With our Model X and a Hymer Touring GT (1400 kg, think Eriba Troll) we plan for Superchargers 150 miles apart. On a 1500+ mile trip earlier in the year from western Pennsylvania to Maine, we did not have to unhitch even once at the chargers. 550 Wh/mile was our average consumption. RV sites here in the US frequently have 230V 30A or even 50 A hookups. That charges the car comfortably overnight. The trailer can meanwhile be connected to the 115V socket that is usually available as well.
Great video i have had a good look round that van. I have been using my kona ev for camping over the last few summers. I have a selection of adapters to use the blue commando plugs either to charge the car direct (and then electrify the tent) or vise versa. Also there are increasing dedicated 7 Kw chargers based at campsites. Unfortunately my car is not rated for towing..... but I am looking quite seriously as options get better The increase in consumption is drag coefficient having more effect at higher speed. Aerodynamics will become a big factor in ev suited caravans. The tesla is particularly low drag The 360+ range indicated you started with is a factor of where the car has been driven (town driving is very economical) The LR in real world use seems to get 300+ miles between spring and autumn, so working on a 40% increased consumption for towing 150 miles would seem a reasonable range allowing some buffer. So allowing 3 hours between charges driving at 50 mph, increasing as you gain experience Luckily tesla super chargers and other high-powered chargers are closer than 70 miles apart even now. (Within 4 years they will be at all motorway service stations) and also allow the car to add back that 150 miles towing range in about 40 minutes. So not as fast as combustion engines yet, but allowing an easy 300 miles towing range with 1 stop. Using apps like zapmap will enable you to find charging points.
Nice one Lee and Charlie, think all that amazing torque and low centre of gravity is something lots of folks forget about, only worrying about charging facilities so lots of positives for towing will come in time. Amazing how much more drivers become of weather, hills, etc. Great real world test, super to see.
Sent here by Mr Ditton! Interesting video. Thank you. We've had a Model 3 for two and a half years now and it is, without a doubt, the best car we've owned. The tow-bar option for ours only gave us a maximum tow weight of 750kg, so we didn't bother (although, hindsight being 20:20, we should have had one fitted if only to be able to put bikes on the back). There's still a long way to go in terms of both battery capacity and charging infrastructure, but I'm looking forward to the day I can replace my Discovery with something that'll tow The Beast down to the south of France. I just need to make the Disco last another 5-10 years!
Very informative video with a balanced commentary, especially from a self confessed petrol-head and especially for someone who has not driven an EV before AND plunging straight in to towing a caravan! We finally decided three or four years ago not to buy a caravan after making some honest assessment of its real usefulness to us and our lifestyles. However, we’re now into our fifth year of EV ownership (following three years with a Toyota hybrid), firstly with a Nissan Leaf, second a Tesla Model S and now with a Tesla Model Y, much better suited to our needs, which can, albeit with some limitations, nonetheless also act as a very usable as a camper van. The longer term experience with EVs is their efficiency, particularly the Teslas and how much cheaper they are to run (our house now uses no more kWh’s all in that we were habitually using 5 to 10 years ago. So quids in on fuel costs, even in the current energy crisis, probably saving £80 to 100 per month, compared to £120 per month petrol for the hybrid. Also better road holding, sportier and more secure driving experience. Sorry, too long a comment, but my final observation is that EVs do need a significant change of mindset; a considerable, I dare say revolutionary transition from internal combustion powered vehicles. Good luck with your future driving choices.
Man, you got me scheming on one of these mini trailers. I don't think we have Bailey in the states but it looks fantastic. I bought the model Y with a tow hitch and have never towed anything. Also looked like a great camping site. Well done and please keep making these with EVs.
Thanks for sharing, good Vlog and good insights into EV's and towing. While I have every confidence that things are only going to get better right now I don't think we are ready for an EV. In normal times we would be towing a 6 birth twin axle to the South of France every year and just feel to do it in an EV would take maticulas planning and add time to the Journey. However I can't wait till we can. Thanks for sharing
Once I can tow a large family van of 1500kg for a couple hundred miles on a single charge I’ll start taking them seriously. Small 2 berth wouldn’t work for us. I guess in the next 5 or so years we will see things change dramatically.
The tow option is not anymore available in France for the model 3, I don't know for other countries. However it is still there for the model Y with a max towing at 1 600 kg.
Driving at the maximum speed limit, that's a minimum of 5-6.5 hrs driving. Most would stop for a break once or twice at least. It just means being more prepared about planning the stops.
@@v_0 I to drive those distance with out really needing a stop . Most EV's will do 100 miles. A typical 4 hour journey for me 250 mile would probably take 6 to 7 hours and involve 2 full charges. Also unhitching the caravan twice at the services. I am sorry EV's are not for me yet. I think it only really works for people that do under 100 miles typical journal. I go away every other weekend and always go over 100 miles away from home.
The main problem with public charging, Supermarket, motorway services etc, they all have a car only parking area, that would mean you have to un-hitch to charge up, were do you put the caravan???
