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Am I crazy - long trip towing boat upcoming....
- Thread starter heckler1
- Start date
I'm between the Midlands and Anglesey a lot, so am familiar with the journey... There may well be merit in sitting on cruise at 55mph on motorways rather than stop start and A Roads.. Given a stop in Flint is likely the extra ten miles or so is neither here nor there, and then Hilton P makes sense too....I think the general view is double consumption but no doubt t varies by load and aero. You might want to check the towing limits as the M3 isn’t as high as some other cars.
You’ve also got the option of Hilton park if needed, it’s just after the M54 turning but leaving the m6 at the first exit after the services adds only a short stretch of an A road to get across to the M54. Something you can play by ear on the day.
Telford to Anglesey won’t be fun though. It’s a longer route on paper but staying on the M6 and then heading across the M53 might be an easier drive, that said, my frustration of the A5 is following people with trailers..
I'm approaching 50 but am still happy with 12-14hr days in car if need be. I've afew fall backs; Father-in-law can do a stint; supercharging stops doubling as nap stops, and I can always sleep at home in the Midlands on way to Anglesey if things have not gone to plan!
Really helpful - thanks...This post might help
View attachment 752329
Towing experiences with the Model 3
I did my first real towing with my Model 3 last weekend. The plan was to drive from my home in the Leamington Spa area to the gliding club at Bidford (about 30 miles), then collect my glider trailer from there and drive to the Black Mountains Gliding Club In Wales; a destination about 90 miles...teslamotorsclub.com
Happy to jump in on this discussion, I just attempted last weekend to tow a double enclosed snowmobile trailer (like a big box). Weight of trailer and snowmobiles 1350kg. I live in southern Ontario Canada and it was extremely cold (-20C). Total distance needed to get to the cottage was 250km. I was expecting to get at least 140km out of a full charge but not even close. Model Y performance was using almost 800KwH/Km. So maximum range I could safely travel was about 70km. My problem started when the last leg of the trip I needed to travel 137km between Superchargers and did not make it. I was forced to drop the trailer at the side of the road, lock it up and call a friend with a pick-up truck to get it and take it the rest of the way to the cottage. I will not be doing any towing with my Model Y in future, just going to rent a truck or swap vehicles for towing. I am curious to know what factor the extreme cold was in losing so much battery??
I was driving average 105km/hr. I knew this trip was going to be a challenge but did not expect it to get that bad... lesson learned. This trailer has absolutely terrible aerodynamics and the extreme cold probably was the nail in the coffin.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
No one in the UK is likely to be able to help much with that last question I'm afraid. temperatures that low are few and far between here about as common as Model Y's and the need to tow a snowmobile as it happens.
Yes probably. Most over here would also consider 65mph to be going pretty quickly when towing, even with an ICE regardless of the weather. If you get stuck behind someone towing a caravan here you’ll be lucky to be doing 55mph.
For reference lorries are limited to 56 on the highway and 50 on roads without a central barrier.
For reference lorries are limited to 56 on the highway and 50 on roads without a central barrier.
Agreed, the temperature is the big difference here but that aside, towing something that weight with poor aerodynamics is going to be a huge challenge no matter the temperature. Just wanted to share my experience in hopes it will help someone else.
Fortunately we do not actually get THAT cold too often. The snowmobile trailer is like towing a sail, terrible for wind resistance.No one in the UK is likely to be able to help much with that last question I'm afraid. temperatures that low are few and far between here about as common as Model Y's and the need to tow a snowmobile as it happens.
Mr H
Active Member
I've only just seen these replies from this date onwards, I'm glad I didn't see this before my trip.... For those interested I am about to post a very brief summary..
Right - trip was last Friday, the very short answer is I made it, a short summary below if anyone is interested. I've tried to uploand a couple of photos..
The boat on trailer is quite tall, above the line of the car, but more aero than a slab fronted trailer undoubtably.. Chilly day (by UK standards not Canadian!), the journey down was around 2-degrees C, then with the boat the max I saw was 7 degrees C
First stop was Exeter where fortunately the configuration and quietness of car park enabled an unhitched charge. The short 40 miles to Exeter with boat were average 700wh/m, bang on my number for making the longer stretches.. I charged to I think it was 96% as by then it was so slow...
The M5 to Michaelwood was cruise set at 60mph, which was ideal as hooking to the back of a truck meant a flat 58mph speed. Got to Michaelwood with 7% SoC having averaged around 640wh/m
Essentially that set the template, but a diversion from the M54 Before Telford meant pulling in at 2%, which given the charge was dropping basically at a % a mile was a little close for comfort... Fortunately the chargers were all quiet so I managed to charge all without unhitching which was great, and one of us stayed with car at all times in case it caused an issue, but there were always free ones available. Flint the easiest way was simply to drive the car behind the charger
Got to Anglesey 02.30 having lefy my house at 08.30 the day before, 580 miles covered, 395 of those with boat. Overall average 650wh/m. Essentially a 100 mile range on 100%... Glad it was a one off...
The boat on trailer is quite tall, above the line of the car, but more aero than a slab fronted trailer undoubtably.. Chilly day (by UK standards not Canadian!), the journey down was around 2-degrees C, then with the boat the max I saw was 7 degrees C
First stop was Exeter where fortunately the configuration and quietness of car park enabled an unhitched charge. The short 40 miles to Exeter with boat were average 700wh/m, bang on my number for making the longer stretches.. I charged to I think it was 96% as by then it was so slow...
The M5 to Michaelwood was cruise set at 60mph, which was ideal as hooking to the back of a truck meant a flat 58mph speed. Got to Michaelwood with 7% SoC having averaged around 640wh/m
Essentially that set the template, but a diversion from the M54 Before Telford meant pulling in at 2%, which given the charge was dropping basically at a % a mile was a little close for comfort... Fortunately the chargers were all quiet so I managed to charge all without unhitching which was great, and one of us stayed with car at all times in case it caused an issue, but there were always free ones available. Flint the easiest way was simply to drive the car behind the charger
Got to Anglesey 02.30 having lefy my house at 08.30 the day before, 580 miles covered, 395 of those with boat. Overall average 650wh/m. Essentially a 100 mile range on 100%... Glad it was a one off...
