>Why? It’s not because of its towing capacity (it can tow an impressive 10,000 pounds depending on the model), and it’s not because of its power (580 horsepower

>Why? It’s not because of its towing capacity (it can tow an impressive 10,000 pounds depending on the model), and it’s not because of its power (580 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque). No, it’s the dreaded range. >To the Lightning’s credit, Hoover says the towing was "effortless" thanks to the "instant torque" of the electric engine — so power clearly isn’t the issue. Power might be more of an issue than you think. In a gas pickup (diesels even worse for acceleration) to experience "effortless" towing of 3,500 lbs you first need the biggest engine they offer. (Then during non-towing operation this will always burn more fuel than a less powerful motor option, which would never be effortless when towing but perfectly adequate for lighter-duty use.) But having the high-horsepower ICE motor is not enough. The only way you can affordably tow a big load is to really take it easy, especially every time you get rolling from a complete stop. You need to really accelerate way slower than most people would imagine or you will be burning significant percentages more fuel to cover the same distance. And if you really use the most power your big ICE has to offer, it can be pretty effortless too (especially on 100+ octane) but you'll be using huge percentages of additional excess fuel to accomplish it. So maybe electric vehicles are similar to gas where more available power than normally needed, combined with usage of this power toward its maximum performance level, end up being far more energy-intensive than more conservative power-balance and operation would be.