At the moment, probably. Some folks spotted a drive-through charging point somewhere towards the north of the country (sorry, don't know where), but this is an exception to the rule
Of course main reason range will drop with a caravan is aerodynamic drag, so larger caravans may not be much worse, well be looking for electric tow car for our caravan in two or three years hopefully prices will have come down as don't want another dirty diesel
Thanks for the video, I was hoping someone would do something like this - I would do myself but did not have the nerve :) I tow a large caravan - Compass Casita 550 with an Audi Etron 50. normal range about 180 miles - real world, towing range about 100 miles, but I can charge up again (slowly at the caravan site - public charging not suitable with a caravan in most places. This is great for short weekends away, but when we go further we tow with my wife's ICE car
I couldn't find much info about towing caravan with an EV, so thought I'd jump in feet first. I had real range anxiety at first but enjoyed the weekend
I get the anxiety about doing you tube video, I would like to do one but there is alot to think about . Stick a camera in my face and I feel like I'm on stage in a bad way lol. I liked the way his son would give the next talking points 👍
Wow you need to sink 50k into a car to be able to tow a small caravan 100 miles. Be interesting to see how a standard model 3 would do with a bigger van.
You mentioned that it was stable. Looks like caravan is really so small and light that it would be stable with almost any car. But for sure weight help as always.
100% agree, weight match of less than 50%, and such a short caravan, could tow it with a supermini let alone a family car. It would still be stable at 100mph if it had the power. With the weight of EV's though, they are still going to give a stable tow with a normal weight of caravan.
There's two of us, the dog and our sports gear, with a smarter caravan such as an Eriba or a Kip this could be quite viable, esp as charging infrastructure improves.
So, what was your overall range while towing? Sounds like it was little more than 100 miles. Fine for a short journey, but the ban in ICE's in 2030 frankly is going to keep a whole load of used, pre- 2030 petrol and diesels on the road for those who like a long-distance road trip across Europe, such as the trip I usually do from Kent to the south of France - some 800 miles, which I do across two days of driving. Having to stop some 8 times to recharge an EV is going to severely slow down that journey, eating into days of my fortnight holiday.
My current car is an Outlander PHEV and it’s a great tow car. The torque is brilliant from the dual electric motors. I do want to tow 100% electric though and complete get away from fossil fuels. Our other family car is a VW ID3 so we have the bug well and truly. Not to mention we had a Nissan Leaf before that.
There's definitely a market for a portable EV charger that senses the caravans usage and adjusts the charge power signal to the car so that uses the excess. These are commom on home chargers.
Very useful and informative review. The range is absolutely not there for EV's, strangely the towing capacity isn't either which is very strange given how heavy EV's are. Also CAMC will only allow pitch charging direct from hook up to you have to take the 'van off mains. We happily tow up to about 5 hours without a stop at the moment which does not even get near to full range of the car, that is about 270 miles in one go. When we do stop it's for 5 minutes and then we are off again.
Yes I too wonder why the towing capacity is so weak for most EV's - electric motors are great at moving the vehicle + trailer down the road accepting the much reduced range from the batteries. All I can think is that the cooling systems (and blanked off grills) of EV's are limited in their air flow over the radiators - to optimise solo drag coefficient you need reduced air disturbance from radiators but then are insufficient for higher cooling rates required when towing a decent load?
@@TC-V8 That could well be it. When I had oil temperature on previous cars when towing seeing 110c was not uncommon. The power needed when towing uphill is huge compared to when not towing. Great thought.
Was the water tank full? Did you run the 3 way fridge while towing in either DC or AC to keep it cool? These things would have effected range as well. Would have been nice if the figures were in Kilometres. I thought it was only the yanks that still used imperial 😉😹
Towing 100 miles - assuming 2.4 miles per Kwh (40% less than non towing range ) The most ev drivers generally pay at home is 10p per kWh thanks to good ev specific rates, (I pay 5p overnight) or free if you have solar panels! To add 100 miles of towing range is 41.7Kwh. (100/2.4) ----------------- So cost at home is 10p X 41.7 £4.18 or 4.18p per mile. For non towing it's £2.51 or 2.5p per mile. --------------- Assuming a diesel does 40mpg towing at £1.20 per litre over the 100 miles gives 100/40/4.54/1.2 gives £13.62 or 13.6p per mile
Im currently looking into buying a Tesla to tow. Im a caravan trader. The only viable option I can see is a Model S which has a tow capacity of 1600kg. You cant buy a towbar in this country unless it's for mountain bikes. You can have one fitted in Germany for £1400 that will tow a caravan. A Model 3 is a great car but with a tow capacity of 1000kg (LADEN) you are quickly outside the law unless you are towing a featherweight caravan. Has anyone got experience of towing a large caravan with a Model S ? Great video by the way
Use of heater, air conditioner, radio, lights extra passengers or cargo all tend to reduce range. So take a solar powered generator to get more range while you are parked,
The caravan match was unrealistic, and demonstrates the massive loss of range as soon as you load up. Wouldn't want to try and charge an EV with a van hooked up or unhooked en route. Reality is it's still totally unfeasible. Maybe the cars might be ready in time but I can't see it ATM.
very few families will be able to afford electric when subsidies are killed off or even get much joy of trying to get 4/5 people + caravan + luggage from west midlands to south coast which is a more realistic holiday test, how do you charge it with a caravan on the back at the charging points? do you have to lease the batteries as well?
what if the caravan had a lithium flat batteries under the floor as a range extender for the car ? you can spread the load out add as many batteries as it takes ? maybe use the van charge first top it up when camped ?
Assuming you're going full speed all the way, that's almost a seven hour drive - surely you take a break or two on the way? What car have you got that'll do 400 miles towing on one tank?
We do that going to Fort William, about 8 hour journey, one max 30 minute stop for food and fuel, then one our way. Cornwall is 270 miles for us, no stops, fuel use less than 75% of tank. To do with an EV would literally take 2 days to get to Fort William, and 2 days back, plus the range anxiety going across the Highlands.... It can a good drive to fuel station let alone an EV supercharger.
