One of the first greater Jacksonville, FL-area Ford F-150 Lightning owners has already driven his EV pickup across the country.

Sergio Rodriguez, who is on assignment at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Kingsland, Ga., recently picked up his Lightning in California and drove it home.

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EV Rider was invited to Kingsland, which is just up the road from Jacksonville, to take Sergio’s extended-range Lightning for a spin and check out all of its features.

Sergio purchased the Lariat edition, which includes the 10,000-pound tow package and larger battery that has a useable capacity of 131 kWh, which can be charged from 15-80% in 41 minutes using a 150kW+ DC fast charger, according to Ford.

Ford estimates the extended range battery has about 300 miles of range on the XLT and Lariat, and 280 miles on the top-level F-150 Lightning Platinum.

In the video you’ll find a complete tour of the F-150 Lightning, road test and a few 0-60 mph runs, which Sergio says Ford estimates at 4 seconds.

The F-150 Lightning has garnered a good bit of initial praise from automotive journalists for features that include an available maximum payload capacity of 2,235 pounds, Blue Cruise hands-free driving, and the ability to power a home with up to 9.6 kilowatts of power.

“F-150 Lightning is built for seamless transitions between charging your vehicle and powering your house when needed – and Ford is the first in the U.S. to offer this capability on an electric truck,” said Ryan O’Gorman, Ford energy services business manager.

Sergio particularly likes what Ford calls the Lightning’s “Mega Power Frunk,” which offers 400 pounds of payload where an engine would normally go.

He plans to take full advantage of the Lightning’s towing technology, which includes onboard scales that are integrated with self-adjusting range estimates. The truck allows drivers to plug in the details of the boat, trailer or other objects they are hauling or towing to get more accurate range estimates that account for the additional load.

The Lightning is available as a 10-kilowatt smart power plant on wheels. With Pro Power Onboard, Lightning drivers can use built-in electrical outlets to directly power a variety of tools, electronics, and appliances away from home. Standard on base trims is 2.4 kilowatts of power with the option for more, while Lariat and Platinum series come standard with 9.6 kilowatts of power – a combination of up to 2.4 kilowatts available through the frunk and up to 7.2 kilowatts through 11 power outlets in the cab and bed.

F-150s are also capable of providing Level 2-speed charges to just about any other electric vehicles such as the Tesla Model S or Zero Motorcycles SR/F.

In the video at the top of this page you’ll get a tour of all of it along with the truck’s other features and Sergio’s impressions after his first 3,000-plus miles of driving the F-150 Lightning. Sergio also owns two Mustang Mach-Es. A video of his Mach-E GT-Performance is available here.

The 2022 F-150 Lightning is already sold out. At the time of this post the Lightning carried a base price of $39,947 with available option packages that top $90,000.

For EV Riders that may be cross shopping the F-150 Lightning with Rivian’s R1T EV pickup, here’s an in-depth look at it from the viewpoint of Jacksonville’s first Rivian owner.

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Jimmy McGovern was the first person in Jacksonville, FL to take delivery of a new Rivian R1T in April 2022. He previously owned a Nissan Titan and also owns a Tesla Model S.

Post your Rivian R1T questions or comments here

In this video post Jimmy runs down the features of the R1T and also compares it to both his Titan and Model S.

After watching the video, if you would like additional information about Rivian or the R1T, visit rivianstories.com, which is a website and enthusiast forum run by Jimmy and other Rivian fans. They also have a Rivian Stories YouTube channel.

If you enjoy or find the EV Rider R1T video useful, please give it a like on YouTube and subscribe to the EV Rider YouTube channel.

Rivian R1T Specs, Pricing & Equipment Packages

More information about the Rivian R1T is available at Rivian.com.

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Update: Since this story was originally written, Ford has once again upped the Mustang Mach-E’s European tow rating to 3,307 pounds. The full story and video, including a towing test of a U.S.-spec Mach-E is available here.

If you want to tow with your Mustang Mach-E, Ford says it can handle up to 2,204 pounds. But there’s a catch.

Ford updated its official tow capacity this week, however that capacity is listed by Ford of Europe. Although Europe’s Mach-Es are believed to be mechanically and structurally identical to U.S. models, Ford has not given the Mach-E a tow rating in the U.S.

Although aftermarket companies make Mach-E tow hitches, the U.S. Mach-E owner’s manual advises against towing.

However, Ford’s European public relations department wrote on May 3, 2022: “The Ford Mustang Mach-E’s approved braked towing capacity has now been increased to 1,000 kg [2,204 pounds] on extended range models in both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive – enough to allow customers to tow a typical small or average-sized fiberglass fishing boat.”

Braked towing capacity refers the maximum a vehicle can tow if the trailer has its own brakes.

Ford also released an official photo showing a Mach-E towing a boat.

“The towing upgrade for Mustang Mach-E is one of a number of free updates we’re continuing to make in hardware and software or through homologation to give owners the best experience possible,” said This Woelpern, general manager, Imports, Ford of Europe in the news release. “With towing in particular, it was a great example of us responding to customer queries, where we checked the feasibility of an increase and were able to deliver what they wanted.”

There’s a lot of speculation about why Ford doesn’t tow-rate the U.S. Mach-E, one centers around speed limits. European speed limits tend to be lower for those who tow. For example, the speed limit is 60 mph when towing a camper on the highway in Great Britain, according to gov.uk.

EV Rider attempted to reach out to Ford’s U.S. media team for clarification via its media site, but was met with “your account access is not privileged to view this page.” If Ford wishes to respond to EV Rider about why the Mach-E isn’t tow-rated in the U.S., this story will be updated.

