Ford Hybrid F150 used as a generator

[Luke42]

But just wait for the Ford ad of an F150 charging a Cyber Truck .....

This is a JOKE, but could still happen.

The pickup truck marketers who did this ad will definitely go there:
The context here is that the Ford F-150 is 700lbs lighter than the previous generation F-150 (and the Silverado), and it gets dramatically better fuel efficiency than any other pickup truck that was made at the time. It also likely has better corrosion resistance, and the aluminum beds have held up pretty well under actual use. In other words, these tests were cherry picked to convince buyers to buy the inefficient market-lagging truck.

Several years later, Chevy is now catching up and using aluminum to lighten their trucks:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...erado-drops-450-pounds-using-steel-structure/

Pick up truck marketers will go there -- we will see F-150s charging Teslas as soon as Ford or GM feels like they need to mention Tesla directly in an ad. And they'll wrap it in working-class machismo, even if the vehicles are hardly affordable to the *actual* working class.

Even more, charging a Cybertruck from an F-150 Hybrid is a valid configuration. If the only energy available is gasoline, using an F-150 hybrid to turn the gasoline into electric power would be sensible.

It's exactly like showing a Chevy being towed by a Ford. It's fair in the world of truck advertising smack-talk. They've gone there before, and they'll go there again:


It's also fair to have the Cybertruck tow an F-150 hybrid on a trailer -- while racing another F-150 Hybrid. [shrug]


It is what it is, and it's always wrapped in blue collar machismo -- even when it's a f*cking $70k luxury car with a pickup bed. The question is whether anyone actually cares about stunts like this, because brand loyalty is ridiculously high in pickup-land.

Advertisement

 

[Sirfun]

In a different video the guys from TFL said the sticker price on that F150 Hybrid was $80,000!

 

[TI4Dan]

Both those Horse/RV trailers are not your plain jane models, they have house batteries in them stock probaby two and could be more. They may even come with a built in genset that runs on propane which burns very clean. I would not make it a habit to use the truck to run the trailer but use the batteries if possible, the truck will charge the house batteries during the travel times. I don't think I ever saw a horse trailer at a RV park, They always asked if we have any pets and I bragg about my small dog Pepper. Yes I have a small horse called Pepper...lol

 

[Sirfun]

Both those Horse/RV trailers are not your plain jane models, they have house batteries in them stock probaby two and could be more. They may even come with a built in genset that runs on propane which burns very clean. I would not make it a habit to use the truck to run the trailer but use the batteries if possible, the truck will charge the house batteries during the travel times. I don't think I ever saw a horse trailer at a RV park, They always asked if we have any pets and I bragg about my small dog Pepper. Yes I have a small horse called Pepper...lol

Yep, I noticed they both had 2 propane bottles on the front.

 

[Geo]

Whatever else the pro's and con's of the Hybrid F150, the one thing it will be far superior at,
than the Cybertruck and the upcoming Full Electric F150, and that is Range While Towing.

We don't have the actual numbers, but I'm sure they will be repeatedly verified once the Cybertruck is released.
But Indicatively the principle in the illustration below is valid, as explained by a number of sources including Jason at Engineering Explained.
( Electric batteries contain about 1.7% of the calorific energy of Diesel fuel, and towing range is impacted less than for an electric vehicle )

Standard Range F150 Hybrid = 700 miles. Towing 2200 lbs = say 385miles. 4400 lbs = XXX

Standard Range Cybertruck = 500 miles. Towing 2200 lbs = say 200 miles. 4400 lbs = XX


P.S. Thats why I'll be carrying one those generator's costing about $1 k mentioned earlier on longer trips in my Cybertruck


POST EDIT

Some sycophants on the site with an agenda may attempt to knowingly mislead you, others are just simply wrong, anyone on this site seeking some understanding about the impact towing has on the Cybertruck's range, will have to decide for yourself, or discover it the hard way !

Whether towing the exact same load in say a F150 Hybrid vs a Cybertruck, the result is as they claim, a drop in range that is proportional, or whether the Cybertruck's range is impacted more severely.

