Hybrid tow car
My Hubby wants to change our diesel tow car for a hybrid . He has short listed 2 models the Mitsubishi outlander and the Rav 4. Our caravan weighs 1450, Has anyone towed with these cars. We would be interested in their opinions, as we can find little info on using thsese as tow cars
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Being petrol hybrids the batteries are sized for solo cars so only give the fuel consumption quoted when driven solo. Towing depletes the batteries quickly and then you are reliant on petrol power hence mpg drops. 14-20 mpg is not unheard of. Ok if you are an occasional tower but disappointing if you tow many thousands of miles a year.
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I agree with Viatorem. I had a hybrid Lexus for 7 years and towed an 1800kg caravan with it. Solo it returned fabulous fuel economy, especially in heavy stop/start driving, but when towing, the hybrid layout made no difference to consumption because the petrol engine was called upon to supply most of the power. I was a lovely car, but the benefits were only apparent in the solo condition.
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I doubt any real benefit to me for a towcar. Our X-Trail is used principally when away with the caravan 4 months of the year. Actual touring part is about 120 nights and around 70 of those on a CMC site charging £2 a night to recharge the car. We also have a 2 week Christmas break on a CMC site with little car usage.
When not on holiday the car is probably used once a fortnight for a few miles to keep moving.
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We placed our order for a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV this morning, there is a new model coming out in September this year, Mitsubishi are heavily discounting the outgoing models.
Have you had the opportunity to test drive yet, forget what you read in the press, they are very nice to drive. But you have to accept the new Outlander PHEV and Toyota RAV4 hybrid are no match for a 150 bhp diesel towcar, expect around 24 mpg towing.
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I have seen on sites and spoken to the owners of a Volvo and Mitsubishi hybrids ,and both have said solo they were great mpg, was not so good at towing ,they were both petrol ICEs no guts compaired to previos diesels ,and on battery about 20mile max, before ICE took over and also charged battery ,until charged and powered the outfit again for about 20mile ,the Volvo driver was not sure if he was going to keep it , as he did a lot of touring with C/van
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Hubby here
Since Ann's original post we went to test drive an outlander and as soon as we mentioned towing a van he said don't go there because the way it works it will be thrashing the ICE once the battery is flat.
According to him (15 years selling Mits's) the car is not designed to be a tow car but as an excellent town car.
For a car salesman to tell us not buy one of his cars was a first for us so we took him at his word.
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We would be very interested in your opinion of the car once you have towed with it.
When do you expect to do that?
We can live with 24 MPG since that is not much less than we currently get from our Mazda CX5 diesel when towing (about 27mpg). Once pitched then the hybrid will come into it's own anyway.
Also been trying to get some info about anyone who bought a Rav 4 hybrid for towing from our local dealer, still waiting for that.
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Hi, we've had our Outlander for 3 years now. I wouldn't buy one for the sole purpose of towing. It's big and and stable towing our 1500kg Pursuit. Lots of boot space, 4wd when needed. A few negatives, it is noisy when towing, as the battery runs out in about 20 miles and you're then left with petrol engine. It is powerful enough, but noisy, as it has to charge the battery as well as drive the wheels. The petrol tank is small too.
We like ours and will probably go for another one as it suits us for our work, leisure and towing. In the summer months, if we're not going away, we put very little petrol in it as the battery lasts for our short commute etc.
Cheers, Alex
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No problem I intend to post my findings, I have been following the Outlander PHEV forum there is some in depth details as regard caravan towing, apparently the new 2.4 model is a lot better than the older 2.0 model.
I am taking delivery on the 31st May when my old lease runs out. I have ordered a Podpoint EV 32amp homecharger , you get a £500 grant plus Mitsubshi make a small contribution, I paid £290 for a 32amp tethered unit.
As regards the new Toyota RAV4 towing a caravan I have read an Australian article, the RAV4 makes a very good towcar and about 24/25mpg towing.
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Mitsubishi are heavily discounting the out going Outlander the new model is coming later this year, they are even now offering through OVO Energy a free EV home charger and 10,000 miles/2 years free electric.
Your dealers opinion is commission based.
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slightly concerned that I have spent a lot of cash changing to a diesel motorhome and am going to be punished by taxes and various roads\areas exclusions. furthermore resale value may plummet. after all , who is going to want it in a few years the way things are rumoured. will it be parked up on a site permanently like some static caravan ? I wonder too how many jobs will be affected if this leisure industry is lost . it is scary , hybrids as yet are not the answer. I have a hybrid Toyota car and it is not able to have a tow bar fitted , I cant even carry cycles on the back .
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HI
have you read any reports on the VW Passat GTE 1.4 petrol hybrid. By all accounts currently the best petrol hybrid towcar available- just a thought, however not AWD.
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That is a very valid comment, hybrid good in town and up to 30miles. After that is credentials need to be examined. Long motorway runs, or towing severely increase fuel consumption and hence all associated problems. Finally with a 15 year new car life cycle their attractiveness has arguably diminished. Let the debate go on
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RAC road test not Norfolk
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/car-reviews/mitsubishi/outlander/outlander-phev/
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Well as promised Den and Ann
We have been back from the New Forest for a while, it was steep learning curve, we had time on our hands so travelled around 50 mph ish, being new to all this we we expecting 17 mpg and the PHEV running out of steam, nothing could be further from the truth.
The journey was 178 miles each way, we had a full charge before starting each journey on the way down we travelled 14 mile in EV mode (electric) before joining the M6 Toll Road, we had 6 miles charge left, we then pressed the charge button, the engine was now running just enough to supply electricity to the front motor, any excess energy went to recharge the batteries. When we hit a steepish incline the energy display showed electric being supplied to the rear motors, we soon learnt on the way down when approaching roundabout/ junctions switch the charge mode of and the batteries will power the motors, when travelling in built up areas just use the EV mode, the press charge when over 40 mph when on the highway. On the way down used 30.73 litres and average fuel consumption 26.6mpg.
On the way home we were a bit wiser we pressed the charge button when the battery was depleted just above 50%, it was pouring with rain requiring the heater to clear the windscreen 50% of the journey, on the way back we travelling around 55mph plus, the PHEV seemed a lot happier or the car engine was starting to loosen up, we used archived 27.6 mpg after filling up to brim.
We used no fuel whilst on holiday just a few £2.00 charges. Since coming back from holiday we have not filled up just running of electric spending just over £10.00 on electric. Following the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV forums the trick is to use the charge mode for majority of the towing. We are going back down to the New Forest in September the Outlander PHEV has now over 1600 miles on the clock so I am hoping I can achieve 28 mpg.
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Doresn't sound particularly impressive. Over a six year period, overall I managed around 32-33mpg with a 2L Kuga towing 1350Kg.
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