The Road to Earth Day: The EV Towing Experience

10,000lb, 1,569 Miles, 100% Electric

We put the Chevrolet Silverado EV to the test—towing nearly 10,000 pounds of Solar Stations across 1,569 miles of mountains, deserts, cities, and coastlines to get from Grand Junction to Earth Day Santa Barbara. After sharing the climate story and mission behind our journey to Earth Day Santa Barbara, we figured it was time to answer the question everyone kept asking us along the way:

“But… how did the truck do?”

To find out, we documented the entire experience: the charging stops, the efficiency, the surprises, the lessons learned, and what living with an electric truck on a long-haul trip actually feels like.

This wasn’t a controlled test track or perfectly optimized scenario. It was a real road trip with real weight, real charging infrastructure, and real curiosity about where transportation is heading next.

The Truck & The Stats

Okay… time to geek out.

We drove the Chevrolet Silverado EV a total of 1,569 miles through mountains, deserts, cities, and coastlines while towing approximately 10,000 pounds.

And honestly? We were impressed.

The truck handled the load confidently and delivered more power than we expected. Even climbing grades and merging onto highways while towing, the Silverado EV rarely felt strained.

Power-wise, this truck felt comparable to a modern turbo-diesel pickup, but with more instant torque available from a standstill. It pulled our 10,000-pound, un-aerodynamic load up the steepest grades with ease. It also had plenty of mid-grade power to re-accelerate to the speed limit after getting slowed down by a 30-mph tractor-trailer. Not once during the entire journey did Glen—Skyhook’s electrical engineer, resident truck expert, and driver for this adventure—wish the Silverado EV had more power.

But with great power comes great responsibility. While the truck effortlessly climbed a 6% grade with the cruise set at 65 mph, our battery state of charge (SOC) silently slipped away as the system sent 250+ kilowatts of energy to the traction motors. Combined with a stiff headwind, consumption averages shot up to over 3300 Wh/mile. Simply dropping our speed to 55 mph on the grade cut our energy consumption significantly—often by as much as 50%.

When heading back down these passes, regenerative braking from the electric motor was significantly more effective than a diesel exhaust brake. We rarely needed the friction brakes, even when descending steep mountain passes or navigating stop-and-go traffic. Not only did this prevent heat and wear on the trailer brakes, it also recharged the truck's battery bank. On one downgrade, we noted a 3% (6 kWh) battery SOC gain.

However, Glen noted two key areas where the vehicle’s towing abilities could be improved.

Improvement 1: A ¾-Ton Version with Higher GVWR and Tow Rating

When loading an equipment trailer, it is very easy to surpass this vehicle's 1,000-pound tongue weight rating. We actually had to leave some equipment behind on this trip because of this limitation. Factory literature suggested a load-distributing hitch system is required at the 10,000-pound towing capacity limit. While these hitches are common for recreational travel trailers, they are rare on equipment trailers. In fact, our local trailer shop could not install one on our trailer due to interference with the hydraulic lowering system. Glen has towed this exact trailer with many ¾-ton pickups over the years with zero tongue weight issues.

Perhaps the inability to use a load-distributing hitch was a blessing in disguise, as it would have added complexity when disconnecting at charge stops. This brings us to Glen’s second needed improvement.

Improvement 2: A Front-Mounted Charge Port

In many cases, pull-through EV chargers were unavailable, forcing us to use standard EV fast chargers situated at the front of a parking space. Because the Silverado’s charge port is located on the bedside (where a traditional gas cap would be), the cord from the front of the spot could not reach the port when nosing in. The only workaround was to disconnect the trailer and back the truck into space.

Electric pickups do not share the same packaging constraints as internal combustion engine trucks with liquid fuel tanks, so why not move the port to the front? A front-mounted port would have eliminated 90% of our trailer disconnects. We could have simply nosed the pickup into the charging spot. At most stations, there was plenty of room behind the truck for the trailer to extend into the aisle without blocking traffic, or along a curb where the trailer could sit parallel out of the way.

Of course, towing dramatically impacts efficiency. Charge stops were frequent, especially in mountain terrain or at higher freeway speeds. But the experience also proved something important:

Heavy-duty EV towing is no longer theoretical. It’s here.

The Road to Earth Day: Cross Country in an EV

10,000lb, 1,569 Miles, 100% Electric

Grand Junction to Santa Barbara Earth Day

We are so happy to have been a part of such an awesome event: Earth Day Santa Barbara. Honestly, what better event for Skyhook to attend than one so closely aligned with our values?

We wanted to test what the future actually feels like and walk the walk.

So instead of towing our Solar Stations to Earth Day Santa Barbara with a traditional diesel truck, we leased a Chevy Silverado EV and drove the entire 1,569 mile route on electrons.