Its worth repeating, Electric batteries contain about 1.7% of the calorific energy of Diesel fuel,
and towing range is impacted less than for an electric vehicle.
A hybrid would be around 40% efficient. With the resultant 700 mile range.
An electric vehicle is in excess of 95% efficient. With the resultant 500 mile range.
So given the range, and the efficiency from the fuel source, when a new load (towing) is introduced, you'll work it out, what the impact will be on range !

ie.

F150 Hybrid = 700 mile range, . . towing 2200 lbs = x % lower, . . . . . . . . . . . 4,400 lbs =
Cybertruck = 500 mile range, . . . .towing 2200 lbs = x % (+ say 25% ) lower , . . .4,400 lbs =

 

[azjohn]

In a different video the guys from TFL said the sticker price on that F150 Hybrid was $80,000!

Thats mostly due to the truck being a Limited model( the most expensive Ford make). You could get an XLT hybrid with the onboard 7.2KWH generator for mid 50K

 

[Luke42]

Whatever else the pro's and con's of the Hybrid F150, the one thing it will be far superior at,
than the Cybertruck and the upcoming Full Electric F150, and that is Range While Towing.

I own a GMC Sierra Hybrid 2-mode hybrid pickup truck, and I've towed with it.

When towing a small travel trailer, the gas mileage went from 18 MPG to 9 MPG (as reported by the in-dash MPG meter).

That's pretty similar to the range hit that this community has calculated the Cybertruck will take when pulling a similar trailer.

It's also similar to the range hit that most other vehicles take, with some variation due to transmissions and ICE types (gas/diesel).

Towing sucks gas.

Most people just don't notice, because refueling is so easy, and because 2 hours of towing is as tiring to the driver as 4 hours of unladen travel.

Also, remember that the trailer adds pretty much the same aerodynamic and mechanical drag to any tow vehicle, regardless of whether it's powered by gas, diesel, or electric. The only difference is how efficient your powertrain is under heavy load (vs unladen driving).

 

[Geo]

I own a GMC Sierra Hybrid 2-mode hybrid pickup truck, and I've towed with it.

When towing a small travel trailer, the gas mileage went from 18 MPG to 9 MPG (as reported by the in-dash MPG meter).

Yes, I believe you.
And in fact you can drive in a way that your 18 MPG drops to 11 MPG not all the way down to 9 MPG.
However your personal anecdote does not in any way challenge the fact ICE vehicles are impacted less in towing range than electric vehicles are.
And in fact you could still prove the point if an electric vehicle did the same route, the, same way, in the same conditions, towing the same load and dropped the range by say 70%. or more !


The scientific fact still remains, all things being equal, the towing range for an electric vehicle will be impacted significantly more than for an ICE vehicle.
That is a simple fact given the abundant evidence that has been verified.
See Jason at Engineering Explored, or TFL Guys testing Model X getting
65 miles of total range while towing 5000 lbs, (pulling 900 plus wh/mile )

Model X weighs 5400 lbs, range reduction towing 5000 lbs is 2/3 !! ABOUT 66 % !!

But we will all have no doubt it will be absolutely verified to the 2nd decimal place, what towing load / range impact will be specifically for the Cybertruck, once its released.

( which is why its so important the standard range it comes out with is as big as it possibly can be. I hope 500 + turns out to be 650 miles or even more )






Jason : " Why todays electric vehicles are bad at towing "

C'mon TFL guys, do a towing test with the F150 Hybrid and compare it to the Model X results, it will be very useful as an indicative comparison !
What will the drop in range be for the F150 ? Proportionally, how much better than the Model X ?

The F150 will have a far worse drag co-efficient, but its likely one of the three Cybertruck variations will be close to the Model X's 5400 lbs weight. The test will suffice until you actually have a CT test.

 

[Crissa]

the fact ICE vehicles are impacted less in towing range than electric vehicles are.

No. Just... No.

