Towing Camper with Model S 85D?

[Stotts]

Hi there,

I'm thinking about getting this small camper (2700 lbs dry weight) and was planning on upgrading my model S to a model X for towing. However, I see that ecohitch now has a beefy stainless steel hitch for the model S with 4000 lbs capacity, and several members are towing much heavier boats with their model S. I even see some threads claiming that the S has basically the same towing capacity as the X. Would it be crazy to consider using my model S 85D to tow this? It looks super un-aerodynamic, but I love that big window...

I think the only thing I have going for me is that I just had the battery replaced and have 277 mi on a full charge.

Looking for anyone with Model S towing experience to chime in. Thanks in advance!

Looking for anyone with

 

[Stotts]

The trailer in question: inTech Sol Dawn Travel Trailer

 

[Jasper7821]

I had a 2014 P85+ and bought a small 16ft boat about the same weight at the camper your looking at. I installed the Stealth eco hitch (the 2k one) and picked up the boat with it and had to drive 150 miles home with it. It wasn't fun at all. The Tesla pulled it like there was nothing there, but it took so much juice. I think on the freeway I was using about 600 watts per mile or something like that. I had to Supercharge twice just to get home. And on the older S's Tesla throttled back the charge rate so it took a long time just to charge. I ended up selling the Tesla and getting a Cayenne diesel. I just sold the boat and selling the Porsche and going to get back into an older S.

 

[Alabaster]

these look pretty slick

Future Models | Colorado Teardrops

 

[airborne spoon]

I tow with my P85D and yeah you lose 40-50% of your range, but its mostly because of aerodynamics so that big ass wind sail will lower your range even further. I don't go over 60 when towing just to keep the range in check.

Also that is pretty heavy at almost 3k dry you would need to install a trailer brake assembly and again its really heavy i'd not recommend it. Also you have to take into consideration the tongue weight, it says its 300 lbs and the tesla is only designed to have a cargo capacity of 850 lbs including all passengers. so you cut into that the more the tongue is. and with small trailers you have to pay close attention to tongue and weight distribution to prevent sway which is obviously a bad thing.

My trailer is 1300 lbs dry and fully loaded to travel its 2100 lbs but i can lower that by 200 lbs if i don't need the water tank filled if I'm going to an actual campground instead of boondocking.
I'll be retiring in a few months and will then full time in this set-up. Since I have free charging and will be retired I don't really care about the waiting at the SC.

 

[ThomasD]

Just realize that even if the aftermarket hitch you are putting on the Model S has a higher towing weight capacity it does not raise the tow rating of the tow vehicle.

 

[beatle]

Hi there,

I'm thinking about getting this small camper (2700 lbs dry weight) and was planning on upgrading my model S to a model X for towing. However, I see that ecohitch now has a beefy stainless steel hitch for the model S with 4000 lbs capacity, and several members are towing much heavier boats with their model S. I even see some threads claiming that the S has basically the same towing capacity as the X. Would it be crazy to consider using my model S 85D to tow this? It looks super un-aerodynamic, but I love that big window...

I think the only thing I have going for me is that I just had the battery replaced and have 277 mi on a full charge.

Looking for anyone with Model S towing experience to chime in. Thanks in advance!

View attachment 885189
Looking for anyone with

Safety/towing mechanics aside, I think you just have to ask yourself how much you'll be able to deal with the significantly reduced range. You'd want to fall into one of these categories:

1. You have all the time in the world and don't care about more frequent, longer, more complicated charging stops (not all stations have a pedestal you can pull into).
2. You don't want to go very far from home.
3. You have a predictable, workable route with destination charging.

2 and 3 don't sound like the typical demographic for someone who wants a camper though. If I needed to tow and was hell-bent on doing it with an EV, I would have kept my Lightning with the big battery, but even that had its shortcomings.

 

[jjvan]

Hi there,

I'm thinking about getting this small camper (2700 lbs dry weight) and was planning on upgrading my model S to a model X for towing. However, I see that ecohitch now has a beefy stainless steel hitch for the model S with 4000 lbs capacity, and several members are towing much heavier boats with their model S. I even see some threads claiming that the S has basically the same towing capacity as the X. Would it be crazy to consider using my model S 85D to tow this? It looks super un-aerodynamic, but I love that big window...

I think the only thing I have going for me is that I just had the battery replaced and have 277 mi on a full charge.

Looking for anyone with Model S towing experience to chime in. Thanks in advance!

View attachment 885189
Looking for anyone with

I tow my sailboat (4000lbs) with my Model S 85D and power-wise it handles it no problem and it tows better than my v8 truck. I use the new stainless ecohitch with the 4000 lbs tow rating and 400 lb tongue rating. Although the stock Model S is not officially supported for towing by Tesla, it has the same platform as the Model X and the same brakes and air suspension (love the air suspension for towing). The Model X is rated for 5000 lbs towing.

