Towing with an electric vehicle, auto express mag

[comfortablynumb]

I found this quite interesting, because I do a fair amount of towing.

Not that I have an EV, nor any intention to.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/features/367882/electric-car-towing-test-inconvenient-truth-about-ev-range

[loserone]

Sounds like the biggest issue they had was a lack of confidence in towing full stop.  

 

They even say there was an entrance to the chargers they could have used instead of just dumping the caravan outside.  170 miles of range whilst towing is not far off my range rover when getting 11mpg..

[Rust Collector]

45 minutes ago, loserone said:

Sounds like the biggest issue they had was a lack of confidence in towing full stop.  

I thought this too, considering he’s the ‘resident towing expert’ I was surprised at some of the things he listed as issues. They didn’t sound related to the car at all, more just the normal real world issues you come up against with a trailer hanging off the back of your car.

There’s a couple of petrol stations I can’t easily use locally when towing my car trailer for example - nothing to do with the propulsion method of the car, just the fact that they’re not big enough to manoeuvre safely in.

They may have a point that there could be consideration for longer charging bays if EV towing becomes more prevalent - I don’t know much about EV’s, so not sure if larger bays for commercial vehicles are a thing yet?

[loserone]

They are a thing but I don't know how common they are.  

[rusty_vw_man]

So he was surprised that attaching a caravan to his EV reduced range, so much so that he hadn’t bothered to scope out suitable chargers before leaving home. He was then grumpy that because towing with an EV is still rare there weren’t any facilities for him.

I don’t really like electric cars, but this sort of nonsense published as journalism does grate - what’s his actual point here? 

[Tickman]

4 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

but this sort of nonsense published as journalism does grate

I think this sums it up perfectly 

[Tayne]

As others have stated, the "towing expert" on a car magazine should know that

a) WLTP figures aren't really acheivable in the real world and

b) Attaching a 1.5 tone 6x2x2meter box to the back of any vehicle will drastically increase its fuel consumption.

I don't read auto express so I don't know if its an anti-EV publication but if it is, and putting my conspiracy theorist hat on, I wonder how much of their advertising revenue comes from oil companies.

 

Whilst I wouldn't chose to tow a caravan with an EV, it can be done.

I met this chap at a charger in Piotta in Switzerland, he was from Berlin and on his way down to Italy.

 

He was very considerate and offered to move his rig when I got back, my car was car charging in the end spot behind the caravan, but I had enough space to get out. I think he said he was getting around 250km/150miles between stops and re-assured me about the mountain passes I was about to drive. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

33 minutes ago, Tayne said:

I think he said he was getting around 250km/150miles

40 minutes ago, Tayne said:

b) Attaching a 1.5 tone 6x2x2meter box to the back of any vehicle will drastically increase its fuel consumption.

 

I used to run an LPG 4x4 Musso (stop laughing down the back there) that had the MB 3.2 litre 6-cyl lump.

150 miles unladen on a tank of LPG - that would drop  to 110 miles when towing (horses or caravan). I've been to LPG fillups (Newton Stewart and Church Stoke  in particular come to mind) where we had to unhook the trailer to actually get the car close enough to the LPG filler. 
I was happy enough with that - this guy sounds like he's from the same stable as the Gruniad columnist a few years back that took his EV Jaaag down to the West Country on holiday. He moaned about insufficient charging points, lack of 5G and then he ran out of juice a few miles from home on the return journey.

 

[Rustybullethole]

I want to read a write up from him about A framing a dead transit with an EV down the west coast of Scotland. I reckon he'd like that. 

[warch]

I’ve never driven an electric car, but I do do an awful lot of towing. I’d imagine the ‘engine’ characteristics of an electric car would make it the perfect tow car, as would the weight of the batteries. 
 

It might be a bit of a ball ache dropping the trailer/caravan off to charge it in a parking space type bay but you probably wouldn’t be doing that very often during an average journey.

[loserone]

I'd like to read that.  

 

I'd write it too, but I don't have an EV with a towbar 😂

[beko1987]

At the big motorway services some have the chargers in groups of 3 in lines. You'd be able to pull a big rig in those, be no different to blocking a pump with an ice and trailer and I see that all the time at our local tight BP.

I'd imagine when at cruising speed with the momentum of car and trailer it must nearly self propel itself and use almost zero electric. The bits before and after that will probably be quite juicy though

[loserone]

It's all in the aero.

 

 

[comfortablynumb]

9 hours ago, warch said:

It might be a bit of a ball ache dropping the trailer/caravan off to charge it in a parking space type bay but you probably wouldn’t be doing that very often during an average journey.

Judging by the thefts of trailers and caravans I'd be much more concerned about said towing device still being there once you'd finished, I was watching some footage of a caravan theft from a motorway services a while ago, they'd got the caravan off the car and away in a couple of minutes, using a tow hitch that mounted to the jockey wheel socket.

My trailers are always secured to the towvehicle with a heavy chain and padlock, as usual it won't necessarily stop said light-fingered bastards, but anything that slows them down....

[Talbot]

13 hours ago, loserone said:

It's all in the aero.

With electric this is very true, simply because the additional kWh used to accellerate the additional mass is returned to you under re-gen when you slow down (assuming you slow down gently enough to avoid the trailer brakes coming on)  So the overall weight of the vehicle makes very little difference.

Not so with regular ICE towing of course.

[Dave_Q]

9 minutes ago, Talbot said:

With electric this is very true, simply because the additional kWh used to accellerate the additional mass is returned to you under re-gen when you slow down (assuming you slow down gently enough to avoid the trailer brakes coming on)  So the overall weight of the vehicle makes very little difference.

Not so with regular ICE towing of course.

Regen recovery can't be 100% efficient though (around 70% from a quick google), so it must make a difference.

[warch]

15 hours ago, beko1987 said:

I'd imagine when at cruising speed with the momentum of car and trailer it must nearly self propel itself and use almost zero electric. The bits before and after that will probably be quite juicy though

I was towing an engine back from the West Midlands earlier in the week. Once I was up to speed it did feel like the weight of the trailer and load actually kept the thing moving better than when the trailer was empty. I should point out that it was quite a light tow car, quite a heavy trailer and a 200kg engine. 

[cort1977]

16 hours ago, warch said:

I’ve never driven an electric car, but I do do an awful lot of towing. I’d imagine the ‘engine’ characteristics of an electric car would make it the perfect tow car, as would the weight of the batteries. 
 

It might be a bit of a ball ache dropping the trailer/caravan off to charge it in a parking space type bay but you probably wouldn’t be doing that very often during an average journey.

My neighbour tows his caravan with a big Tesla of some description. Says he gets from Aberdeen to Aviemore with about 40% charge left and it tows very nicely.

[Barry Cade]

Bring it on, they're brilliant to fit towbars to.. no exhaust,no ad blue tanks, no filler neck, no fuel tank and usually simpler electrics connections.  

[comfortablynumb]

How long before someone drills into the battery 😆

[Dyslexic Viking]

22 minutes ago, comfortablynumb said:

How long before someone drills into the battery 😆

I once saw in a YouTube video that someone in Canada had attached a homemade towbar to a US Ford Fairmont by welding it to the petrol tank. So someone in the future might try welding one on to an EV battery.