Range when towing?

[Merc_s55]

In a couple of weeks I will be pulling my 11,000 pound boat and trailer to the marina. It's 45 miles there and 45 miles back. No place to charge up. Will I make it? Has anyone pulled the maximum weight that far? I'm planning on only going 50mph, so that should help. Hoping for some advice from the community. There is a ton of experience and knowledge on here. I'm enjoying every bit of it, (except the trolls). Wish they would go away. I've never owned anything like this, (and I have owned a lot). The tech is so far ahead. Take care all.

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[SCTesla]

90 miles should be fine. I would guess that takes 50-70% charge (speed/wind makes this a guess) based on other boat towing stories where larger/bow boat reduce range at 100% charge to around 160 miles, but many of them were traveling at or over 60mph. At 50 mph, you should be fine.

 

[Texarado]

Keep at 50 and I think you’ll be fine. How long will you be there? Be mindful of sentry drain if it’s overnight. I’ve never had under 100 miles when towing my airstream, but that’s a little lighter (7k) but more importantly much more aerodynamic.

speed is your biggest factor. Slow down and you’ll be fine.

 

[Texarado]

Also, consider trickle charge off a 110 to maintain your charge level if you use sentry.

 

[webspeedracer]

You should be within range in mild weather at that speed. Do you have any elevation on the drive? Is this a quick turnaround or a multi-day excursion?

Drag is the biggest issue towing with CT , and energy consumption to drag is exponentially increased with speed. Boats/trailers are not aerodynamically slippery; it’s a messy draggy profile. Your second enemy is elevation gain, and regen is your friend. If you are going up into the mountains towing, your consumption will look very different with an 45 miles out’n’back vs 90 miles straight up into the mtns. So keeping your speeds down, gentle acceleration (unless you have a mandatory merge for safety), and using as much Regen as possible is how you’ll maximize your range. Try to avoid using trailer brakes if you can safely do so…you’ll put more energy back in the battery. Be aware that the CT has been known to reduce Regen under heavy descending loads (see YouTube suggestions below). You’ll also get very low/no regen when you’re at/near 100%.

Out of spec Kyle did their 86-mile mountain loop towing a Rivian R1T, this was early days in his Beast, worth examining his data.

jerryrigeverything towed an 11,000 lb load with his vintage hummer on a trailer, achieved 90 miles but it was freezing temps so that would’ve affected his ability to regen and the usable capacity of the battery may have been affected.

Both of those tests were early in the CT firmware progression, and since then we have improved Regen profiles and Trailer mode. I’d say hook up your trailer before your trip, setup the trailer profile, drive around a bit at 50 mph to let the CT “feel” the trailer, and develop its estimate for your range with it.

Before your departure for the trip, put your destination and your return to home in the Nav system and let the truck give you an estimate. You can then drive more slowly if you need to increase the arrival % to your comfort level.

Also important: if you’re at your destination for a day or more (eg boating, camping), the Sentry Mode will consume a not-insignificant amount of energy, probably best to turn it off to conserve electrons for your return trip. And, if you’re there for multiple days, ideal if you can plug in to even a standard 110V outlet, just to offset phantom losses, considering your margins are small.

Worst case scenario and let’s say you over consumed or left the Sentry mode on for days, you can always drop the trailer a few miles out from home, go juice up, come back for the trailer. I had to do that in west Texas, towing across the plains into a massive headwind (the churning windmills were a clue), dropped my camper 10 miles out, had plenty to reach the supercharger and go back for the trailer. Not ideal but not the end of the world either, and I’ve not yet run out of energy completely, over ~250k of EV miles and ~25k of towing (including deep winter).

Have fun!

 

[webspeedracer]

Oh and RV Parks are the shadow EV charging network. If there’s an RV Park at your destination lake, reserve a 50A slot for truck/trailer for the night, and bring your NEMA 14-50 adapter, plugin for the day and you’re golden. Many lakeside RV parks have a boat launch so you’d be combining your efforts nicely.

 

[Mettalicron]

Exciting!
What boat do you have if you dont mind me asking?

weve towed our 24ft wake boat (7800lb trailered) over 800 miles total my average is 135-140 miles of range from 100% to 0%. This is impacted the most by elevation gain and speed from my findings. 65mph seems the sweet spot for us on the highway.

best ive seen is 170 miles of range is with it shrink wrapped and a tailwind.

 

[UberNoob]

Consider disabling your cabin overheat while your out enjoying the boat, don’t want it burning off your return charge.

 

[Gigahorse]

In a couple of weeks I will be pulling my 11,000 pound boat and trailer to the marina. It's 45 miles there and 45 miles back. No place to charge up. Will I make it? Has anyone pulled the maximum weight that far? I'm planning on only going 50mph, so that should help. Hoping for some advice from the community. There is a ton of experience and knowledge on here. I'm enjoying every bit of it, (except the trolls). Wish they would go away. I've never owned anything like this, (and I have owned a lot). The tech is so far ahead. Take care all.

So if you are in Manitoba it is under 40F, depending where you are and where you are going there may be 1,000' of elevation change so your trip out might use less than your way back.