However the energy use is significantly more when towing as others have said. This is due to the excess windage / drag of what you are towing. Towing my sailboat it uses about 3x the energy meaning I get 1/3 the range. A more aerodynamic trailer will be better than that but you will probably have at least 2x more energy used. The Model X will be no better than the Model S in this regard.

It is not crazy to use a Model S for this vs a Model X but you need to calculate what range and charging times you are comfortable with. You can use abetterrouteplanner and input double the power consumption to run some drive time scenarios for your chosen route. It is a very useful tool.

 

[airborne spoon]

snip... You can use abetterrouteplanner and input double the power consumption to run some drive time scenarios for your chosen route. It is a very useful tool.

I forgot to mention this, yes its very accurate when you input the correct data. I took a trip that was 20 miles each way 4 times at once while towing my trailer and it gave me an average of 600 wh/mi. i have made some mods to the weight and outside drag so I'm gonna do it again to get a new average but i suspect it will be very close to my original 600 number.

It is very important to input the right wh/mi into ABRP especially when traveling because there are mountain passes and such the you might not even know about and it'll say if you can make a leg of a trip or not. Like going on hwy 80 through NV going over battle mountain even charging to 100% at Winnemucca its not gonna happen trying to get to Elko. But there are campgrounds with full hookups in Battle Mountain so one could camp there overnight and charge the car then be able to make it to Elko and then keep moving east just fine. This is just one example, there are a lot of other locations that have a similar situation when traveling around the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains.

1. You have all the time in the world and don't care about more frequent, longer, more complicated charging stops (not all stations have a pedestal you can pull into).

yeah unhooking is really annoying mostly due to the engineers at torklift that have apparently never hooked up tow chains because its a PITA most of the time to get them unhooked since its so far up under the damn bumper. Also when you unhitch the trailer you have to either watch it or put all the locks on it (ball, and chains need to be secured at a minimum) to prevent theft.

Another option that I've used is taking up 3-4 stalls in a nearly empty station and then leaving a note on my windshield with my phone number saying to call me if the station has become full and i need to relocate to only take 1 space. So far every time I've done that I've not gotten a call and when i returned to the car the station was about as slow as when i arrived so i haven't caused any problems. But that also falls into the don't be a dick category, only take more than 1 space if you are in the car or if you leave a note and aren't going super far away so you can return reasonably quick.

 

[Stotts]

Thanks for all the great input! Sounds like the range hit would make me want a 100 kwh battery minimum if I were to attempt this...

I kind of fall in the all the time in the world category. Was hoping to drive about 500 miles a day, starting with a full charge at whatever campground I stay at the night before.

I might have to look into those EV specific campers if I want to go the EV towing route.

 

[airborne spoon]

Thanks for all the great input! Sounds like the range hit would make me want a 100 kwh battery minimum if I were to attempt this...

I kind of fall in the all the time in the world category. Was hoping to drive about 500 miles a day, starting with a full charge at whatever campground I stay at the night before.

I might have to look into those EV specific campers if I want to go the EV towing route.

500 miles in a day is pretty unrealistic even without a trailer when driving a Tesla. I will be shooting for 200-300 miles a day once I start wandering around the country.

For example I drive from So-Cal to the Tahoe area once a month. it's 407 miles and takes me an average of 8 hours. That same exact trip with my trailer according to ABRP would take 11.5 hours.

And yeah a bigger battery would help obviously but it's also more weight
I have the savings account for whenever my battery takes a dump so I can do the 100 upgrade with 057 but until that happens I'm rolling with the 85. Fun fact my warranty expires this next Wednesday

if you intend to tow with an EV you should be looking at aerodynamic trailers but also you need to be looking for one that you absolutely love.

Like my bushwhacker it's a teardrop so it has a bit of aero but I also have done A LOT of remodeling to it. Which is why I went with this one and not a T@G or something else because I wanted to make mods that I knew I could do and would make it perfect for me since nothing on the market had what I wanted but the whacker has a great base to work off of to mod. Remember an RV is a house on wheels and you shouldn't buy something you don't want.

 

[Stotts]

500 miles in a day is pretty unrealistic even without a trailer when driving a Tesla. I will be shooting for 200-300 miles a day once I start wandering around the country.

For example I drive from So-Cal to the Tahoe area once a month. it's 407 miles and takes me an average of 8 hours. That same exact trip with my trailer according to ABRP would take 11.5 hours.

