Tesla Caravanning

[Jaysuey51]

Took delivery of my MYLR in March, used it to tow the caravan on the first trip of the year and thought I'd share the results as I spent a lot of time searching for efficiency beforehand and a lot on the forum seems to relate to trailers.

Car was loaded with 2 adults + 3 kids + luggage + awaning etc., caravan is light weight at MRO at 1150kg. Not sure how much impact it has but I had the 12v fridge running although I'm not 100% sure the Tesla is feeding that.

Journey there - 92.12miles - 494 wh/mile avg speed 38mph time taken 2 hours 38 minutes elevation loss 140ft temp 17.4
Journey back - 90.56miles - 497 wh/mile avg speed 33mph time taken 2 hours 51 minutes, elevation gain 143ft temp 13.9

So this is a range of about 150 which is around what I thought.

My next journey is 180 miles away and across south wales with its dearth of fast chargers. I wasn't planning on using the Tesla for the journey but it's such a good tow car I think I will now. Overtakes are a breeze even with a caravan!

 

[Lord Farquad]

What did you do about charging this time? What’s your plan for the next jaunt?

 

[Mr H]

We took our Gobur Carousel from Manchester to Scarborough and did it on about 60%, it's all about drag and not so much the extra weight

 

[UrbanSplash]

Interesting. What’s max train weight of the combo? Over 3.5t?

 

[Jaysuey51]

Site had 11kwh chargers this time so no detours, for a longer journey think I'm going to unhitch and supercharge.

Agree on the drag, made me curious about those wind deflectors but it's a lot of money to waste if it's not set up to push the air over properly.

2 for the car, call it 1.2 for the caravan, 0.2 in people and luggage probably 0.2 too. Old rules probably would have had it slightly over maybe just sneaking under, thank god for the rule change.

 

[UrbanSplash]

I hadn’t realised the rules changed. I thought if you had a licence after 97 the most you could tow was 3.5t. So the max weight of the car and caravan combined had to be under 3.5t. But that’s no longer the case… Handy when the gross weight of a Y is nearly 2.5t.

 

[yessuz]

and I'm here, in my thoughts, trying to understand the reason of caravanning :/

 

[Mr H]

and I'm here, in my thoughts, trying to understand the reason of caravanning :/

3 nights in Scarborough cost £60 with leccy, try that in a hotel

 

[Mr H]

I hadn’t realised the rules changed. I thought if you had a licence after 97 the most you could tow was 3.5t. So the max weight of the car and caravan combined had to be under 3.5t. But that’s no longer the case… Handy when the gross weight of a Y is nearly 2.5t.

Model Y is around 1930 kg, i have a class 1 anyway so weight is irrelevant to me.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Model Y is around 1930 kg, i have a class 1 anyway so weight is irrelevant to me.

It’s the gross weight that used to matter so much. So the max weight of the car fully loaded. The payload on a Y is huge.

So for ‘normal’ licenses, your car and caravan had to be under 3.5t. That’s the fully loaded max weight of car and fully loaded max weight of the caravan, regardless of how much stuff you actually have in it. The Y’s gross weight never left much over for a caravan.

 

[Mr H]

It’s the gross weight that used to matter so much. So the max weight of the car fully loaded. The payload on a Y is huge.

So for ‘normal’ licenses, your car and caravan had to be under 3.5t. That’s the fully loaded max weight of car and fully loaded max weight of the caravan, regardless of how much stuff you actually have in it. The Y’s gross weight never left much over for a caravan.

I know about the 3.5t rules, you can go over it but then you need an O licence and a tacho lol

 

[qwickshot]

The above seems to contradict what Gov.uk says:

If you got your licence before 1 January 1997​

You can usually drive a vehicle and trailer with a combined weight of up to 8,250kg MAM. View your driving licence information to check.

You’re also allowed to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

If you got your licence from 1 January 1997​

You can tow a trailer that weighs up to 3,500kg MAM.


So before 1997 a combined weight of 8.25t, after 1997, the trailer itself can weigh up to 3.5t. The car can also weigh up to 3.5t so the combined can be up to 7t. You can’t exceed the rated towing weight of the tow car which is usually way less than 3.5t in most cases anyway.

If it was a combined 3.5t for the vehicle and trailer, it would say so above.

 

[UrbanSplash]

Until a year or so ago, for a licence after 97 it was a combined max weight of 3.5t. This must of changed as above

 

[M1tch]

Journey there - 92.12miles avg speed 38mph
Journey back - 90.56miles speed 33mph

Overtakes are a breeze even with a caravan!

What were you overtaking at those speeds? Pedestrians?

 

[yessuz]

3 nights in Scarborough cost £60 with leccy, try that in a hotel

How much does the caravan cost itself?

 

[qwickshot]

Until a year or so ago, for a licence after 97 it was a combined max weight of 3.5t. This must of changed as above

It changed during covid because the DVSA got so behind with driving and HGV tests they binned it and gave everyone the full post 1997 entitlement.

 

[Mr H]

How much does the caravan cost itself?

If you buy smart then nothing, I paid 2.5k but can easily sell now for 4k

 

[Cardo]

Until a year or so ago, for a licence after 97 it was a combined max weight of 3.5t. This must of changed as above

All UK B licence holders were given B+E entitlement in November 2022. Purpose was to make it easier for people to obtain HGV licences as it removes one of the steps required. Benefit to us towers with post-97 licences was just a Brucey bonus.

 

[yessuz]

If you buy smart then nothing, I paid 2.5k but can easily sell now for 4k

Cool. How often you go caravaning?

 

[Jaysuey51]

and I'm here, in my thoughts, trying to understand the reason of caravanning :/

I agree but with 3 kids its a cheap option to getting away a bit more, 5 flights anywhere is costly these days particularly at high demand times. As someone else mentioned it's cheaper per night so if you compare a Haven static holiday with a tourer what you could lose in depreciation is offset in savings per night. Admittedly you do have to tow and set it up but it's not too bad. I've used mine to go to London too effectively a cheap hotel room then for somewhere your just going to sleep.