Towing with an EV - trip report
Comments
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I am mistaken because you answered the question that I asked Brue, who does have one and also the experience that was going to give me the answer to my question. As for the roads in Cornwall not being in better condition than Herefordshire that is fact .I have family in Cornwall and spend at least 6 weeks a year there, so I know which county has the better roads.. Frost free or very little frost counties suffer less detriment to their roads. If that Council maintains their roads better so be it ,but weather and traffic is a major contributor.
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You would have range anxiety. But the only the first time you did it. We have a Kia Eniro and unless you drove like a complete idiot then a 140mile trip would leave you with 120m spare so not just about doable. These are winter figures not summer btw. My OH does a 70mile round trip commute to work. We tend to charge after the second day. The logic being if the charge failed, it never has, then she would still have enough charge to get her to and from work.
Our tow car is a great big 3.0l V6 diesel. It is crude compared to the Niro. It is not just the lack of engine noise but the fact there are no gear changes make the experience both rapid and smooth.
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David, I quoted our motorhone cab as an example and actually it's a good engine as far as diesel goes. Obviously we've run all sorts of vehicles over the years and OH has raced with supercharged engines but the one thing in common is the noise they make. EVs don't have an engine to make a noise, they are quiet.
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I answered nobody's question, ADP, but made my own point.
When I address someone directly, I quote their post as I have here. It saves confusion and frustration which is otherwise caused by having to hunt back to see what a poster is talking about. Tbh, it would be helpful if you adopted the practice to aid continuity.👍🏻
Neither you nor I can state fact about the roads in Cornwall as opposed to anywhere else as we cannot possibly know the state of all roads in a given area. That is why I introduced doubt by saying I wasn’t sure your comment would bear scrutiny. I did not say you were wrong or suggest anything other than supposed 'fact' is questionable.
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I think I would know if I had answered you.
This is now getting way off topic and I suggest we leave it there.
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Boff, I agree - I think that’s a significant part of it. Having a direct drive rather than a whole drivetrain means there is simply far less “stuff” to make noise. And that means the marginal gains elsewhere suddenly become important. As an example, when I got my PHEV, I changed tyre brand from the OEM spec Bridgestone to Goodyear because they were rated as about 3dBm lower. It made a difference when in EV mode, but not in Diesel mode. But the Polestar has a tyre that has built in soundproofing. The inner surface has sound deadening attached to it and makes a difference to the occupants.
Yes - you can still hear the car (road noise) when it goes past you, but inside the cab it’s very very quiet with a combination of reduced tyre noise and wind noise. It’s become worth the manufactures tackling these in “normal” cars (as opposed to RollsRoyce) because they are not fighting a losing battle with engine noise.0 -
While I agree with your reasoning and stance, I am approaching this from the other end. I didn’t want a great tow car that would also suffice as daily driver. I already had one of those (XC90) and it was time to move on. I wanted a new great daily driver that would also be a good tow car. I recognise I am unusual in that I am happy to push the needle way over to the daily driver side, but for me the benefits are definitely worth the towing drawbacks.
I was reading a post on another forum yesterday of a new Kia EV6 owner and his 1st long range experience. Key for me was one piece of info - he could recharge from 10% to 90% in 30 mins. That’s about 100 to 110 miles towing range with just a 35 min (allowing for unhitching and hitching) stop. If you include a loo stop in an ICE car, and don’t want to leave the van on its own (I.e. take it in turns), I think you would be very hard pushed to do a fuel stop in much less than 10 mins faster.
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No but I’ve spoken to someone who owns one & they confirm Brue’s summation👍🏻
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Any car that was homologated after 2020 has to have a noise maker at low speed, but the speed at which is necessary is only up to about 10pm h. Beyond that, tyre noise is generally sufficient to alert any other road users or pedestrian to their presence.
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Hi CT, I have posted a few times to the effect that of a, pre Covid, total mileage of app 22k I towed app 3k and my car choice was geared to what I liked for that overall use not the towing portion so, like you, weighted to the “daily driver” side-just not in a EV.