And yeah a bigger battery would help obviously but it's also more weight
I have the savings account for whenever my battery takes a dump so I can do the 100 upgrade with 057 but until that happens I'm rolling with the 85. Fun fact my warranty expires this next Wednesday

if you intend to tow with an EV you should be looking at aerodynamic trailers but also you need to be looking for one that you absolutely love.

Like my bushwhacker it's a teardrop so it has a bit of aero but I also have done A LOT of remodeling to it. Which is why I went with this one and not a T@G or something else because I wanted to make mods that I knew I could do and would make it perfect for me since nothing on the market had what I wanted but the whacker has a great base to work off of to mod. Remember an RV is a house on wheels and you shouldn't buy something you don't want.

10-11 hrs is usually my limit, so I guess 400 miles is a more realistic target.

Fortunately my battery died and I just got it replaced with 6 months left on the warranty - hence my desire to hold onto the car a bit longer if I can make it work for me.

I really want a trailer with a bathroom in it, but that might not be in the cards if I'm towing with an EV

 

[airborne spoon]

10-11 hrs is usually my limit, so I guess 400 miles is a more realistic target.

Fortunately my battery died and I just got it replaced with 6 months left on the warranty - hence my desire to hold onto the car a bit longer if I can make it work for me.

I really want a trailer with a bathroom in it, but that might not be in the cards if I'm towing with an EV

There are a few teardrops that have a bathroom but for me it wasn't a requirement as catholes are legal on a lot of BLM (there are caveats but just check the website) and campgrounds have bathrooms. Also it's extra weight and space lost to have a toilet and black tank.
I see a lot of people with composting toilets and privacy tents while camping which is another option. So unless you are one of those people that has to crap in their own toilet it might not be as important as you think to have a toilet inside the trailer.

 

[Stotts]

There are a few teardrops that have a bathroom but for me it wasn't a requirement as catholes are legal on a lot of BLM (there are caveats but just check the website) and campgrounds have bathrooms. Also it's extra weight and space lost to have a toilet and black tank.
I see a lot of people with composting toilets and privacy tents while camping which is another option. So unless you are one of those people that has to crap in their own toilet it might not be as important as you think to have a toilet inside the trailer.

Thanks for taking the time to provide your perspective. There's a lot of considerations with EV towing I hadn't even though about.

I personally don't mind roughing it, but my wife tends to prefer a bit more amenities. I really like the look of some of those teardrop trailers you linked, so I might go that route!

 

[2022S-LR]

I tow my sailboat (4000lbs) with my Model S 85D and power-wise it handles it no problem and it tows better than my v8 truck. I use the new stainless ecohitch with the 4000 lbs tow rating and 400 lb tongue rating. Although the stock Model S is not officially supported for towing by Tesla, it has the same platform as the Model X and the same brakes and air suspension (love the air suspension for towing). The Model X is rated for 5000 lbs towing.

However the energy use is significantly more when towing as others have said. This is due to the excess windage / drag of what you are towing. Towing my sailboat it uses about 3x the energy meaning I get 1/3 the range. A more aerodynamic trailer will be better than that but you will probably have at least 2x more energy used. The Model X will be no better than the Model S in this regard.

It is not crazy to use a Model S for this vs a Model X but you need to calculate what range and charging times you are comfortable with. You can use abetterrouteplanner and input double the power consumption to run some drive time scenarios for your chosen route. It is a very useful tool.

jjvan , I was curious , if you used a brake controller to tow your boat ? and if you did , does the models S have a brake controller plug ( like the Model X does on the left front driver interior, needs an additional Tesla pig tail harness to connect that plug )

 

[jjvan]

@2022S-LR I don’t used a brake controller as my trailer has hydraulic surge brakes. I don’t know if the Model S has the same plug as the Model X but I would guess that it doesn’t. You can always install an aftermarket brake controller though.

 

[2022S-LR]

Thanks , What type of Trailer do you have ?

 

[jjvan]

Thanks , What type of Trailer do you have ?

I have an older pacific trailer, dual axle with bunks. What are you thinking of towing?

 

[Newfoundland]

I tow with my P85D and yeah you lose 40-50% of your range, but its mostly because of aerodynamics so that big ass wind sail will lower your range even further. I don't go over 60 when towing just to keep the range in check.

Also that is pretty heavy at almost 3k dry you would need to install a trailer brake assembly and again its really heavy i'd not recommend it. Also you have to take into consideration the tongue weight, it says its 300 lbs and the tesla is only designed to have a cargo capacity of 850 lbs including all passengers. so you cut into that the more the tongue is. and with small trailers you have to pay close attention to tongue and weight distribution to prevent sway which is obviously a bad thing.