Please can you do more caravan towing videos with other EV’s that are rated ok for towing these sort of weights. ID.4 Jag I-Pace, Model X and Y etc. Would be much appreciated and I will share the crap out of them all as I know there’s loads of caravan owners who would massively appreciate this info.
"Petrol Ped"s vid on BEV caravan towing was a resounding no !! ... one of the biggest problems for him was getting to a charger and finding you couldn't connect up unless you unhitched the caravan and parked it elsewhere... 🙄
I'd have been interested to see how you went on stopping at a supercharger with the caravan hitched up.. is that possible? Easy? .. maybe doing a 300 mile journey with 2 top ups?
Speaking to a few EV users, there seem few options for charging with the caravan still attached. At present, unhitching at the services appears to be the way forward, although that presents challenges of its own. Hopefully, this will change as the network evolves
A 'Fast Charger' is 7 kW at a Supermarket for free. If you were there an hour you might get 6.6 kWh so 24 miles worth. If you are on a 50 kW Rapid charger @ 28 pence a kWh and got 35 kWh that is £9.80. If you got 45 kWh in in an hour then £12.60.
I’m looking at buying a rivian pick up as soon as they come to Uk they will tow 7.5 tons 0-60 In 3 seconds should be interesting for my Bailey Porto….300mile range Croatia trips will be a worry for first trip I guess
I looked very seriously into having a model 3 as my company car. I was close to going for it but when I looked into how I would charge it at least twice on a journey to Cornwall the(bad) penny dropped. It would be almost impossible to charge it. Motorway charging stations are all in positions where you cannot access with a caravan so I'd need to drive into the normal car park with caravan hooked up and then find a place I could park it and drive the car separately to the charging point. Further checks with Google Street view and satellite view showed that very few stations enabled me to park in the lorry park or dedicated caravan parking and then circle back to a charger, so very disappointed. I've kept my hybrid Outlander for now.
That's really interesting information - I also thought it might be worth the sacrifice of towing & charging inconvenience to have a solo EV most of the time - but knowing it isn't even possible to unhitch the van; drive to the charger & plug in; have a break; then circle back to pick up the van is a deal breaker! I see one or two of the big new charging stations are drive in - drive out so I guess towing could work there with blocking the charger behind! but obviously need more of these type of stations around the country. Seems like it needs another 10 years+ to get to a usable state for touring holidays.
Wow you turned down a tesla for charging 😳 many motorway services have tesla chargers now and have had for a year or two. Charge before you leave m5 and you'll be back on m5 before you need to charge again
See a few of these reviews now but they are not very real world for me. I go away every other weekend , with a heaver caravan and rarely do less the 100 miles there and 100 miles back. More often than not it 150 miles there and 150 miles back. There does not seem to be anything that seem to fit this bill in the EV world yet. I guess I need to stick with the diesel until range triples.
@@bradleyrex2968 you can't charge with a caravan in tow. Go to caravan parking de hitch. Charge if you can, space or working. Then re hitch. It's a real pain trust me. EV gone I'm afraid 😱
I would sell my caravan if we all had to go EV ( unless ranges were 500 miles plus ) I have a mild hybrid rav4x4 and it it superb for towing , this year from Northants we have been exploring Devon are and there is no way it can be done in an EV. I forgot how remote Devon is let alone the drive down..It's not practical especially with a small kid on board and dog..I'm not sold at all.
Thank you for an almost perfect and informative video congratulations . If I may ,as a senior Fire and Rescue Driving Instructor,of 25 years plus advise you that not once, that I saw, did you have two hands on the wheel.NOT sending a very good message,safety wise .thank you for the information . Best wishes always .R.
Don't need to when the car is in Autopilot mode, it's doing the steering. You just have to hold the wheel loosely to let the car know you're still ready to assume control.
EVs don't have gears, so it's very simple... double the weight that the Motor is pulling and at least half the range (with drag factored in maybe 1/4 range). With a diesel vehicle, the cruising gear reduces the ratio of range reduction. This is generally why EV manufacturers haven't bothered strengthening chassis for towing.... what do you do if flat and you can't get near a charge point? It's not a stability issue as EVs are generally heavy.
Sadly that test shows buying an electric car in Australia with the idea of towing a van is definitely not going to work. We average 350-400 k a day when taking it easy our van is a Bailey Barcelona twin axle 2000 kg. Going by your test we would be wasting our time even considering going electric. Very interesting test shame it proves it just would not work here. We have had days when we have done 800+ kilometers in a day we would be spending half our holidays in charging stations.
An electric car would certainly be limited under those conditions and distances. I was hoping to tow a 1500kg caravan with a pure electric car last week, but there was a hiccup at the last minute.
Gary it may not be as bad as you think. Australia is in a transition phase as we are sadly lagging behind most of the world in EV uptake with our previous government truly asleep at the wheel. For instance the market leader Tesla has only sold 26,500 units. The charging network is really 3rd world with zero regulation. However the Tesla Cyber Truck truck is now ready for production and it will revolutionise our RV lifestyles. I cant wait!
The caravan is like a toy caravan . Electric cars are useless for towing with a meaningful sized caravan . Touring anywhere would be a nightmare . My BMW will do over four hundred miles with an 1800 kg van on the back on a tank of diesel . What do you do with the caravan when changing the car at a public charger .
