Very interesting. I watched it this morning and didn’t find any part of it surprising. Moving a truck down the road is all about energy management, and EVs can only do their thing by being the most efficient thing rolling. Unsurprisingly, strapping a wind sail to the back of one dramatically changes the calculus. And they did a great job highlighting the charging problem with a trailer.

I’ve been saying it consistently that these trucks aren’t going to work for those who tow big things long distance. We can hope the F150 would do better in the same situation, but I don’t think it’s likely. It’ll be a great fit for getting my boat to the lake, though.

 

..... and for those of us that don't tow at all.

 

I too would love to see some real towing specs. If it's going to cut the range in half though, EV towing of a travel trailer isn't yet ready from prime time.

I do a lot of camping pulling a 6500lb trailer, 2 people, and toys (bikes, kayaks, etc). Mostly its a day's drive (400 miles or so) to a destination where we stay for a few days. Sometimes there's hookups but often there isn't (boondocking). Cant do that with an EV truck yet. I wouldnt even be able to get to a destination.

Other times its 3 days of driving from PA to FL with one night stops in state parks along the way and then a few days around at different parks around the state for 2 weeks and then head home. Often those parks do not have electric.

For campers like me, it does not sound like an EV is feasible until battery and charging technology improves by orders of magnitude.

 

I agree. There's a reason people tow with super-duties and not Priuses. It takes serious power to pull heavy trailers, and serious energy to pull them long distance.

But again, if you aren't trying to do those things, Lightning will be a great vehicle.

My current plan is a superduty and trailer, and either a lightning or electric explorer as the DD. Use each vehicle for what they are good at.

 

I want to know how they plan to provide power for all these EVs that people are supposedly going to buy and the government is pushing us into. The electric grid can barely meet the demand now and in some areas it already can't. Think CA rolling blackouts, and SW states dependent on hydro-electric which is going to need to be throttled if the decade long drought situation doesn't improve significantly. How do they plan to accommodate all that additional load? Fast charging an EV consumes a LOT of power. Probably more power than the average household currently uses. That's probably a discussion for a different forum though..Until you go to get into your new EV that is and find it didn't change overnight because the elec. company couldn't provide the power. Then it comes back here.

 

Yup, exactly this. I bought an '04 Expedition to pull my boat with when I got my Tesla. I don't intend on getting rid of it for the foreseeable future, and distance towing is a big reason for that. 99% of my use is better with an EV, though.

Don't buy what you don't want to buy. I don't think the gas/diesel powerplant is going to disappear within our lifetimes. The current electrical grid has issues for a variety of reasons, but the argument that it won't keep up with greater EV marketshare requires the assumption that power companies aren't going to touch their existing infrastructure. I think that assumption is ridiculous. Think what you will about your local and national power companies, but they're not idiots.

 

I have little confidence in our government or power companies to address problems based on 63 years of experience with them.

• They're not investing in the grid or viable energy sources. CA has had rolling blackouts for over 20 years and still hasn't fixed the problem.
• The entire national grid is still vulnerable to EMP natural or otherwise. They've known about that for over 70 years and nothings been done about it.
• On a HHH summer day here in PA we still lose power because the suppliers cant keep up with the demand. That's been going on my entire life.

Why would I expect anything to change?

 

You're not going to buy an ev so why are you crying about the grid?

 

Over that 63 years, our domestic electricity consumption has octupled. That means they’ve been adapting to increased demand, right?

I don’t expect that to change.

 

Maybe because his house and all it’s appliances like AC depend on the grid.


I have my reservation in for this truck and share his apprehension about the grid. In my state they are shutting coal and natural gas fired plants and have already warned us to be ready or brown and black outs this summer and no plans yet to increase grid capacity

 

Then why buy a pickup? If I never needed to tow, I wouldn't wait for an EV pickup with 49 kW per 100 miles of range when there are already EV cars/SUVs capable of using half that energy to go 100 miles.


Well, to be fair diesel pickups lose over 40% of their MPG when towing heavy, and this is especially true with 1/2 ton diesel pickups which see over 60% reduction in MPG when towing heavy. Gas trucks also lose a significant portion of MPG when hooking to a large trailer, although gas trucks start at such a low MPG anyway than the % may be lower. So an EV truck losing range while towing isn't anything new. It's exactly what we're already used to.

While at the campsite EV pickups would be a massive advantage because they are basically rolling generators. You can power a lot of things with them that previously required hauling around a stand-alone portable generator.

The only issue is the TIME it takes to charge. Charging stations are plentiful and growing in number monthly. But the time it takes to charge, therein lies the issue. I can fill a gas or diesel pickup in literally 5 minutes and renew my 400 miles of range. To get 400 miles out of the Silverado EV, for example, will require 14 hours @ 240 volts and 60 amps. That's a big deal and that's what has to be solved to make EVs mainstream.

So for now, I still think PHEV is the way to go and THAT is what Ford and GM and Ram should be pushing for. PHEV alleviates range anxiety while on trips, while still allowing the all EV use during weekly commuting to the store or work. It's the best of both worlds. Not sure why the Big 3 haven't embraced that for their pickups. People are buying Jeep 4x4 PHEVs literally faster than Jeep can build them.

 

I don't think I said I wasn't going to buy one. I said it wasn't feasible at this time. I'd love to but an EV truck if it would tow a 6500 lb trailer for 300 miles and be able to be recharged all along my route in 15 minutes.

If you haven't noticed everyone is being pushed in the direction of EVs, but its being done prior to the infrastructure being ready for it. That's a recipe for disaster not just for EV owners but for *everyone*.

 

I can't answer for him, but the reason I buy pickups is to use the bed...loaded heavily. It's the reason I have an F350 LB coming soon, I need the payload of 3k lbs or so. I only tow max about 7k trailers, but I need the payload. I also have a reservation for a Lightning because I can carry light loads in the bed and use it as my DD, and to keep the miles off the F350 until I need it.

 

Many if not most people charge their EV while at home.

 

I can't believe I'm posting another one but.....