Towing tested with 6,000lb Tesla and trailer load

[Gigahorse]

NIT: Some chargers will change the INITIAL charge limit to 80% (if higher) and display message as such. You always have the option of re-setting that to a higher limit if needed.

That has been my experience.

Oh interesting, I thought some in high congestion areas LIMITED charging to 80% think I remember it being the case in LA on Thanksgiving etc, I have not encountered it personally but have usually been at empty or close to empty SCs.

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[Gigahorse]

Yes, vineyards have slow, windy roads.

No, it doesn't need to be aero because it's not on a freeway, speeding.

Stop fibbing and trolling, please.

-Crissa

How do you know he is taking his grapes down windy roads? Many growers transport their grapes to be processed. A good chunk of Napa Valley has VERY straight roads that growers will often use to take their harvest to the processor.

I don't know his use case but assumed he would PROBOBLY make it such a short difference, how is that trolling?

 

[CyberGus]

or if your total trip is sub 50 miles

the CT wouldn’t make it 60miles towing

Would you like a vehicle that only got you 40miles between charges?

BREAKING NEWS: Cybertruck range now estimated to be the length of your extension cord

 

[Woodrick]

You are correct i don’t like the patheticly low range. Would you like a vehicle that only got you 40miles between charges?

You just can't win. You are indeed talking to someone who owned a Leaf with a factory new range of 88 miles. It fit my needs. Enough that I got a second Leaf.

So leave already. You have proven you don't belong here.

 

[Gigahorse]

BREAKING NEWS: Cybertruck range now estimated to be the length of your extension cord

Quote out of context, but still funny, good one.

 

[Dirt Worker]

Towing 10,000, a forty mile round trip from Hood River to Parkdale, OR (1,500 ft. elevation difference) is about it. It may sound/look goofy but a 10k 220v propane generator is a lot cheaper than $16,000 for the range extender and will take up less room. Hell, I'm out in the woods anyway and don't care if Bigfoot is laughing at me. Who else is planning on tucking a little portable Honda in the back?

 

[Gigahorse]

Towing 10,000, a forty mile round trip from Hood River to Parkdale, OR (1,500 ft. elevation difference) is about it. It may sound/look goofy but a 10k 220v propane generator is a lot cheaper than $16,000 for the range extender and will take up less room. Hell, I'm out in the woods anyway and don't care if Bigfoot is laughing at me. Who else is planning on tucking a little portable Honda in the back?

If the range #s continue to look like this might have to.
This guy had roughly the same idea, pretty interesting video.
A way more elegant solution than I would use, but think that the vault could hold a generator, just have to find one that is fairly short so you could have the cover at least mostly closed.

 

[fritter63]

Oh interesting, I thought some in high congestion areas LIMITED charging to 80% think I remember it being the case in LA on Thanksgiving etc, I have not encountered it personally but have usually been at empty or close to empty SCs.

Possible I suppose? I've only been at one super busy one at Thanksgiving (SF Bay Area) and I don't remember it forcing that.

 

[Gigahorse]

Possible I suppose? I've only been at one super busy one at Thanksgiving (SF Bay Area) and I don't remember it forcing that.

Was curious so did a little digging, you are correct, it sets you to 80% limit BUT you can manually adjust it, good to know! Especially if towing might need that extra 20%

 

[cvalue13]

Besides that, Tesla has a track record of being more accurate with their marketing stunts than any other company... so anyone who took the test seriously and started to do math missed the whole point I guess.

Now that is funny

They’re all marketing *stunts* - in the meaning of “intentionally misleading to evoke an emotional response, not a technically interesting result”

The Porsche trailer “stunt” was just that: choose the slowest available, manual, 911, that is already known to have a far slower 1/4 mile than an unladen CT, then ‘race’ it an 1/8th mile with a trailer.

Why? Because people don’t typically understand that the CT’s HP and torque is already well past the point that it is TRACTION limited in its speed - so adding a 1,000lbs of tongue weight does as much to help it get off the line as it does to hurt it. The aero/drag of the trailer is the only non-trivial downside to the CT.

But again, the CT is already wildly faster than that particular model of 911.

Tesla could have chosen a half dozen 911 that would have beat the CT, handily, with or without the trailer.

Or they could have put the CT on a track with a dozen 911’s that would slaughter the CT.


