Electric Ford F-150 prototype pulls 1 million pounds of train and trucks
07-23-19, 08:45 AM
#1
Electric Ford F-150 prototype pulls 1 million pounds of train and trucks
The key word here is stunt, as this video is a show of what Ford could tune the truck to do. Not what the production version will do. At the bottom of the press release, Ford reminds watchers, "The all-electric F-150 prototype is towing far beyond any production truck’s published capacity in a one-time short event demonstration. Never tow beyond a vehicle’s towing capacities. Always consult the Owner’s Manual."
The clip shows F-150 Chief Engineer Linda Zhang meeting with current F-150 owners out at a rail yard. The gentlemen act like they have no idea why they're there, until Zhang unveils the electric prototype hooked up to a massive line of 10 double-decker cargo train cars. First, the electric prototype pulls the train, which Ford says weighs more than 1 million pounds. It travels approximately 1,000 yards. Then, 42 2019 F-150s are loaded into the rail cars, and the electric F-150 pulls the train again.
The demonstration is a way for Ford to promote two electrified trucks that are on the way. The hybrid F-150 will go on sale in 2020, and the fully electric F-150 will arrive after that.
The clip shows F-150 Chief Engineer Linda Zhang meeting with current F-150 owners out at a rail yard. The gentlemen act like they have no idea why they're there, until Zhang unveils the electric prototype hooked up to a massive line of 10 double-decker cargo train cars. First, the electric prototype pulls the train, which Ford says weighs more than 1 million pounds. It travels approximately 1,000 yards. Then, 42 2019 F-150s are loaded into the rail cars, and the electric F-150 pulls the train again.
The demonstration is a way for Ford to promote two electrified trucks that are on the way. The hybrid F-150 will go on sale in 2020, and the fully electric F-150 will arrive after that.
07-23-19, 11:04 AM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
still amazing even if a stunt. and great PR!
07-23-19, 11:14 AM
#3
Great indeed. Get the news out now, prepare people for the hybrid and EV versions. Perhaps get a foothold before Tesla pick-up, Rivian, and GM all come to market.
Although Ford made a $500 million dollar investment in Rivian, so maybe 2021 Rivian R1T and 2021 F-150 will be cousins??
Although Ford made a $500 million dollar investment in Rivian, so maybe 2021 Rivian R1T and 2021 F-150 will be cousins??
07-23-19, 12:17 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Great indeed. Get the news out now, prepare people for the hybrid and EV versions. Perhaps get a foothold before Tesla pick-up, Rivian, and GM all come to market.
Although Ford made a $500 million dollar investment in Rivian, so maybe 2021 Rivian R1T and 2021 F-150 will be cousins??
Although Ford made a $500 million dollar investment in Rivian, so maybe 2021 Rivian R1T and 2021 F-150 will be cousins??
07-23-19, 11:57 PM
#6
Lexus Test Driver
Fakeness so bad, it hurts. Ford really makes themselves look worse instead of better. For fun, let's do a quick study...
First, there is no way that tow strap can hold all those autoracks. Not even real railroad couplers can pull loads like these without breaking a knuckle at times. Second, the video shows one of the train car's wheels locked, while the car is moving. Third, as time builds along, the camera shows the F-150 moving 10+ mph, while the train is only crawling along, then fast, then slow, then fast, then slow. In the meantime, the occupants conversations have not been interrupted in the same period of time. Fourth, they have the same fake actor reactions GM uses with their "I've never seen a vehicle with four wheels before." Fifth, these are mostly tri-level autoracks, not bi-levels. Sixth, the female driver is not even paying attention to driving. She's looking the other way, carrying on casual conversations, while not even being concerned to be careful or concerned the whole thing will work. Seventh, not even real locomotives can accelerate a load of cars from a standstill as fast as they show the truck start off. The slack action alone would rip everything apart. Then there is a question of traction, which no one brings up. And most humorously fake, the train cars magically come to a stop behind the truck! Magical brakes and no worry about the whole train piling into the truck! Now that would have been real entertainment! I wouldn't be surprised if there was a locomotive at the tail-end of the train, photoshopped out. Nothing else could have kept the frame of the truck in one piece, kept the truck from spinning it's wheels, or helped stopped the train at the end.
None of this would even matter you'd say, but 99% of the viewers are going to take everything they see in this video seriously. And Ford knows this, hence the scam. This is GM-grade advertising, which isn't saying much.
First, there is no way that tow strap can hold all those autoracks. Not even real railroad couplers can pull loads like these without breaking a knuckle at times. Second, the video shows one of the train car's wheels locked, while the car is moving. Third, as time builds along, the camera shows the F-150 moving 10+ mph, while the train is only crawling along, then fast, then slow, then fast, then slow. In the meantime, the occupants conversations have not been interrupted in the same period of time. Fourth, they have the same fake actor reactions GM uses with their "I've never seen a vehicle with four wheels before." Fifth, these are mostly tri-level autoracks, not bi-levels. Sixth, the female driver is not even paying attention to driving. She's looking the other way, carrying on casual conversations, while not even being concerned to be careful or concerned the whole thing will work. Seventh, not even real locomotives can accelerate a load of cars from a standstill as fast as they show the truck start off. The slack action alone would rip everything apart. Then there is a question of traction, which no one brings up. And most humorously fake, the train cars magically come to a stop behind the truck! Magical brakes and no worry about the whole train piling into the truck! Now that would have been real entertainment! I wouldn't be surprised if there was a locomotive at the tail-end of the train, photoshopped out. Nothing else could have kept the frame of the truck in one piece, kept the truck from spinning it's wheels, or helped stopped the train at the end.