Electric vehicles can’t economically tow a trailer or a caravan. The heavier the load, the less the range and when the battery is flat youve first got to find a charging point then hope it’s free, if not, you queue then you wait for the car to charge. It won’t work. I’ll stick with a diesel but they’re taxing big diesels off the road so I’ll sell my 3 litre Range Rover (now £590 a year to tax!) that pulls my trailer at 20 mpg effortlessly,and buy a 2 litre VW T6.1. £260 a year to tax and still 20mpg when towing. One thing’s for sure, electric ain’t the way forward.
Yes, absolutely. The car felt as though it could tow so much more (54% match and tons of power) but the limiting factor was the towing limit. The D4-2 is 995kg and our Phoenix (with upgrade plate) is now 1500kg
It''s rubbish. Most caravanners tow vans upwards of 1400kg - this Bailey, the Swift Basecamp etc. are very much 'niche' and will never meet the needs of families and people wanting to avail themselves of the luxuries and space modern caravans offer. So please stop being an apologist for the current EVs - they just aren't viable for most caravanners' needs - if you keep making non-viable allowances for them, there won't be the required spur for manufacturers to sort out the obvious problems, namely the stress of range anxiety, the total lack of flexibility on routing, and the likelihood of reverting to stagecoach-like journey durations when charging times are taken into account. I've just canned my Caravan and Motorhome Club membership because they've got the same head-in-the-sand attitude - it's like turkeys voting for Christmas!
Went 6 miles and lost 100! I have a Tesla M3DM 😎 and you a 100% WRONG! The top speed is the main problem along with wind. The weight is not a problem. I like how you ICE lovers cut down EV'S, your not prepared with even a level 2 charger. I had a same problem filling my 40 gallon tank and it took days as I only carry 6 oz of gas every two hours! I did watch the complete video and yes in June 2021 you must do a lot of planning and your places will be limited. The Cybertruck, R1T and Lighting should improve in 2022 with the larger batteries. Note: The Tesla has the equivalent of 2.28 gallons of fuel. Could you drive your ICE vehicle pulling a trailer as far as the Tesla did? 33.7 kilowatt hours The ratings are based on EPA's formula, in which 33.7 kilowatt hours of electricity is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, and the energy consumption of each vehicle during EPA's five standard drive cycle tests simulating varying driving conditions.
40 gallon tank - wow - 141L fuel tank! Anyhow you hit the nail on the head regarding the energy on board in Kwh for EV's - there simply isn't enough stored energy on board to go any meaningful distance while towing (engineering explained has some interesting videos on this), even the soon coming truck EV's simply won't have enough energy on board to tow a decent trailer, and even if you don't mind the inconvenience of more stops to fill up (I wouldn't personally mind) in most services (in the UK) you can't fill up with your trailer attached, and you can't unhitch it and leave it in the lorry park as you can't loop back in to pick up your trailer after the car is full. The infrastructure needs serious work.
I’m so glad you’ve done this video. I’m considering a Tesla Model Y for towing my 1500kg caravan.
With our Model X and a Hymer Touring GT (1400 kg, think Eriba Troll) we plan for Superchargers 150 miles apart. On a 1500+ mile trip earlier in the year from western Pennsylvania to Maine, we did not have to unhitch even once at the chargers. 550 Wh/mile was our average consumption. RV sites here in the US frequently have 230V 30A or even 50 A hookups. That charges the car comfortably overnight. The trailer can meanwhile be connected to the 115V socket that is usually available as well.
Great video i have had a good look round that van.
I have been using my kona ev for camping over the last few summers. I have a selection of adapters to use the blue commando plugs either to charge the car direct (and then electrify the tent) or vise versa. Also there are increasing dedicated 7 Kw chargers based at campsites. Unfortunately my car is not rated for towing..... but I am looking quite seriously as options get better
The increase in consumption is drag coefficient having more effect at higher speed. Aerodynamics will become a big factor in ev suited caravans. The tesla is particularly low drag
The 360+ range indicated you started with is a factor of where the car has been driven (town driving is very economical)
The LR in real world use seems to get 300+ miles between spring and autumn, so working on a 40% increased consumption for towing 150 miles would seem a reasonable range allowing some buffer.
So allowing 3 hours between charges driving at 50 mph, increasing as you gain experience
Luckily tesla super chargers and other high-powered chargers are closer than 70 miles apart even now. (Within 4 years they will be at all motorway service stations) and also allow the car to add back that 150 miles towing range in about 40 minutes.
So not as fast as combustion engines yet, but allowing an easy 300 miles towing range with 1 stop. Using apps like zapmap will enable you to find charging points.
Nice one Lee and Charlie, think all that amazing torque and low centre of gravity is something lots of folks forget about, only worrying about charging facilities so lots of positives for towing will come in time. Amazing how much more drivers become of weather, hills, etc. Great real world test, super to see.
Andrew who? Will Bailey lend me a Tesla as well do you think? Looks awesome!
helloooo
Sent here by Mr Ditton! Interesting video. Thank you.
We've had a Model 3 for two and a half years now and it is, without a doubt, the best car we've owned. The tow-bar option for ours only gave us a maximum tow weight of 750kg, so we didn't bother (although, hindsight being 20:20, we should have had one fitted if only to be able to put bikes on the back).
There's still a long way to go in terms of both battery capacity and charging infrastructure, but I'm looking forward to the day I can replace my Discovery with something that'll tow The Beast down to the south of France. I just need to make the Disco last another 5-10 years!
