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Electric Trucks and Towing: A Real Issue or a Red Herring

Credit: Ford

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Towing has become the battle cry against electric trucks, but is this issue as pertinent as it sounds?

With the release of electric trucks to the market (Rivian R1T, Hummer EV, F-150 Lighting), towing, in particular, has become the albatross around the necks of EV truck manufacturers. Is the issue accurately portrayed by angry Facebook commenters, journalists, and YouTubers alike? I’ll give you one guess.

To start, electric trucks offer an amazing set of benefits to recreational and commercial consumers alike. They offer supercar-like specifications, they offer new use cases to a utilitarian and active market segment, and they do both of these things while remaining cheap to operate. Yet, despite these advantages, there is no denying that EVs face a set of new and daunting challenges regarding towing.

First of all, towing is very energy intensive. There is a reason an MPG estimate isn’t placed on the window tag of a new F250, RAM2500, or Silverado 2500. Not only is the vehicle tasked with overcoming an added thousand pounds or more, but it must do so while also battling increased air resistance. EVs are not unique in this aspect, but they must also deal with both limited charging infrastructure in many rural areas, as well as decreased range compared to gas and diesel alternatives. Compounding this issue, available chargers are often not designed for trailer-mounted vehicles, sometimes forcing the driver to detach the trailer, charge, and reattach, a task not required for ICE-powered counterparts. This combined set of problems can mean that some areas of the country are unreachable by electric towing vehicles.

Rivian R1T’s first real-world towing test shows 62% range loss

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Even electric truck manufacturers are acknowledging these issues. On Ford’s most recent earnings call, the company stated that they would continue to sell and develop new gas and diesel Super Duty vehicles; the vehicles often tasked with towing the largest trailers, boats, and the like.

The Fast Lane Truck did a fantastic video covering these exact issues with an F-150 Lightning, a test where they were only able to achieve a range of close to 100 miles and were not able to reach their intended destination due to lack of charging infrastructure.

However, and this is an important question, how important is this problem? This is not to say that people should not have the ability to tow, but perhaps towing can be more accurately placed on their list of needs/wants when deciding on a vehicle to own.

To start, according to a poll of 250,000 full-size truck owners conducted by Strategic Vision, only 75% of owners towed between 0 and 1 time per year, with only the remaining 25% towing more frequently than once per year. And while mileage and towing weight were not included in the poll, it seems as though there may be a vast contingent of truck owners who don’t tow at all.

Furthermore, there are many use cases of towing that would involve traveling less than 100miles; local carpenters and construction workers moving within city limits, a truck towing an incapacitated vehicle to the closest repair shop, or even people towing their boats to the local lake or waterway. These use cases would not only fit even the limited range of 100 miles, but each could find many benefits from unique features such as onboard generators offered on many electric trucks, running power tools, running appliances, etc.

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Overall, consumers should be more mindful of their actual needs and more carefully weigh the countless benefits offered by new electric offerings. For many, the conclusion may be that they still need the range and capability of an ICE truck to best suit their leisure activities and/or their livelihoods, but to say that this group is more than a minority is, at least somewhat, a fallacy. For manufacturers and infrastructure planners, this should be a wake-up call; there is a contingent of people who, despite the amazing advances of EV technology, are unable to use them to achieve certain tasks. These should be some of the first things addressed in efforts to expand EV adoption.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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USDOT Secretary visits Tesla Giga Texas, hints at national autonomous vehicle standards

The Transportation Secretary also toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk.

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Credit: Elon Musk/X

United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas complex, where he toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk. In a video posted following his Giga Texas visit, Duffy noted that he believes there should be a national standard for autonomous vehicles in the United States.

Duffy’s Giga Texas Visit

As could be seen in videos of his Giga Texas visit, the Transportation Secretary seemed to appreciate the work Tesla has been doing to put the United States in the forefront of innovation. “Tesla is one of the many companies helping our country reach new heights. USDOT will be right there all the way to make sure Americans stay safe,” Duffy wrote in a post on X. 

He also praised Tesla for its autonomous vehicle program, highlighting that “We need American companies to keep innovating so we can outcompete the rest of the world.”

National Standard

While speaking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Transportation Secretary stated that other autonomous ride-hailing companies have been lobbying for a national standard for self-driving cars. Musk shared the sentiment, stating that “It’d be wonderful for the United States to have a national set of rules for autonomous driving as opposed to 50 independent sets of rules on a state-by-state rules basis.”

Duffy agreed with the CEO’s point, stating that, “You can’t have 50 different rules for 50 different states. You need one standard.” He also noted that the Transportation Department has asked autonomous vehicle companies to submit data. By doing so, the USDOT could develop a standard for the entire United States, allowing self-driving cars to operate in a manner that is natural and safe.

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Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.

Optimus’ Newest Demonstration

In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.

What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.

Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight

In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.

“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).

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“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.

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Starship Flight 9 nears as SpaceX’s Starbase becomes a Texan City

SpaceX’s launch site is officially incorporated as Starbase, TX. Starship Flight 9 could launch on May 27, 2025. 

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(Credit: Jenny Hautmann/Wikimedia Commons)

SpaceX’s Starbase is officially incorporated as a city in Texas, aligning with preparations for Starship Flight 9. The newly formed city in Cameron County serves as the heart of SpaceX’s Starship program.

Starbase City spans 1.5 square miles, encompassing SpaceX’s launch facility and company-owned land. A near-unanimous vote by residents, who were mostly SpaceX employees, led to its incorporation. SpaceX’s Vice President of Test and Launch, Bobby Peden, was elected mayor of Starbase. The new Texas city also has two SpaceX employees as commissioners. All Starbase officials will serve two-year terms unless extended to four by voters.

As the new city takes shape, SpaceX is preparing for the Starship Flight 9 launch, which is tentatively scheduled for May 27, 2025, at 6:30 PM CDT from Starbase, Texas.

SpaceX secured Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for up to 25 annual Starship and Super Heavy launches from the site. However, the FAA emphasized that “there are other licensing requirements still to be completed,” including policy, safety, and environmental reviews.

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On May 15, the FAA noted SpaceX updated its launch license for Flight 9, but added: “SpaceX may not launch until the FAA either closes the Starship Flight 8 mishap investigation or makes a return to flight determination. The FAA is reviewing the mishap report SpaceX submitted on May 14.”

Proposed Texas legislation could empower Starbase officials to close local highways and restrict Boca Chica Beach access during launches. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr., opposes the Texas legislation, insisting beach access remain under county control. This tension highlights the balance between SpaceX’s ambitions and local interests.

Starbase’s incorporation strengthens SpaceX’s operational base as it gears up for Starship Flight 9, a critical step in its mission to revolutionize space travel. With growing infrastructure and regulatory hurdles in focus, Starbase is poised to become a cornerstone of SpaceX’s vision, blending community development with cutting-edge aerospace innovation.

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