First Tow of the Boat!

One of my big motivations for switching to the Model Y from my EV6 was the ability to tow my boat. I have a 2011 Larson LX850 that I bought new, and I’ve towed it with about a dozen different vehicles over the years I’ve had it. It weighs between 3,400-3,500 lbs depending on gear and fuel, so it’s at the upper end of the Y’s capacity. For the last four years, I’ve kept an old 2004 Expedition in the garage to tow with, and today was my first experience towing with my new Model Y.

The boat had to come out of storage today, so my inaugural tow was an 45-mile trip home in 43º F weather. All I can say is, “wow.” Handling was rock-solid, and it felt more comfortable to drive than anything else I’ve pulled with. Better than the F150s, minivans, SUVs, and my old Expedition did with it. As expected, I had gobs of power at all speeds and it was too easy to go a lot faster than needed while keeping up with rush hour traffic. My trailer has well-functioning surge brakes, and the regenerative braking was strong enough to rarely use the brake pedal. I had to stop fast from 70 MPH for a traffic light and the car handled it great.

My overall efficiency was 595 wh/mi. That included a fair amount of stop-and-go for the first fifteen miles, but the last 30 were mostly cruising at 68 MPH. My 30-mile average for the higher-speed portion was over 600 wh/mi, so I’ll have to watch my speed over the 120-mile trip to the boat ramp and back.

The Model Y feels great with a trailer. I’ll update this thread with more efficiency numbers and thoughts as I put on some more miles this summer, but I’m very impressed with how it did this time.

 

[Unclepaul]

Most Tesla towing reports are super positive. Of course range is going to be an issue, but for shorter distances they tow great.

 

[zoomer0056]

One of my big motivations for switching to the Model Y from my EV6 was the ability to tow my boat. I have a 2011 Larson LX850 that I bought new, and I’ve towed it with about a dozen different vehicles over the years I’ve had it. It weighs between 3,400-3,500 lbs depending on gear and fuel, so it’s at the upper end of the Y’s capacity. For the last four years, I’ve kept an old 2004 Expedition in the garage to tow with, and today was my first experience towing with my new Model Y.

The boat had to come out of storage today, so my inaugural tow was an 45-mile trip home in 43º F weather. All I can say is, “wow.” Handling was rock-solid, and it felt more comfortable to drive than anything else I’ve pulled with. Better than the F150s, minivans, SUVs, and my old Expedition did with it. As expected, I had gobs of power at all speeds and it was too easy to go a lot faster than needed while keeping up with rush hour traffic. My trailer has well-functioning surge brakes, and the regenerative braking was strong enough to rarely use the brake pedal. I had to stop fast from 70 MPH for a traffic light and the car handled it great.

My overall efficiency was 595 wh/mi. That included a fair amount of stop-and-go for the first fifteen miles, but the last 30 were mostly cruising at 68 MPH. My 30-mile average for the higher-speed portion was over 600 wh/mi, so I’ll have to watch my speed over the 120-mile trip to the boat ramp and back.

The Model Y feels great with a trailer. I’ll update this thread with more efficiency numbers and thoughts as I put on some more miles this summer, but I’m very impressed with how it did this time.

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Nice!!

 

[sidewinder]

i pulled a 2018 seadoo gtx (over 1,000 lb including trailer/fuel) and felt like nothing back there lol. yeah no issues with towing except for reduced range.

 

[Wu01ok]

Did you have factory tow hitch install? My lights still doesn’t work with the factory tow hitch when testing it?

 

[sidewinder]

model 3 pulling a 26ft airstream with some hitch modifications of course but power is not an issue.

 

[TomB985]

Did you have factory tow hitch install? My lights still doesn’t work with the factory tow hitch when testing it?

Yup, just the factory tow hitch. Mine was installed after delivery by my local service center. The lights worked just fine, and the reverse circuit was also active to disable the brakes when backing up. Not sure what the issue with yours is, though. Does tow mode engage when you hook up the lights? Mine came on automatically when the car detected the trailer.

 

[Wu01ok]

Factory hitch install but I heard Tesla disable them for some reason. Taking it to service center will see.

 

[FlymanX]

Factory hitch install but I heard Tesla disable them for some reason. Taking it to service center will see.

Do you have a brake controller? If not are you using a 7-way to 4-flat adapter? Does it show tow mode/icon is blue while towing? I have trailered close to 4k miles with my 2022 Y and only issue I have had is the error if you leave the trailer connected overnight. FYI just wait if that happens a drive cycle or two unplugged. I did not do anything at SC to enable, but do have a brake controller that I installed.

 

[Wu01ok]

No brake controller. Using 7 way to 4 flat adapter I also have test light on both 7 way and 4 pin still not working. But if I put it in my other car test works no issue. No lights and trailer mode doesn’t engage. Even if I press it manually trailer mode nothing.

 

[Watts_Up]

My next boat, no trailer needed !!!

 

[TomB985]

model 3 pulling a 26ft airstream with some hitch modifications of course but power is not an issue.

That is really impressive. My boat is much lighter at 3,500 lbs, their description of stability is exactly the way I felt.

