat with no problem from the Boynton Beach boat ramp to the service guy in Delray Beach, and back. However, it will be a challenge to tow the same rig from Florida to Virginia, but will be an adventure to do so, albeit with planning and added time.

 

[beatle]

That's a stretch at best (no pun intended). Whenever Ford mentions towing and range, they quickly shift to the navigation and guess-o-meter feature that adjusts your range estimate to reflect the range while towing. I don't think I've ever heard them say "sure, tow all day on one charge, go out into the middle of nowhere!" or that this is a 1:1 replacement for the ICE F150. In fact, Farley even specifically mentions in an interview that the Lightning isn't for everyone. Besides, the article erroneously mentions the "larger chassis" which has no bearing on range and is actually not any different from the ICE F150.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

That's a stretch at best (no pun intended). Whenever Ford mentions towing and range, they quickly shift to the navigation and guess-o-meter feature that adjusts your range estimate to reflect the range while towing. I don't think I've ever heard them say "sure, tow all day on one charge, go out into the middle of nowhere!" or that this is a 1:1 replacement for the ICE F150. In fact, Farley even specifically mentions in an interview that the Lightning isn't for everyone. Besides, the article erroneously mentions the "larger chassis" which has no bearing on range and is actually not any different from the ICE F150.

Agreed, but I'm a glutton for punishment, only need to move the boat long distance two times/year, so might just do it in 100-mile increments with 10-15 hours of charging to get that done. Not ideal and certainly twice as long as using one of my other trucks, but they aren't an option given the limits at my Florida community, so I either keep the PowerBoost and sell the Lightning, or put up with the downside, which really isn't so much - the reality is the we spend that much screen time, so I can just do that during charge stops using the workstation, take naps using the lie-flat seat, etc. My wife actually likes EV travel better than motorcycle or regular ICE vehicle travel because it is so much more relaxed.

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