Towing and range issues

[JBee]

Using the vehicle inertia is always better and much more efficientl than using regen. That means slow down by coasting as much as possible, especially from speed, and then brake when you are going slow when regen doesn't do much anyway.

As for safety, trailer brakes need to engage to keep the vehicle combination stable, in that the rear trailer brakes keep the towbar "taut" and following the tow vehicle. If the trailer doesn't have brakes and has a significant mass, it will otherwise sway causing loss of control. Similarly if the brake controller is set to low.

Given this situation its possible that a conventional brake controller will not be good enough to both keep it stable and exploit the extra trailer mass for regen.

Further the mass of the trailer will always result in a range reduction regardless how good your CT regen is, and even if the trailer had its own regen. This is because the trailer will always have its own rolling resistance (from tyre deformation) and that would generally mean it will consume energy whilst moving, especially when regen isn't used often on highways etc.

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[tidmutt]

Elon has said the CT is going to be better than people think... maybe those 610 mile screen captures in the patent submission documents were true... ?

 

[tidmutt]

Indeed! It's time Elon, come on, throw us a bone.

 

[SpaceDoc]

My experience with our Model Y pulling a small utility trailer loaded with a Ride on mower.
Range is cut by 50% on side roads and up to 60% the highway ( 70 MPH).
Hope this helpful.

Good points. Less efficient on a highway because less regen braking and higher speed/more drag

 

[SpaceDoc]

What happens when the trailer brakes lock up?
Sounds like an exciting adventure ?

 

[Deleted member 11233]

I will be happy if they give us a dependable dual motor 400 miles range with the new batteries that will be coming on line.

 

[SpaceDoc]

Awesome video! See, that IS an exciting adventure! ?
(as long as your on a big empty test track. LOL!)

 

[Friday]

This could be (imho, probably is) complete BS internet story, but it's pretty entertaining none the less. Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just posting it as a curiosity because it deals with CT towing capability. (funny that there were no blurry CT pictures by other people in those hundreds of miles). I guess I'd call this the equivalent of a Sasquatch/ufo report.

 

[Crissa]

Alas, that post has been removed from the subreddit.

-Crissa

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