Gas Mileage pretty bad pulling a trailer

[Aron]

I guess a "construction" supervisor would make sense.
But most contractor F150s I see are pretty loaded down with tools & equipment and I doubt many Landscapers could afford a Lightning.

Sure, but they’re traveling relatively low miles per day with all of that gear. Seems perfect for a Lightning, especially if some of that gear requires electricity.

The only use where Lightnings really seem to fall short is for long-distance towing, where the frequent need for long charging sessions would become really inconvenient (which is one very big reason that I purchased a Powerboost).

Short distance towing, for example to tow your boat a few miles from your house to the local lake, would seem to be as good with a Lightning as with any other truck.

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[GEN14OWNER]

Sure, but they’re traveling relatively low miles per day with all of that gear. Seems perfect for a Lightning, especially if some of that gear requires electricity.

The only use where Lightnings really seem to fall short is for long-distance towing, where the frequent need for long charging sessions would become really inconvenient (which is one very big reason that I purchased a Powerboost).

Short distance towing, for example to tow your boat a few miles from your house to the local lake, would seem to be as good with a Lightning as with any other truck.

The fact is, this is just the beginning. Range will steadily improve over time as technology advances.

 

[780]

The fact is, this is just the beginning. Range will steadily improve over time as technology advances.

That and infrastructure.

 

[GEN14OWNER]

That and infrastructure.

I still can't for the life of me understand why they aren't designing EVs with swappable batteries.
Obviously the technology exists. You should be able to pull your EV into a swapping station and while you wait in your car, a robot pulls your dead battery and replaces it with a fully charged one in LESS TIME than it would take to fill your tank with gasoline.

 

[notabot]

I still can't for the life of me understand why they aren't designing EVs with swappable batteries.
Obviously the technology exists. You should be able to pull your EV into a swapping station and while you wait in your car, a robot pulls your dead battery and replaces it with a fully charged one in LESS TIME than it would take to fill your tank with gasoline.

Love the idea! Set it up and get it going!

 

[Aron]

I still can't for the life of me understand why they aren't designing EVs with swappable batteries.
Obviously the technology exists. You should be able to pull your EV into a swapping station and while you wait in your car, a robot pulls your dead battery and replaces it with a fully charged one in LESS TIME than it would take to fill your tank with gasoline.

As long as the battery is a such a HUGE portion of the overall cost of a BEV, I don’t know how excited I would be to just hand over my brand new one to get somebody else’s worn out hand-me-down. You’d only be swapping them on long trips; for the normal daily driving, you’d just plug in whichever battery you happen to have last.

Plus, in order to make it feasible at scale, you would basically need one standard size and design that could be plugged into every vehicle. Every auto manufacturer would have to negotiate and agree to use it. That seems like a fairly significant design handicap for the rest of the vehicle to have to work around.

 

[GEN14OWNER]

As long as the battery is a such a HUGE portion of the overall cost of a BEV, I don’t know how excited I would be to just hand over my brand new one to get somebody else’s worn out hand-me-down. You’d only be swapping them on long trips; for the normal daily driving, you’d just plug in whichever battery you happen to have last.

Plus, in order to make it feasible at scale, you would basically need one standard size and design that could be plugged into every vehicle. Every auto manufacturer would have to negotiate and agree to use it. That seems like a fairly significant design handicap for the rest of the vehicle to have to work around.

Redesigning an ICE car around an electric drive was considered a "significant design handicap" until Elon Musk shamed the Auto Industry doing so.

Emission control systems weren't something the Auto Industry developed because of their deep concern over the environment.

I'm the last person in the world to suggest more Government Regulation (did I spell that right?) But yes, a "standard" would need to be enforced.

As far as swapping your brand new battery for a used one of unknown age, 2-300 miles later you might end up with your original battery. So I don't see that being an issue.

Ultimately, the only way EVs will ever replace ICE is if you can drive from SF to LA in the same time.

That's all I'm saying. And swappable batteries would make that possible.

 

[kevdog0710]

Had a great 1000 mile trip from Eastern PA to Orlando Florida. Stress-free towing isn't a given.
I was getting 8.6 mpg on 87 octane from PA and Virginia gas stations. Got terrible mpg on North and South Carolina 87 octane? More ethanol? Switched to 93 octane the rest of the way and got 10.2 mpg. That is a 100 mile range increase!

 

[Ziggy73]

Guy a spoke with at MX track said he bought a EB (I don’t think it was a PB). Took a trip with trailer/boat. Returned to dealer and grabbed a V8.

Well, I like the 5.0 as well, but I've never heard of anybody saying that it tows better than a It will possibly get better MPG, but it's going to rev to around 3,500 to 4,000 depending on The load, elevation, wind& incline. I've heard many compare the 3.5 to the old OG 7.3 diesel. I do think the 5.0 will get a tad better MPG towing though, that's a fact, and it'll sound a little better.

 

[Melipron]

Taking a 2 week trip pulling a trailer with the 2021 F-150 Lariat 3.5 Ecoboost. Picked up in Minneapolis and heading to Montana and then return via SE ND. Anyway first day pulling a trailer on this trip. Slightly uphill most of the way and cross or head winds at least half of the way. Gas mileage was pretty low, avg 7.3 mpg and this is with speed avg between 58 and 63 mph. Pretty disappointed. Not sure if there is anything I could do to improve mileage. Trailer length is 23, weight is 4400. Not using a WDH. Any suggestions?

When it comes to towing, I previously bought a towing device, and the infuriating quality resulted in a little tear in my rear end. So, I'm planning to build one myself!

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