Electric vehicles, at least the best ones, are extremely efficient, consuming little energy to get around, an obvious conclusion if we take into account the energy contained in a liter of gasoline or diesel and the lower efficiency of combustion engines, which only put in motion about 30% of what they consume. However the electric cars are more sensitive to weight and aerodynamicsdetermining factors when towing a trailer.
For those who regularly pull trailers, boats, motorcycles, or bicycles, electric vehicles are great. Plenty of power always available, from the first revs, and the absence of a clutch or torque converter makes maneuvering a joy. Nevertheless, Consumption insists on skyrocketing as the weight that we tow rises, which causes the autonomy to drop in proportion.
Ford has started delivering the F-150 Lightning electric pick-up, available with a Standard battery (98 kWh) and 458 hp, with a towing capacity of 3,493 kg, or with the Extended Range battery (131 kWh), associated with 588 hp and capable of pulling 4536 kg. In other words, towing capacity is something that is not lacking in the two currently available versions. But the first customers to calculate consumption and autonomy, in real conditions of use, reached less exciting conclusions.
One of the customers of the new battery pick-up tried to pull his Airstream trailer with a length of 7 meters and a weight (laden) of 2700 kg. A high value, but nothing to put pressure on the F-150 Lightning. Despite, with the trailer the consumption shot up to 77.7 kWh/100kmwhen, without being linked to the Airstream, the electric pick-up only needed 34.5 kWh/100 km, that is, the trailer made the battery-powered F-150 spend 125% more, that is, more than double.
With these consumptions, the electric pick-up with the most generous battery is capable of guaranteeing a range of 380 km without a trailer, but only 170 km with it. Again we are facing a reduction of just over 50%, which is in line with the conclusions reached by the owners of the new Rivian R1T. This leads to advising those who need to pull trailers that it is best to opt for trams with more battery capacity, since even then they will always have the feeling that the autonomy is too “short”.
Source: Observadora
