I'll take this piece by piece.
@2kwik4u Wow, thank you many times over.
First, I love the GM video. Dumbs it down for me to easily grasp. I wonder how many hotties would know how to use a 3 speed today.
Glad you liked the video. I've seen it help really solidify the premise of a force at a distance for many people. The idea that gears are just big levels wrapped around a cylinder is hard to describe in words.
All Lightnings will be AWD. They have a motor for the front and one for the back. Only difference I can see is the battery capacity.
Since there are 2 motors are they each applying 6975 lbs to their axles?
I would assume that the 775ft*lbf that Ford quotes is the TOTAL amount. I think it would be safe to assume that either axle can provide up to 50% of that at any given moment. It's possible that the torque rating is limited more by current draw from the batteries than what the motor can produce. In that case software will dictate which motor creates more torque at any given instant to ensure that current draw is not exceeded. If this is the case it opens some really neat opportunities to "balance" the forces from each axle. This can change the driving dynamics from AWD, to FWD, to RWD depending on any number of variables.
The smaller battery has a range of 230 miles and tow rating of 7,700 lbs.
The larger battery has a range of 300 miles and tow rating of 10,000 lbs.
I have decided I am either getting the base 'Pro' model ($40,000) or the top of line 'Platinum' ($90,000).
Seems like the Pro model would have plenty of capacity for me but I really like heated/cooled leather seats and other amenities.
I love my heated and cooled seats. Seems like the Platinum is the way to go for that alone. With that said, assuming they are testing to SAE J2807 (the industry towing standard), most likely current draw from the smaller battery is capped, which in turn caps maximum torque available, and finally slows overall acceleration, leading to lower tow ratings. Since the towing standard directly measures acceleration, it's likely the cause of the lower tow rating on the smaller pack. Often times however, at least in ICE powered vehicles, tow ratings are dictated more so by cooling capacity than by available torque/power. Part of the standard requires a pull up the Davis Dam Grade, at speed, and without overheating. I doubt that is the case here since the larger pack will most definitely generate more heat.
Again, assuming Ford is playing by the standard here, you can read through that standard to get an idea of what really goes into your tow ratings. here's a good article from 2015.
Maximum trailer tow ratings have been a bit of a mystery over the years. Manufacturers each had their own somewhat secret ways of determining how much weight th
www.motortrend.com
Also, have a look at the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating). This is the total amount of weight the truck/trailer/cargo/passengers can safely weigh. 7k towing probably indicates a 12k or 13k GVWR, which leaves very tight margins for gear, fuel, food, coolers, etc in the truck. It's worth a check if you want to dive that deep.
Your explanation leads me to another question. Why do I need all that torque and horsepower???? My Expedition does everything fine with much lower numbers. I would gladly trade that power for additional range from a Lightning.
Short answer is; You don't. It's sure nice to have, and makes life easy when you no longer have to decide if you're going to merge before or after that semi in the near lane as you enter the interstate. Just because you have that capability, doesn't mean you're constantly using it.
Keep in mind torque (and by relation HP) is a "DRAW" style system. You will not produce a single ft*lbf more torque than is required to move the load or to break traction. You will simply accelerate faster until you reach the capacity of the prime mover (ICE, or Electric motor) at that instant. If you don't have your foot buried to the floor, you aren't using 100% of available power. You are only using some smaller percentage of that. Think of it like a semi truck towing my 190. Just because it's capable of making 1,500ft*lbf of torque doesn't mean it'll use it all. I will only generate as much as it needs to accelerate at the given rate.....OR, juts accelerate faster. Take that same semi, and put 60k lbs of trailer behind it and you need a lot higher percentage of available torque to accelerate at the same rate. i.e. you're foot's further in the throttle.
In terms of an EV, you will only use what you HAVE to use to generate a given acceleration. The Rivian for example uses ~400Whr/mi when cruising around empty. A Tesla Model 3 will only use ~200Whr/mi at that same speed. Towing with a Model X I've seen reports as high as 1,200Whr/mi when towing a large camper with lots of frontal area, a headwind, and highway speeds. SO, if your new Lightning takes say 550Whr/mi to tow your 21ft jet at 70mph on the expressway.....then well, take that figure and divide it out by capacity and there's your towing range.
The EV's keep quoting capacity in "miles" and that doesn't do any of us any favors when comparing to an ICE. Even worse, Miles per gallon is a stupid measure of efficiency because it's non-linear (that is to say a 5mpg increase from 10-15 is 50%, but a 5mpg increase from 50-55 is only a 10% increase). We should really be using gallons/100mi. That is a much better set of units to use, despite hardly anyone in the US being familiar with that setup (it is on the Monroney sticker though)......Point being, compare your towing energy usage to your stated capacity and you're get an idea of how far you can REALLY go on a charge. I would wager that ~550Whr/mi is pretty close for a pickup towing a boat at speed.
in case you couldn't tell, I love this stuff. Let me know what else I can help with
