Towing 28’ 7” RV trailer from San Antonio to Port Aransas and back.

[DVCyber]

So I towed my 28’ 7” RV trailer to and from San Antonio to Port Aransas, TX this last weekend. I had to charge in Three Rivers and Corpus Christi to complete the trips.
Trailer weight dry was 3375lbs, but I may have added 300lbs with items in the trailer. Sorry I was not going to hit up a scale this trip.
I did use weight distribution bars on this pull and it seems to have helped. The truck did indeed calculate and adjusted the level before I added the bar.
The biggest challenge I had were the cross winds after Three Rivers, as I went from 850Wh/mile to 1450 Wh/mile. That was a pucker factor I was not accounting for as I arrived at the Corpus Christi supercharger with 6% battery. I had to maintain a speed between 55-60 miles an hour just to keep an eye on my energy consumption.

All in all this trip was ok, would I recommend it all the time? No, too many variables to account for and the Superchargers on I-37 do not meet the needs of Cybertrucks. I had to unhitch at all chargers, and Three Rivers is a 150kW system that is always busy with only 8 available. My best charge rate was 49kW as all the stations were in use. This is not acceptable at all.

So for the twice a year long tow for me the truck will work. I do not recommend it though for daily towing. The battery pack is just not big enough on the Beast. Hard reality hit but I have more confidence in an ICE truck due to the availability of fuel stops and the ability to move on fast. My 3.5 hour trip was in fact almost 7 hours due to the poor charging speeds I encountered. I do not regret the truck, but it does have its place and long hauls are not a part of its design right now.

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[Cyberman]

So I towed my 28’ 7” RV trailer to and from San Antonio to Port Aransas, TX this last weekend. I had to charge in Three Rivers and Corpus Christi to complete the trips.
Trailer weight dry was 3375lbs, but I may have added 300lbs with items in the trailer. Sorry I was not going to hit up a scale this trip.
I did use weight distribution bars on this pull and it seems to have helped. The truck did indeed calculate and adjusted the level before I added the bar.
The biggest challenge I had were the cross winds after Three Rivers, as I went from 850Wh/mile to 1450 Wh/mile. That was a pucker factor I was not accounting for as I arrived at the Corpus Christi supercharger with 6% battery. I had to maintain a speed between 55-60 miles an hour just to keep an eye on my energy consumption.

All in all this trip was ok, would I recommend it all the time? No, too many variables to account for and the Superchargers on I-37 do not meet the needs of Cybertrucks. I had to unhitch at all chargers, and Three Rivers is a 150kW system that is always busy with only 8 available. My best charge rate was 49kW as all the stations were in use. This is not acceptable at all.

So for the twice a year long tow for me the truck will work. I do not recommend it though for daily towing. The battery pack is just not big enough on the Beast. Hard reality hit but I have more confidence in an ICE truck due to the availability of fuel stops and the ability to move on fast. My 3.5 hour trip was in fact almost 7 hours due to the poor charging speeds I encountered. I do not regret the truck, but it does have its place and long hauls are not a part of its design right now.

That's a beautiful truck, man.

 

[CTInProcess]

Like all EV Trucks, it’s a street truck with limited towing range. Enjoy!

 

[Mini2nut]

Even if the range extender becomes a reality towing with a BEV truck is not recommended with current battery cell technology.

Everyone is still waiting on a long range, affordable, and scalable battery cell breakthrough that will finally make gas/diesel trucks undesirable.

I feel the tipping point is still 5-10 years away.

 

[iproduce]

Thank you for posting your experience! Great to understand the limitations…

 

[MeadowShade]

It is NOT so much the weight of the trailer but the aero and speed.

The vacuum at the rear is a huge energy suck. The front matters so does underneath and the top. The entire trailers needs aero shape. There are only two that meet this criteria and they get the SAME results. A Bowlus. Quite Expensive but aero perfect and around 3,000 pounds dry. And the Alta A2124 which is what I have ordered. Both of these can be towed at 60-65 mph and only increase energy use about 20% or even less. Airstream is the next best but it is still a 40-50% drop and more if you "hotrod" or have heavy headwinds. Airstreams are much heavier than the Bowlus or the Alta. and the Alta is about half the cost of Airstream and 1/3 cost of a Bowlus.

 

[Tnt9394]

That's a beautiful truck, man.

Really need that new and even better range battery extender.

