Towing Camping Trailers

[taylordihel]

I am considering purchasing a camper trailer and wanted to ask people how they thought the Cybertruck would compare to a gas and diesel. I am getting dual motor. The added weight must help. 50% range impact?

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[Crissa]

We can't know, but EVs don't have as much energy to waste as internal combustion vehicles.

EVs are already pretty heavy because of the battery pack. So that's never a problem.


The Trimotor is probably the best option for towing because if its double range. The Dual will be okay but won't be able to get too far from power.

-Crissa

 

[OneLapper]

It'll be safe to assume a 50-75% range reduction if you're towing.

Weight and aero drag will dictate the range hit (more aero than weight, believe it or not).



Here's a real life example.

I have a small 8x4' single axle dumping trailer that weights 600 pounds empty. If I put my two dirtbikes in the trailer and tow it with my diesel BMW wagon, my fuel economy takes a serious hit, 44mpg to 34.

If I pull that same trailer with my Dodge Ram 3500 diesel, the fuel economy goes from 18 to 16 (if that). Pulling our 1970 Airstream (5000 pounds but fairly aero by camper standards) the truck gets 14-15 mpg. Pulling the Featherlite car trailer (boxy and 8000 pounds loaded) it gets 14.

The BMW is VERY sensitive to any additional aero drag (CoF is .027). The Dodge is a brick on wheels and it is not as sensitive to aero drag.

The CT will also be VERY sensitive to additional aero drag because Tesla is working hard to make it as aerodynamically efficient as possible.

I imagine the CT will take an aero hit with the vault cover open vs closed. My 3500 certainly does.

 

[Crissa]

I bet aero shells for things like dirt bikes in trailers will become a thing ^-^

-Crissa

 

[Bill906]

I bet aero shells for things like dirt bikes in trailers will become a thing ^-^

-Crissa

Like what is often used for snowmobiles?

Granted the covered snowmobile trailer was more for keeping road slush off the sled but also improves aerodynamics as an extra benefit.

 

[rr6013]

Energy density makes comparision by analogy a little bit trcky. Energy density is energy per unit volume.

 

[aeronaturel]

I really hope that the Tesla development team realizes that 150mi range is not enough when you're planning to pull a travel trailer over long distances, and that they develop a solution that allows adding a secondary battery.

This secondary battery could be a CT custom battery pack that, I guess, would fit in the CT bed (due to size), and that you can rent when you need it. It does not really need to be developed by Tesla, but they would need to provide an interface for it, from the truck bed.

 

[Crissa]

That chart is... Weird at best, since it seems to be saying kWh and that's... Not how that works at all. How you extract the energy matters, so really you end up with a range, and the theoretical maximum for gasoline is ~33.5 kWh, not 8.75.

-Crissa

 

[Ranulf]

I used to have a 1978 Olds 98 regency diesel that the previous owner had put in an auxiliary 50 gallon tank in its trunk. It could go from Wisconsin to Florida (and back, I think) without refueling.

 

[Crissa]

I used to have a 1978 Olds 98 regency diesel that the previous owner had put in an auxiliary 50 gallon tank in its trunk.

...That sounds like quite the fire hazard, honestly. Now I know why 70s cars were always shown exploding! ^-^

-Crissa

 

[Revoltlution]

I've been talking with the Camp365 team and they just added a tesla range video on youtube.
Camp365 Electric Vehicle Range Test with Tesla Model Y

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