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Towing with an EV


Eagleboy99

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12 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Interesting. https://insideevs.com/news/510556/tesla-model-y-towing-boat  I note that the guy coul;dn't make it home after such a short trip.  Not without charging, anyway.

Tesla Canuck explains that his efficiency for the trip was 45 percent, which means he lost a little over half his range towing a 3,000-pound boat that day. He says the driving range loss on a tank of gas in a comparable vehicle would be about the same.

What kind of tow vehicle loses 55% of its fuel mileage towing a 3K boat?  Having never towed with a small SUV, is it really that bad?

 

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7 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Tesla Canuck explains that his efficiency for the trip was 45 percent, which means he lost a little over half his range towing a 3,000-pound boat that day. He says the driving range loss on a tank of gas in a comparable vehicle would be about the same.

What kind of tow vehicle loses 55% of its fuel mileage towing a 3K boat?  Having never towed with a small SUV, is it really that bad?

 

I’ve never towed with a small or mid sized SUV. My Durango goes from 13mpg to 9mpg. My FIL full size Chevy truck  went from 19mpg to 12mpg. Not 55%, but substantial. Definitely varies a lot depending on how aggressive I am at keeping speed up hills.

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2 minutes ago, braindamage said:

I’ve never towed with a small or mid sized SUV. My Durango goes from 13mpg to 9mpg. My FIL full size Chevy truck  went from 19mpg to 12mpg. Not 55%, but substantial. Definitely varies a lot depending on how aggressive I am at keeping speed up hills.

My Ram goes from 19 to 13, but that is towing 6K

And I guess I shouldn't say that I never towed with a small SUV - we did tow a 3500lb Bayliner with a 1st Gen Kia Sorrento one summer (the ones that have a frame), but I can't recall what the mileage was since we typically only tow 5-7 miles each way.

Edited by oldjeep
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ahopkins22LSV

My highway average, per the dash, goes from 20-20.5 to 10-10.5 in my Silverado. I can totally see 55% depending on vehicle, terrain and weather. 

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8 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

My highway average, per the dash, goes from 20-20.5 to 10-10.5 in my Silverado. I can totally see 55% depending on vehicle, terrain and weather. 

Out of curiosity - 5.3L and highway gears?  My old Ram used to drop to around 10mpg, but that one had 3.21 gears in it.

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ahopkins22LSV
29 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Out of curiosity - 5.3L and highway gears?  My old Ram used to drop to around 10mpg, but that one had 3.21 gears in it.

5.3, 6 speed, 3.42 rear end. Disclaimer, I don’t remember the exact rear end.. I’m pretty sure that’s what it is but I know it does not have the highway efficiency rear end. 

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1 minute ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

5.3, 6 speed, 3.42 rear end. Disclaimer, I don’t remember the exact rear end.. I’m pretty sure that’s what it is but I know it does not have the highway efficiency rear end. 

Now that you say that, the last ram only had a 5 speed trans and the new one has an 8 so that is a big difference too

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ahopkins22LSV
1 minute ago, oldjeep said:

Now that you say that, the last ram only had a 5 speed trans and the new one has an 8 so that is a big difference too

Yeah the new transmissions make a huge difference. Missed it by a year in my truck. I can’t complain though, it still tows good and that mpg is at 72-75mph. When we’ve gone to Tennessee without the boat driving 80-85 I’ll creep near 21mpg. Again, dash, I don’t truly care enough to calculate the exact mileage. Just fill her up when she’s out haha. 

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2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

What kind of tow vehicle loses 55% of its fuel mileage towing a 3K boat?  Having never towed with a small SUV, is it really that bad?

Depends on the SUV I guess. I've only seen about 1/3 to 1/4 loss, depending on speed and terrain.  But I only tow a couple times a year.

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My 13 ram CTD towed our boat(257) 1k lead, fuel, roughly 10500 and we got 13.3 on the dash. Was driving about 65. Didnt hand calc it either. My personal best unloaded and hand calcd was 22.5 on the same route.

