Towing capacity?

RVAtom

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I find it really annoying that the EU/UK version will be rated to tow but the NA version won't. It's made my wife question if it's really the right BEV for us.
As someone who is replacing a truck with this vehicle, I agree. 99% of my truck usage is commuting, so my truck is a silly vehicle for that. After I get the MME, a couple times a year I would like to be able to rent/borrow a small utility trailer to take brush to the dump, or pick some stuff up at Lowe's. This is an expensive car that seems like it should be capable of that task.

I wonder if they don't want to talk about the reduced range that towing will inflict, so they are just saying no to towing. Or maybe towing causes an extra load on the batteries that they don't want to warranty? My round trip to the dump or Lowe's is less than 20 miles, so really range is not an issue at all for me there. I wouldn't be trying to vacation pulling a camper or anything here.
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GoGoGadgetMachE

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TL;DR: not everyone is going to agree on the importance of this.

I feel like this is a per-owner kind of thing?

I owned a Sport Trac back in the day that had a 5300 lb towing capacity ( 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Specifications - Ford-Trucks.com (ford-trucks.com) ) and I towed something exactly zero times with it. We never towed anything with the gf's Escape, and haven't in her C-Max either, although there were two times we rented a big box store truck, and four times we have paid for delivery from a big box store, because we couldn't/wouldn't tow.

(and tbh even though I truly loved the Sport Trac and miss it terribly, ultimately it was idiotic for a 40+ mile one way single driver commuter vehicle.)

We don't even really have a place to store a trailer or the like when we weren't using it anyway, so there's a certain amount of "being willing to pay for convenience" that comes with not having the ability to tow.

I guess what that comes down to is I'm not too worried about towing. It's a bit like road-tripping if I'm worried about the charging network - at this point, if I do sell the Fusion, I can always rent a car for long distance if I need to, just like I do when I fly somewhere today.

I don't know enough about the trade-offs involved in getting that towing capacity to be able to intelligently comment beyond "if it hurt range or acceleration in any noticeable way to support that very occasional use case, then it would make me sad." This wouldn't be in the "I can choose to charge my battery any way I want to" or "I can pick a driving experience" category; it would fall into the basic design category. I'd have to accept that trade-off forever, and it would feel like a trade-off in the wrong direction for me.
 

jhalkias

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I have no intention of towing, and have never towed with the hitch on my Escape. HOWEVER, I have an AWESOME Saris tow hitch bike rack, and it will suck that I can't use that rack because of no hitch mount.
We are keeping the Escape for my daughter to drive, so maybe I will have to use that car when I need to get to a trail not near me for a ride.
 

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1650 lbs has been stated.
 

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I have no intention of towing, and have never towed with the hitch on my Escape. HOWEVER, I have an AWESOME Saris tow hitch bike rack, and it will suck that I can't use that rack because of no hitch mount.
We are keeping the Escape for my daughter to drive, so maybe I will have to use that car when I need to get to a trail not near me for a ride.
Carrying our receiver hitch bike carrier with bikes behind the Mach E is essential. I'm doing this with the Leaf now and see no reason I shouldn't be able to do it with the Mach E. Ditto with a behind the car cargo rack.
 


jhalkias

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Carrying our receiver hitch bike carrier with bikes behind the Mach E is essential. I'm doing this with the Leaf now and see no reason I shouldn't be able to do it with the Mach E. Ditto with a behind the car cargo rack.
We will have to communicate if either of us finds a solution we like with the ME. I liked that one that seemed to be "hidden" when not in use, but I think they were clear out in Oregon if you wanted them to install.
 

TheLight75

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I suspect it's because the automakers are worried about negative perception related to loss of range due to towing loads with their new EV's. My Kona EV doesn't have a tow rating either. But that didn't stop me from adding a 1-1/4" hitch receiver to it for my shelf and bike carrier. It was easy since the Kona EV shares the same chassis as the ICE Kona. I just ordered a receiver made for the ICE version. I'm sure some aftermarket companies will still make a hitch receiver for the Mach-E after its been out a bit.

I find it really annoying that the EU/UK version will be rated to tow but the NA version won't. It's made my wife question if it's really the right BEV for us.
 

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We will have to communicate if either of us finds a solution we like with the ME. I liked that one that seemed to be "hidden" when not in use, but I think they were clear out in Oregon if you wanted them to install.
The two primary sources I know of are in Washington state and Atlanta IIRC. The first folks who take their MMEs there can get theirs installed free. Other folks can go to their local dealer and the company sends them the hitch system and instructions for installation.

I really like the idea of the hidden systems to make it disappear but two problems come in:
1) Every "joint" adds a potential for wiggle and noise
2) Some hitches, including ours, use and "internal expander" to tight into a receiver that requires an adequate length of receiver channel to tighten into place.
 

GoGoGadgetMachE

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This is reasonable on the EU part. We know the physical part is set in stone so it's just what they decide it can handle.
 

JBB_JD

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We will have to communicate if either of us finds a solution we like with the ME. I liked that one that seemed to be "hidden" when not in use, but I think they were clear out in Oregon if you wanted them to install.
Mark, I posted about Invisihitch.com being near me awhile back and I have not talked to them about the MME yet but here is a pic I saw from another member and 2 from my dirty F-Pace in the garage. Without getting below bumper level, no one can see my connection point unless the hitch is attached. My concern is what is laying behind that plastic on the MME.

MME underside.jpg


Invisihitch cutout 1.jpg


Invisihitch cutout 2.jpg
 

GoGoGadgetMachE

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I have no intention of towing, and have never towed with the hitch on my Escape. HOWEVER, I have an AWESOME Saris tow hitch bike rack, and it will suck that I can't use that rack because of no hitch mount.
We are keeping the Escape for my daughter to drive, so maybe I will have to use that car when I need to get to a trail not near me for a ride.
That's reasonable. I don't think of that in the same thought as towing at all but I can see the idea of "a hitch is a hitch."
 
 




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