What Car? Tow car overall winner 2021
No surprises….Kia Sorento 2.2 CRDi 3 DCT.
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Rookie error by me (not by the OP) - these are still the 2021 results as announced in Sept - 2020 The 2022 awards (should be annouced in Sept 2021) have not yet hit!
That was the Camping and Caravan Club award. The CMC award went to the Skoda Superb Estate SE L Executive 2.0 TDI 150PS DSG
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/whats-on/awards/towcar-of-the-year/2021-winners/
A few plug in hybrids, but only one all electric entrant this year (iPace)
Nice to see that the CCC had an electric tow-car of the year category. I wonder how long it will be for an electric car to win outright?
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I have twice now written to Kia as they keep trying to get me to change my Sportage 2ltr diesel auto for a Kia EV 6 that they say has a tow limit of 1600kgs and a range of "up to?" 300+ miles,but have yet to recieve any thing other than an acknowledgement for my emails.
I just asked what they consider at what speed is the high 300+ MPC? and if i tow my caravan that weighs 1300 kg what can i reasonably expect to be the range?
This club made a big play about the EV towing the very light Bailey caravan from Burrs country park to Cayton village club site,although they did have to stop at Beechwood grange for a recharge ,and then trumpeted that twhen at Cayton many miles were still in the battery so they travellen on a vey flat road early?in the morning for 39.5 miles. as we had done the week before but in heavy traffic
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The 2022 results are now in.
The Volvo v40 P8 recharge (all electric) took the 1500 to 1700kg range. Skoda Enyaq won the electric car and lightweight van category.
Overall winner was the SEAT Leon Estate FR 1.5TSI 150PS.
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JVB - the best info on actual range is here https://ev-database.uk/. The updated numbers show the 2WD is good for arround 260 and 4wd for 255 solo. I would guess that to translate to up to 170mile range towing real world 100% - 0%. 150 (3 hours towing) mile from home should be comfortable, and with the right charger, another 130 miles second stage after a 20 min charge.
Those kind of numbers give a really useful real world use IMHO, but then I am happy with 200 miles solo and 120-130 towing from my P2.
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Clever considering it's still 2021.
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There is available at this time (for a charge £8 a pop for full evs)the option of using your own EHU site power via your LVs own on board socket to charge an EV while on site, or as being installed if space available and during site up grades EV charging points ,that can be used at a cost depending what rate yo want to charge at
But as there has been a big problem with the supplies we get from France and lack of "green?" supplies (no wind or sun) a large coal fired power station that was to be decommisioned had to be fired up to maintain the national grid , and that is at this time of year
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One of the electric feeds from France want bang a few days ago in Ashford at some Nat Grid station. Might be worth buying four candles. Won't help with charging electric cars but at least you'll have some light.
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As JVB said, charging on site is entirely viable. Usually when we get on site (EV or not) I am pretty much done for the day driving wise, and we have a meal in the van planned and brought from home, meaning no need to go anywhere. That means we can stick the car on charge via the EHU thru' the van, and add some extra range, ready for next day. We can get between 20 and 50 miles added depending on arrival time and the capacity of the EHU (10A or 16A).
Then if we need it, stick the car on charge while out and about next day, or just leave it till we are back on site and charge again. So far it's worked great.
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We have just returned from Cornwall (326 miles). If we were towing with an ev, that would have entailed at least 3 charging stops. Unless battery range improves drastically, my first electric car will mark the end of our caravanning.
I have recently read some interesting technical articles which show very clearly that the additional environmental impact of manufacturing an electric car means that it has to be driven for many years before it is better for the environment than an ice car. In fact the most environmentally friendly thing we can do is hang on to our existing cars until thay are no longer viable. The pollution from them will never equal the environmental pact of manufacturing a new electric car.
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JVB66.
I've phoned Hyundi about the Ioniq 5 asking about what the chances are they would be making one available to the press for testing with a caravan. I got nowhere, so e-mail instead at their request. I had an initial acknowledgement and now 3 or 4 weeks later still nothing.
Am I to assume they are not interested in caravan owners and the potential market they are missing?
Colin
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"We have just returned from Cornwall (326 miles). If we were towing with an ev, that would have entailed at least 3 charging stops. Unless battery range improves drastically, my first electric car will mark the end of our caravanning."
That depends on the car. My Polestar 2 - you could just about do it in 2 stops, but would require recharging to almost 100% on each stop, which would be time prohibiting. Better to do in 3. The Ioniq 5 or EV6, I suspect would do it in 2 stops comfortably, with only 20 to 25 mins charging at each stop (given the right charger). Given that that is easily a six hour journey, having two stops would be sensible and necessary for me (not just my car).
"I have recently read some interesting technical articles which show very clearly that the additional environmental impact of manufacturing an electric car means that it has to be driven for many years before it is better for the environment than an ice car. In fact the most environmentally friendly thing we can do is hang on to our existing cars until thay are no longer viable. The pollution from them will never equal the environmental pact of manufacturing a new electric car."
It's true that today, manufacturing an EV battery pack adds to the carbon cost of a car. But given the Euro electricity carbon mix, it takes about 50K miles to break even. That drops to 30K miles if using a green (wind or solar) electricity.
https://www.polestar.com/dato-assets/11286/1600176185-20200915polestarlcafinala.pdf
But it's also true that over a life of 120k miles (200,000 kilometres) an ICE car can release as around as 3 times the carbon emissions in fuel, as are consumed in the materials sourcing and manufacture. That is to say, for every 80,000k miles driven, an ICE car will release as much carbon in tail pipe emissions alone as are used in producing a new EV.
So - when buying a new car, it's undeniable that over its life cycle (which is likely to be far longer that 120K miles) a BEV will have a lower carbon footprint.
And when considering running an existing car for longer to minimise the emissions of production, its worth considering how far it will be driven and just how poor the emissions are. 20 year old combustion engine cars cars are far less efficient and more impactful to the environment than 2021 cars, and so will have a greater impact over a shorter period.
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Two points.
Firstly, anybody who has driven the 1.5 petrol engine in the tow car of the year will know why it gained the award. For pulling a small van it's a peach.
Secondly, the electric dream is a mile off for all but a very lucky few who can afford the high cost of a suitable towcar, the extra time it will take to complete the shorter journey and are laid back enough to cope with the stress inducing range anxiety.
There any many of us who want or need to do a 300 mile tow (I can get nearer 400 miles if I needed through my choice of a smaller van) without the need to search and stop for an extended recharge, when what I require is a toilet break, drink and stretch of legs every 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Whilst a few cars are starting to make headway on possible range, the infrastructure does not exist for the majority of caravan owners to complete a tow of reasonable distance within a reasonable time.
As much as I would like to do my bit and go electric, it's one big pipe dream at the present.
Colin
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