Sharing MYP towing range data w/ high loads

In a thread about towing in the MY subreddit, a couple people asked about range. This led me to writing a post w/ my experience towing boats, and I thought I'd share it here in case anyone was interested. The MY's tow limit is 3500 lbs, and both of these were close to that (photos at end). My car is a '20 MYP non-PUP (i.e. it has 19" Gemini wheels w/ OEM tires).

I've had two good distance drives towing two different boats. One weighs 3160 lbs with its trailer. The other hasn't been weighed, but we estimate it is probably right around 3500 lbs with trailer, maybe more like 3700. Both boats are significantly taller & wider than the car, so going above 55mph causes a significant range hit.

When I bought the lighter boat, the drive home involved four legs, three of which were for charging purposes. The first leg was short b/c I was already down to 27% charge when I picked up the boat. The 2nd leg was short b/c I wanted a super-accessible charger that didn't require getting off the highway, the best option was when I still had 57% battery. The last two legs were on a single charge, I just stopped to weigh the boat & trailer at a truck stop. The latter of those two was non-interstate slower highways and rural roads, so keeping speed down was easy - but I was also cutting it close on charge, I got home w/ 8%. There was another supercharger available, but it would have been about 10 miles out of the way, and the range estimating was proving to be pretty accurate, so I didn't bother.

Here are the stats for this trip:

• 25 mi, 580 Wh/mi, 40.8% efficiency, 49mph avg, 67mph max, elev +/-: +368/-371'
• 28 mi, 652 Wh/mi, 35.8% efficiency, 53mph avg, 66mph max, elev +/-: +535/-512'
• 57 miles, 725 Wh/mi, 32.3% efficiency, 58mph avg, 76mph max, elev +/-: +2197/-1768'
• 24 miles, 487 Wh/mi, 48% efficiency, 40mph avg, 60mph max, elev +/-: ??? (bogus data, 80k' +/-)
  • Note: there was 4 miles of fiddling around between the last two drives that I'm not bothering to report. I started the 3rd drive at 90%, and finished the 2nd one at 8%. The missing 10% is in those in-between drives.

Note: The trailer had improper car tires rather than trailer tires, not rated for the load they were carrying. They were also wider than trailer tires. I had them inflated at 45psi, which is high for the tire, but lower than what a trailer tire would have allowed.

I had one drive with the heavier boat:

• 46 mi, 622 Wh/mi, 37.6% efficiency, 48mph avg, 69mph max, elev +/-: +916,-968'

This was with proper trailer tires. I am 95% certain that I had deliberately inflated them towards the high end of their rated pressure range.

 

[E-curb]

Thanks for the detailed information. When I pull a small utility trailer with a 1,000 pound electric golf cart on it, I lose about 60% of my normal range. Here in Florida (flat), it's mostly due to wind resistance, not weight.

So if you had to pick a percentage, how much range would you say you lose towing your sailboat?

 

[Rerod]

Many thanks for the detailed information. Nothing to add here but would like more info in the boat.

Thanks!

 

[tivoboy]

Did you have this boat before? I’d be interested to know what an ICE vehicle loss of efficiency is/was compared to this.

Certainly adding an object, unsprung and rolling that is ~80% ADDITIONAL weight is going to do something to efficiency and range. I’m just wondering are EV at more of a disadvantage to this than a similar ICE vehicle. Obviously a toyota Camry probably doesn’t even HAVE this level of towing capability, but I hadn’t really heard tale from friends who towed their boats or trailers behind their SUV/TRUCK/DULLIES etc. and said “MAN, I have to stop every 175-200 miles and refill the truck”

 

[Joboo7777]

In a thread about towing in the MY subreddit, a couple people asked about range. This led me to writing a post w/ my experience towing boats, and I thought I'd share it here in case anyone was interested. The MY's tow limit is 3500 lbs, and both of these were close to that (photos at end). My car is a '20 MYP non-PUP (i.e. it has 19" Gemini wheels w/ OEM tires).

I've had two good distance drives towing two different boats. One weighs 3160 lbs with its trailer. The other hasn't been weighed, but we estimate it is probably right around 3500 lbs with trailer, maybe more like 3700. Both boats are significantly taller & wider than the car, so going above 55mph causes a significant range hit.

