Cybertruck as a tow vehicle

AustroTom

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Thought about that same thing before I posted the above. The only thing against it is when not in use (as most of the time throughout the year), you have a very expensive vehicle sitting around.
That's what we have experienced the last 10 years with our diesel pusher.
But with powerwalls (or similar), you have dual purpose
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Ranulf

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Not really, because they are not meant to be uninstalled/reinstalled all the time. They are permanent installations and there is a little more to it than unplugging them from your wall.

Plus, they do not work without Tesla’s software and by design are not conducive to being dual purpose.
Meanwhile, with an expensive trailer, I would not be surprised if you couldn’t use that as a home energy storage device when not in use as a trailer. Unlike the powerwall, it could be designed for both. Tesla has flirted with using its vehicles for grid power in the past
 

HugeinChina

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How come no one has brought up powered trailers? I think its silly to talk about throwing powerwalls in the back of the cybertruck. Promo images show a cyber trailer, how much do you wanna bet that will have its own battery and at least one powered axle?

You already power lights and signals from the tow vehicle, it wouldn’t be that hard to add in a link to the CTs drive computer. Cybertruck would automatically regulate the trailer’s motors and power would be shared between trailer and vehicle (or vice versa) as necessary. To use industrial terminology, the Cybertruck/Trailer combo would be the same as as AC or DC motors in a master/slave relationship.

To an extent, that is exactly how dual and tri motor teslas already work. Adding a powered trailer to that current setup would not be hard at all. They did it with electric trains over 100 years ago.
Pulling a power trailer around completely defeats the purpose of purchasing the truck to tow other things, such as campers and boats, around. I know I would not be in favor of it, personally.
 

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Pulling a power trailer around completely defeats the purpose of purchasing the truck to tow other things, such as campers and boats, around. I know I would not be in favor of it, personally.
We are talking about range for long trips. If you don’t need or want the range, you wouldn’t get one.
I don’t have any toys. I would be buying all these things for the first time. I will have the truck first and the toys second.

I would definitely prefer something like a powered trailer over a conventional one.

I also bet a powered trailer designed for EVs would not only be more aerodynamic, but would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a bunch of power walls that in all likelihood would be impossible to use as backup power for a vehicle. You’d also get more bang for your buck out of a purposely designed powered trailer than some hillbilly retrofit, if it turns out to be actually doable.
 

HugeinChina

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We are talking about range for long trips. If you don’t need or want the range, you wouldn’t get one.
I don’t have any toys. I would be buying all these things for the first time. I will have the truck first and the toys second.

I would definitely prefer something like a powered trailer over a conventional one.

I also bet a powered trailer designed for EVs would not only be more aerodynamic, but would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a bunch of power walls that in all likelihood would be impossible to use as backup power for a vehicle. You’d also get more bang for your buck out of a purposely designed powered trailer than some hillbilly retrofit, if it turns out to be actually doable.
It's an interesting question, but I guess we won't know the full pros and cons until we can see the specs for the power trailer and be able to compare that with having removable power walls.
 


Bill906

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What would the purpose of the power trailer be? A camper? Utility trailer? Boat trailer? Or simply a trailer with a motor and batteries?
 

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All of the above. I can see variants being made for each purpose. They might come up with a utility trailer that can be converted for multiple different purposes, but it would have to be pretty damn nifty because you’d think they would already exist for gas cars. If they do, they aren’t very common where I live. (Something that can just as easily be a boat trailer as a horse trailer)

A powered trailer RV is probably one of the easiest to imagine, as any towed camper catering to the EV crowd will already have decent battery capacity. Adding a motor or two would not be all that far fetched.
 

rr6013

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We are talking about range for long trips. If you don’t need or want the range, you wouldn’t get one.
I don’t have any toys. I would be buying all these things for the first time. I will have the truck first and the toys second.

I would definitely prefer something like a powered trailer over a conventional one.