Very informative video with a balanced commentary, especially from a self confessed petrol-head and especially for someone who has not driven an EV before AND plunging straight in to towing a caravan!
We finally decided three or four years ago not to buy a caravan after making some honest assessment of its real usefulness to us and our lifestyles. However, we’re now into our fifth year of EV ownership (following three years with a Toyota hybrid), firstly with a Nissan Leaf, second a Tesla Model S and now with a Tesla Model Y, much better suited to our needs, which can, albeit with some limitations, nonetheless also act as a very usable as a camper van. The longer term experience with EVs is their efficiency, particularly the Teslas and how much cheaper they are to run (our house now uses no more kWh’s all in that we were habitually using 5 to 10 years ago. So quids in on fuel costs, even in the current energy crisis, probably saving £80 to 100 per month, compared to £120 per month petrol for the hybrid. Also better road holding, sportier and more secure driving experience. Sorry, too long a comment, but my final observation is that EVs do need a significant change of mindset; a considerable, I dare say revolutionary transition from internal combustion powered vehicles. Good luck with your future driving choices.
Man, you got me scheming on one of these mini trailers. I don't think we have Bailey in the states but it looks fantastic. I bought the model Y with a tow hitch and have never towed anything. Also looked like a great camping site. Well done and please keep making these with EVs.
Thanks for sharing, good Vlog and good insights into EV's and towing. While I have every confidence that things are only going to get better right now I don't think we are ready for an EV. In normal times we would be towing a 6 birth twin axle to the South of France every year and just feel to do it in an EV would take maticulas planning and add time to the Journey. However I can't wait till we can. Thanks for sharing
Once I can tow a large family van of 1500kg for a couple hundred miles on a single charge I’ll start taking them seriously. Small 2 berth wouldn’t work for us. I guess in the next 5 or so years we will see things change dramatically.
Model X 100D but you’d need a lot of money.
Model y can do 1600kg!
The tow option is not anymore available in France for the model 3, I don't know for other countries. However it is still there for the model Y with a max towing at 1 600 kg.
There's a shop in Bavaria where I had a hitch installed to my AMG Mercedes, they also did that for Tesla cars. Perhaps there's options like that?
Tesla have a tow hitch supply issue in China, so have removed the option from the ordering menu until this is resolved.
@@batandball617 nice info ty
We often tow for 300 / 400 miles, still a little way to go before I would go for one. Great review
Non stop? You must be mad.
Driving at the maximum speed limit, that's a minimum of 5-6.5 hrs driving. Most would stop for a break once or twice at least. It just means being more prepared about planning the stops.
@@TriviaChallenge thats not a problem with our diesel x3 we drive from kent to newquay in cornwall 300 miles non stop with ease.
@@v_0 I to drive those distance with out really needing a stop . Most EV's will do 100 miles. A typical 4 hour journey for me 250 mile would probably take 6 to 7 hours and involve 2 full charges. Also unhitching the caravan twice at the services. I am sorry EV's are not for me yet. I think it only really works for people that do under 100 miles typical journal. I go away every other weekend and always go over 100 miles away from home.
I would be happy towing at 57 just above HGV speed.
Great informative video. If I won the lottery i would love to buy one , no harm in dreaming.
The main problem with public charging, Supermarket, motorway services etc, they all have a car only parking area, that would mean you have to un-hitch to charge up, were do you put the caravan???
At the moment, probably. Some folks spotted a drive-through charging point somewhere towards the north of the country (sorry, don't know where), but this is an exception to the rule
Of course main reason range will drop with a caravan is aerodynamic drag, so larger caravans may not be much worse, well be looking for electric tow car for our caravan in two or three years hopefully prices will have come down as don't want another dirty diesel
Thanks for the video, I was hoping someone would do something like this - I would do myself but did not have the nerve :) I tow a large caravan - Compass Casita 550 with an Audi Etron 50. normal range about 180 miles - real world, towing range about 100 miles, but I can charge up again (slowly at the caravan site - public charging not suitable with a caravan in most places. This is great for short weekends away, but when we go further we tow with my wife's ICE car
I couldn't find much info about towing caravan with an EV, so thought I'd jump in feet first. I had real range anxiety at first but enjoyed the weekend
I get the anxiety about doing you tube video, I would like to do one but there is alot to think about . Stick a camera in my face and I feel like I'm on stage in a bad way lol. I liked the way his son would give the next talking points 👍
Wow you need to sink 50k into a car to be able to tow a small caravan 100 miles. Be interesting to see how a standard model 3 would do with a bigger van.
Nice review. I have one question: Can you tell me what mirrors you have used, and how stable they were?
You mentioned that it was stable. Looks like caravan is really so small and light that it would be stable with almost any car. But for sure weight help as always.
100% agree, weight match of less than 50%, and such a short caravan, could tow it with a supermini let alone a family car. It would still be stable at 100mph if it had the power. With the weight of EV's though, they are still going to give a stable tow with a normal weight of caravan.
If you want to see what the Model 3 is like with a larger caravan:
ruclips.net/video/FX5lzqzZ2Do/видео.html
I'M LOOKING to do the same with the VW Id 4 GTE
You said the brakes on the caravan were activating. How were you getting those going? The Model 3 doesn't have a brake controller or support for one.
There's two of us, the dog and our sports gear, with a smarter caravan such as an Eriba or a Kip this could be quite viable, esp as charging infrastructure improves.