With that size boat if you go 50mph with 100% charge when you leave you should make it there and back, but I would definitely charge to 100% before you leave, and you should put on "slippery surface mode" when backing the boat down the ramp and pulling it out.

Now send us a picture of what you are towing with your truck!

 

[Merc_s55]

Keep at 50 and I think you’ll be fine. How long will you be there? Be mindful of sentry drain if it’s overnight. I’ve never had under 100 miles when towing my airstream, but that’s a little lighter (7k) but more importantly much more aerodynamic.

speed is your biggest factor. Slow down and you’ll be fine.

Thank you. I'll be returning shortly after the boat is in.

 

[Merc_s55]

You should be within range in mild weather at that speed. Do you have any elevation on the drive? Is this a quick turnaround or a multi-day excursion?

Drag is the biggest issue towing with CT , and energy consumption to drag is exponentially increased with speed. Boats/trailers are not aerodynamically slippery; it’s a messy draggy profile. Your second enemy is elevation gain, and regen is your friend. If you are going up into the mountains towing, your consumption will look very different with an 45 miles out’n’back vs 90 miles straight up into the mtns. So keeping your speeds down, gentle acceleration (unless you have a mandatory merge for safety), and using as much Regen as possible is how you’ll maximize your range. Try to avoid using trailer brakes if you can safely do so…you’ll put more energy back in the battery. Be aware that the CT has been known to reduce Regen under heavy descending loads (see YouTube suggestions below). You’ll also get very low/no regen when you’re at/near 100%.

Out of spec Kyle did their 86-mile mountain loop towing a Rivian R1T, this was early days in his Beast, worth examining his data.

jerryrigeverything towed an 11,000 lb load with his vintage hummer on a trailer, achieved 90 miles but it was freezing temps so that would’ve affected his ability to regen and the usable capacity of the battery may have been affected.

Both of those tests were early in the CT firmware progression, and since then we have improved Regen profiles and Trailer mode. I’d say hook up your trailer before your trip, setup the trailer profile, drive around a bit at 50 mph to let the CT “feel” the trailer, and develop its estimate for your range with it.

Before your departure for the trip, put your destination and your return to home in the Nav system and let the truck give you an estimate. You can then drive more slowly if you need to increase the arrival % to your comfort level.

Also important: if you’re at your destination for a day or more (eg boating, camping), the Sentry Mode will consume a not-insignificant amount of energy, probably best to turn it off to conserve electrons for your return trip. And, if you’re there for multiple days, ideal if you can plug in to even a standard 110V outlet, just to offset phantom losses, considering your margins are small.

Worst case scenario and let’s say you over consumed or left the Sentry mode on for days, you can always drop the trailer a few miles out from home, go juice up, come back for the trailer. I had to do that in west Texas, towing across the plains into a massive headwind (the churning windmills were a clue), dropped my camper 10 miles out, had plenty to reach the supercharger and go back for the trailer. Not ideal but not the end of the world either, and I’ve not yet run out of energy completely, over ~250k of EV miles and ~25k of towing (including deep winter).

Have fun!

Wow. A lot of information. I had forgotten that it gives me 'return home percentage'. I will watch that. As far as elevation, it was a massive lake 10,000 years ago. It's so flat you can watch your dog run away for 3 days. Ha. I could also use my Lincoln Mark LT, as I always have. But the CT is the one to drive now. I feel it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Merc_s55]

Exciting!
What boat do you have if you dont mind me asking?

weve towed our 24ft wake boat (7800lb trailered) over 800 miles total my average is 135-140 miles of range from 100% to 0%. This is impacted the most by elevation gain and speed from my findings. 65mph seems the sweet spot for us on the highway.

best ive seen is 170 miles of range is with it shrink wrapped and a tailwind.

Nice boat. I have a 31' 1968 Chris Craft.

 

[Merc_s55]

So if you are in Manitoba it is under 40F, depending where you are and where you are going there may be 1,000' of elevation change so your trip out might use less than your way back.

With that size boat if you go 50mph with 100% charge when you leave you should make it there and back, but I would definitely charge to 100% before you leave, and you should put on "slippery surface mode" when backing the boat down the ramp and pulling it out.

Now send us a picture of what you are towing with your truck!

It's very flat here. I'll try to get a picture on here.

 

[Merc_s55]

So if you are in Manitoba it is under 40F, depending where you are and where you are going there may be 1,000' of elevation change so your trip out might use less than your way back.

With that size boat if you go 50mph with 100% charge when you leave you should make it there and back, but I would definitely charge to 100% before you leave, and you should put on "slippery surface mode" when backing the boat down the ramp and pulling it out.

Now send us a picture of what you are towing with your truck!

It's not cleaned up yet, but that's her.

 

[Gigahorse]

It's not cleaned up yet, but that's her.

Nice lookin boat, make sure to update us on how the trip goes, with that top you have a lot of sail so keeping speed down will be a big deal, also snow still on the ground so that is not great for efficiency, try to get the battery topped off to 100% just before you leave so it is warm when you head out.
Give us an update and some pictures once you have made the trip, and don't forget to reset your trip in the truck to get an idea of your wh/mile for the out and back.

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