3 ms·

> Like their truck pull demo where the camera shot they released showed only one angle, leading to speculation that there was a massive power cord tether hidden

> Like their truck pull demo where the camera shot they released showed only one angle, leading to speculation that there was a massive power cord tether hidden behind the bulk of the truck. No, it was just a silly physics trick, same as Tesla's Cybertruck pulling the F-150 stunt (which was just because the cybertruck was heavier & therefore had a friction advantage, had nothing to do with being more powerful or anything like that). As for the train, weighing 1.25 million pounds doesn't mean it took 1.25 million pounds of force to move it, not at all. Just like it doesn't take you ~150 lbs of force to move yourself forward on a bicycle. Wheels are pretty great, and so is a low rolling resistance. A train's steel wheels on a steel track mean super low rolling resistances, and estimates are the Ford only needed around 1875 pounds of force to move that 1.25 million pound train. https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a28506476/ford-electric-f150-train-tow-physics-explained/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a28506476/ford-electri... That's well within the capacity of a bunch of vehicles, no trickery required.

jjeaff 6y ago
1800 lbs of pulling force should be well within the ability of most all vehicles on the road, I think. As long as they have enough weight to keep traction.
natch 6y ago
But that isn’t the part I suspect they faked. I suspect they didn’t actually build a battery powered truck, not even a prototype or demo. Instead they just bolted a big electric motor into an existing truck, rigged it up to the crankshaft, and wired it up to power. Lame, if true. But it’s just my suspicion and I don’t know if it’s true. It was clearly a PR stunt timed to take some of the limelight away from Tesla.
- kllrnohj 6y ago
  Why would they go through all that when it's super trivial & simple to just take a battery back and bolt it under the truck bed? An engineering team with a Ford marketing budget & a week of time could trivially do an EV conversion of an existing F150. People do EV conversions as a hobby in their garages at home, why would you immediately jump to such a conspiracy for something so simple? And the video of the stunt also has a bunch of angles, including an overhead shot, and there's no hint of anything like a power cord and the truck bed is visibly empty?
  - natch 6y ago
    Fair points. But I’ll believe they are sincere when they decommission or fully convert the bulk of their ICE car factories.

jjeaff 6y ago

1800 lbs of pulling force should be well within the ability of most all vehicles on the road, I think. As long as they have enough weight to keep traction.

natch 6y ago

But that isn’t the part I suspect they faked. I suspect they didn’t actually build a battery powered truck, not even a prototype or demo. Instead they just bolted a big electric motor into an existing truck, rigged it up to the crankshaft, and wired it up to power. Lame, if true. But it’s just my suspicion and I don’t know if it’s true. It was clearly a PR stunt timed to take some of the limelight away from Tesla.

kllrnohj 6y ago
Why would they go through all that when it's super trivial & simple to just take a battery back and bolt it under the truck bed? An engineering team with a Ford marketing budget & a week of time could trivially do an EV conversion of an existing F150. People do EV conversions as a hobby in their garages at home, why would you immediately jump to such a conspiracy for something so simple? And the video of the stunt also has a bunch of angles, including an overhead shot, and there's no hint of anything like a power cord and the truck bed is visibly empty?
- natch 6y ago
  Fair points. But I’ll believe they are sincere when they decommission or fully convert the bulk of their ICE car factories.