But in no big rush. I have a somewhat complicated situation after being medically retired from the Army in 2020 because of serious neurological problems with my hands. That's a big reason I haven't been on FTE as much in recent years. It hurts like hell to use my hands for more than short periods at a time, so I've been avoiding the computer.

I'm also going bored out of my mind because I can't stand staring at a screen all day, so I try to get out of the house as much as I can. I bought an old popup trailer in September because I thought it would be fun to try camping with my boys, and it would be fun to travel a bit during the months they were in school. I needed something aerodynamic because a full-profile trailer would nuke my efficiency, and I don't want to go back to a gas-burner for my daily drive.

After the boys went back to school, I took off on a trip to California and back. The trip went fantastic and proved the concept, but the popup trailer involved too much tugging and pulling with my hands. Range was barely acceptable at ~ 160 miles to a charge, but the car did a great job with it.




After getting home, I looked for something that was easier to set up and settled on a newer A-frame camper as a long-term solution. This one is a bit heavier at 3,000 lbs, but it's much taller in the front, so my efficiency was far less than with the popup. The duck-shaped tail dumps air right into the nose of this thing. I took it to San Antonio earlier this month as a trial run before winter comes, and it was enough to convince me the Model Y isn't going to work. The rear-mounted charge port adds insult to injury because I have to disconnect most of the time. I can only get ~100-120 miles to a charge at 60 MPH. I love the camper and want to do more of this, but I need a better tow vehicle.




So with that long preamble, I'll be looking for a better towing EV in the coming months, and the Lightning is on my shortlist now that they signed on with Tesla's NACS charging network. I'm not entirely sure on timeline, but I'll hopefully find something else by the time the snow melts in the spring. I'll be looking for used trucks because I'm in a funny tax situation that doesn't qualify for the credit.

 

will keep my eyes peeled in my area for one. I think it would be pretty enjoyable to tow with the lightening.

 

Sorry to hear about your hands.... Hopefully something that will improve for you in due time.

 

@Tom Hey Tom I thought you'd adapted voice recognition software to help with your typing chores? I for one miss your participation here on FTE--always an interesting read!

FWIW I'll be looking forward to your hunt progress!

 

Thanks, JW. Voice recognition is helpful, but sometimes more trouble than it’s worth because I have to go back and fix errors. The absolute worst is working the mouse, and I haven’t found a practical way around that. I come here most from my iPad.

Anyway, enough about me. The most difficult part of this is how much value my Model Y lost since I bought it. My 2019 Model 3 only lost $5K in value over two years because there was a big demand in the used market. There are used Model Ys everywhere, and the price was cut substantially since I bought it. My $62K purchase last December now seems to be worth $37K to a trade. I’m not upside-down, but I’m starting to think about a newer gas burner to replace my Expedition. I love that old thing, but it’ll be 20 years old in February, and I’m reluctant to trust it on road trips.

 

Tom, I don't think you gave us any details on why the EV6 was not a good fit for you any longer. It seemed you really liked that car.

If you are willing to share publicly why the EV6 was replaced by another Tesla, some of us might learn a bit from your experiences.

 

The EV6 was an amazing car, but it was only rated to pull 2,300 lbs and hobbled by a grossly unreliable charging network. The car itself was built like a vault; impeccable fit and finish, great range, and it charged faster than the Model Y with a properly-functioning 350 kW charging station.

The hardware engineers did their homework, but the software folks came up short. Mine had the heating element to precondition the battery for fast charging in cold weather, but the software didn’t know what to do with it. Kia didn’t offer any clue on whether they would enable preconditioning in cars that weren’t programmed for it, and I was pissed off at the lousy reliability of the existing CCS charging networks. Tesla started dropping prices in December of last year, and their Model Y was rated for 3,500 lbs, which was enough to pull my boat. I bought my car in December, 2022, which was two weeks prior to when they cut prices by over $10K. Bad timing on my part.

