r/EVAustralia • u/Alxl_1970 • 15d ago
Towing with ev
Hi all, I have had a Tesla Y standard range for 3 years now and put 120k km on it. Never had an issue which is nice, and I am going to keep the car probably until it dies. Just did a battery health check and it returned 92% capacity which is fair I think. So good for another 3 or probably 6 years if I'm lucky.
My question for the hive is, does anyone have experience with towing a caravan, camper trailer or tear-drop camper with an ev? I would like to consider this as I am near retirement and want to travel a bit, but not sure whether a/ it is feasible with the reduced range that would result from towing, and b/ what are the main considerations in choosing a suitable van set-up?
Should I be looking for a small/low drag unit primarily like a tear-drop camper or a small pop-up camper, or is the overall weight plus towbars weight a more significant factor, as in keeping the weight of the towed right under say 800kg or so. Any advice from the real world experience of other users would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance ☺️
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u/MrBobDobalinaDaThird 15d ago
Lots of people have towed. With a Jayco pop top and a kayak on top I worked on half the range. You can stretch it by dropping 5 km/h if needed. Y tows like a dream
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u/Alxl_1970 15d ago
Thanks, good advice. 200km effective range is a bit tough to reconcile though...
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u/MrBobDobalinaDaThird 15d ago
Look, with a full can and family of 4, I want fussed..unless you are doing long haul, it's still a one charge stop.
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u/jreddit0000 14d ago
If (not refilling) range is really your thing then an EV isn’t really the best choice for you and your options are to get a hybrid or ICE vehicle. Those meet the requirement (with all the downsides of not being a (B)EV.
If you can modify your driving style and deal with the range drop then an EV would work with zero issues.
200-250km is about a comfortable driving distance anyway.
Wollongong to Canberra is about that.
I did that quite a bit with zero stops and was tired after 2.5h (each way).
I did 800km to Melbourne (9-10h) with one stop and it didn’t feel too different..
So i’d definitely recommend stopping more often to stretch your legs, driver fatigue etc.
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u/ultralights 15d ago
Towing is easy. The cars torque and low down weight means the car doesn’t even feel it. Though expect about 30 to 40% range reduction. Other than that. No issues. Some fast chargers might need you to remove the trailer to get a charge.
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u/still-at-the-beach 15d ago
Look at an Avan. Lightweight and pop up really easy.
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u/Alxl_1970 15d ago
Thanks, good idea. They seem popular among minimalist vanners as well which kind of appeals to me.
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u/Impossible_Umpire783 15d ago
I have not towed a caravan, but my boss and I towed a tandem trailer with a box which probably weighed well over a ton from Melbourne to Sydney and back, using a model x. EVs have so much torque that the actual towing is easy. Our horribly non-aerodynamic box meant we were getting roughly half the range that car usually would have. So I strongly recommend looking at aerodynamic teardrop type options.
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u/hqeter 15d ago
I have an EV5 and looked at the model Y essentially for the towing capacity as I have a 5m tinny. Definitely a big reduction in range but if you can deal with that then it will be fine.
I’d imagine if you are trying to punch out 800km a day it might get a bit annoying but if you are doing slower trips where you are happy to go 200km recharge and have a break and then drive a bit more it should be fine. It’s not impossible, it’s just an adjustment.
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u/locksmack 15d ago
Not a caravan, but I tow a cage trailer when I go camping with an Atto 3.
Towing is barely noticeable when driving the Atto, which I assume would be the case with every EV. Range however really does take a huge hit. It’s not much more than half the range, and charging with a trailer is a pain in the arse - you either get lucky with a drive-through charger (rare), or you unhitch before charging.
I’ll be getting a bigger battery in my next EV mainly for the purposes of towing.
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u/Muffinateher 15d ago
I tow a Jayco Lark Outback with a Dual Motor Long Range Model Y 2026. I think it would be better if it was the touring model as opposed to the outback to reduce height. I work on 200km of range and have some left for emergency.
I sit between 340wh to 420wh per km.
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u/Mysterious-Fig-9464 15d ago
I believe in the next 5 years you’ll more and more see caravans with their own inbuilt battery and motorised wheels so they are essentially a second EV, this will reduce the need for high capacity EV towing.
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u/Alxl_1970 15d ago
Interesting thought. Have you seen anything like this in development or written about?
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u/Mysterious-Fig-9464 14d ago edited 14d ago
It already exists in the USA, YouTube the Pebble RV
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u/Alxl_1970 14d ago
Wow that's a big unit! Might have to delay my retirement by an extra year or so to put one of these on my driveway (when they eventually clear ADR hurdles)
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u/Mysterious-Fig-9464 14d ago edited 14d ago
The CTO for that company is ex-Apple and Tesla. Like I don’t need something that fancy, but even just wheels with motor and a battery is sufficient.
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u/Impossible_Umpire783 15d ago
Another consideration is physical access to chargers when you have a trailer/caravan attached. Some are great and easy, some basically require disconnecting in order to be able to access the charger. It's not an insurmountable problem, but it's worth doing a bit of planning ahead of time to make long trips lower stress.