We Towed With Our Ford F-150 Lightning So You Won’t Have To

With 580 hp and 750 lb-ft of instant torque on tap, there's no reason why Ford's F-150 Lightning shouldn't be an excellent tow vehicle. That's why when plans were hatched for a beachfront camping trip over a long holiday weekend, I didn't hesitate to grab the keys to our long-term 2022 F-150 Lightning Lariat with the intention of towing a modest 8,000-pound 21-foot travel trailer. Afterall, our Lightning is equipped with the larger 131-kWh extended-range battery and max tow package, which gives it an impressive tow rating of 10,000 pounds. What could possibly go wrong?

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Lightning Is Great With a Trailer

Now, before you begin firing off the "I told you so!" comments below, I knew from our previous experience towing with a Lightning what to expect. The plan was to depart from my home in north Orange County, California, and drive 45 miles south to San Clemente State Beach. The round trip would be right in line with the 90 miles of range our test team had previously observed pulling a lighter 7,200-pound unit. However, that was in Michigan, and out west we have things called "hills" to contend with, and our trailer is slightly portlier.

With the weight-distributing hitch adjusted and the truck's onboard Smart Hitch function giving the green light (Smart Hitch uses the onboard scales to calculate tongue weight and make recommendation on load distribution), I set off toward the coast. Right away it became apparent that the Lightning is an immensely competent tow vehicle. The truck's powerful motors accelerated away from a stop almost as briskly as unladen, and the one-pedal drive regenerative braking setting (now accessible in Tow/Haul mode thanks to a software update) helped bring the whole operation to a quick and safe stop. The Lightning's suspension proved largely unaffected by the trailer's tongue weight, and the truck's nearly 7,000 pounds of heft works in its favor when it comes to directional stability.

Everything was going great. I appreciated that towing with the Lightning was a more relaxing experience than with our previous F-150 Raptor, and indeed it felt a lot like trailering with a three-quarter-ton pickup. And then the first grade appeared.

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Where It All Falls Apart

I should have taken it as a sign of things to come when it took three attempts to get to a full charge the night before departure (I'm still burdened by the lack of home charging capabilities). With a fully charged battery, the Lightning displayed a range estimate of 310 miles, which we know to be an exaggeration. Immediately upon plugging the trailer connector into the Lightning, the truck recalculated its range to 157 miles. About 5 miles into towing, a new message flashed across the driver information screen alerting us again that electric range had been reduced further due to the presence of a trailer, dropping from 150 miles to 98.

The range reduction messages didn't come as a surprise; however, I wasn't quite prepared for what would happen upon encountering the first uphill climb of the journey. Turning onto California's Highway 73, I was met with a relatively mild 4 percent grade that rises from near sea level to about 800 feet. Right away the truck's power output meter began to gray out, dropping from 100 percent power available to just 62 percent despite the truck still having a healthy 79 percent state of charge. At that output, it required full throttle to maintain 66 mph up the hill. The return trip three days later saw motor power reduced to 59 percent with a maximum speed of 62 mph on the same hill.

This reduction in power output appeared to be linked to battery temperature as I watched the indicator gauge turn orange in color and rise out of the "normal" operating range bar. Motor temperature rose slightly but did not get to the point of alerting. As I crested the grade and began coasting down the back side, everything quickly returned to normal.

What was alarming about this encounter wasn't the power reduction or the battery temperature rise, rather the fact that it occurred on such a small hill on a perfectly still, bright and sunny, 62-degree day. Leaving the Los Angeles area to the north is the Tejon Pass, better known as the Grapevine, and to the east is the Cajon Pass. Both passes gain around 3,000 feet of elevation and have maximum grades of about 6 percent. They also both frequently see temperatures over 100 degrees in the summer and below freezing in the winter and are prone to extreme wind. The Grapevine also spans 50 miles.

It's tough to say how the Lightning would perform while towing those grades without setting a tire on them. However, based on the limited experience towing up a much smaller hill, the prospect is not encouraging.

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Can You Recharge at the Campsite?

It should be clear at this point that the Lightning's major drawback while towing is its electricity consumption, but what if you could charge during the idle time while camping? Full hookup campsites provide electrical power right at your spot. The answer to this riddle is twofold. First, for those unfamiliar with RV and travel trailer electrical needs, it's important to know that all these recreational vehicles (with the rare outlying exception) operate on 120-volt power. So, while a lot of campgrounds offer electrical hookups in any combination of 20-, 30-, or 50-amp service, it's always 120-volt—equivalent to plugging in to any old household outlet. That means it will take about six days to charge the extended-range, 131-kWh battery from naught to full. Put another way, this method will provide about 1 mile of towing range for every 1.5 hours plugged in.

The second reason charging at the campsite is impractical is far more frustrating: As EV adoption gains traction, many campgrounds, both public and private, are restricting visitors from charging on the property. While some charge a fee for topping off a vehicle's battery, many more have banned the practice outright.

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Your $5,000 Generator Won't Save You, Either

With plugging into the campsite shore power out of the question, I turned my attention to topping off with the use of a portable gas generator. Using Ford's provided mobile charger with the 240-volt Level 2 attachment, I plugged into the 220-volt outlet of a Honda eu6500is generator. Sadly, the 30-amp circuit offered by the 6,500-watt invertor generator couldn't quite cut it. This was due partly to the fact that the Honda generator has only a combination 120-/240-volt outlet, and the machine couldn't decide which voltage to provide.

