Hauling a trailer with your pickup truck is one of the main thing a pickup is created for, so without this capability, I don’t know what kind of truck it would be. Good thing the manufacturers of them are perfectly aware of this.
Every electric pickup truck currently on the market can tow a standard trailer, just like a gas-powered pickup. In fact, an electric pickup has more tow capacity than any standard truck because it has more torque and horsepower.
There are several manufacturers of electric trucks that are available and each one is a little different so to understand how they compare lets take a look at each one and see what kind of trailer they can tow.
Can You Tow A Trailer With An Electric Pickup Truck?
We are going to look at 5 main electric pickups available on the market right now and compare their towing abilities. I want to also compare them to their respective gas and diesel equivalents just to have a better perspective and provide as much information as I can for someone that is considering to buy an electric pickup.
In general, all electric trucks can tow most trailers. To tow heavy duty trailers like goose neck and 5th wheel will still be best to be towed by a diesel powered truck, but for your average boat or camper, or even a small dump trailer, any electric pickup truck on the market will be able to do the job.
One thing to keep in mind with all the electric trucks is when towing you should expect to lose up to half your normal range. So if your truck can go 300 miles before charging normally, when towing you will only be able to travel 150 miles before needing to charge up.
So let’s run through each of them and see what we can find out.
Can Ford F-150 Lightning Tow A Trailer?
The Ford F-150 Lightning has a towing capacity of 10,000lb with the extended-range trim, a payload limit of 2,000lb and can tow any kind of small trailer, a camper, a small utility trailer, a tow dolly, pretty much any boat trailer, a horse trailer, some dump trailers ( depending on what you load into them), pop-up campers, even a large travel trailer. Toy haulers, goose-neck and 5th wheels are over this trucks capacity so it can’t tow those.
While towing with this truck, you should remember that the number of miles you can go before charging will be a lot less than normal, so make sure to keep an eye on the miles left on the gauge. It is expected to lose up to 50% of your normal range, which with this truck is about 150 miles while towing, so don’t plan any long towing trips.
How Much Will The Electric Chevy Silverado Tow?
Chevrolet Silverado comes with a bit more choices to choose from when it comes to towing. The Silverado work truck version has a towing capacity of 8,000lb with a 1,300lb payload limit.
An industry standard capacity of 10,000lb is available in its higher trim levels that is comparable to other electric pickups on the market. However there is a towing-optimized version of the truck that is expected to have towing capacity of 20,000lb.
Just like with the Lightning, the Silverado EV will only be able to travel about 200 miles before needing a charge while towing a trailer, depending on what you are hauling in that trailer too. Normally this electric pickup can go 400 miles, but the extra weight cuts it up to half.
How Much Can A GMC Hummer Tow?
Just like it’s been with Hummer, all the consumer models have been all looks and little performance, the new Hummer EV is kind of the same. Although it is classified as a heavy-duty truck, in the same class as a Ford F-250 or Chevy Silverado 2500, because of it’s weight and matched power to carry it, but it’s towing capacity is only 7,500lb, with a payload limit of 1,300lb.
All that to say that they are not boasting that Hummer is a work rig… it is what it’s always been a status symbol of sorts. Maybe carry some friends or family and a few floaties to the beach in this beast.
If you do decide to tow a trailer with the Hummer EV, keep in mind that you might need to plan an extra charge stop during your trip because while normally it can go 350 miles, it can shorten as much as by half to 175 miles because of the extra load.
Read more about the Hummer EV:
How Much Does It Cost To Charge The Hummer EV At Home?
Does the Hummer EV Have a Third Row?
Does the Hummer EV Have a Heat Pump?
Can Rivian Tow A Trailer?
Rivian has 2 models, one is an SUV (R1S) which weighs more so it is a little less powerful, and the other is a pickup truck (R1T), which is the work horse of the fleet. Maybe workhorse is an overstatement. The R1T has the towing capacity of 11,000lb with a payload limit of 1,760lb, which means it is very close to other electric pickup trucks on the market.
The R1S SUV has the towing capacity of 7,700lb with a payload limit of 1,800lb. It’s a little less but that is not the biggest problem. Unfortunately, both Rivian models are expected to lose up to 50% of its range when towing. With their range being about 300 miles under normal circumstances, this lowers the range to about 150 miles. So short hauls should not be a problem but towing cross country is probably not a good idea. It is best to plan these things ahead instead of scrambling to find a charging station on your last 2% of battery.
How Much Can A Tesla Cybertruck Tow?
With the Cybertruck being so futuristic looking and unlike other trucks, it will look very weird to see it tow some regular looking trailer… It’s got to be one of the Tesla’s specially designed Cyber-trailer. But I digress… There are 3 options with the Cybertruck, the basic single-motor version that has the towing capacity of 7,500lb, the next one up is the dual-motor truck which can tow 10,000lb and is the most comparable to the other electric pickups on the market. But the third one is the tri-motor version and it will tow up to 14,000lb. All the versions have a payload limit of 3,500lb.
If we go by the rumors, Cybertruck can go as much as 620 miles on 1 charge, but keeping in mind the electric truck towing rule, you will loose as much as half the range when towing a trailer or anything else. This means that the range can drop to 310 miles. I have to say that this is very impressive for an electric pickup truck. I still can’t get over the look… I can’t see myself driving it around. But that’s just me.
Valik loves tinkering in the garage and is currently restoring a 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 truck. He also writes about the progress on this blog. When not in the garage, Valik is also a web developer and a blogger. I know, strange, a hand in two completely different worlds. And that is the way he likes to keep it.
