Tested: How Towing Affects Electric Pickups—Hummer EV, Rivian R1T, and Ford F-150 Lightning

From the September 2022 issue of Car and Driver.

Last year, at our inaugural EV of the Year event, there wasn't a single vehicle that could tow more than 5000 pounds. There are now three such entries: the GMC Hummer EV (7500-pound towing capacity), Ford F-150 Lightning (10,000-pound max), and Rivian R1T (11,000 pounds). To evaluate this emerging electric-towing phenomenon, we hitched each to the same load, a 29-foot camper that weighs 6100 pounds, the sort of trailer a family of four might take on the quintessential summer getaway.

We ran all three trucks on the same 85-degree summer day on the same flat highway loop at 70 mph. Other than the slightly lower speed, which is prudent when piloting between 13,000 and 16,000 pounds of truck and trailer, we conducted this the same way we run our 75-mph highway-range tests, with the automatic climate control set to 72 degrees and running as many miles as we dared before the battery's state of charge became dire.

These new electric pickups are wonderful towing companions, aided by massive horsepower and torque that allow for easy merging with the flow of interstate traffic, and their heavy curb weights (between 6855 pounds for the F-150 and 9640 pounds for the Hummer) lend an impressive stability when lugging a three-ton trailer. But you won't want to be going far, as a full battery will take you a mere 100 miles in the Lightning, 110 miles in the R1T, and 140 miles in the Hummer. Although the Hummer consumes electricity at the highest rate of the three, its considerably larger battery pack more than makes up for the difference. (As with unladen range, each figure is rounded down to the nearest 10-mile increment here.)

There are a few quirks. EVs can sometimes be fickle to top off; the Lightning was set to charge all the way but instead stopped at 94 percent. However, even boosting its result by the missing 6 percent doesn't propel it past the next 10-mile increment. Adaptive cruise is available while towing in the Hummer and the Lightning, but not hands-free Super Cruise or BlueCruise, while the Rivian won't allow the use of adaptive cruise control at all. All of these trucks have integrated trailer-brake controllers, but none is available with larger towing mirrors that would improve visibility at the cost of a bit more aero drag.