When I bought the lighter boat, the drive home involved four legs, three of which were for charging purposes. The first leg was short b/c I was already down to 27% charge when I picked up the boat. The 2nd leg was short b/c I wanted a super-accessible charger that didn't require getting off the highway, the best option was when I still had 57% battery. The last two legs were on a single charge, I just stopped to weigh the boat & trailer at a truck stop. The latter of those two was non-interstate slower highways and rural roads, so keeping speed down was easy - but I was also cutting it close on charge, I got home w/ 8%. There was another supercharger available, but it would have been about 10 miles out of the way, and the range estimating was proving to be pretty accurate, so I didn't bother.

Here are the stats for this trip:

• 25 mi, 580 Wh/mi, 40.8% efficiency, 49mph avg, 67mph max, elev +/-: +368/-371'
• 28 mi, 652 Wh/mi, 35.8% efficiency, 53mph avg, 66mph max, elev +/-: +535/-512'
• 57 miles, 725 Wh/mi, 32.3% efficiency, 58mph avg, 76mph max, elev +/-: +2197/-1768'
• 24 miles, 487 Wh/mi, 48% efficiency, 40mph avg, 60mph max, elev +/-: ??? (bogus data, 80k' +/-)
  • Note: there was 4 miles of fiddling around between the last two drives that I'm not bothering to report. I started the 3rd drive at 90%, and finished the 2nd one at 8%. The missing 10% is in those in-between drives.

Note: The trailer had improper car tires rather than trailer tires, not rated for the load they were carrying. They were also wider than trailer tires. I had them inflated at 45psi, which is high for the tire, but lower than what a trailer tire would have allowed.

I had one drive with the heavier boat:

• 46 mi, 622 Wh/mi, 37.6% efficiency, 48mph avg, 69mph max, elev +/-: +916,-968'

This was with proper trailer tires. I am 95% certain that I had deliberately inflated them towards the high end of their rated pressure range.

View attachment 924774

View attachment 924776

That second picture is stunning. Isn’t there some contest Tesla is having right now? Basically looking for unique/interesting pictures of customer cars. I’d definitely submit that picture if I were you.

And if you win maybe throw me a bone for giving you the idea..

 

[Ayushbh]

All this wonderfully collated data and all I can think about is, how many people cursed you for occupying so many charging spots at once?

 

[RedTesY]

We have an October 2020 build Model Y and also tow our 2012 Corsair Dash 750 (about 3,000 lbs on the trailer), and a friends Casita travel trailer (about 3,200 lbs on the trailer). We don't have as detailed data as reported by avramd, but have observed about a 40% range drop when towing. Even when towing a small utility trailer (900 lbs), the range drop is about the same. Slower speeds definitely helps with range. No problems or issues though, just plan ahead

 

[Rootboy]

Many thanks for the detailed information. Nothing to add here but would like more info in the boat.

Thanks!

Right? Yeah, whatever. Let's talk about the boat

 

[TwistyTony]

That’s a Sweet Corsair 760? I’m guessing from the weight. We have a 760, Dad’s wanting to tow with his Model 3. I’ve talked him out of it so far. Great Post. Enjoy that sailing!

 

[avramd]

That second picture is stunning. Isn’t there some contest Tesla is having right now? Basically looking for unique/interesting pictures of customer cars. I’d definitely submit that picture if I were you.

And if you win maybe throw me a bone for giving you the idea..

Cool, thanks - I had no idea that was going on! Just submitted, and yeah, I'll share some credits with you if I win Although I don't know how I'll know - hopefully my phone will tell me That would be funny if it just popped up as an alert on my home screen like when I'm done charging. "Tesla: You won the photo contest."

 

[avramd]

All this wonderfully collated data and all I can think about is, how many people cursed you for occupying so many charging spots at once?

I can say with certainty that it was zero - I made sure to leave at least 6 open chargers. Only one other car showed up to charge while I was there... and they asked my permission to take a picture of my car & boat

 

[avramd]

That’s a Sweet Corsair 760? I’m guessing from the weight. We have a 760, Dad’s wanting to tow with his Model 3. I’ve talked him out of it so far. Great Post. Enjoy that sailing!

Empathy is a Farrier Marine F-22R, built in NZL.

Your only challenge in the US would be getting a tow kit that doesn't void your warranty. Tesla doesn't offer it for the M3 in the US. They do in Europe. This is the #1 reason I waited for an MY instead of getting a 3. I wonder if you could pop up to the Great White North and get a factory tow kit installed up there? No idea if they offer it there or not.

 

[avramd]

Did you have this boat before? I’d be interested to know what an ICE vehicle loss of efficiency is/was compared to this.