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Frankly as an EV owner, I’m surprised that the degradation isn’t much different than an ICE. I’d like my next vehicle to be an EV SUV/Jeep/truck that I can use for towing and 4 wheeling. This is encouraging.

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8 minutes ago, braindamage said:

Frankly as an EV owner, I’m surprised that the degradation isn’t much different than an ICE. I’d like my next vehicle to be an EV SUV/Jeep/truck that I can use for towing and 4 wheeling. This is encouraging.

As long as the ramp is realllllly close and you trailer the jeep to where you go 4 wheeling (or carry a generator with you for recharging).

 

Edited by oldjeep
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5 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

carry a generator with you for recharging

Using a Generac IQ4000W generator, it will take you 24 hours to fully charge the vehicle.  And several tanks of gas for it. Oh, the irony.  :)

 

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36 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

As long as the ramp is realllllly close and you trailer the jeep to where you go 4 wheeling (or carry a generator with you for recharging).

 

I travel quite a ways for 4 wheeling so I always trailer my Jeep. Too risky in case I break something.

The ramp is 2.5mi and the dealer is 3mi away and I only put in the spring and take out for winter.

I’ve trailered to my Michigan cottage before (400mi). I think I’d need to recharge multiple times for that trip. (Assuming 300mi range and 55% reduction). Not so great.

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Looking to see what a real tow vehicle that is dedicated EV will bring to this space.  The Ford Lightening, Rivian and others come to mind, somewhere around seven should hit the market in the next few years..Delivery to the real world for the first ones starts in a few months.  I will be in the market about two years out….

Should be interesting to see the real results.  Current paid for press articles are intriguing but the real world has yet to show up for these vehicles.

 

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I'm excited to see them in real life as well.  Put in a reservation on the Ford Lightning as it was only $100 and secures my spot in line.  I like the Rivian too, but the Lightning seems to pack plenty for a good amount of savings over the Rivian.  

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51 minutes ago, theloungelife said:

the Lightning seems to pack plenty

Ford is saying either 300 or 400 mile range, depending on battery.  At 55% reduction towing (likely more on a 9K lb boat), your ramp better be close.

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ahopkins22LSV

To me it all depends on recharge rate. If you can get a recharge in 10-15 minutes then a 200 mile range is not that much different then lots of gas 1500’s out there now. GM announced a 400 mile range Silverado too. They are only going to get better as well. 

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martinarcher

I'm shocked there are ICE vehicles out there that would loose 55% efficiency when towing 3k.  All I can guess is they are underpowered to begin with?  Our diesel is no where near that with 5k behind it.  Is a 3k trailer even considered towing?  :lol:  

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8 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Ford is saying either 300 or 400 mile range, depending on battery.  At 55% reduction towing (likely more on a 9K lb boat), your ramp better be close.

Yeah, it's 23 miles away, plus I store my boat next to the ramp really only taking it home for the occasional deep clean/oil change or when the season ends.  My commute is also about 20 miles, so good for that as well.  I think an EV makes sense for me, but realize it doesn't make sense for everyone.  

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ICE efficiency wise, my current 12' Touareg TDI gets about 25mpg on the highway unloaded on flats.  About 13mpg towing on flats, so nearly 50% reduction.  

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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, martinarcher said:

I'm shocked there are ICE vehicles out there that would loose 55% efficiency when towing 3k.  All I can guess is they are underpowered to begin with?  Our diesel is no where near that with 5k behind it.  Is a 3k trailer even considered towing?  :lol:  

The 50% efficiency reduction comes standard on those ;).

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martinarcher
1 hour ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

The 50% efficiency reduction comes standard on those ;).

My Excursion weights over 8k and gets 20mpg.  :Tease3:   

Diesels will always be more efficient, even if Americans never get on board since there's more energy in a gallon of diesel fuel than gasoline.  It's too bad the "rolling coal" truck drivers have ruined the diesel reputation as inefficient and dirty.  

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