Towing with an electric vehicle

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Cassy

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I will be looking for a new towing vehicle next year and my other half is not keen on another diesel as he thinks electric is going to be the norm in a few years from now. Has anyone got any information on towing with an electric vehicle. I have looked on the internet but cant find anything about towing horses.
 
Tesla x would be capable, costs a pretty penny though! Alternatively look at hybrids like the outlander phev, but it’s capacity is low.

(Edit just read rog links, explains it better than me!)
 
Hmm...

In theory, an electric car should be just as capable of towing as a petrol or diesel engined car. Electric motors certainly provide the necessary torque from 0 RPM.

A problem that I can think of, though, is the range that would be reduced by towing a heavy load.

Now, when you tow behind a petrol or diesel engined car, you have a cable from the towing car to the trailer, to provide electricity to the lights. So my thought is that you could have a second set of batteries in the trailer to supply extra energy to the car, to make up for the drain of pulling the trailer.
 
I’ve got a Nissan Leaf and based on that experience, an electric tow vehicle would give me shocking range anxiety. I don’t think they have the battery technology yet to make this viable.
 
I wouldn’t. Drove electric cars for my work and once an electric van, all good until you need heaters and window wipers etc then you were lucky if you were getting 1/2 the expected range :(

I’ve been thinking about this since this whole no diesels after 2040 or whatever it was and I’m thinking how are we hauling all these goods that go by truck? Can’t see there being an electric artic lorry capable of the loads currently pulled by diesels :-/

I’ll probably get a 3.5t lorry after my trailer and towing car decides to die. I honestly can’t see this electric only push being across the board. Commercial vans and lorries in transport won’t be workable without a heavy fuel that I can see.
 
I have also been wondering about the goods lorries. Just had a road tax reminder for my old jeep which I tow with and it is over £300 pounds this year, which is why my other half is suggesting an electric. I suppose as technology advances the electric vehicles will become more of a possibility.
 
I would get serious range anxiety if I was towing with electric. I did some research when replacing my car, and decided to go for diesel with AdBlu - it is still the best option in the longer term for the use I want to do (despite the best attempts of random political rulings to capture environmental votes). We find that the electric vehicles we have at work don't get their quoted ranges even in perfect usage, and others have said as soon as you have heaters, lights etc. this all drops off. Also, we have discovered that the Nissan vehicles are VERY expensive to repair if they get any damage underneath, so I wouldn't want to take them into a muddy field or down a rough track...
The challenge with the tech is that there are still lots of unresolved issues
- the weight of the batteries, which results in a heavier vehicle to lug around (and the towing challenges referred to above)
- the disposal of the batteries - this is only just coming up with some of the original Tesla's now - but how do you dispose of the batteries in an environmentally friendly way (and the life of the vehicle is then tied to battery life)
- the range, particularly when you need to do more than short commutes (I have a colleague who is evangelical about his electric car, who has since admitted that it is useless on longer journeys or if you want to go much above 50)

For the sake of our planet, we do need to find more sustainable ways to transport ourselves, our animals and goods. I just think this is some way off yet, and (rightly) the focus is on the mainstream use of cars. The larger and more useful vehicles will not be solved soon.
In the meantime, the most environmentally friendly car is the Defender (even the electric car presentation at work agreed with this!) - mainly because their owners are completely mad and just keep them going forever...
 
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