But they didn’t do any of that, to arrive at the “more accurate” observation:

“in a straight line for a short distance, the fastest CT can beat the slowest 911 - even with a trailer, because the extra weight actually helps the CT almost as much it hurts it. Of course, truth be told, even this slowest 911 would slaughter the CT on a track, and even on on a drag strip there are a several 911s that are faster than the CT, some much faster.”

but all that accuracy doesn’t have the same punch as Musk repeating “faster than a 911 in a 1/4 mile race, pulling a trailer”




and by the way, to the extent one wants to say “it’s just marketing,” that’s true - but juxtapose what Musk DID say at the delivery event (eg faster than a 911) with the what Musk DIDNT say at the the delivery event:

“the CT towed this identical trailer further than a Ford Lightning under identical conditions”

“AP/FSD works”

“Here’s the range of the truck…”

And a dozen other such “marketing stunts” that could have been simultaneously “stunts” but actually relevant to important functions of the truck

Point being, I don’t exactly fault Tesla for it’s dog-and-pony show, insofar as it seems to REALLY work on its base, no matter how not just inaccurate but also inapplicable.

But instead only to take some issue with the notion that ANYTHING Tesla does with its ‘stunts’ are “more accurate.”

 

[REM]

Tesla could have chosen a half dozen 911 that would have beat the CT, handily, with or without the trailer.

Or they could have put the CT on a track with a dozen 911’s that would slaughter the CT.

You went into the entire forest and missed every tree.

Telsa put a 2-door sports car on a car trailer, attached that trailer to a CyberTruck, and raced the same 2-door sports car in the 1/8th mile and beat it.

If that doesn't impress you (and you feel compelled to do a multi-page analysis about why it doesn't), then I don't think anything anyone says will be reasonable lmao

 

[cvalue13]

The legacy makers have a problem they clearly can’t fix and that’s dealers.

that’s not a very thoughtful take, but it’s popular on platforms limited to 160 characters so makes sense it’s not very thoughtful

the “problem” isn’t that big

the “problem” where it does exist, is mostly for the consumer, not the OEMs

there are plenty of ways OEMs can and are “fixing” it


Eg, a year ago Ford gave all dealerships a choice, either:

(1) agree to to be the delivery point for electric vehicles configured/purchased online through Ford, on condition of stocking model BEVs and installing charging stations at your dealerships, or

(2) don’t agree, and you will be disallowed from selling BEVs

This was a forcing function to eradicate dealerships that will not convert to acting like Tesla-style delivery and service points.

And it worked just how Ford expected/hoped it would:

Half Of All Ford Dealers Won't Sell EVs Next Year

Media outlets and especially anti-Ford EV folks styled this outcome just as the above headline implies.

What they failed to emphasize:

“The other half, will now be obligated to be Tesla-style delivery/service points and charging stations”

That means 1,500 Tesla-styled delivery/service points for Ford EVs, where customers configure, pay through the website, and pick up their BEV locally.

1,500

Tesla has 250

That is not to try and make this convo about Ford being somehow better than Tesla in some metric.

It is only to emphasize how, with just one example that has already occurred, the zany idea the OEM’s “can’t fix” what little problems there are.

Ford segmented Model E as a new business, then within 12 months forced their hand.

And the 1/2 half of the dealerships? Ford has right of first refusal to purchase their dealerships.

 

[FlyinAndy]

As my kid would say, "It's just math, Bruh!"

Energy conversions:
1 gal of gasoline = 33.7kWh
1 gal of diesel = 37.1kWh

123kWh = 3.3 gal of diesel

If I put 3.3 gal of diesel in my truck and tow my travel trailer, it will go about 35mi! Cybertruck is doing pretty good with only 3.3 gal of diesel equivalent on board!

 

[cvalue13]

You went into the entire forrest and missed every tree.

Telsa put a 2-door sports car on a car trailer, attached that trailer to a CyberTruck, and raced the same 2-door sports car in the 1/8th mile and beat it.

If that doesn't impress you (and you feel compelled to do a multi-page analysis about why it doesn't), then I don't think anything anyone says will be reasonable lmao

no, I didn’t miss forest for trees.

I noticed a mirage that looked like a Forrest, then pointed out that the proof is if you look closely there aren’t any trees, only some young shrubs


The REASON being, there is nothing surprising in the result of the “stunt” to anyone who well enough understands it.

Put differently, it impresses only people without a clue.



Here’s an analogous and hypothetical “stunt” for you:

Chevy takes a 2024 Corvette C8 Z06 with a 10.6 1/4 mile time, and lines it up against a 2024 BMW 330i with a 14.0 1/4 mile time.

They run the race, and the Corvette barely beats the BMW 330i, which is only strange because the Corvette should have smoked a 330i

Chevy then opens the door of the C8, and says “surprise! We did two things here - first, we put 400lb of sandbags in the car because that actually helps it launch off the line even faster than normal - but THEN we also used only 87 octane fuel!!”

Response: “why?”

Chevy: “because you dipshits don’t know any better!”

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