Two instrumented campaigns stand behind this table: Campaign 1, July 2026, Prescott AZ → Broomfield CO → Oshkosh WI → Prescott, 3,719 miles in the original bed configuration; and Campaign 2, September 2026, Prescott ⇄ Thermal CA via the Salton Sea, in the current lower-topper configuration. Aerodynamic figures carry a configuration label because the bed change between campaigns altered the rig's shape. Every figure is one of three kinds, and the colour says which.
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Tow vehicle | 2025 F-150 PowerBoost | 3.5 L EcoBoost + 35 kW motor-generator, 10R80 MHT 10-speed, 4×4 SuperCrew 145″, 7.2 kW Pro Power Onboard, 30.6 gal tank |
| Trailer | LightShip AE.1 | 8,200 lb · 77 kWh pack (gross) · 1.8 kW solar · TrekDrive drive axle · NACS umbilical to onboard charger |
| Usable trailer battery | 69.2 kWh (≈ 90 %) | LightShip, stated on camera; the simulator carries a 10 % floor on this basis |
| Combined mass, as tested | 15,320 lb · 6,949 kg | CAT scale plus verified payload, Campaign 1 load-out; Campaign 2 not re-weighed |
| Umbilical | 5.8 kW NACS, truck bed outlet → trailer nose | ProPower AC out, trailer onboard charger ≈ 92 % efficient (LightShip) |
| Towing configuration | Canopy down · TrekDrive off unless stated | Canopy up is a camp configuration only |
| Instrumentation | OBDLink MX+ · 46 PIDs · 1 Hz | Campaign 1: 42 PIDs at 2 s. Fuel channel reconciles to the truck's own trip-fuel counter to 0.07–0.21 % |
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery rate, bulk charge | 5.69 – 6.06 kW AC | Seven independent legs, Campaign 1; 5.85 kW mean on Campaign 2 |
| Connected, load-support state | 0.94 kW | Umbilical connected, pack not taking bulk charge (0.938–0.951 kW across six legs). Attribution to house-load support is operator judgement, under test |
| Unplugged | 0.00 kW | |
| Thermal derate of delivery | None observed | Held 5.7–6.1 kW at every ambient through 104 °F (Campaign 1) and 93 °F (Campaign 2). Duty is governed by trailer battery-management setpoints and operator command, not by heat |
| Fuel to generate 5.8 kW at highway speed | 0.75 gal/hr (band 0.65 – 0.83) | Commanded on/off step on flat I-10 at 62 mph, 2026-09-05; grade fitted, not assumed; 65 windows, R² 0.95. Same road, both charge states, truck traffic present in both |
| AC delivered per gallon | 7.0 – 9.0 kWh AC/gal | From the row above; matched-grade blocks 7.5 |
| Program reference figure | 7.70 kWh AC/gal · 0.753 gal/hr | Campaign 1 basis, seven legs; confirmed inside the Campaign 2 band |
| Crank-to-outlet efficiency | ≈ 61 – 69 % | Crank side from the PCM torque model, which under-responds to load (see § 08); read as indicative |
| DC delivered to the trailer bus per gallon | ≈ 8.1 kWh DC/gal | 7.70 AC/gal less a ≈ 95 % DC/AC stage — one modelled step from a measurement |
| Charging share of trip fuel | 3.8 % (Campaign 1) · 5.9 % (Campaign 2 return) | 74.74 kWh AC over 3,719 mi; 9.69 kWh over 278 mi |
| Fuel-economy penalty while charging | ≈ 1 mpg at 62 – 65 mph | 0.75 gal/hr on a ~4.5 gal/hr baseline |
| Trailer state of charge gained, Thermal → Prescott | 74 % → 84 % | Atlas readings at stops; charging Thermal → Blythe only, then unplugged for test gates |
Turning the trailer charger on and off with the Atlas charge-limit slider — not the truck's Pro Power switch, which does not interrupt delivery in motion — produces a clean 4.9 kW step at the outlet. The fuel cost of that step is the best-supported number in the program: it comes from the fuel channel alone and never touches the truck's torque model.
