Electric truck could barely tow something for 100 miles, battery couldn’t handle it

You’ve probably been thinking about hitching an Airstream to your electric truck and hitting the roads across the country. Before doing that, you have to understand this: a fully-charged 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck with the largest available battery will have a smaller energy on board than an F-150 with about four gallons of gasoline in its tank.

The towing capacity of the Lightning varies from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds. Achieving the big number will require an XLT or Lariat model equipped with the extended-range battery option and the Max Towing Package, which boosts battery capacity and engine cooling. For that, you’ll need to spend no less than $75,094.

“Towing the line.” The General RV dealership in Wixom, Michigan, is an inspiration for big dreamers who want to wander across America on wheels. You want to know why? 500 pop-ups, teardrops, travel trailers, fifth-wheels, camper vans, and RVs on the lot are probably the answer. However, the goals were limited, as the testers set out on a round-trip loop as far as they could venture with the heaviest trailer brought out of the toy box at General RV. This camper, a Grand Design Imagine 2910BH 2022, has seating for eight. It is almost 34 feet long and weighs 7,218 pounds, said MotorTrend.

The methodology used is similar to the one used to determine the MotorTrend Road-Trip range of an electric vehicle. With the headlights on, the automatic climate control set to 72 degrees. And with the audio system on, the tests are no different than how users use their vehicles. The target speed was an average of 70 mph. Considering that there was construction taking place at the beginning and end of the route, the speed was slightly less than the goal. The average highway speed is between 64 and 67 mph.

In conclusion, the EPA claims the F-150 Lightning Platinum is good for 300 miles, but that number is largely based on a combination of city and highway driving. Its MotorTrend Road-Trip range was 255 miles with the driver alone and no trailer attached. According to predictions, the range would be halved when towing. However, it was much greater when towing these trailers. There were only 115 miles of range with the smallest and lightest trailer. When the camper was medium-weight and the trailer was 7,218 pounds, the range dropped to 100 miles.

Towing range is influenced more by aerodynamics than by weight, as indicated by the closely grouped results. If you calculate the frontal area of the trailers from their width and height, you find that the two larger trailers exceed an empty F-150 in the amount of area they cover in the air. That said, with a 775 lb-ft of torque on tap, the electric F-150 takes off smoothly and confidently, but as speed increases, its authority diminishes.

Now that you have a general idea, you probably won’t be as shocked to find out the electric F-150’s towing range is abysmal.