Now, the cars I like have been pretty good tow cars but if I ever fell in love with one that wasn’t it would be the van that would likely change.
My sole EV experience is two days with an Audi Q4 and can’t say I was wowed by the silence, quieter yes but not amazingly so and for me the EV benefits are not worth the drawbacks.
I responded to your OP a while back, and said that with the pace of change it’s a case of “never say never”, but suspect, having spent the Christmas down time considering our 2022 holiday plans and looking at the ACSI, ViaMichelin and Google maps websites, that my next car may end up being another ICE.
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I have never banged on about them being silent from the outside🤷🏻♂️, you are confusing me with EV owners who know these things. No problem you’re forgiven😘. Thanks for the interaction it’s been a blast👍🏻. Enjoy the rest of your evening.
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Yep - totally understand where you are coming from, to the point where I have considered changing the ‘van to improve the towing efficiency, but again - for me - the trade off to have a full size van for the holidays we take, just isn’t that bad. (Though I absolutely understand it is not acceptable for others- and that’s fine too)
Just for clarity, the silent cruise is only a part of what makes my EV so good for me. Other parts are the incredible convenience of home charging, the ride quality, the looks, the handling, the tech. Oh and that incredible power delivery. The Polestar 2 is marketed and sold as performance EV and absolutely delivers on its promise. I love driving it :-)
Of course right now, the absolute sweet spot for EVs is performance vehicles. No one expects a high performance car to be good a towing for long distances, or expects to drive them across continents, or expects them to be the cheapest car on the forecourt. And that means they miss on other areas. But I am sure that will change over time (and already is).
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Hi CT, Yep-I can see some of the points you make would make an EV appealing to you, just that they are not givens for everyone.
The price of our two vehicles is very close and can see the appeal of the other things, ride quality, tech etc but looks is a very personal thing and I would choose the Q5 if looks were the only criteria-the big plus for me is the seating position.
However, its the comment about home charging that I cant agree with-yes it seems its great for you but for me, and many many others, that is not the case.
I could, at considerable expense, set up home charging but there are many people who do not have that option. Add to that the potential issues around towing-both the actual capacity and the range-and an EV does not, for me at this time, make sense.
As for high performance cars and towing, I would be going for a SQ5-twin turbo, diesel if they still made one!
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We don't tow with water in the header tank. It's too far to the rear (bad balance) and consumes payload we would rather use elsewhere. Its just as easy to go while grabbing a coffee (which is usually my other reason to stop). But it's a good point to consider for those that do.
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Definitely agree with you that much (if not quite all, as you cant choose an EV if you tow a 2700kg twin axle) of this comes to personal choice. Not being able to charge from home would be a fair sized drawback in the ability to select a EV (at all - not just for towing).
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... vans with conventional header tanks I never considered a few litres of water to be an issue.
Agreed. If 10lb of water at the back of the caravan (plus what might be added enroute 🙄) is an issue, then I'd suggest that there are bigger problems elsewhere.
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S3 Vigo MTPLM is factory 1500, and 1550 with weight upgrade.
Polestar Max towed mass is 1500.
I run with 90kg static noseweight (towbar limit) leaving 40kg of towable payload if the van is at maximum load.
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Thanks, just wondered as our daughter is interested in buying a van in the next few years, but most payloads these days are poor, so upgrade needed!
She will also need a new car too, which could be a bigger problem (she has a 20 year old Volvo V40), and the money for both of course.
They have been "borrowing" our twin axle which weighs in at 1900kg max, so I have had to tow and site the van for them so far, and fetch it home again, but with the new towing licence rules I fully expect them to ask if they can take the whole outfit themselves. They are insured on our car, but this will not be happening until they have done a towing course!
We might however consider lending them the car if they got their own van as they are looking at something slightly smaller.
P.S. thanks for the very interesting report on towing with the Polestar.
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