| Load | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| DC/AC inverter (ProPower) input, bulk | ≈ 6.0 kW | 5.85 kW out at ≈ 0.98 measured inverter ratio |
| DC/DC converter (12 V system) | 0.62 kW mean · 3.17 kWh / 5.1 hr | HV-side current × bus voltage |
| Air-conditioning compressor | 1.28 kW mean · 6.52 kWh / 5.1 hr | High-voltage device on the HV bus; also serves battery cooling, so it cannot be fully switched off |
| Accessory total, no charging | ≈ 1.9 kW | DC/DC + compressor; quiet engine-off baseline ≈ 0.8 kW is inside this |
| Truck HV battery, operating band | ≈ 40 – 62 % SOC (floor ≈ 28 %, ceiling ≈ 65 – 72 %) | Multi-year observation; not a Ford-published envelope |
| Motor-generator regeneration, neutral coast | None — input side decoupled | Torque path: open clutches in Neutral leave the motor no path to the wheels. Confirmed on a stop-and-go drive only; not yet confirmed on a high-speed coast |
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| House load at camp, hot ambient, canopy up | ≈ 3 kWh/hr | HVAC plus house; observed on Campaign 1 stops at 100 °F+ |
| Overnight lived-in draw | 1 – 2+ kWh/hr | HVAC alone, observed; arriving near full is the practical priority |
| House load in motion | ≈ 3 – 4 % of pack per leg | Drives charge-limit cycling on hot legs (10–73 min cycles), trailer BMS logic |
| TrekDrive assist consumption | ≈ 250 Wh/mi at zero hitch force | LightShip; consistent with the program's road-load bracket at 57–62 mph |
| TrekDrive assist capacity | up to 30 kW assist / regen | LightShip |
| Trailer regeneration with TrekDrive off | None | Operator confirmation; the trailer is a passive load when the drive axle is off |
| Solar | 1.8 kW peak | LightShip |
| DC fast charging on delivered units | Not enabled | LightShip; no date given |
| Cruise speed | mpg | gal/hr | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 mph | 18.6 | 2.73 | 7th/8th gear mismatch between directions; reads ≈ 2 % low |
| 55 mph | 17.2 | 3.20 | 8th |
| 60 mph | 15.6 | 3.90 | 8th |
| 65 mph | 14.3 | 4.58 | 9th |
| 70 mph | 12.5 | 5.62 | 10th at ≈ 1,700 rpm; light headwind one way, cancelled by round trip |
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Speed sensitivity | 55 → 65 mph costs 21 % in mpg | Fit gal/mi = 0.0258 + 4.68×10⁻⁵·ρ·v², R² 0.98; every 5 mph slower buys 8–10 %, no knee in mpg |
| Aerodynamic share of fuel at 62 mph | 62 % (range 55 – 67 %) | The v² share of consumption, fitted on the fuel channel; the simulator's speed constant |
| Marginal price of time | ≈ 4 gal per hour saved, 50 – 65 mph · ≈ 10 gal/hr above 65 | The knee is in the trade-off, not in mpg: 65 → 70 costs 1.0 gal per 100 mi for 6 minutes |
| Same speed, different road | up to 9 % between adjacent two-lane stretches | AZ-71 15.4 vs US-60 14.1 at 64.6 mph, same days, same rig, round trips — pavement matters as much as 5 mph |
| Interstate with truck traffic, 62 mph | ≈ 17 mpg (grade- and charge-corrected) | I-10, Thermal → Blythe. Includes drafting; not a clean-air figure |
| Two-lane, clean air, 65 mph | 14.7 mpg | 79 mi round trip, US-60 / AZ-71, air density 1.07 — the Salton fit at that density predicts 14.8 |
| Altitude effect, same speed, flat road | ≈ +8 % mpg per 5,000 ft | Aero share × density; at 65 mph ≈ 13.9 sea level · 15.0 at 5,000 ft · 16.2 at 10,000 ft (standard atmosphere). Hills at altitude cost more than thin air saves |
| Campaign 1 overall | 14.38 mpg | 3,719 mi · 258.6 gal · 71.8 hr · original bed; includes mountains, plains, charging, TrekDrive tests |
| Campaign 1 pure-tow baseline | 15.3 – 15.4 mpg at ≈ 62 mph | 1,080 mi across Iowa–Wisconsin–Nebraska, original bed. Flag both legs ran 0.75–1.3 m/s tailwinds; flattered, unequally |
| Campaign 2 return, Thermal → Prescott | 13.0 mpg | 278 mi, +5,150 ft net climb incl. Yarnell Hill at 6 %, charging half the leg; level-ground equivalent ≈ 15 mpg (modelled) |
| Recommended cruise | 60 – 65 mph, 65 the ceiling | Judgement from the curve: above 65 the fuel per minute saved jumps 60 %; trailer tires rated 65; California posts 55 for trailers |
Range is built from measured pieces through stated assumptions, so every figure here is modelled. Common basis: 30.6 gal tank run to empty (subtract ≈ 45 mi for a practical 10 % reserve), 62 mph on a flat road, no wind, sea-level density, the measured speed curve (14.8 mpg, 4.19 gal/hr), summer daytime with the trailer's solar averaging 1.0 kW over the driving day (1.8 kW peak, LightShip). TrekDrive at its LightShip-stated 250 Wh/mi to zero hitch force, cutting truck fuel by the measured 27.8 %; the trailer's 69.2 kWh usable spent to its floor. Charging and TrekDrive are mutually exclusive by interlock, so no case combines them.