Curt, Draw-Tite and Torklift Central are among the companies selling aftermarket trailer hitches for the Mach-E here in the U.S.

Social media is filled with examples of people who have installed trailer hitches on their Mach-Es and are actively towing with their electric Mustangs.

For those that would like to learn more about towing, Kelley Blue Book offers a good explanation.

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2022 might go down in history as the year that electric vehicles went mainstream. That’s because this year electric pickups are finally on sale – just as a flood of EV SUVs have hit the market.

Post questions or comments on the EV Towing You Tube page.

Most telling of all is America’s best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150 starts deliveries this year of its F-150 Lightning EV.

Ford sold more 362,000 F-150 pickups in 2021 and has produced over 40 million since they first started rolling off the line in 1948, with Ford saying it will produce 150,000 F-150 EVs a year, with more than that already reserved by customers.

Chevy is also rolling out its electric Silverado as a 2024 model and a host of electric SUVs that tow – from the Audi e-Tron to the Tesla Model X – are already pulling stuff along U.S. highways.

And that raises a big question: When it comes to towing, how good are EVs?

The short answer is, due to their superior torque, they should do just fine. But tow ratings are just one measure, which will get into.

But first, let’s meet a family of five – or, six if you count their lab – who have been towing RVs with their 2020 Tesla Model X across the country from their home in Lincoln, Nebraska.

You might recognize Katie and Steve Krivolavek from their All Electric Family channel on YouTube. We got together on a Zoom call to discuss their transition to EV towing and the future of EV towing.

“Yeah, we have towed with all sorts of vehicles, from your everyday SUV to an Excursion to F-150s. So we’ve done quite a bit of towing and have made the switch to EVs,” said Katie.

They’ve been towing a 22-foot 2021 Coachman Apex Nano 194BHS BunkHouse RV, which tips the scales at around 4,800 pounds, fully loaded. Their Model X has a maximum tow rating of 5,000 pounds.

One of the things they love about towing with an EV is the added stability. “One of the very surprising things, I don’t know why I was surprised by this, I should have figured this out, was the stability of the actual electric vehicle. When towing it’s just – bar none,” said Steve.

They’ve been so pleased with their EV towing experience that they’re now ready to take to the next level. They’ve put reservations down for both the Rivian R1T pickup EV and Ford F-150 Lightning EV.

Why both? Because of the chip shortage, battery constraints and pandemic-induced supply issues, many models now have delivery backlogs stretching six months or more. They’ll likely buy whichever of the new pickups is available first.

“It’s crazy. I am super excited to try some of these trucks that have, you know, a battery pack that’s 35% bigger than the Model X, potentially even more. So that weight, that stability, the bigger body. I’m anticipating that at least the Lightning, I would imagine the R1T as well, will be just as stable as our F-350 and it’ll be a fun experience on that side, at least for me,” said Steve.

The Lightning, depending on the option package, has a tow rating of up to 10,000 pounds, while the R1T can tow up to 11,000 pounds.

Just like gasoline pickups, the range of EV pickups will take a big hit when towing, with Rivian estimating up to half its range of 314 miles could be lost when towing a heavy load.

And that brings us to charging. Ford says its Lightning can refuel from 15 to 80% in 41 minutes. Both the Lightning and Rivian hit peak charging speeds of about 150kW.

But here’s the rub. Unlike gas stations, most EV charging stations feature pull-in charging instead of pull-through charging, meaning that in many cases EV drivers will be forced to unhitch.

EV Rider reached out to the media department at Electrify America, which is the nation’s largest public fast-charging network, along with Ford and GM to ask about whether there’s a plan to avoid needing to unhook, but only GM responded, writing what is basically a polite no comment that reads: “Unfortunately, our team doesn’t have the bandwidth at this time to support your request.”

Katie said so far, unhitching while charging hasn’t really been an issue. “It wasn’t really a huge deal to us. I think we timed it once and it was less than five minutes.”

Katie also points out there have been plenty of occasions – at least for now – when they haven’t needed to unhitch.

“You can get creative in some of the places and not have to unhook, pulling into the last charger and leaving your trailer out down the side. The local charger in town, it’s at the back of a grocery store, and so there’s a long line of chargers and then parking that continues on down the line and so we can pull up and use that last charger. And you know honestly, we live in an area where there’s not a ton of EVs, so when we pull into a charging station, there’s a lot of times where it’s only us or us and one other car, so we feel comfortable blocking off one or two chargers.  And, obviously, keeping an eye on it to make sure that they don’t fill up, and we need to clear out space for someone else to charge.”

Although Electrify America and the manufacturers didn’t comment for this video, it’s possible that we’ll see future chargers adapt designs similar to gas stations, such as the Electrify America pictured above, which can accommodate EV tow vehicles without unhitching.

As for the All Electric Family, they’re already planning even bigger camping adventures.

“Yeah, so we have a 30-foot Airstream, so the bunkhouse Airstream model. It’s quite a bit bigger than the 22-foot and is just over the limit of what we can tow with the Model X. And so we kind of put the horse before the cart, because we knew we were loving the experience of towing with the EV, figuring it all out and seeing what the EV could do while towing, so we decided to upgrade and wanted to go on some longer trips so the smaller trailer just wasn’t a good fit for our family anymore. So we had a chance to get this 30-foot Airstream and so we jumped on the opportunity, knowing that the trucks were coming down the line.”

You can follow Katie and Steve’s adventures on their YouTube channel or by going to allelectricfamily.com.

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