Tesla, how about a trailer/charger for rental?

[Roy2001]

I wonder if Tesla could make a trailer with 100-200kWh battery (with motor for self-moving ) for rental. For example, if I want to have a trip to Yosemite or Death Valley, I can rent one so I can say bye to range anxiety. Thoughts?

 

[scottf200]

Various articles on this type of thing. one:

Towing with an EV: Are electric trailers the future?

A German travel trailer prototype provides its own electric propulsion and effectively doubles the batteries—meaning that there might be no drop in range from towing.

www.greencarreports.com

 

[glide]

Zero percent chance of Tesla making something like this. The market is too small.

 

[ecarfan]

This is not on the market yet but the company says it will be next year; a teardrop trailer with a 75kWh battery that can power the trailer and DC direct charge an EV using the CCS standard (you will need a Lectron adaptor) The Boulder™ EV — Colorado Teardrop Campers

Personally I think that product is unlikely to be a success; $55K for a very small trailer with a big battery to charge the EV tow vehicle. How big is that market? And given the increasingly strong demand for EV batteries by major car companies, this small company in Colorado is going to pay a high price for 75kWh packs since their production volume will be tiny compared to automotive manufacturers. I wish them luck!

 

[ecarfan]

Various articles on this type of thing. one:

Towing with an EV: Are electric trailers the future?

A German travel trailer prototype provides its own electric propulsion and effectively doubles the batteries—meaning that there might be no drop in range from towing.

www.greencarreports.com

Dethleffs showed a prototype of that trailer in 2018. I’ve been watching to see if it’s on the market yet and have seen nothing. I’m not convinced it will be available until batteries are far less expensive than they are now. Maybe in another five years…

 

[pereiks]

Can't you make one with few power walls? Probably going to be too expensive to justify... unless you already own a trailer which have space for powerwalls...

 

[ecarfan]

Can't you make one with few power walls? Probably going to be too expensive to justify... unless you already own a trailer which have space for powerwalls...

A Powerwall weighs 114kg/251 lbs https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/powerwall/Powerwall_2_AC_Datasheet_EN_NA.pdf

Usable capacity is 13.5kWh. To get at least 100kWh you would need 8 of them and you can only wire together a maximum of 6 according to Tesla, which would get you about 70kWh and weigh 684kg/1,506 lbs.

Best case pricing for 6 in Canada might be C$7K each for a total of C$42K. Somewhat less costly in the US.

Buy a trailer, connect them all together, you are at over C$50K for a 70kWh battery that you would rarely use.

Completely impractical from the point of view of cost and weight.

 

[jboy210]

I wonder if Tesla could make a trailer with 100-200kWh battery (with motor for self-moving ) for rental. For example, if I want to have a trip to Yosemite or Death Valley, I can rent one so I can say bye to range anxiety. Thoughts?

They just need to put Superchargers in Yosemite and DV NPs. My guess is these will happen someday. Maybe when Tesla Superchargers starts supporting 3rd party vehicles.

 

[scottf200]

They just need to put Superchargers in Yosemite and DV NPs. My guess is these will happen someday. Maybe when Tesla Superchargers starts supporting 3rd party vehicles.

Maybe something reciprocating with the Rivan RAN.

Rivian Adventure Network

Welcome to electric road trips.
We’re building a nationwide network of DC fast chargers initially capable of adding up to 140 miles of range in 20 minutes for our R1 vehicles. Connecting cities along popular routes across the US and Canada — and extending into more remote, off-road destinations — sites are planned to open in the second half of 2021. As we expand internationally, the Rivian Adventure Network will continue to grow.