| Case | Range | Truck economy | Trailer battery on arrival · how the miles were made |
|---|---|---|---|
| Without in-motion charging umbilical unplugged, TrekDrive off | ≈ 450 mi | 14.8 mpg | Whatever it left with, less house load. The reference case: 30.6 gal at the measured curve |
| With in-motion charging 5.8 kW the whole way | ≈ 385 mi | 12.6 mpg | +33 kWh into the trailer (≈ 48 % of usable) over 6.2 hr at the measured 0.75 gal/hr. The 65-mile range cost buys a trailer that arrives half-charged from empty. Charging only runs while the trailer wants it, so a trailer that starts full pays none of this |
| TrekDrive active, whole trailer battery + solar, no house load | ≈ 535 mi | 20.5 mpg assisted · 14.8 after | Trailer arrives at its floor. 69.2 kWh + 6 kWh of solar carry ≈ 296 assisted miles on 14.4 gal; the remaining 16.2 gal run unassisted. The 85 extra miles cost the entire camping reserve |
| TrekDrive active + summer HVAC + solar, house load 2 kWh/hr in motion | ≈ 525 mi | 20.5 mpg assisted · 14.8 after | Trailer arrives at its floor, ≈ 36 mi sooner. HVAC takes ≈ 32 Wh/mi that would have been assist; ≈ 260 assisted miles. Band for 1.5–3 kWh/hr house load: 520–530 mi — HVAC barely moves the truck's range, it moves how long the assist lasts |
| Condition | No charging | Charging | TrekDrive | TrekDrive + HVAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 mph, sea level (basis above) | 453 | 384 | 535 | 525 |
| 65 mph, sea level | 427 | 368 | 509 | 499 |
| 62 mph, 5,000 ft | 478 | 402 | 561 | 551 |
What is measured in these numbers: the speed curve, the 0.75 gal/hr charging cost, the 27.8 % assist fuel reduction, the tank. What is assumed: flat road and calm air (every real trip is worse — the Campaign 2 return with a 5,150 ft net climb ran 13.0 mpg against 14.8 here); the 250 Wh/mi assist rate (LightShip's figure, consistent with the program's road-load bracket); a 1.0 kW solar average (summer daytime, canopy down, clean panels); 2 kWh/hr summer house load in motion (observed 3 kWh/hr at camp with the canopy up; canopy down in motion runs lower). The 27.8 % was measured at 55 mph on the Broomfield loops and is applied at 62 unchanged. For reconciliation: the Broomfield pair read 23.3 mpg assisted against 13.15 with the charger on — a no-charging baseline of ≈ 16.9 at 55 mph and 5,400 ft; the same 27.8 % on the 62 mph sea-level baseline of 14.8 gives the 20.5 used here, and ≈ 24 at Broomfield's own speed and altitude.
The TrekDrive ranges are the rig's maximum reach, not its way to travel: they spend the trailer's whole usable battery on the road and arrive with nothing for camp. The program's own measured energy balance says that with the truck as the only charging source, assist costs more fuel to recharge than it saves — it is worth running to reach a destination charger, or when arriving with a full trailer does not matter. Charging in motion is the opposite trade: 65 miles of range for a trailer that arrives half-full.
