Towing with Hybrid/EV

AlekSmart

Are there any posters with experience of Towing a Trailer with a Hybrid or Electric vehicle ?

Are there any issues which need to be borne in mind before hitching up the 2 berth ?

biko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBvU1NOgLOc

Del2005

AlekSmart wrote: »

Are there any issues which need to be borne in mind before hitching up the 2 berth ?

Is the car rated to tow it? Apart from that you can tow away.

unkel

I just read a Dutch review of towing an 850kg caravan with a Tesla Model X and an Audi E-tron. They stuck to about 85km/h and they got close to WLTP range, so not so bad at all.

Black_Knight

AlekSmart wrote: »

Are there any posters with experience of Towing a Trailer with a Hybrid or Electric vehicle ?

Are there any issues which need to be borne in mind before hitching up the 2 berth ?

Does it have the brakes to stop what it's towing. EVs will generally have the power to pull it, but stopping it may be another story.

ELM327

surely with regen and friction brakes it has better braking than an equivalent fossil?

biko

Yes, braking shouldn't be a problem with regular brakes as well as regen brakes.

thos

It probably needs a little bit more forethought and route planning regarding charger access when caravan/trailer attached. Could be an awkward one needing to detach trailer in order to get access to charger.

If you're using a campsite, you might otherwise be able to get a sneaky charge off the campsite plot hookup. Not sure how this is regarded though!

JohnC.

Nyland tested Tesla Model X and Model 3 both with and without trailer for comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgaQNOt7L7g

Lumen

JohnC. wrote: »

Nyland tested Tesla Model X and Model 3 both with and without trailer for comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgaQNOt7L7g

...and an Australian one here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcfb5Hak78Q

The Model 3 will tow almost nothing (910kg gross as long as you're on 18" wheels, the 20" wheels aren't rated for the extra weight), the Model X will tow a lot in principle, but in practice is limited by license to little more, since the Irish B license is restricted to 3500kg total gross weight including car, and a model X weighs ~2500kg. If you have a B6 you can work away, but the X has pretty bad economy at the best of times, so you'll be stopping a lot.

kanuseeme

Its not only brakes and regen, its the mass of the towing vehicle and the mass of what your towing, all cars have a plate telling you how much weight you can tow, its complicated, because of the weight of the trailer and whats on it as well.

Where do I find towing capacity of my vehicle? You will find the DGVW, also referred to as MAM in the Owner’s
Manual, on the statutory plate (inside passenger door or under the bonnet) or by contacting your original
manufacturer/authorised distributor

Where do I find the gross weight of my trailer? You will find the Design Gross Vehicle Weight (DGVW), also referred
to as Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM), on the statutory plate fixed to your trailer or by contacting your trailer
manufacturer/authorised distributor. This is the weight of a vehicle or trailer, including the maximum load it can
carry, as per the manufacturer’s design specifications. You can also view drawing light trailers and our FAQ on
Towing Light Trailers.
http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/VS_Information_Notes/Light%20Trailers_O1_O2/FAQs%20on%20Calculating%20the%20Towing%20Capacity%20of%20a%20Vehicle.pdf

oinkely

I would love an ev that would tow my 1300kg caravan and fit all my windsurfing kit inside like my current Renault traffic crew cab that is retained for that job. I would also need about 400 km range with some spare emergency capacity to make it viable for the type of driving we do with the van and caravan.
I don't expect to have any realistic ev options in the next 5 to 10 years, at which point my van will be 20 to 25 years old and I'll have 100k additional commuting km on each of our two leafs. The extra cost of maintaining the van for towing is offset by the savings made using two EVs for our commutes.

unkel

oinkely wrote: »

I would also need about 400 km range

Even if we had a reliable fast charging network where you would not have to wait to start charging and be able to charge up in 15-20 minutes? Even with a few dozen Ionity chargers, a range of 200 km would be plenty to travel cross country without worry.

I'd say in 5 years time (2025) you'll have plenty of options of relatively affordable crew cab vans that can tow.

Stealthirl

Thought this might be of interest here Model X + trailer with a gross weight of 9,860lb or just shy of 4.5T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhX3BmhJXc8

unkel

You need a lorry license for that

ELM327

unkel wrote: »

You need a lorry license for that

Incorrect, you'd need a BE licence.
(I'm currently on a " licence bingo " at the moment getting them all)

Stealthirl

unkel wrote: »

You need a lorry license for that

Ah im only goin up the road

I suspect alot of drivers exceed the 750kg tow limit of the B license without knowing or got grandfathered in to the BE but in this case even a BE would not cover you as that's limited to 3.5T so you would need a C1E as you said.

Alkers

Stealthirl wrote: »

Ah im only goin up the road

I suspect alot of drivers exceed the 750kg tow limit of the B license without knowing or got grandfathered in to the BE but in this case even a BE would not cover you as that's limited to 3.5T so you would need a C1E as you said.

The B license limit is a gross train weight of 3,500kg and trailers of up to 750kg don't count towards the gross train weight.
If your cars max gross weight is 2,500kg you can tow a trailer rated to 1,000kg. If your car's max gross weight is 3,000kg you can still tow a trailer rated to 750kg (both of these are provided the car is rated for towing those loads).

unkel

ELM327 wrote: »

Incorrect, you'd need a BE licence.
(I'm currently on a " licence bingo " at the moment getting them all)

I know it's a BE license

I love the idea of having a campervan. A big one. Think full size RV. Solar powered obviously. I think I would need a C1 license for that? What's involved and roughly how much would it cost in total to get one, if you don't mind me asking?

ELM327

unkel wrote: »

I know it's a BE license

I love the idea of having a campervan. A big one. Think full size RV. Solar powered obviously. I think I would need a C1 license for that? What's involved and roughly how much would it cost in total to get one, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm not intending to drive for a living (much as I'd love to be a truck driver, it's not well paid) so I don't need the CPC parts
Have booked theory test for C licence - once I get that will have provisional/permit for C (and also BE).
Lessons for C class is 140 for 2 hours and while there's no requirement for minimum number, I'm thinking at least 10 lessons. Although I've driven (on ahem private roads) stuff you'd need a C licence for already, like a 2500 suburban, you have to do the test in a prescribed weight vehicle - and rent it from the driving instructor!




Same for the D licence, which I intend to go for once I get the C and BE
Then I will work on adding the CE/DE licence.
Already have B and W

(If you're looking at a large US style RV you will need a C licence, don't bother with C1, test is the same and you get much more on the C)

Stealthirl wrote: »

Ah im only goin up the road

I suspect alot of drivers exceed the 750kg tow limit of the B license without knowing or got grandfathered in to the BE but in this case even a BE would not cover you as that's limited to 3.5T so you would need a C1E as you said.

BE is not limited to 3.5T, BE is limited to a train of 7.5T once no DGVW is exceeded.
Standard B licence covers you for a train weight of 3.5T