I really liked the EV6, but you can’t find a hitch that would have pulled my new camper. The two trips I’ve taken so far wouldn’t have been possible without the Supercharger network, but that won’t be a problem next year now that things are opening up. I’m looking for something with a larger battery to give me acceptable range with my new camper, preferably with a front-mounted charge port that doesn’t require me to unhook every time I charge.

 

Thanks for the detailed information and now the story of how the Tesla made a return to your inventory makes sense.

I saw the other day that Toyota was planning to release an EV truck similar to the Tocoma for the 2025 model year. I don't have any specifications on it regarding the towing capacity or if it will have any of their new battery technology rolled into it.

 

I think a Tacoma EV would be better aligned with EV cars and would make better sense than a full size EV truck for now.

 

Yesterday I stopped by Crouse Ford in Taneytown, MD. They had two Lightening's on the lot.

One was an XLT for 71K if I recall correctly.

But I suppose they are sitting on the lots everywhere right now.

 

I was at our local Ford dealer lot about a month ago and noticed that had at least 12 Lightnings, but what was surprising was they had 20-30 Mach E's.

 

Thanks, Scott.

I think I’ve decided to hold off for the next few months to see where things go. I expect values will settle over that time, just like they did to my Model Y.

I almost had a deal for a 2022 Lightning Lariat ER with 10K for $60K from a dealer in Virginia. They were going to give me $38K for my car, which is $24K less than I paid for it less than a year ago. Not sure I could have swallowed that, but I didn’t have to because another buyer got there first.

That same Lightning sold for $87K twelve months ago. My car’s value will probably be relatively stable over the winter, and the used Lightning market may settle a bit more. I’m in a funny tax situation where I can’t take advantage of the tax credit, so I’m only looking on the used market.

 

You should have contacted me while in San Antonio.

Anyway, and I doubt this is what you want to hear, but a Powerboost F150 sounds like it would be a far better vehicle for you making these long road trips, plus it would be a decent source of power for those times that you can't find a camp group with hookups.

I understand you have a strong affinity for EVs. But sometimes you need the right tool for the job. Maybe in 5 years there will be a better EV on the market, and that would be a better time to consider a full plug in for cross country towing.

 

I forgot you were down there. I’ll be on the road more in the coming months, and I’m planning on making it back down there in April. I’ll reach out before showing up down there.

I’ve thought hard about that, but the cold weather ICE penalty is too much for me. I’m really sensitive to cold weather because of these health issues and having an always-hot EV makes a massive difference. I’ve never liked remote starters, and I can’t use one in the garage either way. I just got done towing 7,300 miles with an EV over the last couple of months, and I’m confident a larger battery and taller profile will be adequate.

I think I may have settled on one. I drove all the way down to Apple Valley twice over the last two days to see this guy:

https://www.applevalleyford.com/used...6W1EVXNWG03643

It’s the first XLT Extended Range that I’ve seen on the used market, and they just took it in trade last weekend at their Shakopee location. They had to send the salesman to the other store to bring it over for me, and it showed up just before I arrived with 5% in the tank and hadn’t seen their detail shop. This dealer didn’t have a fast charger, either, so I went on an abbreviated test drive to get a feel for it. They’re only willing to give me $37K for my Model Y, and Carvana has offered $40K, so I told them I’d play with my calculator and get back to them. I decided to move forward and sell my car to Carvana, and I drove back down this afternoon for a better test drive and put down a deposit.

The tires have less than 50% life at 18,300 miles, so they are putting my choice of tires on it. My deposit is refundable, but it’s looking like this is the one.

My only gripes are the lack of brake controller and having to deal with the standard sound system after getting spoiled by the premium Tesla setup. I can’t argue with the deal, though…I almost think they mistakenly priced it like a Standard Range. $55K for the equivalent to a regular 302A package with factory spray-in bedliner and tonneau cover.

The color really speaks to me. We lost our 6-year-old daughter back in 2018, and her favorite color was always blue. 💙

 

That is nice, I love the color. I sure hope it does what you need it to do. Based upon your experiences with EV's you should be good.

I guess a brake controller is in the future. Maybe they would throw that in on the deal?