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Combined drag coefficient, truck + trailer | Cd 0.46 on a 5.41 m² silhouette → Cd·A ≈ 2.5 m² | LightShip CFD, stated by the founder; the reference area is the union outline of both vehicles from the front. Adopted for the simulator's published aero statements |
| Program's own drag-area bracket | 2.35 – 3.0 m² | Salton speed ladder 2.34 (unratified — see § 08), geometry-calibrated 2.8, corrected road load with physical tires 2.5. LightShip's figure sits inside it |
| Rolling resistance coefficient | ≈ 0.0075 | Physical prior for LT truck and trailer tires; the ladder's fitted 0.0048 is too low to be real and is not used |
| Total road load at 62 mph | ≈ 1,620 N · 44.9 kW (≈ 60 hp) | Aero ≈ 1,110 N + rolling ≈ 510 N at ρ 1.16, × 27.7 m/s. Within 2 % of the closure-calibrated torque-chain total (≈ 1,650 N: the Salton ladder's 1,370 N rescaled by the closure-gate slope ≈ 0.83). The lumped coefficient in the next row corresponds to ≈ 1,340 – 1,370 N · 37 – 38 kW — 15–17 % below this figure, which is the same ≈ 0.8 scale the closure gates found in the torque channel (§ 09), not a disagreement between two independent measurements. Fuel-side check: 4.19 gal/hr at 62 mph is 141 kW of fuel, so 44.9 kW at the wheel implies ≈ 0.36 brake thermal efficiency at η 0.92 with ≈ 2 kW of accessory load — inside the 0.36–0.42 the closure gates imply, above the 0.30–0.31 the torque channel reports. Rev 1.2 printed 15.1 kW here, which is the trailer-share magnitude two rows down |
| Lumped road-load coefficient at 62 mph | 0.0197 – 0.0201 × m·g | Two independent chains (fuel, Campaign 1; torque, Campaign 2) agree to 2 % — the best-determined aero-adjacent number the program has |
| Trailer's share of road load at 62 mph | ≈ 505 – 595 N · 14 – 16.5 kW | Partition by subtraction of an unmeasured truck-alone figure; consistent with LightShip's 250 Wh/mi |
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical load transferred to the trailer axle | 27.8 % | Fuel-rate difference after removing the ProPower term at 7.70 kWh/gal. The pre-trip model's 60 % (4.28 → 1.73 gal/hr) is not reproduced |
| Gross fuel saved on the test pair | 0.568 gal | |
| Trailer battery spent, modelled cost bases | 8.61 / 11.40 / 13.07 kWh | Three battery-cost bases; net fuel is negative under all three when the truck is the only charging source |
| Net with destination charging available | Positive | Valuing trailer kWh at the ProPower recharge chain is only right when the truck is the sole source; the case for assist is battery-neutral operation, not raw fuel saving |
| Thermal benefit to the transmission | ≈ 2 °F — not material | Measured within-leg; 46 °F of margin remained. Dropped from the assist case |
| Item | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Transmission fluid, Campaign 1 peak | 228.9 °F | 65.5 hr towing; median 205 °F; 79 min above 220; 0 s above 230 — 46 °F below P1783 |
| Transmission fluid, Campaign 2 return peak | 220.9 °F | Yarnell Hill and the Prescott climb; 2.9 min above 220 |
| Engine coolant, peaks | 241.2 °F (C1) · 230.3 °F (C2) | C1 worst case was at 7,500–8,200 ft in 79 °F air — thin air, not hot air. Thermostat fully open at 217 °F; no numeric coolant limit is published |
| Charge-air temperature, moving | 197.6 °F (C1) · 143.6 °F (C2) | Against a 140 °F throttle-closure threshold; C1 peak on the same high-altitude climb |
| Fuel enrichment under load | One episode, Campaign 1; none, Campaign 2 | Screen: rich mixture and load > 60 % and charge air > 140 °F, sustained. The hot-weather penalty is electrical (cooling loads), not enrichment |
| Charging's effect on transmission temperature | +1.9 °F equilibrium | Within-leg; not a durability concern |
| Operator practice | Charging reduced above ≈ low-90s °F ambient on grades | Engine-protection judgement supported by coolant data; the transmission was never the constraint |
Drag area is a bracket, not a number. The truck's OBD engine-torque channel — the only truck-side force measurement — responds to load changes at about 80 % of truth in the cruise regime (closure tests on known grades, September 2026; the same weakness is documented across production engines by SwRI for CARB). Every drag figure built on it carries ±10 %. The published LightShip coefficient is used instead, and it sits inside the program's own bracket. A neutral coastdown, or LightShip's hitch-force channel, would resolve it.
Charging behaviour in extreme heat is uncharacterised. One receptacle thermal dropout in Campaign 1 (Cortez → Durango). No output derate was ever observed, but the operator reduces charging above the low 90s on grades to protect the engine, so the ceiling has not been probed.
Instantaneous TrekDrive draw is not observable from the truck. Trailer-side power is inferred from endpoint state-of-charge readings, not logged. The assist crossover point remains modelled.
Every amber figure on this page is one or more assumptions away from a measurement and is labelled with the assumption. The Camping Reserve Simulator uses the measured speed curve and the LightShip drag coefficient; nothing on this page is a manufacturer specification.