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Edmunds 1003 Miles Towing Teardrop Trailer

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Tam

Well-Known Member
Nov 25, 2012
13,308
12,350
California

2016 Tesla Model X: Range and Charging While Towing a Trailer


ximm


Total trip stats:

Towing distance: 1,003 miles (1,033 total). Fountain Valley, CA <-> Flagstaff, AZ
Number of Supercharger stops: 11
Average stop time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Average Energy consumption: 612 Wh/mile
Travel time: 40.25 hours (23.02 hours driving, 17.23 hours charging)
Average travel speed: 24.9 mph

Teardrop Trailer weight: 1,260-pound weight
(Model X 22" wheel rated towing capacity: 3,500-pound)

The author praises: "And the Model X itself served up an abundance of power, stability and grade-climbing ability. The driving experience was effortless."

but does not enjoy Supercharger logistics.
 
...Is it typical to arrive at a supercharger with > 80 miles of range left, then charge to 250 miles range...

You are right that ideally you should arrive near empty and should not maxcharge to save time.

It's a learning curve.

Some drivers are not comfortable with low mile buffers.

They take into account of towing, unexpected headwinds, steep hills, bad weather, road closures...
 
Average stop time 1hr 34 minutes? Something must be wrong (like charging to 100%) Charging from 80%-100% seems to take as long as from 5%-80%. Most of the time it is unnecessary to stay to 100%, but I guess first time towing a trailer you should be conservative, and that is one way to be safe. Certainly could get that charge time down a significant amount, without risking running out of charge. 80 miles of range is a lot, even at 600wh/mile.
 
That cannot be the moving average speed. That must include all stops.

That's what I understood too. It's slow because that includes stops for charging, un-hitching, re-hitching...

For improvement, Model X should have

1) higher capacity battery to supercharge faster:

It's may take only about half an hour to supercharge to 251 miles if that's only half capacity of a future battery.

2) Pull-through Superchargers that accommodate trailers, bike racks...
 
Is it typical to arrive at a supercharger with > 80 miles of range left, then charge to 250 miles range?
It seems to me they could have cut out a lot of time charging by not maxing out the charge.

Well, his usage wasn't that predictable, and for a first trip, he was being extra careful. I agree that he probably could have cut some charging time off by being closer to the edge, but with his Wh/mile ranging from 450 to over 900, he does need more cushion than most.