Swapping over to the 120-volt adapter, I plugged the travel charger back into the generator and let it run. Over five hours, the generator nearly drained its 4-gallon tank while adding less than 4 miles of towing range. The laughs from the Tesla owners in the neighboring campsite only added insult to injury.

I will say, the caveat is if you happen to have a large industrial generator with a dedicated 50-amp, 240-volt outlet, it is theoretically possible to recharge the extended-range battery from empty in about 19 hours with the portable charger. This would add about 5 miles of towing range per hour charged but would burn through many gallons of fuel while angering anyone within earshot.

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Public Charging With a Trailer Is … A Challenge

Knowing that charging would be a challenge and that the generator might not work, I spent hours scouring the Internet in search of charging stations with ample room for a truck and trailer should the need arise. Unsurprisingly, this is an all but impossible ask in densely populated Southern California. Thankfully, there was one EVgo station located in a family fun center parking lot that appeared as if it would accommodate—so long as there wasn't a half-price minigolf tournament going on, that is.

While it looked as if I'd make it home without charging, the rate at which the estimated range was dropping made me just uncomfortable enough that I opted to give topping off a try. Thankfully, upon pulling into the lot I was greeted with a mostly empty charging station and parking lot. I nosed the truck into the furthest tower while leaving the trailer unapologetically blocking part of the road. Just 35 minutes later, the Lightning was back at 80 percent charged, and we were on our way.

This was a best-case scenario. Most other stops would require finding a place to park and disconnect from the trailer prior to charging, which is not a task most would choose to do unnecessarily. Ideally, if the truck is already unhitched from the trailer while at your chosen camping destination, a quick run into town for a fill-up is the best bet. Assuming there's a town nearby.

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Powering Camp With Pro Power Onboard

With recharging at the campsite all but off the table, it frees up the option for more boondocking experiences. Our Lariat-trimmed Lightning came standard with the high-output 9.6-kW Pro Power Onboard, which includes ten 120-volt outlets (two in the cab, four in the frunk, and four in the bed) and a 240-volt receptacle. By comparison, most RVs and travel trailers that are fit with a generator come with either a 4,000- or 5,500-watt unit for their off-grid electrical needs.

Knowing that Pro Power had more than enough headroom for my trailer's electrical needs, I tossed the shore power cable into the bed and let the truck power the camper. The biggest downside to this plan is the need to keep the truck keyed on to have Pro Power running. Other than that, I noted that the trailer would draw between 250 and 450 watts, depending on how many lights and appliances were being used. And there was no trouble running off a single 120-volt circuit, including a 1,000-watt microwave or air conditioning unit. In my case, not running the air conditioning, some basic napkin math says I could power the trailer for about 6 percent of the Lightning's battery per day. Adding the A/C would pull down about 1 percent per hour of usage. With a good charging plan, you could easily boondock with the Lightning generator-free.

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Is Towing With a Lightning Worth It?

For those towing an extended distance for recreation, the Lightning isn't quite there yet. For me, a good camping weekend often means towing about 150 miles to the middle of nowhere, often over a steep mountain pass. And when it comes to this, the Lightning just can't cut it. Over 101.4 easy towing miles, the truck consumed 119.1 kWh of electricity (including powering the trailer and recharging via a generator), netting us 0.85 miles per kilowatt-hour (or 28.6 mpg-e) at a cost of $74.34. By contrast, our former F-150 Raptor with its high-output 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 would average 9.7 mpg towing the same trailer, using about 10 gallons of premium fuel at a cost of about $50 for the same trip. However, with 36 gallons on board, the Raptor could do up to 350 miles of towing before needing to stop.

It's a shame, too, because at its core the Lightning is such a good tow vehicle. It's powerful, stable, comfortable, and loaded with helpful technology—all the most desirable things when looking for a truck to tow with. For around-town construction jobs or quick trips to the lake, it's perfect. But for those of us who need to go farther, it's best to be waiting to see what the next generation of Lightning brings to the towing table.

More on Our Long-Term 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat:

• We Just Bought a Ford F-150 Lightning
• An OTA Update Gets a Thumbs Up From Glove Users
• Winter Road-Tripping in Our Long-Term EVs Has Been … Interesting
• For Us, It'll Cost $18K to Power a House With Our F-150 Lightning
• Ford F-150 Lightning OTA Tracker: Keep Up With Software Changes
• Can You Charge a Ford F-150 Lightning at a Tesla Supercharger?
• Time to Scale Back Expectations?
• We Charged Our F-150 Lightning at 7-Eleven and All We Got Was This Stupid Hat
• Too Fast For the Dragstrip
• Is the F-150 Lightning Better Than a GMC Hummer EV Pickup?
• We're Paying $650/Year to Subscribe to Our Ford F-150 Lightning
• Battery Troubles for Our Electric Pickup
• Road-Tripping Our F-150 Lightning Is Hard—Ford Doesn't Make It Any Easier
• An EV Novice Takes Our Electric Pickup Off-Road
• The Cheap Way to Power a House With Our F-150 Lightning
• All the Junk We've Fit in Our Lightning's Frunk
• Report From a No-Good, Very-Bad, Awful Road Trip
• One Year Later, How Are We Liking Our Lightning?

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