None of this would even matter you'd say, but 99% of the viewers are going to take everything they see in this video seriously. And Ford knows this, hence the scam. This is GM-grade advertising, which isn't saying much.
Last edited by Fizzboy7; 07-24-19 at 10:02 AM.
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07-24-19, 11:07 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Second, the video shows one of the train car's wheels locked, while the car is moving.
Third, as time builds along, the camera shows the F-150 moving 10+ mph, while the train is only crawling along, then fast, then slow, then fast, then slow.
In the meantime, the occupants conversations have not been interrupted in the same period of time.
In the meantime, the occupants conversations have not been interrupted in the same period of time.
Sixth, the female driver is not even paying attention to driving. She's looking the other way, carrying on casual conversations, while not even being concerned to be careful or concerned the whole thing will work.
Seventh, not even real locomotives can accelerate a load of cars from a standstill as fast as they show the truck start off. The slack action alone would rip everything apart. Then there is a question of traction, which no one brings up.
interesting as i'm not seeing a big outcry anywhere else although lots of humorous comments about people wanting a tow strap like that one.
And most humorously fake, the train cars magically come to a stop behind the truck! Magical brakes and no worry about the whole train piling into the truck! Now that would have been real entertainment!
07-24-19, 11:15 AM
#10
Big whoop. When I was a kid, there was something I saw on TV about "Mr. Universe" or "Jack Lalane" or someone else, I can't remember. He was towing a railroad car with a harness around his upper torso.
07-24-19, 11:22 AM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
took another look at the video and the real 'cheat' if you want to call it that, is the train cars are on TRACKS so friction is not the same as pulling on a road.
07-24-19, 01:28 PM
#12
Lexus Champion
It's a neat advertising stunt but that's all it is. Just something fun to get consumers thinking in a certain mindset and get the GM and Dodge boys into a froth. We also don't know how much that F150's chassis had to be braced with extra steel reinforcement and welding underneath.
If you've been in a rail yard you know that an empty 100,000 lb rail car that does not have its handbrakes applied can start moving at the slightest provocation if its even remotely on an incline: a strong breeze blowing the right way, a passing train on a neighboring track creating vibrations on the ground etc.
At most what we're seeing is your old high school physics at work here. The input needed to move 10 rail cars with an empty weight of 100,000 lbs is a tiny fraction of 1M lbs. At most the coefficient of friction between shiny rail car wheels and that shiny rail track may come out to anywhere from 0.001 to 0.5 at most.
And yes, there would have been rail personnel, probably three or four brakemen/conductors are at the back three or four cars applying handbrakes furiously as the truck slows.
If you've been in a rail yard you know that an empty 100,000 lb rail car that does not have its handbrakes applied can start moving at the slightest provocation if its even remotely on an incline: a strong breeze blowing the right way, a passing train on a neighboring track creating vibrations on the ground etc.
At most what we're seeing is your old high school physics at work here. The input needed to move 10 rail cars with an empty weight of 100,000 lbs is a tiny fraction of 1M lbs. At most the coefficient of friction between shiny rail car wheels and that shiny rail track may come out to anywhere from 0.001 to 0.5 at most.
And yes, there would have been rail personnel, probably three or four brakemen/conductors are at the back three or four cars applying handbrakes furiously as the truck slows.
07-25-19, 02:51 PM
#13
07-25-19, 03:14 PM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
This was a great marketing effort by Ford. I wonder how the train cars were to brake once the F-150 got them to speed? It would be interesting to see the whole train while the truck was pulling...I guess there could be a Mythbusters episode one day
All that said, the PR event was done to appeal to Ford fans, I doubt brand loyalty form the other truck automakers will changed.
All that said, the PR event was done to appeal to Ford fans, I doubt brand loyalty form the other truck automakers will changed.
07-25-19, 04:11 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
If you've been in a rail yard you know that an empty 100,000 lb rail car that does not have its handbrakes applied can start moving at the slightest provocation if its even remotely on an incline: a strong breeze blowing the right way, a passing train on a neighboring track creating vibrations on the ground etc.
At most what we're seeing is your old high school physics at work here. The input needed to move 10 rail cars with an empty weight of 100,000 lbs is a tiny fraction of 1M lbs. At most the coefficient of friction between shiny rail car wheels and that shiny rail track may come out to anywhere from 0.001 to 0.5 at most.
Correct. I can remember watching Mark Henry, a WWE wrestling-champion and Olympic weight-lifter, widely considered the world's strongest man, holding back a DC-3, a prop-driven airliner with two 1200-HP radial piston engines.