Electric Trucks in 2026: Are They Ready for Serious Towing?
I towed a 7,800 lb boat from New York to Vermont three times this year. Once with a Ford Lightning Lariat. Once with a Rivian R1T. Once with a 2024 Silverado EV RST. Same route, same trailer, same launch spot, same weather window within a few days. The results will make EV truck evangelists uncomfortable and will also show that the real picture is more interesting than the culture war around electric trucks usually lets it be. Electric trucks are absolutely ready for some things. They are absolutely not ready for others. Pretending otherwise is why buyers are getting burned.
The trip is 241 miles one-way from a marina in southern Connecticut to a lake just outside Burlington. Unloaded on the way home the same day. In an F-150 EcoBoost that trip uses about 18 gallons of gas round trip with the boat, around $72 at current prices and about 20 minutes of total stopping for fuel. The question I wanted to answer was simple. What does the same trip look like behind the wheel of each of the three electric trucks.
I also did a shorter secondary run of 85 miles each way with a smaller 4,200 lb enclosed trailer, because most people towing with these trucks are not pulling giant boats. They are pulling landscaping trailers, side-by-sides, or equipment. The short-haul data is actually more encouraging for EV trucks than the long-haul data, which I think is an important part of the story.
The Rivian R1T: Shockingly Capable but Range Cuts in Half
The R1T is the best-driving electric truck on the market in 2026, full stop. The quad-motor version puts out 835 hp and the torque is so immediate pulling away from a stoplight with a trailer that I had to consciously ease into the throttle to keep the boat from jerking the hitch. The air suspension adjusts automatically with the load and keeps the truck level. Steering and handling are more like a big sport sedan than a pickup.
With 7,800 lb on the hitch and the onboard range estimator showing 328 miles at the start, I covered 148 miles before I needed to stop to charge. The published EPA range for the R1T Large Pack is 352 miles unloaded. Loaded, I saw 155 miles of usable range in mid-40-degree weather. That is about a 55 percent range reduction, right in line with what owners have been reporting all year on the forums.
Charging stops became the defining feature of the day. Pulling a 32-foot trailer into a Tesla Supercharger or an Electrify America pull-through station is a whole planning operation. You need a pull-through stall. Most stations do not have them. I ended up at three different EA stations over two fast charging stops because the first two had only back-in stalls that could not accommodate a trailer without unhooking. This is the hidden part of EV towing that does not show up in any review. Where can I actually plug in without dropping the trailer. This is the question.
The Ford Lightning: The Workhorse That Cannot Quite Work
The Lightning Lariat with the Extended Range battery has an EPA range of 320 miles and I started the trip with 97 percent charge. With the boat behind me I made it 127 miles before I was looking at 15 percent remaining. That is a 58 percent range loss, similar to the Rivian but from a smaller starting point. The towing math on the Lightning is tighter.
The Lightning handles a load well because the frame-based structure underneath is basically a reinforced F-150 platform. Stability at speed was excellent. The brakes, which regen aggressively when loaded, are genuinely better than the Lightning without a trailer because the weight gives the regen more to work with. The one-pedal driving in towing mode is an interesting sensation, you lift off the throttle and the truck slows the trailer smoothly without you touching the brake pedal.
Charging was the friction point. The Lightning uses CCS and the charging speeds at public fast chargers are rated at 150 kw peak. I never saw that number while towing because the battery was always warmer from the sustained load. I saw 110 to 130 kw during my stops, which meant 20 percent to 80 percent charging took 38 to 42 minutes per stop. The trip that took 4.5 hours in an F-150 took 8 hours in the Lightning, start to finish. Round trip was 15 hours with two overnight charges built in. In a gas F-150 I could have done the round trip in a single long day.
The Silverado EV RST: Big Battery, Big Promises
The Silverado EV has the biggest battery of the bunch at around 205 kWh usable and the highest EPA range at 440 miles. This is supposed to be the EV truck that finally cracks the long-haul towing problem. It does not quite deliver, but it gets closer than the other two.
With the boat I saw 225 miles of real towing range, which is 49 percent of the unloaded rating. Slightly better than the Lightning and Rivian, probably because the battery is larger so the fixed energy cost of moving the truck itself is a smaller percentage of total consumption. Peak charging on the Silverado EV hits 350 kw if you find a charger that supports it and if the battery is cool enough. I saw 280 kw on my charging stop, which got me from 12 percent to 75 percent in 33 minutes. That is genuinely faster than the Lightning and genuinely enough to do 200 miles of towing, charge for half an hour, and do another 200 miles. You can make a long trip work.
The problem with the Silverado EV is that the truck itself is $87,000 as tested, the interior is still GM-grade, and the thing weighs 8,900 lb unloaded, which eats tires fast and destroys roads. It is an interesting vehicle that feels more like a technology demonstration than a daily-use truck.
The Cybertruck: Cannot Recommend It Yet
I did not get a Cybertruck for this test because no one in my area would lend me one for a loaded 500-mile trip, which tells you something. Based on owner reports from forums and from the three Cybertruck-owning friends I talked to, real towing range with a 7,000 lb trailer is in the 130 to 155 mile window depending on configuration and weather. That is consistent with what the other trucks here are doing. The Cybertruck-specific problems are different. Steer-by-wire feel at low speed when maneuvering a trailer is reportedly strange. Tesla Supercharger trailer accessibility is worse than Electrify America because Tesla designed the stations before trucks were a factor. I want to do this test myself in 2026 but I have not yet.
So Are They Ready or Not
If you tow less than 100 miles in a trip, any of these trucks will work fine. Your trailer does not care whether the engine is gas or electric. The job site down the road, the boat ramp 30 miles away, the weekend trailer to the family cabin that is 80 miles each way, all of this is solved. The Rivian and the Silverado EV both have excellent towing manners and the instant torque genuinely helps at launch.
If you tow long distances regularly, say more than 200 miles per trip and more than a few times a year, the electric trucks in 2026 are not there yet. The charging network is not dense enough, the pull-through spots are not common enough, and the range losses under load are too steep. I drive a diesel Ram 2500 when I am towing long distances. It is not the modern choice. It is the working choice.
The next three years are going to change this picture. Tesla is building trailer-friendly Supercharger stations. Electrify America is adding pull-through stalls in numbers. Solid-state battery tech in the pipeline will improve range under load. The Rivian R2 and R3 platforms are supposed to come in with better towing efficiency. By 2028 or 2029 the story will be different. In 2026 it is genuinely mixed and the honest answer depends entirely on your actual use case.
My actual recommendation for someone asking me today. If you tow short-haul only and your charging is sorted at home, buy the Rivian R1T, you will be happy. If you tow long-distance with any frequency, keep the gas or diesel truck for now, and revisit the decision in three years. There is no shame in admitting the technology is not quite where the marketing says it is.