 

[Darthamerica]

Even if the range extender becomes a reality towing with a BEV truck is not recommended with current battery cell technology.

Everyone is still waiting on a long range, affordable, and scalable battery cell breakthrough that will finally make gas/diesel trucks undesirable.

I feel the tipping point is still 5-10 years away.

A Dodge Ram 1500 has the equivalent of a 375 kWh battery when you factor in fuel efficiency. So even if you half that due to drag from a trailer, it’s still like having almost 200 kWh!

Compare that to the Cybertruck’s ~130 kWh battery. You can see that battery energy density would need to more than double in order for it to tow like a Dodge Ram. I’d say that we have a long way to go before we see that.

Of course you could use brute force and double or triple the size of the Cybertruck battery like Chevy has done with the Silverado EV(244 kWh). But if so you pay a huge price with vehicle weight being ~10,000 lbs! I think that’s ok if you really want an EV and tow often. But that’s probably not the case for most of us. Tesla knows that hence we have our Cybertrucks as is… a unique looking, very quick, light duty truck that can tow with some limitations.

 

[MeadowShade]

A Dodge Ram 1500 has the equivalent of a 375 kWh battery when you factor in fuel efficiency. So even if you half that due to drag from a trailer, it’s still like having almost 200 kWh!

Compare that to the Cybertruck’s ~130 kWh battery. You can see that battery energy density would need to more than double in order for it to tow like a Dodge Ram. I’d say that we have a long way to go before we see that.

Of course you could use brute force and double or triple the size of the Cybertruck battery like Chevy has done with the Silverado EV(244 kWh). But if so you pay a huge price with vehicle weight being ~10,000 lbs! I think that’s ok if you really want an EV and tow often. But that’s probably not the case for most of us. Tesla knows that hence we have our Cybertrucks as is… a unique looking, very quick, light duty truck that can tow with some limitations.

So, how did you get that for the Ram? Most RV tow pickups get 7-8 mpg. Is that right? How big is the fuel tank?

 

[Darthamerica]

So, how did you get that for the Ram? Most RV tow pickups get 7-8 mpg. Is that right? How big is the fuel tank?

33 gallons, at about 37kWh per gallon for diesel. However ICE is very inefficient so you only get about 30% of that for propulsion. My numbers are approximations. 33 * 37000 * .3 = ~375kWh.

So when you take an CT EV with a 130kWh battery and half or quarter the efficiency due to drag and weight from towing the trailer, you get really short range compared to an ICE vehicle.

Can’t beat physics.

 

[MeadowShade]

33 gallons, at about 37kWh per gallon for diesel. However ICE is very inefficient so you only get about 30% of that for propulsion. My numbers are approximations. 33 * 37000 * .3 = ~375kWh.

So when you take an CT EV with a 130kWh battery and half or quarter the efficiency due to drag and weight from towing the trailer, you get really short range compared to an ICE vehicle.

Can’t beat physics.

Well, let's finish the equation. Not sure I follow. If you are getting 8 mpg towing, in 33 gallons that would be 264 miles at a cost of $132 if it is $4 per gallon.

Pulling the Alta A2124, we will use 600 watts per mile so full charge to zero ... same as above ... 123 kw is 205 miles. At a cost of $14.76 if I charge at home and about $30 at Super Charger.

If I can get it to 500 wpm that would be a range of 246 and a range of $349 if I am on chill with all season tires, which I am. Closer than you thought? My numbers are real. I have checked enough screens to confirm it. Bowlus does and and so does Alta. Aero makes a huge difference. Driving sanely does too.

I am planning trip to the Tetons from the east coast this fall. I am planning on 160 miles per charge ... 80%-20% average. Towing the Alta and charging at SuperChargers and camp grounds. So, camp charging is free. So the 4,000 mile round trip will cost 2,000 miles of supercharging at $0.35 is $700.00 and NO oil changes.

That is why TFL used 1500 wpm in their tests. Driving 80 uphill with a big box camper.

I am NOT saying electric is better, it is cheaper to operate and the range is what you make it. I REALLY wish we had 150 kw or 175 kw under the deck. But, we get what we get. I DO expect the range to increase as Tesla 'figures it out". The real range got better over time with both my X's as they tweaked the software.

Sure is fun to drive though!

