Now that the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is officially shipping, we look forward to learning so much more about it thanks to real-world ownership accounts, reviews, and testing. One of the most important questions from many pickup truck owners is how much can it tow. However, with an electric truck, what's arguably more important is how far it will go.
Range depends on a multitude of factors, so even before you hook up a trailer to your EV, you're going to experience varying electric range estimates and sometimes significant real-world range discrepancies for a number of reasons. However, towing impacts range more than anything else. You've probably read reports of electric vehicles losing half or more of their total range while towing.
Since Ford is the leader in pickup trucks, it's well aware of the importance of towing, and it has proven its success as the class leader time and time again. This suggests that the automaker likely put a ton of time and effort into figuring out the specifics related to the F-150 Lightning's towing specs and capacities.
As you'll learn from Alex on Autos' Alex Dykes – as published on his new YouTube channel, EV Buyers Guide – Ford came up with an innovative and viable software solution to help F-150 Lightning owners with range calculation while towing. We actually reported on the feature (link below), which employs smart technologies to accurately calculate the remaining vehicle range based on real-time conditions.
This way, if you're towing with your F-150 Lightning, you'll be continuously aware of the range impact, which should work to greatly reduce range anxiety while towing.
With all of that said, you're probably eager to learn how far the F-150 Lightning traveled while towing with Alex at wheel. To be clear, he says over and over that he can't really give an estimate without knowing what you're towing, how heavy it is, and all sorts of other details, such as the outside temperature and road conditions.
Nonetheless, Alex did follow through with putting the Lightning to the test, and he shares plenty of other details in the video. He towed several different loads, and surprisingly, they all ended up without about the same range.
Just as Alex says early in the video, he repeats in the conclusion. You should expect to get about 50 percent fewer miles of range while towing with the Lightning than you get in similar conditions while not pulling a load. However, fortunately, the electric truck will keep you posted with real-world range estimates along the way, so you won't have to be guessing.
