[E-Hermes]

Hello, my name is Ken and I created a YouTube channel called E-Hermes to discuss electric adventure travel. I began with a Tesla Model Y (because that is what I could get at the time) and have been very happy with it. I placed an order for a Rivian R1-T when they were first announced and expected it to be our next vehicle in the fleet. I also made a reservation for a Cyber Truck and finally the Lightning. Since I am holding out for the 400 mile range Rivian I will not get that until next year, the Cyber Truck is still at least a year away but my Lighting is in production and I hope to take delivery of it in the next few weeks. When I do I will be posting videos of traveling with it including a comparison of traveling from northeast Ohio to Sanibel Florida both alone and pulling a trailer. This is a trip of 1,250 miles each way which I have made three times with the Model Y (once pulling a trailer). The extended range Lightning is rated at 320 miles and so is my Model Y, but the battery is nearly twice a large (72 kWh versus 131 kWh) so I want to see how much longer it takes on a long trip to refill the battery.

 

[TwoFrom93449]

We will be very interested in your travels with the Lightning towing. We are hoping to downsize from our trusty workhorse 1999 7.3L F250 pulling a fifth wheel trailer, to our new Lightning pulling a much lighter (5500 lbs) bumper-pull trailer. We will not sell our existing truck and trailer, and purchase a new trailer, until we have an idea of the tow range we can expect with the Lightning. We've read everything available online regarding towing with EVs, but want to get some "boots on the ground" feedback. How much does your trailer weigh?

 

[THEsocalledfan]

We will be very interested in your travels with the Lightning towing. We are hoping to downsize from our trusty workhorse 1999 7.3L F250 pulling a fifth wheel trailer, to our new Lightning pulling a much lighter (5500 lbs) bumper-pull trailer. We will not sell our existing truck and trailer, and purchase a new trailer, until we have an idea of the tow range we can expect with the Lightning. We've read everything available online regarding towing with EVs, but want to get some "boots on the ground" feedback. How much does your trailer weigh?

In the latest EV podcase, they talk about it:

'

Tom M. commented on it. He is thinking 100-120 miles and obviously will depend on trailer size, profile, etc. Good news if going to a campground, you will probably have NEMA 14-50 access.

 

[Super Duty]

Hello, my name is Ken and I created a YouTube channel called E-Hermes to discuss electric adventure travel. I began with a Tesla Model Y (because that is what I could get at the time) and have been very happy with it. I placed an order for a Rivian R1-T when they were first announced and expected it to be our next vehicle in the fleet. I also made a reservation for a Cyber Truck and finally the Lightning. Since I am holding out for the 400 mile range Rivian I will not get that until next year, the Cyber Truck is still at least a year away but my Lighting is in production and I hope to take delivery of it in the next few weeks. When I do I will be posting videos of traveling with it including a comparison of traveling from northeast Ohio to Sanibel Florida both alone and pulling a trailer. This is a trip of 1,250 miles each way which I have made three times with the Model Y (once pulling a trailer). The extended range Lightning is rated at 320 miles and so is my Model Y, but the battery is nearly twice a large (72 kWh versus 131 kWh) so I want to see how much longer it takes on a long trip to refill the battery.

Welcome to the forum @E-Hermes! Hopefully you get your Lightning soon. How long have you had your Model Y for?

 

[E-Hermes]

When I performed the long range trailer towing test with my Tesla Model Y I used a relatively small (4' x 8') and pretty light (about 1,250 pounds loaded). I thought that was about the right size for that vehicle to tow. With the Lightning (and potentially Rivian R1-T), we hope to pull a small camping trailer that weights about 3,500 pounds empty, probably closer to 4,500 when in use. In order to see if this is going to work before we buy the camper, we intend to rent a 6' x 12' U-Haul (which weighs 1,920 pounds empty) and put 2,500 pounds in it to test (for a total of 4,420 pounds). I think we are going to do the north to south leg like that, then remove the cargo weight for the trip back south to north to see how much a factor wind resistance is versus wind resistance combined with added weight. I plan to make the trip first with just the truck (hopefully in June) then later this summer with the trailer.

There is one major problem for me going from NE Ohio to SW Florida with a non-Tesla EV. There are no non-Tesla DC fast chargers in the entire state of West Virginia. Therefore I have to get from Cambridge OH (I-77 and I-70) interchange to Wytheville, VA (I-77 and I-81) interchange, a distance of 260 miles. I think I can do it with the extended range Lightning, but not pulling a trailer, so I will need to find a level 2 charger in Charleston WV and wait with the trailer.

Here are the links to the Tesla trailer towing/charging trips if you are interested:

If you subscribe and hit the notification bell you will be notified when I post new videos with the Lighting on long trips, both alone and towing.