I also bet a powered trailer designed for EVs would not only be more aerodynamic, but would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a bunch of power walls that in all likelihood would be impossible to use as backup power for a vehicle. You’d also get more bang for your buck out of a purposely designed powered trailer than some hillbilly retrofit, if it turns out to be actually doable.
Powered trailer is just a No-Go. The margin for error is too narrow.

Trailers are driven by professional truck drivers for reason. They have a point of “no return”. Pulling a trailer, the tow vehicle alignment with the trailer is 1:1 perfectly aligned. Wind gusts hit one side of a trailer is sways because the hitch artculation has degrees of freedom.

Drivers know that pulling a trailer it sways NBD. Snow allows those degrees of freedom to become exaggerated. Drivers are trained to push the Go pedal - apply power to pull the trailer sway out back into alignment.

Trailer dynamics on ice, hydroplaning water and dry pavement skid are all acceleration events. Once a trailer loses traction the trailer physically goes faster as a result. Acceleration pushes a tow vehicle and the resistance between the two speeds translates into mis-alignment - sway. But now sway is energized, dynamically effecting alignment to occur faster, much faster due to having lost contact with the surface. The trailer is out of contact, out of control.

Drivers know that this circumstance is faster than the tow rig can rev-up engine power to pullout. The tow vehicle and trailer are entering a point of no return. That point is 15degrees.

Once angle of trailer to truck reaches 15degrees the tow vehicle and trailer are ballistic connected and fated to jackknife. There is no way out.
Braking the trailer can’t help since the trailer has lost all traction. There is no return to safety.

Adding electric motor to power a drive axel under a trailer is an impossible safety feature and, simply, would be adding to a problem that has only a 15degree margin of error and mechanical impossibility to effect positive outcome.

That’s why they call tractor trailer driver’s professional. And now you propose to energize Mom & Pop’s tow behind? Its a non-starter.

I do admire the idea of mass regenerating battery underway!
 

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um, all that is entirely irrelevant. Very interesting discussion of gas tractor trailers, but not relevant to electric vehicles with powered trailers at all.

Electric vehicles and computer control eliminate basically all the problems that CDL drivers face with gasoline/diesel engines paired with powered trailers. This whole thing is apples to oranges and entirely not comparable.



I work with electric motors controlled by 40 year old drives on a daily basis. We have some newer stuff, but nothing that can hold a candle to the tech Tesla puts in their vehicles. You really think the driver of the truck would have to have a CDL to drive a computer-controlled, powered trailer? Pffft.
 

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The trailer is the slave. The truck is the master. The truck will always be pulling most. The powered trailer will never “push” the truck.
 


rr6013

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Patent that invention!

It will provide for the day technology enables autonomous convoy, triple trailers ganged will look old school when trains of containers begin self-caravans.

Ideas have value…
 

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I disagree. All your statements disagree with each other.

Powered trailers have nothing to do with professional rating or not. Regen just acts like brakes, batteries just act like load. As long as you're within your classification, there is no physical driving difference between a trailer with power and one without.

Putting extra range batteries in the trailer would have significant advantages: better weight distribution, extra range when you need it, and less weight when you don't need it.

As long as you're dreaming of batteries on a trailer, there's no reason why they couldn't plug into your home power system. A home power system is no less complicated. Once you've done one, you could easily do the other.

Powerwalls are a specific product, though, and currently unsuitable for this. If powered trailers became a common thing and not just a hobbyist thing, Tesla is almost certain to make a specific 'Powertow' unit.

-Crissa
 
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Airstream to offset carbon from manufacture, pursue electric drive travel trailers
By Stephen Edelstein
February 14, 2021
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...m-manufacture-pursue-electric-travel-trailers


It was previously reported that Airstream was also working on an electric-assisted travel trailer, and that project is underway, confirmed McKay Featherstone, Airstream vice president of product development.

"This idea is moving beyond the concept phase, and the path to an EV trailer is becoming much more clear. Stay tuned."
 

Cybertruck Hawaii

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When towing a boat will a Tesla vehicle, do you have to submerge one end of the vehicle in order to hook up the boat? And does that damage the battery or motor?
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