So, what was your overall range while towing? Sounds like it was little more than 100 miles. Fine for a short journey, but the ban in ICE's in 2030 frankly is going to keep a whole load of used, pre- 2030 petrol and diesels on the road for those who like a long-distance road trip across Europe, such as the trip I usually do from Kent to the south of France - some 800 miles, which I do across two days of driving. Having to stop some 8 times to recharge an EV is going to severely slow down that journey, eating into days of my fortnight holiday.
Very interesting. We have a motorhome and we are looking for a suitable electric car to use on an A frame - sadly they are all too heavy
@tie pup Not that adventurous !! :-)
My current car is an Outlander PHEV and it’s a great tow car. The torque is brilliant from the dual electric motors. I do want to tow 100% electric though and complete get away from fossil fuels. Our other family car is a VW ID3 so we have the bug well and truly. Not to mention we had a Nissan Leaf before that.
I know the PHEV quite well, towing caravans around Millbrook on numerous occasions
There's definitely a market for a portable EV charger that senses the caravans usage and adjusts the charge power signal to the car so that uses the excess. These are commom on home chargers.
Very useful and informative review. The range is absolutely not there for EV's, strangely the towing capacity isn't either which is very strange given how heavy EV's are. Also CAMC will only allow pitch charging direct from hook up to you have to take the 'van off mains. We happily tow up to about 5 hours without a stop at the moment which does not even get near to full range of the car, that is about 270 miles in one go. When we do stop it's for 5 minutes and then we are off again.
Yes I too wonder why the towing capacity is so weak for most EV's - electric motors are great at moving the vehicle + trailer down the road accepting the much reduced range from the batteries.
All I can think is that the cooling systems (and blanked off grills) of EV's are limited in their air flow over the radiators - to optimise solo drag coefficient you need reduced air disturbance from radiators but then are insufficient for higher cooling rates required when towing a decent load?
@@TC-V8 That could well be it. When I had oil temperature on previous cars when towing seeing 110c was not uncommon. The power needed when towing uphill is huge compared to when not towing. Great thought.
Interesting Vlog. Tempted to go EV but the costs are so high
......and how does a BSA WM20 tow a caravan????
Have been looking at a Merc 2.5 Avantgarde diesel to tow my 2000kg swift and would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi Malcom. I'm not familiar with the 2.5, but I had a 3.0 Vito which pulled the caravan incredibly well. Terrible gearbox though
Was the water tank full? Did you run the 3 way fridge while towing in either DC or AC to keep it cool? These things would have effected range as well.
Would have been nice if the figures were in Kilometres. I thought it was only the yanks that still used imperial 😉😹
It would be helpful to know what the cost comparisons would be to charge the car for that typical journey in relation to a Diesel car?
Towing 100 miles - assuming 2.4 miles per Kwh (40% less than non towing range )
The most ev drivers generally pay at home is 10p per kWh thanks to good ev specific rates, (I pay 5p overnight) or free if you have solar panels! To add 100 miles of towing range is 41.7Kwh. (100/2.4)
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So cost at home is 10p X 41.7 £4.18 or 4.18p per mile. For non towing it's £2.51 or 2.5p per mile.
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Assuming a diesel does 40mpg towing at £1.20 per litre over the 100 miles gives
100/40/4.54/1.2 gives £13.62 or 13.6p per mile
Im currently looking into buying a Tesla to tow. Im a caravan trader. The only viable option I can see is a Model S which has a tow capacity of 1600kg. You cant buy a towbar in this country unless it's for mountain bikes. You can have one fitted in Germany for £1400 that will tow a caravan. A Model 3 is a great car but with a tow capacity of 1000kg (LADEN) you are quickly outside the law unless you are towing a featherweight caravan. Has anyone got experience of towing a large caravan with a Model S ? Great video by the way
That's "watt-HOURS" per mile... And I hope Tesla in the USA will offer a Model 3 tow hitch SOON!
I bought a dual motor model 3 in June 2021 and had U-haul add a tow package. Works just fine. pulls 2000 lbs tounge weight of 300 lbs'
Use of heater, air conditioner, radio, lights extra passengers or cargo all tend to reduce range. So take a solar powered generator to get more range while you are parked,
The caravan match was unrealistic, and demonstrates the massive loss of range as soon as you load up. Wouldn't want to try and charge an EV with a van hooked up or unhooked en route. Reality is it's still totally unfeasible. Maybe the cars might be ready in time but I can't see it ATM.
Watch Andrew Dutton he tows with a Kia EV6 and loves it.
very few families will be able to afford electric when subsidies are killed off or even get much joy of trying to get 4/5 people + caravan + luggage from west midlands to south coast which is a more realistic holiday test, how do you charge it with a caravan on the back at the charging points? do you have to lease the batteries as well?
A friend has an electric company car and finds it incredibly cheap to run. However, as you say, costs are likely to change
what if the caravan had a lithium flat batteries under the floor as a range extender for the car ? you can spread the load out add as many batteries as it takes ? maybe use the van charge first top it up when camped ?
A good thought and one which we may see in the future
@@TinTent The future is here. In the state of XColorado they make a teardrop "caravan" loaded with lithium which charges the Tesla as you drive.
Al Ko are releasing a powered axle with extra batteries under the caravan floor. Fantastic idea!
Pie in the sky, 400 mile tow in one go down Cornwall this summer, EV's just aren't practical at the moment.
Assuming you're going full speed all the way, that's almost a seven hour drive - surely you take a break or two on the way? What car have you got that'll do 400 miles towing on one tank?
