Towing With Ford F-150 Lightning A "Total Disaster," Owner Finds

Tyler Hoover from the "Hoovies Garage" YouTube channel was shocked to see the range cut in half even when towing an empty trailer.

You may be aware of a YouTube channel called Hoovies Garage that deals with buying and selling cars for enthusiasts, capturing the ownership experience in the process.

Tyler Hoover, the guy who started the channel many years ago, recently bought a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat with the Standard Battery together with a friend—each one has a 50-percent share in it—and had the first towing experience with the electric pickup truck.

As you can imagine given the title of this story, it wasn't the most enjoyable towing experience, and that's putting it mildly. So what happened? Tyler had to travel about 32 miles (51 kilometers) with the F-150 Lightning towing an empty trailer to pick up one of his latest purchases, a 1934 Ford Model A truck.

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Considering he was towing an empty aluminum trailer weighing less than 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) on the way to the pickup point, he expected the range loss to be minor compared to driving the F-150 Lightning normally. Well, he was in for a big surprise as the range estimate in the electric truck's dashboard started decreasing in scary fashion.

He began the trip with just over 200 miles of range and reached the destination with an estimated range of just 132 miles remaining—meaning the truck was eating up kilowatt-hours twice as fast than when not towing.

Now, it's worth pointing out that the weather conditions were far from extreme, even though it was pretty cold outside—55 Fahrenheit (13 Celsius) and raining. As for the speed, Tyler drove at the maximum speed limit as he would normally drive a gas or diesel truck.

Having secured the Ford Model A on the trailer, Tyler set out for the return trip, which turned out even more disappointing. While towing a total of around 3,700 pounds (1,680 kilograms), the F-150 Lightning lost 90 miles of range, which means the efficiency was three times worse than when not towing. Remember, this particular truck has a maximum towing rating of 7,700 pounds (3,492 kilograms), so it was only loaded at less than half capacity.

There's not much to add here, but range anxiety aside, Tyler says he was impressed with the F-150 Lightning towing experience as the vehicle felt very comfortable and quiet. In addition, the instant torque from the electric motors made the entire experience effortless for the truck. Unfortunately, the shocking drop in range completely overshadowed these positive aspects.