Hybrids can be hit worse than either because their engines make assumptions about load. If they have to run in full engine mode, they can be forced to operate at or below the efficiency of their gas-only counterparts. (So make sure to check reviews!)

Just because today's BEVs mostly have a very aerodynamic profile doesn't mean ICE cars have any special sauce to reduce towing impact. The trailer still takes the same amount of energy to pull. They're just suckier to begin with.

-Crissa

 

[Luke42]

However your personal anecdote does not in any way challenge the fact ICE vehicles are impacted less in towing range than electric vehicles are.

I used to assert the same thing. I watched all of the videos you sent when they were first released. Their claims are not news to me.

However, I also tow in in real life. After towing and paying careful attention to MPG (and the math), I'm no longer convinced that ICE vehicles have the kind of towing edge everyone assumes -- most people seem to just accept an enormous range-hit and get on with life. The fact is that my ICE tow vehicles (manual, automatic, hybrid) have all taken huge range hits when towing, just like the EVs in the video. A 50% range reduction is common with ICE tow vehicles, too, though it depends greatly on the cross sectional area and the weight of the trailer (and the aerodynamics of the trailer).

Also, my GMC Sierra Hybrid is the most similar vehicle in on the road to the not-yet-available F-150 Hybrid. If towing with hybrids sucks worse than towing with a straight ICE, then you'd expect the GMC Sierra Hybrid to behave similarly to the F-150 hybrid.

(My intuition from actually having towed with a hybrid IRL is that it should be marginally more efficient than towing with a straight ICE, because the CVT stage of GM 2-mode transmission allows the V8 to run in one of it's sweet spots more of the time -- but that's just dancing around the margins compared to what the trailer's aerodynamic+mechanical drag does to the energy demand.)

Towing just takes a lot of energy, no matter how you do it.

 

[SolarWizard]

TFL posted this video bragging about how the new Ford F150 Hybrid can be used as a generator. I'm curious how this would compare to using an actual generator. Basically this $70,000 truck is just sitting there burning fuel at a 1500rpm idle for hours on end. In addition you get exhaust, carbon monoxide and noise. Does this really seem like a good idea? Also how would it compare to plugging into the Cybertruck.
Inquiring minds would like to know.

it’s one hell of a lot better than an emission control free generator

 

[SolarWizard]

No. Just... No.

Hybrids can be hit worse than either because their engines make assumptions about load. If they have to run in full engine mode, they can be forced to operate at or below the efficiency of their gas-only counterparts. (So make sure to check reviews!)

Just because today's BEVs mostly have a very aerodynamic profile doesn't mean ICE cars have any special sauce to reduce towing impact. The trailer still takes the same amount of energy to pull. They're just suckier to begin with.

-Crissa

which hybrid trucks have you personally towed with?

 

[Crissa]

which hybrid trucks have you personally towed with?

Irrelevant to the comment.

There was a (cherry picked) article going around last week pointing out how plug-in hybrids fibbed about their efficiency. Kernal of truth, and all, but not true for all hybrids.

I notice you haven't contradicted me, just an ad hominem request for authority.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

it’s one hell of a lot better than an emission control free generator

At some point in time I would imagine there will be some tests done to compare generators with this vehicle and even a Cybertruck. At that point, maybe someone could determine which is better, or the winner. Lot's of people have opinions on Better. There are people who think that no president has ever been better than our current one.
Better, is very subjective.

 

[ajdelange]

It takes X units of energy to move a tractor a unit distance. If the tractor has a reservoir of Z units of energy available for traction on board its range is Z/X. It takes Y units of energy to move a trailer one unit of distance. Towed by the tractor the total energy consumption is X + Y and the range is Z/(X + Y) = (Z/X)/(1 + Y/X) which means the range is reduced by a factor of (1 + Y/X). Why is this so difficult to understand? Why do people think it matters whether the tractor is electric rather than petrol driven? Is it not intuitively obvious that if the trailer consumes as much energy as the tractor the range will be reduced by a factor of 2 (cut in half)?