And because towing nearly 10,000 pounds this far in an EV still feels relatively unexplored territory—and because we knew our community would be just as curious as we were—we documented the experience along the way to share what worked, what surprised us, and what the future of road tripping with heavy loads might actually look like.

The Why: Climate Change Along the Way

Earth Day is a reminder of the responsibility we all share to care for the planet and reflect on how our actions affect the world around us.

Skyhook was started with a simple philosophy: do what you can.

Our Solar Stations were designed to support the transition to cleaner energy in the EV and micro-mobility industries by making charging more flexible, deployable, and accessible.

We left our home base in Grand Junction after experiencing one of the shortest winters Colorado has seen in years. Snowfall totals were alarmingly low. Ski resorts experienced spring-like conditions as early as February, and many seasons ended months earlier than normal. That lack of snowpack is now contributing to drought conditions across the region, with the Colorado River experiencing dangerously low levels after a difficult winter.

And we saw reminders of climate change everywhere along our route.

Driving through Baker, California, we stopped at the World’s Largest Thermometer—a monument to the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth nearby in Death Valley: 134°F. Temperatures like these are becoming more frequent, and extreme heat events continue to intensify across the Southwest.

Then in Wrightwood, California, we passed through the visible burn scars left behind by the 2024 Bridge Fire, where over 56,000 acres burned during a fire that lasted 79 days, destroying homes and reshaping entire landscapes.

From drought in Colorado to extreme heat in the desert to wildfire damage in California, we experienced the effects of climate change across the entire journey.

Instead of leaving us discouraged, those moments reminded us of why we do what we can.

And sometimes that starts with towing Solar Stations across the desert using an EV.

The Charging Experience

Charging infrastructure was far more available than we expected. Along the route, we had the opportunity to use a wide range of fast charging networks including Tesla, Electrify America, IONNA, Rivian, and EVgo.

Even more surprising: many charging locations had designated pull-through trailer charging spots. Roughly three-quarters of our charging stops allowed us to simply pull in, plug in, and continue on our way without ever dropping the trailer. That became a huge time saver considering we were making anywhere from three to six charging stops per driving day.

The trip also highlighted something important about EV ownership: driving electric requires a shift in mindset.

You have to plan more. Charging takes longer than filling a gas tank. And road trips become less about sprinting from destination to destination and more about pacing yourself around charging opportunities.

But interestingly, the slower pace wasn’t always a bad thing. Some charging stops became welcome breaks—an excuse to stretch our legs, grab lunch together, answer emails, or take in places we normally would have rushed past. In Las Vegas, one charge stop even turned into a quick casino break while the truck powered back up. Charging changed the rhythm of the trip. Instead of nonstop driving, the journey felt more intentional and surprisingly more enjoyable at times.

But should EV drivers have to sacrifice comfort and convenience completely?

Some charging locations actually felt like the future—covered canopies for shade, clean layouts, trash bins, windshield washing stations, nearby coffee, and room to stretch while charging.

Others reminded us there is still a long way to go.

Range anxiety itself wasn’t the biggest challenge. The infrastructure generally worked. What we found ourselves wanting more often was a better overall experience: more amenities and more thoughtful design around how people actually use these spaces while traveling.

Lessons Learned 

No road trip is complete without at least one moment of range anxiety. Ours happened in rural Utah.

We arrived at a charger location expecting to plug into a Level 2 Tesla charger for the night. We had brought a Tesla fast-charging adapter—which physically fits both Level 2 and Superchargers—but learned the hard way that you actually need two separate adapters depending on the charger type.

That left us temporarily stranded without access to charging in a pretty remote area.

Luckily… we happened to be towing a solar powered EV charger behind us! We plugged directly into our own D6 Skyhook Solar Station overnight, which added about 13kWh of energy to the truck’s battery according to our Skyhook Level X charge app. While we technically had enough range to make it back to the nearest fast charger regardless, the extra charge gave us a helpful buffer and eased our range anxiety in such a remote area. It boosted our expected arrival state of charge (SOC) from roughly 35% to 41%.

This moment perfectly captured both where EV infrastructure is today and where it still needs improvement. Most of the journey went surprisingly smoothly, but small compatibility issues like adapters, apps, and charger types can still create friction—especially in rural areas.

It also reminded us why flexibility and resiliency matter so much in energy infrastructure.

While there’s still room for improvement in charging infrastructure and charging experience design, the technology itself is becoming surprisingly capable.

For us, this trip wasn’t just about getting Solar Stations to an event.

It was about testing the future ourselves.

And after 1,569 miles, thousands of pounds, countless charging stops, and a lot of curiosity from people along the way… we came back optimistic.

The transition to cleaner transportation won’t happen perfectly.

But it is happening.