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Kyle at Out of Spec Reviews just did a comparative towing "race" across the Rockies in Colorado: Ford Lightning versus Rivian R1T versus Tesla Cybertruck versus Chevy Silverado. Competitors cannot drive more than 5mph over the limit, and so their time is being limited by their charging time over the entire trip. Therefore, charging network locations and charger availability, any waiting lines to access a free charger, actual charging rates, and as they point out, any need to disconnect/reconnect the trailer to access the charger can all play a role.
Warning, it's a long-a$$ video, but I suppose one can always skip ahead.
Chevy. It's just about biggest battery and fastest charging which is Chevy. Any gas truck would beat them but that's just the unfortunate state of batteries. Battery capacity still needs to come up some more and charging speeds up and pull through chargers so you don't have to drop the trailers need to be built.
Interesting video. I did skip a bunch, but Chevy was the only one to make it round trip, just less than 500 miles, on only one charge in Grand Junction. The other three had to stop on the way up and back to recharge. Also interesting was to see how much it cost to charge the vehicles. Less than diesel for sure, but not cheap either. Not giving up my Diesel Chevy 3500 anytime soon :-)
Chevy did with a much larger battery pack. Rivian came in second with the most efficient powertrain. As it is, this seems like more than enough for most people, but it's one of those things where if it isn't enough for you, then just waiting a few years will probably see the release of a vehicle that is. The Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 would both be due for a new generation by that time and the Chevy and Cybertruck will both likely have at least a mid-cycle refresh by then.
Chevy did with a much larger battery pack. Rivian came in second with the most efficient powertrain. As it is, this seems like more than enough for most people, but it's one of those things where if it isn't enough for you, then just waiting a few years will probably see the release of a vehicle that is. The Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 would both be due for a new generation by that time and the Chevy and Cybertruck will both likely have at least a mid-cycle refresh by then.
Agreed, I am sure there will be exceptions, but the Silverado should satisfy 95% of people even on towing. I haven't heard pricing for it, but it will be interesting to see how it fares.
Agreed, I am sure there will be exceptions, but the Silverado should satisfy 95% of people even on towing. I haven't heard pricing for it, but it will be interesting to see how it fares.
Therein lies the rub. Cost. Also, I tow 250-300 miles round trip in sub-freezing weather on snow and ice covered roads with no reliable chargers available.
I'm not anti-EV. My daily driver just sees 10-20 miles a day and an EV could easily be charged at home with just a 120V outlet but they still cost too much. I need something with AWD and with EVs, that bumps you into the higher trim and cost levels on what is available now.
Therein lies the rub. Cost. Also, I tow 250-300 miles round trip in sub-freezing weather on snow and ice covered roads with no reliable chargers available.
I'm not anti-EV. My daily driver just sees 10-20 miles a day and an EV could easily be charged at home with just a 120V outlet but they still cost too much. I need something with AWD and with EVs, that bumps you into the higher trim and cost levels on what is available now.
Alaska doesn't have much infrastructure to support EVs. Price is yes, high. The 3WT starts at 75k and 4WT at 80k. Those are the work truck trims. The RST which is consumer version starts at 107k. The big battery is what lets it get decent range even towing but it doesn't help with the price any. The people spending 75-80k on work trucks are buying 3500 diesels. The people not buying work trucks spending 80k (you can price a Sierra Denali up there), do not want work trucks. The RST is a mid-grade pickup in Chevy's lineup, 58k vs 107k. That sounds extreme but then you figure it's got about 2.5x as much battery as a normal EV so the regular 15k EV tax is more like 40k. It certainly does some things better (like stoplight racing) but it ain't cheap.
Therein lies the rub. Cost. Also, I tow 250-300 miles round trip in sub-freezing weather on snow and ice covered roads with no reliable chargers available.
I'm not anti-EV. My daily driver just sees 10-20 miles a day and an EV could easily be charged at home with just a 120V outlet but they still cost too much. I need something with AWD and with EVs, that bumps you into the higher trim and cost levels on what is available now.
I think your use case of up in Alaska outside of the panhandle and towing 250-300 miles with a large load is going to take several years before the trucks reach purchase price parity. I think in that situation, the only EV that would make sense from now to the next several years is the daily driver if you have a multi-vehicle household and there was a vehicle within your household that was more of a commuter, errand runner and people mover that does not need to tow large loads over hundreds of miles in sub-freezing Alaskan weather and you have charging at home. AWD is pretty easy to get with EVs without adding that much price for the most part since there's no complicated mechanical linkage. However, since there's little in subcompact / compact vehicles in the US market, you'll likely need to pay in the $40K-$50K range for a new vehicle though you can potentially get $7,500 or more off from tax credits / rebates. That's about middle of the pack for new vehicle transaction prices in the US regardless of powertrain type right now.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 04-01-2024 at 02:24 PM..
I'd like to see this test using max payload (not towing) and see how they do. I'm in the same boat as Northrick. Lack of charging infrastructure and I haul a truck camper all over Montana. Not getting rid of my Chevy 2500 6.0l anytime soon.
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