Towing to places you do not have the range for.

[The Duke]

Obvious solutions are destination chargers and RV parks.

This was Twin Falls ID, drop trailer at Jackpot, back to Twin for a charge, then on to Wells. Yes, heavy 4 wheel trailer.

We saved time by dropping the heavy trailer half way, going back to the last supercharger and charging to 95%. Then back to the trailer. This was faster than the slow charger (one at Cactus Pete's was broken anyway and the RV parks are only 30 amp - our adapter was for 50 amp).

Since we towed the trailer half way, the two trips let us extend the range enough to make it. Added 2 1/2 hours to the trip due to the leg back for charging as opposed to 4 hours slow charge (if it was available).

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[charliemagpie]

Haaaaa...

I thought of doing the same thing when I get my CT here In Australia. I fall 100 miles short on a certain stretch, and I pondered unhitching and backtracking to recharge..

This would be an exception, but it provides a solution to cover 'black spots' on my route.

The other option I thought of, providing the opportunity is there, was to pay someone going through to tow my van partway for me.

Then there's the 3rd option, which was to buy a generator .. pull over for a day.. I'm retired, time doesn't matter.

 

[Choosing Wonder]

I am also looking for new solution, like maybe a large generator? But then I have to carry around fuel and wait forever for a decent charge. Or there are RV Trailers you can tow with big batteries and I think I have to go that route, like the Lightship RV!

I had this problem 100% solved for RVing around the country, with extended battery pack expectation! Now I am buried in deprecation (I bought it 3 months ago with the extended pack $2k deposit) and the depreciation with get worse as buyer like me will no longer buy the 122 kWh Cybertrucks (lets just say it is only 10% of buyers that bought the Cybertruck with the Extended Battery Pack expectation, that is enough to lower the demand curve, and I would assume there is another 10% that thought it would be nice to have later, as it solved some range anxiety, if needed.

My guess is they will come out with a larger battery pack eventually as they need to keep up with the range options like Rivian and GM) and that will make our current Cybertruck go down EVEN more in value!

So, even the current Cybertruck owners that did not want the extended battery will have real money loss when you sell one day, and we all will! In other words, we all pay for this bate and switch...

 

[flyinglow]

While the Cybertruck has a lot going for it, right now the only BEV trucks that make sense for towing any distance are the max battery Silverado/Sierra EVs. They can get over 500 miles range unladen so, say, 250 towing a boxy trailer.

The other option if you are towing an RV trailer is one of the trailers with their own battery and powered axle(s). They will extend your range significantly. Unfortunately, those are expensive and you end up with 2 vehicles to charge when you do stop.

 

[JimBuck333]

Ion the wake of the

I am also looking for new solution, like maybe a large generator? But then I have to carry around fuel and wait forever for a decent charge. Or there are RV Trailers you can tow with big batteries and I think I have to go that route, like the Lightship RV!

I had this problem 100% solved for RVing around the country, with extended battery pack expectation! Now I am buried in deprecation (I bought it 3 months ago with the extended pack $2k deposit) and the depreciation with get worse as buyer like me will no longer buy the 122 kWh Cybertrucks (lets just say it is only 10% of buyers that bought the Cybertruck with the Extended Battery Pack expectation, that is enough to lower the demand curve, and I would assume there is another 10% that thought it would be nice to have later, as it solved some range anxiety, if needed.

My guess is they will come out with a larger battery pack eventually as they need to keep up with the range options like Rivian and GM) and that will make our current Cybertruck go down EVEN more in value!

So, even the current Cybertruck owners that did not want the extended battery will have real money loss when you sell one day, and we all will! In other words, we all pay for this bate and switch...

In the wake of the cancellation of the extended battery pack, Tesla should at least provide an interface device to allow the Cybertruck to be recharged while in motion. (Eight 5.12 kWH LFP golf cart batteries would handily fit into the bed of the truck, and provide capacity similar to the cancelled pack, as well as power. (Obviously, careful engineering and integration would be needed to implement such a non-Tesla extended battery pack.))

 

[flyinglow]

Tesla should at least provide an interface device to allow the Cybertruck to be recharged while in motion. (Eight 5.12 kWH LFP golf cart batteries would handily fit into the bed of the truck, and provide capacity similar to the cancelled pack, as well as power. (Obviously, careful engineering and integration would be needed to implement such a non-Tesla extended battery pack.))

Not really a practical solution. Cruising, you are consuming 25 kW or more. A small generator or an inverter drawing power from the batteries your mention are barely going to put a dent in that to extend your range very much.

A portable 6 kW generator, in the 4 hours or so you are driving, only adds 25 kWh, maybe 60 miles range unladen/30 towing.

Also, LFP golf cart batteries aren't 5.12 kWh. More like 5.12 Volt, 100 AH/0.1 kWh. And they weigh 101 lbs each and cost about a grand each. Lugging over 800 lbs of batteries would probably reduce your range.