 

[Darthamerica]

Well, let's finish the equation. Not sure I follow. If you are getting 8 mpg towing, in 33 gallons that would be 264 miles at a cost of $132 if it is $4 per gallon.

Pulling the Alta A2124, we will use 600 watts per mile so full charge to zero ... same as above ... 123 kw is 205 miles. At a cost of $14.76 if I charge at home and about $30 at Super Charger.

If I can get it to 500 wpm that would be a range of 246 and a range of $349 if I am on chill with all season tires, which I am. Closer than you thought? My numbers are real. I have checked enough screens to confirm it. Bowlus does and and so does Alta. Aero makes a huge difference. Driving sanely does too.

I am planning trip to the Tetons from the east coast this fall. I am planning on 160 miles per charge ... 80%-20% average. Towing the Alta and charging at SuperChargers and camp grounds. So, camp charging is free. So the 4,000 mile round trip will cost 2,000 miles of supercharging at $0.35 is $700.00 and NO oil changes.

That is why TFL used 1500 wpm in their tests. Driving 80 uphill with a big box camper.

I am NOT saying electric is better, it is cheaper to operate and the range is what you make it. I REALLY wish we had 150 kw or 175 kw under the deck. But, we get what we get. I DO expect the range to increase as Tesla 'figures it out". The real range got better over time with both my X's as they tweaked the software.

Sure is fun to drive though!

CT isn’t going 205 miles with a trailer like that. ICE is just better overall for towing big heavy trailers. That’s probably going to be the way it is for a while. EVs batteries simply can’t compete with fossil fuels in terms of energy density. I wish it wasn’t so but That’s the truth.

 

[ButterEV]

It is NOT so much the weight of the trailer but the aero and speed.

The vacuum at the rear is a huge energy suck. The front matters so does underneath and the top. The entire trailers needs aero shape. There are only two that meet this criteria and they get the SAME results. A Bowlus. Quite Expensive but aero perfect and around 3,000 pounds dry. And the Alta A2124 which is what I have ordered. Both of these can be towed at 60-65 mph and only increase energy use about 20% or even less. Airstream is the next best but it is still a 40-50% drop and more if you "hotrod" or have heavy headwinds. Airstreams are much heavier than the Bowlus or the Alta. and the Alta is about half the cost of Airstream and 1/3 cost of a Bowlus.

Agreed

 

[ButterEV]

So I towed my 28’ 7” RV trailer to and from San Antonio to Port Aransas, TX this last weekend. I had to charge in Three Rivers and Corpus Christi to complete the trips.
Trailer weight dry was 3375lbs, but I may have added 300lbs with items in the trailer. Sorry I was not going to hit up a scale this trip.
I did use weight distribution bars on this pull and it seems to have helped. The truck did indeed calculate and adjusted the level before I added the bar.
The biggest challenge I had were the cross winds after Three Rivers, as I went from 850Wh/mile to 1450 Wh/mile. That was a pucker factor I was not accounting for as I arrived at the Corpus Christi supercharger with 6% battery. I had to maintain a speed between 55-60 miles an hour just to keep an eye on my energy consumption.

All in all this trip was ok, would I recommend it all the time? No, too many variables to account for and the Superchargers on I-37 do not meet the needs of Cybertrucks. I had to unhitch at all chargers, and Three Rivers is a 150kW system that is always busy with only 8 available. My best charge rate was 49kW as all the stations were in use. This is not acceptable at all.

So for the twice a year long tow for me the truck will work. I do not recommend it though for daily towing. The battery pack is just not big enough on the Beast. Hard reality hit but I have more confidence in an ICE truck due to the availability of fuel stops and the ability to move on fast. My 3.5 hour trip was in fact almost 7 hours due to the poor charging speeds I encountered. I do not regret the truck, but it does have its place and long hauls are not a part of its design right now.

Quick note, when I converted from my ICE truck to the CT I was using weight distribution bars but after speaking to the hitch manufacturer they said not to use WD on unibody vehicles. Just wanted to pass that info over your way

 

[MeadowShade]

CT isn’t going 205 miles with a trailer like that. ICE is just better overall for towing big heavy trailers. That’s probably going to be the way it is for a while. EVs batteries simply can’t compete with fossil fuels in terms of energy density. I wish it wasn’t so but That’s the truth.

So physics only counts if ICE wins?

did you see the Bowlus video? That is with a Beast as I recall. AWD is lower wpm

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