2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing

[daemonic3]

I recall seeing someone else post about manually selecting gears while towing to get better gas mileage. Are you selecting 7th or just controlling through throttle? Any other speed/gear combo you've seen work better for MPG?

I don't try to mess with manual on these 10 speeds, I tried it for fun, and found it wasn't much fun. I am just locking out the upper gears using the +/- on the shifter.

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[daemonic3]

So the idea is keep it out of boost and it does that in lower gears with higher RPM?

Yep! I keep the boost gauge as one of the 4 on my cluster, and if it even ticks up a little bit and I'm on flat highway I will lock it out to force 7th. If a tailwind supports 8th with no boost then it gets better economy than 7th. I just have learned to keep watching the meter, keeps me from getting bored on these drives

 

[Vspec]

How can one change the 4 gauges? I'd love to see boost levels.

 

[RexTX]

I'd like so see more results using higher octane fuel.
I'll be pulling a travel trailer so this is interesting.
I suspect it would also be helpful to mount a camper top on the bed, particularly one of those that is higher toward the rear.
A fifth wheel trailer would probably be more aerodynamic also, although most are taller. Can you do fifth wheel on a F150 PB?

 

[ToddnTX]

Towed my 19’ fiberglass bay boat yesterday and got 11 MPG.. I’m guessing boat and trailer is 2k lbs maybe a bit more.

seems kinda crappy.

 

[mwf5888]

How can one change the 4 gauges? I'd love to see boost levels.

Not sitting in my truck, but I believe it is the following:

1. Menu
2. Settings
3. Configure Gauges
4. Left Selectable (Replace engine temp) or Right Selectable (Replace trans temp)
5. Select Turbo Boost

 

[jmsanchez85]

Towed my 19’ fiberglass bay boat yesterday and got 11 MPG.. I’m guessing boat and trailer is 2k lbs maybe a bit more.

seems kinda crappy.

Thats pretty much what I saw... Lackluster to say the least. With all the onboard power we are able to generate I am seriously surprised it is so low. This hype around the F-150 going full electric Ford customers are going to be really disappointed when they can’t go 80-100 miles without needing a recharge. At least we have the option to refuel, they will not. I cannot see the battery technology advancing that much in the next 12 months to where this is not going to be a BIG problem. I think we are on the safe side of things due to our hybrid abilities, even though it is not ideal range wise, I will take it over the fully electric grocery hopper and city errand runner Lightning anyday of the week.

 

[joejamesatou]

Keep in mind the hybrid system can only get power from braking or charging using the engine. Constant speed towing will not net you any additional mileage because the hybrid system cannot "make" energy. It takes the same amount of energy to move 12,000 truck and trailer whether it's a Coyote V8 or twin turbo V6.

They will get almost identical numbers because burning a gallon of gas they have almost identical thermal efficiency. The only advantage that the hybrid has towing is if you do long slow stops with the trailer to capture more energy.

Well that and you don't need an electrical hookup once you get there!

 

[meyer_22]

So far I've only pulled my jet ski, guessing around 800-1k lbs with the fuel I had in it. My mileage was completely unaffected. If the truck hadn't registered a trailer attached, or if I hadn't seen it in the rearview mirror, then I would have no idea I was trailering anything.

Granted this is very low weight to pull, and it was only in town (40 miles or so). But I was still getting 22-23 mpg while driving between 20-50mph.

 

[jmsanchez85]

Keep in mind the hybrid system can only get power from braking or charging using the engine. Constant speed towing will not net you any additional mileage because the hybrid system cannot "make" energy. It takes the same amount of energy to move 12,000 truck and trailer whether it's a Coyote V8 or twin turbo V6.

They will get almost identical numbers because burning a gallon of gas they have almost identical thermal efficiency. The only advantage that the hybrid has towing is if you do long slow stops with the trailer to capture more energy.

Well that and you don't need an electrical hookup once you get there!

All great points to consider. I will be curious to see if the thermal efficiency of the battery while in tow going all electric will meet or beat the current hybrid offering. Based on my consumption thus far, I would not be comfortable going full electric because it appears battery consumption may be depleted at a quicker rate than when not in tow. Combine this with real life scenarios like needing to trailer materials, hunting supplies or a UTV out to the ranch in west Texas and the chances of being left stranded without a charging station are pretty high. I like the idea but going electric is coming with a price so it’s just about weighing the options as to what works for you given the current lineup. The hybrid is a happy medium for me all things considered... it is surprising to see so many people based on the poll ready to jump all in on full electric after educating myself with the current PowerBoost model. We have advanced far beyond a 1989 F-150 bit still have much more to go on the full scalability of 100% electric.

 

[Sentinel1201]

Hybrid doesn't mean its magic. When towing, the gas motor is working just as hard as any gas motor and working full time, meaning you will get exactly the same MPG as any other similar truck. Hybrid is only in the zone around town when you can coast unloaded.

My 17 Raptor I just traded in always got 10 mpg towing my trailer and I imagine I will get exactly the same with my 21 Powerboost towing the same trailer.

While we are at it, another use case where hybrid will get exactly the same MPG as non-hybrid is doing 90 mph on the highway. My Raptor got 13, and I imagine new truck will get the same at those speeds.

 

[Thebear]

I towed a fully loaded 10 foot enclosed trailer this weekend. I was super impressed with MPG generally around 15-18. Not what I was expecting at all. It would bounce into electric driving mode quite often if I was just cruising at 45-55 mph.

 

[xtraman122]

Another thing to keep in mind, I noticed you said how quickly you needed to fill up. Did your older trucks have the 36 gallon tank on them? The PowerBoost only has a 30 gallon tank, so if you’re just going by range of a tank of fuel, that’s something to take into consideration as well.

 

[CJ912]

I have not manipulated the vehicle while towing and wanted to get a baseline established With the powerboost

last weekend we towed our Mastercraft surf boat three hours north on Michigan‘s I 75 as well as various other roads.

55 mph equals 11.5 miles per gallon
70 dropped it down to nine
75 dropped it down to 7 1/2 to 8.

boat weighs 6800 pounds with a full gas tank.

I did monitor the turbo, I stayed in tow mode, I did not change gears manually.

for conversation sake I get 24 to 26 miles per gallon driving around town in eco mode

In the future I will likely shift down and try to stay out of turbo. since we usually surf locally it’s not a dealbreaker, we only tow up north one to three times a year.

The f 150 handled towing with no problem at all, I didn’t expect great mileage and would have purchased another engine if that was my priority.

 

[joejamesatou]

I had this epiphany. I paid basically $60k for my truck. $20k for my camper. Probably $5k outfitting it all the way I like...

If I pay an extra $40 for a 200 mile round trip I really don't care. I would rather have the 570 lb-ft towing and use the fuel. I'll make it up in the city driving later lol.

I've owned sport compacts, sedans, import and domestic. Been a member to so many forums. NONE talk about fuel economy more than pickup truck forums! I don't get why truck owners always discuss fuel economy. You bought the least fuel efficient vehicle! Who cares?!

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