 

[JimBuck333]

I’ve converted golf carts to LFP. The full-size ones are 48 nominal volts at 100 amps, not 12 volts, for about $1200 from China. That’s 5.12 kWH each at actual voltage. The golf carts batteries can discharge at 2C specifically, which is 10 kilowatts each. 8 of them would provide 40 kWH, or about 100 miles of non-towing highway range. 25,000 watts would be easily doable. (For those needing a charging stop even with a range extender, the real difficulty would be to recharge those batteries while the main CT batteries are charging; even at 40 kW it would be 2 hours...)

https://www.litime.com/products/48-volt-100ah-golf-cart-lithium-battery

 

[mongo]

I’ve converted golf carts to LFP. The full-size ones are 48 nominal volts at 100 amps, not 12 volts, for about $1200 from China. That’s 5.12 kWH each at actual voltage. The golf carts batteries can discharge at 2C specifically, which is 10 kilowatts each. 8 of them would provide 40 kWH, or about 100 miles of non-towing highway range. 25,000 watts would be easily doable. (For those needing a charging stop even with a range extender, the real difficulty would be to recharge those batteries while the main CT batteries are charging; even at 40 kW it would be 2 hours...)

https://www.litime.com/products/48-volt-100ah-golf-cart-lithium-battery

Yeah, recommend charge rate is 0.2C, so 5 hours for full charge. One to two boosts a day (which might be all that is needed).
800 pounds though.

 

[JimBuck333]

Yeah. (But similarly, a Tesla range extender would’ve been of at least two-thirds the weight of a LFP version, even if their best NMC. Add in fluid cooling/heating channels and thermal management electronics and sturdy casing for a probably-impractical product even for them to do...)

 

[mongo]

Yeah. (But similarly, a Tesla range extender would’ve been of at least two-thirds the weight of a LFP version, even if their best NMC. Add in fluid cooling/heating channels and thermal management electronics and sturdy casing for a probably-impractical product even for them to do...)

No argument there. I was expecting 500-600 pounds in my Tesla range extender weight calculations.
What would semi-ideal (ignoring crash implications) is if one could shoehorn 4 of those in the frunk to max out its weight capacity.
I'm looking at integrating battery+charger/inverter into a travel trailer with a high cargo capacity. Still need to stop to charge, but better than not making the trip.
There are solutions for getting power from DC fast chargers. Or, one could plan overnights near a Supercharger then do Supercharger -> bed AC to charge extender -> Supercharger in the morning. Alternatively, if staying somewhere with AC, wiring in a Wall Connector with dynamic power management , or just a splitter and limit truck charge current.
Guessing residential products might not like on-road use, otherwise there is a $10k LG combo unit with 32kWh of battery.

 

[JimBuck333]

Too true. The cheapest lithium deep-cycle batteries currently seem to be server-rack format, which I imagine would definitely not enjoy being out-and-about like that…

 

[The Tumbler]

Planning a camping trip to Burney falls in CA and towing the family boat, which weighs about 5500lb with trailer. Looking at a section between superchargers that is 57 miles but a 2600’ elevation gain. I typically get about 150-185 miles ish towing flat with the boat. Think I can make that stretch with that elevation gain?

 

[mongo]

Planning a camping trip to Burney falls in CA and towing the family boat, which weighs about 5500lb with trailer. Looking at a section between superchargers that is 57 miles but a 2600’ elevation gain. I typically get about 150-185 miles ish towing flat with the boat. Think I can make that stretch with that elevation gain?

5500 + 7000 + people and cargo = 13500 or so
* 2600 feet = 13kWh or 10%-11% additional usage vs flat. If you can do 70 miles flat towing with the boat you should be fine, especially if taking it slow.
Truck nav planner will account for terrain and trailer if you put it in trailer mode.

 

[The Tumbler]

5500 + 7000 + people and cargo = 13500 or so
* 2600 feet = 13kWh or 10%-11% additional usage vs flat. If you can do 70 miles flat towing with the boat you should be fine, especially if taking it slow.
Truck nav planner will account for terrain and trailer if you put it in trailer mode.

Thank you! I suppose there the unhitch and charge and go back option in a pinch. Hadn’t thought of that…

 

[Rockrhoades]

Obvious solutions are destination chargers and RV parks.

This was Twin Falls ID, drop trailer at Jackpot, back to Twin for a charge, then on to Wells. Yes, heavy 4 wheel trailer.

We saved time by dropping the heavy trailer half way, going back to the last supercharger and charging to 95%. Then back to the trailer. This was faster than the slow charger (one at Cactus Pete's was broken anyway and the RV parks are only 30 amp - our adapter was for 50 amp).

Since we towed the trailer half way, the two trips let us extend the range enough to make it. Added 2 1/2 hours to the trip due to the leg back for charging as opposed to 4 hours slow charge (if it was available).

I towed my converted 22 foot enclosed car hauler from Atlanta to DC and back. I had absolutely no problem charging in most cases I dropped the trailer at the location charge the truck then hook back up. Dropping the trailer and hooking back up was around additional 20 min. Real easy!

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