My trailer is 1300 lbs dry and fully loaded to travel its 2100 lbs but i can lower that by 200 lbs if i don't need the water tank filled if I'm going to an actual campground instead of boondocking.
I'll be retiring in a few months and will then full time in this set-up. Since I have free charging and will be retired I don't really care about the waiting at the SC.

View attachment 885352View attachment 885351

@Stotts and @airborne spoon :
I would really appreciate you keeping me updated as you do trips and possibly keep track of the wh/mile efficiency using the MS. I know the 2 huge factors for towing are weight and aerodynamics. My Tesla is a 2018 MS 100D. I am having U-haul add the hitch which they say is rated to 4000 lbs, but I know I will not want to stress the frame of the car, I want a trailer with a bathroom, and want good range towing (I know that is relative). So I have been scouring the offerings of trailers for under 2000 lbs dry weight, and somewhat aero design. This significantly limits the possible options for trailers!
I have my eyes set on a Rove Lite which meets these conditions and would hope that at a speed of 55-60, I may get the 600 Wh/mile that I've seen is possibly optimistic. It's weight is about 1800 dry, tongue weight under 200 lbs, it has a bathroom, is only 6.5' wide with wider wheelbase (very stable) and somewhat aero. It has brakes and so U-haul is adding a brake controller with the wiring and hitch. Doing an aftermarket hitch is somewhat specialized since many hitch installers haven't done Teslas, but my local Uhaul directed me to another one 30 miles away that has done these and is comfortable with it.
Please send me your stats on trailer weight and efficiencies driving at 55-60mph. I love the idea of charging up fully overnight at campgrounds in my camp space, it will decrease super charger stops. Depending on distance from one campground to the other, there may be very few supercharger stops.
At this time I'll take a wild guess that my regular range of 300 miles will be about 150-170, but would be happy with that!
thanks.

 

[airborne spoon]

@Stotts and @airborne spoon :
I would really appreciate you keeping me updated as you do trips and possibly keep track of the wh/mile efficiency using the MS. I know the 2 huge factors for towing are weight and aerodynamics. My Tesla is a 2018 MS 100D. I am having U-haul add the hitch which they say is rated to 4000 lbs, but I know I will not want to stress the frame of the car, I want a trailer with a bathroom, and want good range towing (I know that is relative). So I have been scouring the offerings of trailers for under 2000 lbs dry weight, and somewhat aero design. This significantly limits the possible options for trailers!
I have my eyes set on a Rove Lite which meets these conditions and would hope that at a speed of 55-60, I may get the 600 Wh/mile that I've seen is possibly optimistic. It's weight is about 1800 dry, tongue weight under 200 lbs, it has a bathroom, is only 6.5' wide with wider wheelbase (very stable) and somewhat aero. It has brakes and so U-haul is adding a brake controller with the wiring and hitch. Doing an aftermarket hitch is somewhat specialized since many hitch installers haven't done Teslas, but my local Uhaul directed me to another one 30 miles away that has done these and is comfortable with it.
Please send me your stats on trailer weight and efficiencies driving at 55-60mph. I love the idea of charging up fully overnight at campgrounds in my camp space, it will decrease super charger stops. Depending on distance from one campground to the other, there may be very few supercharger stops.
At this time I'll take a wild guess that my regular range of 300 miles will be about 150-170, but would be happy with that!
thanks.

I have the bushwhacker 10HD and i gotta say its a great trailer and its cheap ($12k average) but it has a lack of QC but the bones are great and if you like to DIY renovations and such its a great camper. I completely ripped out my galley and remolded it before i even camped in it one night. the next cheapest will be like a T@G but those things are $20k-35k.
I got the torklift hitch and its 4k lbs and my tongue weight is 300lbs and the trailer is about 2100lbs i installed it myself in an afternoon its really quite easy. One thing i did do recently is add a link to the chain holes because they are so far up there its annoying to get them on and off quickly when i need to drop the trailer at a SC. So i got a 1/2" quick connect link and a 3/8" D-ring shackle. This makes the chain slots at bumper level and much easier to hook the chains to. And yeah its safe 3/8" d ring is rated at 2200lbs and breaking strength of 8300lbs which is within spec for towing shackles for my trailer.

As i said previously testing the wh/mi is important after you get one. I finally finished all my mods including the outside and i took it for a road test at 65 mph and i am at 580 wh/mi average while towing at 65 mph which is my number i use for ABRP. However, when I'm traveling and going camping i don't exceed 60 mph to allow for more range, (although i didn't pay attention to what the wh/mi was at 60 because it doesn't matter when i have the data for 65 mph). And just to keep people from getting too angry when i tow outside CA i got a sticker that looks like something from the factory that says "trailer not manufactured to exceed 60 MPH" that i put on the rear of the trailer.