I bought an old 2004 Expedition to pull the boat when I bought my 2019 Model 3 four years ago. It’s in great shape and only has 137K; I only use it for pulling, and it sits most of the year. The towing experience between the two isn’t even comparable. Compared to the 5,500-lb V8-powered Expedition, my Model Y felt more stable, far more powerful, and much easier to drive with the trailer.

My Expy only sees about 3-4,000 miles per year. I’ll keep it around because it’s much better for long-distance pulling, but it will probably get used even less.

 

[dwest218]

i pulled a 2018 seadoo gtx (over 1,000 lb including trailer/fuel) and felt like nothing back there lol. yeah no issues with towing except for reduced range.

I’m going to be pulling the same here soon when boating season starts up. Do you know what your wh/mi averages on the highway?

 

[dwest218]

Just curious with everyone towing a boat, since the front wheels never lock when putting in park, anyone see an issue when backing down the boat ramp that the car doesn’t slide in the water? If you think about how the car can slide on a snow covered hill when parked, it makes sense it could slide on a slippery boat ramp.

 

[TomB985]

I’m going to be pulling the same here soon when boating season starts up. Do you know what your wh/mi averages on the highway?

My overall average was 595 wh/mi, but some of that was at lower speed as I fought with rush-hour traffic. It seemed to settle in between 6-700 at 68 MPH, but temps were in the lower-40's. I'll get some better numbers over the next few weeks.

My favorite ramp is 56 miles from home, and I'll be doing a test run with the boat before going down there with my boys. I expect it to work at 68 MPH, but I may have to cruise a bit slower.

Just curious with everyone towing a boat, since the front wheels never lock when putting in park, anyone see an issue when backing down the boat ramp that the car doesn’t slide in the water? If you think about how the car can slide on a snow covered hill when parked, it makes sense it could slide on a slippery boat ramp.

That's not really an issue to worry about. Front-wheel-drive cars are the only thing that can lock the front wheels. I've been boating my entire life and have never seen a truck or SUV have issues sliding at the boat ramp. My Expedition is rear-wheel-drive and has no mechanism to lock the front wheels. It's never slid an inch.

 

[dwest218]

My overall average was 595 wh/mi, but some of that was at lower speed as I fought with rush-hour traffic. It seemed to settle in between 6-700 at 68 MPH, but temps were in the lower-40's. I'll get some better numbers over the next few weeks.

My favorite ramp is 56 miles from home, and I'll be doing a test run with the boat before going down there with my boys. I expect it to work at 68 MPH, but I may have to cruise a bit slower.



That's not really an issue to worry about. Front-wheel-drive cars are the only thing that can lock the front wheels. I've been boating my entire life and have never seen a truck or SUV have issues sliding at the boat ramp. My Expedition is rear-wheel-drive and has no mechanism to lock the front wheels. It's never slid an inch.

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Thanks for info. I was thinking that towing a jet ski would get better range since it’s under 1000lbs and fairly streamlined behind the car. But as someone else said, range is almost halved towing just about anything. Hopefully the warmer temps will help a lot.

I’ve never heard of the boat ramp being a concern, but I have launched the jet ski where the rear wheels were just below the water line and it was slippery as snot. Seeing how easy a Tesla will slide on a snow covered driveway, makes sense the same thing could happen.

 

[TomB985]

Thanks for info. I was thinking that towing a jet ski would get better range since it’s under 1000lbs and fairly streamlined behind the car. But as someone else said, range is almost halved towing just about anything. Hopefully the warmer temps will help a lot.

There’s no magic number for towing; every trailer is different. Highway consumption is all about wind resistance, and your JetSki will be significantly more aerodynamic than my boat. I don’t have my warm weather numbers yet, but I would bet a nice steak dinner that yours will be much better than mine.

there’s also nothing magical about a Tesla compared to other vehicles. The Model Y has about as much weight on the rear axle as a half-ton pickup, and I’ve never seen one slide.

 

[Michael Sant]

One of the reasons I switched from a Vanagon Westfalia is to have only one electric clean vehicle and tow my Cricket camper! Great job, let's clean up this planet together!

 

[carlyb24]

Thanks for info. I was thinking that towing a jet ski would get better range since it’s under 1000lbs and fairly streamlined behind the car. But as someone else said, range is almost halved towing just about anything. Hopefully the warmer temps will help a lot.

I’ve never heard of the boat ramp being a concern, but I have launched the jet ski where the rear wheels were just below the water line and it was slippery as snot. Seeing how easy a Tesla will slide on a snow covered driveway, makes sense the same thing could happen.

Thanks for info. I was thinking that towing a jet ski would get better range since it’s under 1000lbs and fairly streamlined behind the car. But as someone else said, range is almost halved towing just about anything. Hopefully the warmer temps will help a lot.

I’ve never heard of the boat ramp being a concern, but I have launched the jet ski where the rear wheels were just below the water line and it was slippery as snot. Seeing how easy a Tesla will slide on a snow covered driveway, makes sense the same thing could happen.

Maybe you could put something on the ramp to increase friction - coarse sand or even a mat of some sort- just as a little extra insurance against sliding

 

[Watts_Up]

Maybe you could put something on the ramp to increase friction - coarse sand or even a mat of some sort- just as a little extra insurance against sliding

I would advise also not using an access ramp during low tide because
the bottom of the access ramp is often covered with algae and it is very slippery.

See this 4x4 who ended up in the sea with his trailer.