ICE vehicles are not heavily impacted in range by towing b/c they are already so inefficient. I had a Corsair F-24mk2 before, and did some amount of towing with my Subaru Outback XT. The simple answer was that the range hit was small enough that I didn't think about it. Highway I'm guessing it brought me from 25 mpg down to 20, maybe 18 if it was hilly. Still more range than my MYP with a tail wind and a grandmother at the wheel.

 

[avramd]

So if you had to pick a percentage, how much range would you say you lose towing your sailboat?

I guess I'd say I get a little less than half compared to how I normally drive. That would be 80mph with medium acceleration most of the time, not really trying to extend my range, and I probably normally get 85% of rated range.

 

[E-curb]

I guess I'd say I get a little less than half compared to how I normally drive. That would be 80mph with medium acceleration most of the time, not really trying to extend my range, and I probably normally get 85% of rated range.

Thanks. That jibes with my experience.

 

[avramd]

That second picture is stunning. Isn’t there some contest Tesla is having right now? Basically looking for unique/interesting pictures of customer cars. I’d definitely submit that picture if I were you.

The Tesla app says "share your submissions on social media to increase your chances of winning." So, I put it on IG & Twitter - anyone please feel free to my posts if you'd like to help get my photo on Tesla's radar!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1647123978723663872

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View this content on Instagram

 

[penguins_cc]

My inefficient Tacoma gets about 16mpg with a 2" lift and AT tires. Towing at near max capacity, I do get a 50% hit to 8mpg. Lot less mileage hit if you have an oil burner.

 

[Kathrynm]

Does anyone paying heed to the load’s tongue weight as you approach or exceed the Y’s towing capacity? Having towed an airstream for years, I made an early decision not to even approach my maximum tow or vehicle tongue capacity, (not for range back then as I had a powerful ICE truck, but for safety.)

Tongue Weight Is Key To Safe Towing - GMC Life

Knowing how tongue weight affects your vehicle is crucial to successful safe towing.

www.gmc.com

We grew up trailering as kids - as soon as we had driver’s licenses we were towing. Despite that, my brother had the back end of his expensive SUV ripped sideways by towing a really big boat that exceeded his towing capacity. He was heading downhill on a gravel road and the boat kept going as he tried to turn. No insurance was provided as he had exceeded the vehicle weight capacity. Awful, expensive lesson.

 

[avramd]

Does anyone paying heed to the load’s tongue weight as you approach or exceed the Y’s towing capacity?

I pay attention to tongue weight limit indirectly. I am more concerned with having proper trailer behavior, so I want tongue weight to be around 10% of trailer weight. If it were say 15%, and that happened to be say 375 lbs, I probably wouldn't got to a lot of trouble to fix it. My observation is that the tow limit is 3500 lbs and the tongue weight limit is exactly 10% of that, so I suspect the tongue weight is probably just a calculation of total weight, not actually reflective of how the car is engineered.

Although to be honest it could be the other way around - perhaps tongue weight is what they engineered for, and then they determined the max towing capacity by multiplying tongue weight by 10.

And now that I think about it more, I actually think the main concern I have about the affect of the towed load on the car, the rear suspension is probably doing most of the work and is the first thing that would fail. So I think maybe yeah, now that we've had this conversation, I probably would try to keep the tongue weight below 350, maybe even below 300.

 

[stripes]

I’m just wondering are EV at more of a disadvantage to this than a similar ICE vehicle. Obviously a toyota Camry probably doesn’t even HAVE this level of towing capability, but I hadn’t really heard tale from friends who towed their boats or trailers behind their SUV/TRUCK/DULLIES etc. and said “MAN, I have to stop every 175-200 miles and refill the truck”

I use to own a Volvo C70 convertible which oddly enough had a 3500lbs tow capacity. I towed a 3000lbs trailer (with 300lbs of water in it, and about 200lbs of things like food and bedding). The C70 normally was pretty peppy and got around 30MPG. While towing you could really feel it had a trailer on it, especially up any real hills. I got 13MPG, actually over 13 and a half, but still the first two digits on the instant fuel readout were "13".

I haven't towed anything quite the heavy with my Model Y, but the Y feels way more peppy then the C70 ever did, and still is insanely responsive to the accelerator even with a trailer on the back and 2000 pounds of compost on it. It also seems to be way way less then a 50% range loss, although honestly I didn't tow the compost very far (like 20 miles).