That is horrible MPG... My 2000 7.3L diesel gets 18 MPG unloaded and 12 MPG with the 5th wheel hooked to it. Although, I drive like I have nowhere to be and never faster than 67 MPH in the truck.

I realize the 6.4L is a different animal, but that is atrocious.

 

Yeah, I get 20+ unloaded in my obs 7.3 on the highway. 95% of the driving in the 6.4 is stop and go and under 30mph in neighborhoods, it'll do 16+ unloaded on the highway the rare times I use it unloaded. But, I agree - the old 7.3 superduties got around 10 in similar use, though didn't have this trailer back then.

 

An ER Lightning with Max Tow package may just work for you. It has a 10k max tow rating and is should easily handle the 75 miles max on on day when towing. Just plug in when you get home and it will have a full tank in the AM ready t go.

 

I keep going back and forth on it (even have a thread here about it).. just not sure about towing at max capacity 95% of the time and how well it would hold up to it.

 

My Experience was a failed cell or 2 or 3 was a fairly common occurrence due to overcharging, rough treatment and impacts.
Operators being cowboys contributed to its problems. Careful usage of your rig and you should have a good ownership, but cell
replacements are a most likely thing over a 7 - 8 year ownership plan. Dealerships will probably adapt with better responses and
Equipment also. I have yet to see one on the Expressways here. No Tesla Trucks either. You may be a factory learning experience
also. I'm betting your problem traveled thru the engineering realms and onto upper management desks. Current controls have
gradually become better both charging and power to wheels controls. One can imagine a large building standing on its own just to
repair batteries from all the 100,000's of EV's a coming to all areas near us. Ugh. Then 2 more or 3.

I would guess the 8 lugs to the wheels is about Torque to the wheels, much like larger trucks do have to deal with granny gear.

30 years ago and Electric powered vehicle with charger delivery.

Forklift, ' 96 Yale Erco80 Electric Fork Truck W/ Battery Charger, Low Hrs. 8000 (twentywheels.com)
Corrosion was a huge concern at all applications. Back then you couldn't actually wash off a Electric Vehicle.
The batteries were another story. Hydrolytic Acid was a Pain and plants had to be careful with that subject.
A battery explosion, well that was a severe topic. Chemical washes were a necessity but carefully done.
Compressed air was the best way to keep the exterior of the Machine free of debris. The surface of the battery
was another story on corrosive effects to the surrounding areas.

Most likely if you haven't carefully read your owner's manual, consider it a go to do today opportunity.
The one thing that was so hard on them were the huge freezers. Guys dressed for artic conditions
and condensation constantly dripping off of the 20 degree Forktrucks, when out of the Freezers, loading
the 18-wheeler freezer trailers.

If you are concerned about KW usage just convert Gasoline per gallon, Diesel per gallon usage and you
can figure roughly your Battery KW needs to do your business route.
10 gallon of Diesel = roughly 407 Kwh. 120 miles to 10 gallons with 5th wheel with your usages?
10 gallons of gasoline has 366 Kwh. Roughly 100 miles to 10 gallons with 5th wheel with your usages?

If a Charge is needed mid route thas Most likely if pulling your trailer you may need a Truck Stop facility that's maybe
there for your needs or un hitch it. You know, no matter how big a battery you have in your mobile battery power,
you wish you had a bigger one usually but it's usually safer.
You can never trust wet conditions though.

 

If you are only getting 7.3 mpg with a diesel on your current usage, the EV may not last you 75 miles on a charge.

 

Tom recently said he had 130 Mile range pulling his sort of large Pop up mini home to South Texas and Back, $340 I believe in total recharger fees.
He is here talking about it on another thread.

 

And you know this how? EVs do much better in stop and go local traffic vs highway, where as you know diesels do opposite.

 

Simple: if what you claimed was the case for F250s and up trucks, there should be viable hybrid or ev options for class 2B and up trucks by now.

Companies like Magna have been at it trying to electrify for decades, and fleet operators are notoriously cost conscious so I doubt they would stand in the way if there is truly a business case already.

A functional kinetic energy capturing set up for 3/4+ ton trucks would be HUGE if it is doable. Years ago Magna created a lot of buzz with these

https://www.magna.com/company/newsro...eam-technology

https://electrek.co/2022/05/12/we-go...nas-tech-week/

Yet nevertheless, here we are.

 

This thread where the total weight of the trailer is around 4300 lbs wet and the frontal area is lower than the pick up cab? https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rchargers.html

 

I predict it will happen eventually From 1st hand experience EVs get much better efficiency when driven on local streets than on a highway. My Lightning gets an average of 2.2 mi/kw at 65 mph and well over 3.0 mi/kw i when driven locally.

Here locally they went to Hybrid buses. Regenerative braking can recapture lots of energy to increase range.
From this study about Hybrid buses: https://www.eesi.org/files/eesi_hybrid_bus_032007.pdf

"Results from the evaluation indicate that the hybrid buses offered on average, a 37 percent improvement in fuel economy over standard diesel buses"

 

Uh Huh we have all Local Metro Bus Fleet is CNG powered Fleet. I have Years of experience with CN powered vehicles. The Boner is Compressed Natural Gas. The Main volume flow is the NG suppliers Main pressure supply, far below CNG and so you have Power drain of High Pressure CNG pumps facilities. Very Maintenance dependent they are. There also is a huge problem of Carbon build up on Intake Valves of a CNG Fleets motors. Very consistent at around 4000 motor running hours. That seems years away but it passes very quickly if you consider an industrial fleets running times. It's easy for industrial motors to approach those running times nearly yearly. If a vehicle runs on CNG 18 hours a day it takes 222 days to reach internal engine carbon problems time.

 

I thought we were talking about EVs and not hybrids?

But for the sake of a good faith discussion, in case of hybrids, with enough government subsidy, anything is possible to run on a small scale. There is no large controversy to say that hybrids are very viable for vehicles where dry and max weight are not too different, but that's not yet the case with vehicles whose rated tow limit can be 3-4 times the weight of the trucks themselves. That's the same reason why class 8 and up trucks are limited to local delivery in small numbers at this time for EV versions.

From the source you provided:

The transition for class 2b and up pickups and CCs for commercial and private buyers without government backing could happen but not in the short term, when the only way they can address range is by adding more batteries which further exacerbates the problems of weight and cost.

 

Looking at KWH deliveries, Diesel near 500 KWH. in 10 gallons = 120 miles towing range (large tanks). Gasoline around 370 KWH. in 10 gallons + 100 miles towing range (large tanks), you have a clue about Battery Mass needed to go 300 miles under average towing loads. 300 miles range seems to be a distinctive range for all towing vehicles to make per tank / charge. Most likely to get 300 mile range one needs to be around 55 mph.

 

I'm sure there is a subset of buyers whose towing needs are under 150 miles a day and always have a base to return to at the end of the day. But then they have to resist the urge to use the battery onboard for power tools and every thing, then eventually they need to find next buyers who also can work with the parameters with diminished battery capacity, else the resale value would be a problem as well.

Looking at the depreciation of F150 Lightnings right now, unless Ford can market the 8 lug EV Trucks at well under 40k to fleet buyers, any serious EV tow/haul rig is a none starter at this point in time.