A Lightning Platinum boasts 300 miles range not towing anything.
A Ford F-150 Lightning owner shared on the “Ford F-150 EV Lightning Owner’s Group” how, when he hooked up his triple axle trailer and wake boat to his electric truck with a full charge, he only managed to make it a full 58-miles.
Check out a screenshot of his post below.
Although the Lightning owner does not give specifics, a bit of Googling brings up some relevant facts.
The boat in the picture is a Supra SE 450 Wake Boat with a dry weight of 6,150 pounds.
Typical triple-axle trailers weigh between 1,300 and 1,600 pounds.
Without gas, other fluids, and miscellaneous items, he was towing at least 7,450 pounds.
According to Ford,
“The F-150 Lightning can tow up to an impressive 10,000 lbs, specifically when it’s equipped with the Extended Range battery, with a max payload of up to 2,000 with the basic battery pack. “
In the comments he mentions his Lightning is the top-of-the-line Platinum trim which comes with the upgraded 131 kWh battery pack (as opposed to the standard 98 kWh one.)
His towing experience should come as no surprise as towing tests with Ford’s electric truck have been making the rounds.
According to at least one other Lightning Platinum owner towing a 6,000 pound Airstream earlier this year, he noticed a 50 percent reduction in range (.8 miles/kWh.)
That works out to a 104-mile range if he ran his battery to zero.
TFL truck, also in a Lightning with the bigger battery towing a less aerodynamic but comparably heavy 6,000-pound trailer cried uncle and pulled into a charging station with 9 percent battery left. They made it 88 miles.
TFL claims they could’ve squeezed out 9 more miles on what was left.
When our wake boat towing Lightning owner was asked why he decided to tow a boat that far, he responded, “I live 28 miles from the lake.”
It’s fair to assume if he had the standard range F-150 Lightning, the trip would’ve been a no-go.
It’s worth noting Lightning Platinums start out at around $91,000.
Gas powered Ford’s F-150, even with the 2.7L Ecoboost (arguably the Lightning Platinum EV’s equivalent when it comes to pure towing) can also tow upwards of 10,100 pounds but is considerably cheaper at around $33,000.
With a 7,000 pound trailer, TFL Truck was able to eke out 8.7 MPG with the 2.7 Ecoboost which, even with F-150’s smaller 23-gallon fuel tank, gives it a 200-mile range.
It’s reasonable to presume a similar range between 175-200 miles towing a slightly heavier, less aerodynamic load (e.g. a wake boat.)
An F-150 with the larger 3.5L Ecoboost, 3.5L Ecoboost+Hybrid, or 5.0L V8 all would’ve made quick work of that 7,100+ pound wake boat+trailer combo at a considerable discount (compared to a $90,000 electric Lightning.)
It’s clear, while the F-150 Lightning can tow as much as a regular gas truck, unless you live close to your lake of choice, it would behoove you to choose a gas truck when towing heavy.
Why doesn’t he install a 20Kw diesel generator on the bed?
Must if not all EVs will not allow you to charge while moving if that is what you are implying. If you are meaning to charge the truck whole he is on the lake, it would only add to the load giving less range and kind of defeat the purpose of having an EV. While they are continually improving, EVs just aren’t made for this yet. It is another big reason hydrogen vehicles are superior with current technology.
Exactly, Use the right tools for the right job. He should have bought a diesel or gas truck, Knowing he had a huge boat to tow a combined 60 miles. Common sense tells me if I make frequent long trips do not buy an EV. People makes stupid, bonehead decisions then complain.
Wouldn’t that take him back to the gas station? So why did he go electric then ? Generators gas or diesel uses fossil fuels
Gotta stop at the gas station to fill up the boat anyways
What would AOC think about that now!!?
This is exactly what I was thinking!
With California banning both ICE vehicles and gas generators, pretty soon all of their light trucks are going to be diesel-electric. You will need a $10,000 generator on your $91,0000 truck to go more than 60 miles with a load ?
Really, most people won’t need the generator most of the time. Renting generators from a location with the equipment to drop them into the bed of light truck could be a good business!
this makes me laugh, who would of guessed we are nowhere near actually substituting electric vehicles for gas powered ones.
And they want us all driving these. Plus who can afford 90,000.00? One car charge is equivalent to 25 refrigerators running at one time. Who can afford the electric bill ?
If you are strictly talking trucks, fine. But car/suv bev are much cheaper to run and have shown to be cheaper to own as well (model 3 Tesla vs Honda Accord- depreciation , fuel and maintenance on the accord being higher than the Tesla. I get about 3 miles/kWh. That works out to about $10/300 miles. The accord would be about $20/300. No oil changes, timing belts, brake pads are virtually untouched as most braking is regenerative. I have had to add wiper fluid I guess.
I towed my 5,000 lb wake boat with standard range battery pro model with an estimated range of 130 miles and averaged 1.1mi/ kwh
Seems like his range was drastically reduced.
Im thinking Diesel engine after reading that! Would like to have seen it in this comparison! But for those that choose TFL, That are not going to pull a trailer, 300 mile range is good and is only the beginning era of EV, it will get better and it is an awesome beautiful truck, i bet its fast too!
Get rid of the boat? You buy a low/zero emissions vehicle, and tow a gas guzzling machine with no emissions standards of any kind to meet…
Maybe he bought it for other reasons than low/zero emissions
Yes, this prole should stay in his pod, eat bugs, and thank Leonardo DiCaprio for warning him about clah-mutt catastrophe from his Gulfstream enroute to his Pacific island.
On the other hand, why don’t you reduce your carbon footprint, maybe by guzzling some 93 octane. We’ll buy popcorn pan-popped on a gas range.
When are these people gonna get it through their heads to treat these EV’s for what they are at this point in those evolution; a novelty for the rich and/or trendy. They don’t perform like a gas/diesel powered pick-up and that’s it! No excuse or complaining is going to change that. You bought what you bought, now live with it…
Come on man.
Here in the midwest everyone tows their camper or family boat “up north” for time at a favorite lake. Around 250 miles one way is normal. Would really make for a long friday night having to stop for an hour every 50 miles!!!
Gotta stop at the gas station to fill up the boat anyways