Towing my boat 400 miles.

[bgiles74]

So I typically tow my 3800lb 19’ Hurricane ss188 boat from my house to the lake 50 miles each way. Leaving my house with 80% battery I usually arrive home with 90 miles range left. I’m planning a road trip from Fort Collins Colorado to Custer SD. 311
Miles each way. Without my boat I could make it with only one charge, in this case it appears I better stop every 100 miles. An tips to extend my range other than driving 65 mph or slower to extend my range?

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[Gigahorse]

Would HIGHLY recommend planning the route out ahead of time.
With that load plan on.

1. Getting about 100 miles per mostly full battery
2. Unhooking on the 4 charging stops
3. Being at each supercharger for 60-90mins

 

[mongo]

So I typically tow my 3800lb 19’ Hurricane ss188 boat from my house to the lake 50 miles each way. Leaving my house with 80% battery I usually arrive home with 90 miles range left. I’m planning a road trip from Fort Collins Colorado to Custer SD. 311
Miles each way. Without my boat I could make it with only one charge, in this case it appears I better stop every 100 miles. An tips to extend my range other than driving 65 mph or slower to extend my range?

If road locations allow, try a test tow for a decent distance at the speed your long trip will be. That boat doesn't look super tall so you might do better than 100 miles per charge.
Key number is going to be the charge needed to arrive at your next stop with minimal reserve.

 

[Lasttoy]

I've towed 8k 10,000 miles. 150 is about it for range.

 

[Ivessm]

If road locations allow, try a test tow for a decent distance at the speed your long trip will be. That boat doesn't look super tall so you might do better than 100 miles per charge.
Key number is going to be the charge needed to arrive at your next stop with minimal reserve.

Speed is going to be your most detractor of Watts/Mile. I tow an Airstream Basecamp 20 trailer that clocks in around 4,000 lbs. I set Autopilot speed at between 55 and 60. When I start out with a Supercharger as my destination it generally shows me that I'm going to pull in with negative charge. As I drive at 55-60 mph the estimate of arrival charge starts to increase and I generally end up arriving at between 15 & 20 % which is a very safe arrival % for me. I'm in no rush, Autopilot takes care of the driving on the highway. I just sit back and guide the mothership and monitor the guages.

 

[webspeedracer]

That’s a tough route with only V2s and V1s, so your charging stops will be painful (or relaxing, depending on how you look at it).

if you don’t already have a CT-compatible CCS1 adapter, did definitely need to buy one asap and test it before your trip. You would absolutely want to avoid the old Cheyenne V1 next to Chipotle. There are several very fast CCS stations in Cheyenne now (Rivian RAN, Flying J GMenergy/EVGO). Other wise you’re stuck with the 150kW and 120kW (Lusk) stations on the direct route. Normally when I tow my trailer on a route like 1-15 in Utah or down to Moab, I can quickly move among V3s and V4s, so can maintain higher speeds with expectation of higher recharge rates. But your route you’ll likely find the tradeoff to high speeds is very slow charging, so your trip time may be shorter if reduce speeds.

Luckily those SD roads become more rural so the odds of finding a good draft at lower speeds will improve for you (vs freeways where 80mph truck traffic may not help you because consumption will be too high.

Ultimately you can’t beat physics…only way to reduce consumption without reducing speed you want is to draft someone as big or bigger than you. Many commodity truckers these days don’t care if you’re tucked in the draft (they’re watching YouTube or Netflix), but you need the wind to be straight on the nose otherwise you’ll be forced to crab or offset to catch a good draft.

And honestly sounds a little crazy, but when I’m towing I look at Windy app wind forecasts to choose my driving time….towing enjoyment with a big parachute attached to the hitch is inextricably linked to whether you have a headwind, tailwind, or crosswind.

good luck!

 

[mongo]

Speed is going to be your most detractor of Watts/Mile. I tow an Airstream Basecamp 20 trailer that clocks in around 4,000 lbs. I set Autopilot speed at between 55 and 60. When I start out with a Supercharger as my destination it generally shows me that I'm going to pull in with negative charge. As I drive at 55-60 mph the estimate of arrival charge starts to increase and I generally end up arriving at between 15 & 20 % which is a very safe arrival % for me. I'm in no rush, Autopilot takes care of the driving on the highway. I just sit back and guide the mothership and monitor the guages.

Yah, aero is the energy suck. I did an ~80 each leg test run and the time savings of faster driving was basically offset by the increased charging time. Other optimization is shifting the charge curve as low as possible for better overall charge rate.

By Autopilot do you mean TACC? Does that do lane keeping also?

 

[Ivessm]

Yah, aero is the energy suck. I did an ~80 each leg test run and the time savings of faster driving was basically offset by the increased charging time. Other optimization is shifting the charge curve as low as possible for better overall charge rate.

By Autopilot do you mean TACC? Does that do lane keeping also?

Autopilot/TACC - Lane keeping??? To be honest I don't remember from last summer and were still kinda in Winter here in Central PA so I haven't been out yet. The snow just finally went bye bye last week and it is now in the 60's for two days before it turns cold again. Dang Groundhog and his dang shadow!!!!!!

When trailering I will generally charge up to 90 or 95% so I have some room for regen. I don't think I've ever taken any of my Tesla's to 100%.

Tesla's and recharging bring a whole new perspective to being on the road. I find I'm way more laid back in the Tesla than when I drove BIG Sprinters pulling trailers on vacation. Now I'm in no hurry at all. I don't get the "Are we there yet?" question anymore. We'll get there when we get there.

 

[webspeedracer]

Autopilot/TACC - Lane keeping??? To be honest I don't remember from last summer and were still kinda in Winter here in Central PA so I haven't been out yet. The snow just finally went bye bye last week and it is now in the 60's for two days before it turns cold again. Dang Groundhog and his dang shadow!!!!!!

When trailering I will generally charge up to 90 or 95% so I have some room for regen. I don't think I've ever taken any of my Tesla's to 100%.

Tesla's and recharging bring a whole new perspective to being on the road. I find I'm way more laid back in the Tesla than when I drove BIG Sprinters pulling trailers on vacation. Now I'm in no hurry at all. I don't get the "Are we there yet?" question anymore. We'll get there when we get there.

That’s really the key to CT trailering…don’t tow with a hard deadline; don’t rush and you’ll get there quicker
But after towing this route every other route will feel easy. I’ve had to drop my trailer twice to go charge, once due to underestimating the long grade I was climbing, once due to underestimating a massive headwind.
Start every segment slowly and build speed as you approach the charger with excess energy in hand.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

This trailer is 10,300 pounds. 95-100 max range, so practical is 75. 1450 wh/mi at 55-60. Great for around town, getting service, impossible for my 1,050 mile tow job every six months. I’m back to using an F-350.

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