@@nabarnes a diesel crv, I'll stop once for fuel and to eat, other than that, yes in one go.
We do that going to Fort William, about 8 hour journey, one max 30 minute stop for food and fuel, then one our way. Cornwall is 270 miles for us, no stops, fuel use less than 75% of tank. To do with an EV would literally take 2 days to get to Fort William, and 2 days back, plus the range anxiety going across the Highlands.... It can a good drive to fuel station let alone an EV supercharger.
Please can you do more caravan towing videos with other EV’s that are rated ok for towing these sort of weights. ID.4 Jag I-Pace, Model X and Y etc. Would be much appreciated and I will share the crap out of them all as I know there’s loads of caravan owners who would massively appreciate this info.
Hi Mark. I was hoping to tow a 1500kg Unicorn last week with a Mercedes EQ. Sadly, Mercedes had a supply issue
Can you tow the fendt 515sd?
Model 3 with dual motor.
"Petrol Ped"s vid on BEV caravan towing was a resounding no !! ... one of the biggest problems for him was getting to a charger and finding you couldn't connect up unless you unhitched the caravan and parked it elsewhere... 🙄
Thanks, very informative.
I'd have been interested to see how you went on stopping at a supercharger with the caravan hitched up.. is that possible? Easy? .. maybe doing a 300 mile journey with 2 top ups?
Speaking to a few EV users, there seem few options for charging with the caravan still attached. At present, unhitching at the services appears to be the way forward, although that presents challenges of its own. Hopefully, this will change as the network evolves
A 'Fast Charger' is 7 kW at a Supermarket for free. If you were there an hour you might get 6.6 kWh so 24 miles worth. If you are on a 50 kW Rapid charger @ 28 pence a kWh and got 35 kWh that is £9.80. If you got 45 kWh in in an hour then £12.60.
I have 2 trailers which I tow with my Skoda Enyaq IV80x #SkodaEnyaq the trailer is a box trailer & I have been to France with it - tows perfectly.
What's the tongue weight on that caravan? I don't see any squatting on the Tesla 🤔
From memory, I set it at 75kg. The Tesla felt like it could cope with a lot more
@@TinTent 75kg is very light...165lbs. Not sure how you "set" it though, it depends on the trailer and how loaded it is. Thanks for the info though!
I’m looking at buying a rivian pick up as soon as they come to Uk they will tow 7.5 tons 0-60 In 3 seconds should be interesting for my Bailey Porto….300mile range Croatia trips will be a worry for first trip I guess
Definitely the way forward for towing larger caravans. Croatia should be achievable with careful planning
Nice video Lee
Thanks for sharing
ATB Mike
#StayCornish😬
I looked very seriously into having a model 3 as my company car. I was close to going for it but when I looked into how I would charge it at least twice on a journey to Cornwall the(bad) penny dropped. It would be almost impossible to charge it. Motorway charging stations are all in positions where you cannot access with a caravan so I'd need to drive into the normal car park with caravan hooked up and then find a place I could park it and drive the car separately to the charging point. Further checks with Google Street view and satellite view showed that very few stations enabled me to park in the lorry park or dedicated caravan parking and then circle back to a charger, so very disappointed. I've kept my hybrid Outlander for now.
That's really interesting information - I also thought it might be worth the sacrifice of towing & charging inconvenience to have a solo EV most of the time - but knowing it isn't even possible to unhitch the van; drive to the charger & plug in; have a break; then circle back to pick up the van is a deal breaker!
I see one or two of the big new charging stations are drive in - drive out so I guess towing could work there with blocking the charger behind! but obviously need more of these type of stations around the country.
Seems like it needs another 10 years+ to get to a usable state for touring holidays.
Wow you turned down a tesla for charging 😳 many motorway services have tesla chargers now and have had for a year or two. Charge before you leave m5 and you'll be back on m5 before you need to charge again
See a few of these reviews now but they are not very real world for me. I go away every other weekend , with a heaver caravan and rarely do less the 100 miles there and 100 miles back. More often than not it 150 miles there and 150 miles back. There does not seem to be anything that seem to fit this bill in the EV world yet. I guess I need to stick with the diesel until range triples.
How do you charge on the motorway with a caravan mmmmmm........
Very difficult. You probably have to leave the motorway, slow down, and get to a charging station.
@@bradleyrex2968 you can't charge with a caravan in tow. Go to caravan parking de hitch. Charge if you can, space or working. Then re hitch. It's a real pain trust me. EV gone I'm afraid 😱
@@michaelstanley3961 Don't be afraid. Change is difficult for many.
@@bradleyrex2968 But not when it isn't necessary
@@michaelstanley3961 People with regular cars fear towing with EVs. People with EVs stay in hotels.
I would sell my caravan if we all had to go EV ( unless ranges were 500 miles plus ) I have a mild hybrid rav4x4 and it it superb for towing , this year from Northants we have been exploring Devon are and there is no way it can be done in an EV. I forgot how remote Devon is let alone the drive down..It's not practical especially with a small kid on board and dog..I'm not sold at all.
Campsites are starting to refuse electric cars. Will change once they start a surcharge for overnight charging
Or they will go out of business in a few years when ALL cars wll be electric
@@vistagraphsnetdream on the sales are already dropping like a stone as people wake up to the nightmare of ev ownership 😂
Thank you for an almost perfect and informative video congratulations . If I may ,as a senior Fire and Rescue Driving Instructor,of 25 years plus advise you that not once, that I saw, did you have two hands on the wheel.NOT sending a very good message,safety wise .thank you for the information . Best wishes always .R.
