My take on the 1,000# limit is that Ford had little real world experience with the transaxle and they intentionally under-rated it to keep down warranty claims. I suspect they wanted to say "no towing" but thought that would be a real sales killer. So they did what they did.

The real question on towing a load is whether the FEH can climb a hill without relying on the traction battery. Or said another way will it come to a stop when the traction battery is exhausted (& I don't mean at 40%, I mean exhausted).

The above discussion circles this issue but doesn't answer it. My experience says it'll do it, no sweat.

If it has the gumption to tow, climb a hill and cycle the traction battery then it's a mover.

 

Well, I can answer item two; the engine will not run if the traction battery ever goes to zero SOC. The system will not work without a traction battery. But that will never happen, since the software keeps it charged up. The first part of question two is yes, it will climb without the battery.

All in all, I myself would not normally tow with the FEH; 1000lb is too little (the trailer alone would use up most of this weight).

 

"The little engine will pull nicely..."

Not without the "clutch" engagement provided by the CVT "generator", MG1, and "motor" (MG2) in combination. No HV power to these and the ICE would spin uselessly.

And I would advise that the clutch "coupling" is via the synchronous motor's rotating electromagnetic field applied to the permannet magnet rotor, put too much torque load on that rotor and "slip" results, the rotor stalls. That stepper motor type "torque coupling" aspect may be the limiting factor, engineering design wise, for "tow" weight.

 

Nice try, but you don't quite have that synchronous machine stuff down.

...Oh and its not a stepper motor.

 

I don't recall claiming that ICE would work without the electric components. Why don't you try it on your own FEH... oh, that's right, you can't - because you don't own one. Knowledge is not wisdom.