Don't need to when the car is in Autopilot mode, it's doing the steering. You just have to hold the wheel loosely to let the car know you're still ready to assume control.
EVs don't have gears, so it's very simple... double the weight that the Motor is pulling and at least half the range (with drag factored in maybe 1/4 range). With a diesel vehicle, the cruising gear reduces the ratio of range reduction. This is generally why EV manufacturers haven't bothered strengthening chassis for towing.... what do you do if flat and you can't get near a charge point?
It's not a stability issue as EVs are generally heavy.
Tow a proper caravan
Sadly that test shows buying an electric car in Australia with the idea of towing a van is definitely not going to work. We average 350-400 k a day when taking it easy our van is a Bailey Barcelona twin axle 2000 kg. Going by your test we would be wasting our time even considering going electric. Very interesting test shame it proves it just would not work here. We have had days when we have done 800+ kilometers in a day we would be spending half our holidays in charging stations.
An electric car would certainly be limited under those conditions and distances. I was hoping to tow a 1500kg caravan with a pure electric car last week, but there was a hiccup at the last minute.
Gary it may not be as bad as you think. Australia is in a transition phase as we are sadly lagging behind most of the world in EV uptake with our previous government truly asleep at the wheel. For instance the market leader Tesla has only sold 26,500 units. The charging network is really 3rd world with zero regulation. However the Tesla Cyber Truck truck is now ready for production and it will revolutionise our RV lifestyles. I cant wait!
That’s only half a caravan, why don’t you test what the average size caravan. I have a Volvo XC40 Recharge twin that tows 1800 kg.
Ridiculously small caravan for such a big car!
If you want to see what it's like with a bigger caravan:
ruclips.net/video/FX5lzqzZ2Do/видео.html
The caravan is like a toy caravan . Electric cars are useless for towing with a meaningful sized caravan . Touring anywhere would be a nightmare . My BMW will do over four hundred miles with an 1800 kg van on the back on a tank of diesel . What do you do with the caravan when changing the car at a public charger .
Electric vehicles can’t economically tow a trailer or a caravan. The heavier the load, the less the range and when the battery is flat youve first got to find a charging point then hope it’s free, if not, you queue then you wait for the car to charge. It won’t work. I’ll stick with a diesel but they’re taxing big diesels off the road so I’ll sell my 3 litre Range Rover (now £590 a year to tax!) that pulls my trailer at 20 mpg effortlessly,and buy a 2 litre VW T6.1. £260 a year to tax and still 20mpg when towing.
One thing’s for sure, electric ain’t the way forward.
Would you think about towing your own caravan with a EV
Yes, absolutely. The car felt as though it could tow so much more (54% match and tons of power) but the limiting factor was the towing limit. The D4-2 is 995kg and our Phoenix (with upgrade plate) is now 1500kg
@@TinTent Kia Ev6 has a 1600kg limit now
@@TinTent You may already know this, but the Tesla Model Y is rated for towing 1600 kg
Sorry but towing with an EV is poor unless your happy to stop every 2 hours to plug in which means unhitching every time
It was a interesting video but Tesla’s are very exspencive and would be useless towing my
caravan at 1500 kg 😀
It''s rubbish. Most caravanners tow vans upwards of 1400kg - this Bailey, the Swift Basecamp etc. are very much 'niche' and will never meet the needs of families and people wanting to avail themselves of the luxuries and space modern caravans offer. So please stop being an apologist for the current EVs - they just aren't viable for most caravanners' needs - if you keep making non-viable allowances for them, there won't be the required spur for manufacturers to sort out the obvious problems, namely the stress of range anxiety, the total lack of flexibility on routing, and the likelihood of reverting to stagecoach-like journey durations when charging times are taken into account. I've just canned my Caravan and Motorhome Club membership because they've got the same head-in-the-sand attitude - it's like turkeys voting for Christmas!
Went 6 miles and lost 100! I have a Tesla M3DM 😎 and you a 100% WRONG! The top speed is the main problem along with wind. The weight is not a problem. I like how you ICE lovers cut down EV'S, your not prepared with even a level 2 charger. I had a same problem filling my 40 gallon tank and it took days as I only carry 6 oz of gas every two hours! I did watch the complete video and yes in June 2021 you must do a lot of planning and your places will be limited. The Cybertruck, R1T and Lighting should improve in 2022 with the larger batteries.
Note: The Tesla has the equivalent of 2.28 gallons of fuel. Could you drive your ICE vehicle pulling a trailer as far as the Tesla did?
33.7 kilowatt hours
The ratings are based on EPA's formula, in which 33.7 kilowatt hours of electricity is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, and the energy consumption of each vehicle during EPA's five standard drive cycle tests simulating varying driving conditions.
40 gallon tank - wow - 141L fuel tank!
Anyhow you hit the nail on the head regarding the energy on board in Kwh for EV's - there simply isn't enough stored energy on board to go any meaningful distance while towing (engineering explained has some interesting videos on this), even the soon coming truck EV's simply won't have enough energy on board to tow a decent trailer, and even if you don't mind the inconvenience of more stops to fill up (I wouldn't personally mind) in most services (in the UK) you can't fill up with your trailer attached, and you can't unhitch it and leave it in the lorry park as you can't loop back in to pick up your trailer after the car is full.
The infrastructure needs serious work.
Maybe they should put some batteries in the caravan then!😊