I'm impressed with the stated towing capacity but will be curious to hear what kind of mileage people get in the real world. Any guesses before the numbers start coming in? :-D
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Towing Capacity 5000 lbs, no mention of mileage
- Thread starter MTOman
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- Driving Dynamics Model X
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deonb
Active Member
There's no way. My GMC Sierra 2500 has the aerodynamics of a post office. If you add a trailer to its back you're actually improving the airflow.
If you tow the exact same thing behind a Model X, which has highly optimized aerodynamics, it will take a MUCH MUCH bigger hit. I'd be shocked if it can achieve more than 85 miles (33%) of range at highway speeds with a 5000lbs 11ft tall travel trailer behind it.
This is more along the lines of what I was thinking. My truck basically acts as a windshield for my trailer because it's huge and boxy. This nice, sleek MX will likely incur more drag from whatever it's towing, in addition to the extra weight.
When I saw that windstream in the video last night my first thought was that thing isn't going to make it 100 miles between charging! And charging won't be especially fun with a trailer unless you either want to unhitch it to charge or take up all the charging spots by parking across them (don't do this!). But for shorter trips it would certainly cut down on fuel. I'm around 100 miles round-trip from where I usually take my toys so I'll wait and see what kind of numbers we start seeing before I make any decisions.
My guess is you are in for a shock then. There is no way Tesla would allow towing if the car cant even reach the next supercharger.:smile:
Sometimes I make it between chargers now with not too much left to spare, if I was towing almost twice my weight there's no way I could make it.
That being said, new chargers are constantly on the horizon (I'm looking at you, Asheville!) so distances between them will only shrink with time.
Quote:My guess is you are in for a shock then. There is no way Tesla would allow towing if the car cant even reach the next supercharger
Boy are you off on this. Physics dictate reality. So many folks are claiming they thought they would basically replace their truck with this e.g. tow boats, trailers etc. Just think of the headaches you'll have trying to charge with a trailer attached. Physical positon of the towed item will require you disconnect, charge, reconnect etc. Clearly towing for most will be a local thing very short distance day trips.
And if you think the fire controversy was big, wait till some idiot backs his MX into the water to launch his boat (well within the towing limits) and gets stuck (because he doesn't have the clearance). Pics of this MX will flood every news cast and magazine. The media will go crazy.
Boy are you off on this. Physics dictate reality. So many folks are claiming they thought they would basically replace their truck with this e.g. tow boats, trailers etc. Just think of the headaches you'll have trying to charge with a trailer attached. Physical positon of the towed item will require you disconnect, charge, reconnect etc. Clearly towing for most will be a local thing very short distance day trips.
And if you think the fire controversy was big, wait till some idiot backs his MX into the water to launch his boat (well within the towing limits) and gets stuck (because he doesn't have the clearance). Pics of this MX will flood every news cast and magazine. The media will go crazy.
Haha so true! I, for one, would not want to be anywhere near that boat ramp when the battery in that MX hits the water.
For those of you more familiar with the battery packs, if one backed into the water could it shock anyone nearby that happened to be in the water? I won't swim near the docks at my marina because I've read those stories of electric shock drowning. I know that's AC power but could the same thing happen with the DC battery pack?
Breezy
Member
Good to see that Supercharger layout. Makes a lot of sense.
Based on my experience towing with gasoline vehicles, range will probably drop by up to 50%, depending on the weight and aerodynamics of the trailer, and of course - the speed you're travelling at. Could be better, could be worse.
No doubt this will be a wonderful source of controversy for years to come. :smile:
Based on my experience towing with gasoline vehicles, range will probably drop by up to 50%, depending on the weight and aerodynamics of the trailer, and of course - the speed you're travelling at. Could be better, could be worse.
No doubt this will be a wonderful source of controversy for years to come. :smile:
There doesn't have to be any controversy if Tesla provides factual information about its towing capabilities/range and stop trying make claims that are not true. After watching the launch video, my co-worker has grand plans of buying an X and towing his camper around the US supercharging for free. Unless there are superchargers every 100 miles, that ain't gonna happen. Setting unreasonable expectations and then wondering why people get disappointed seems to common these days.
Of course, it depends on the speed at which they're trying to tow. In Europe towing limits of 50mph are very common. And I see plenty of people on I-95 who really should be traveling at 50mph because they aren't capable of keeping their trailer in lane at higher speeds.
I think it might be worth waiting until it's actually done. Don't expect to see a range number from Tesla, because (a) they won't want to give it (b) it'll depend on the trailer.
Runarbt
Active Member
At the Model X reveal, they did say the bike-rack for the model x actually improves aerodynamics.
I can see that if there are no bikes on it. Like intuitively, it looks like driving with a truck's tailgate down would be more aerodynamic but having it up is actually better. But if the rack is actually used with bikes, absolutely no way.
Breezy
Member
Sorry, what I was referring to is that there will be probably be many posts about how much towing affects range in the real world. Everything from my range increased to my range is cut by 99%.
But you're right, people get very excited about Tesla and develop all sorts of unreasonable expectations. My neighbour is planning to be able to get a Model 3 for $35,000 CAD in January 2017. I've tried to temper his enthusiasm a bit but he's insistent that there's no reason for the 3 to be later or more costly than that.
AndreyATC
Member
I'm not as good in Physics as some members here, but i'm a little surprised that X is compared to ICE towing range
While it may give us a ballpark where the range is going to be at max towing capacity, it may not be fair comparison due to different drive train efficiency
1. ICE will not be able to put gas back into its tank on deceleration, only heavier brake usage occur. X will have more regen with trailer decelerating
2. ICE is wasting even more gas through automatic transmission when more weight is towed (Torque Converter will have to work harder and lock later). X will use extra KW for additional weight (this is the part where degree in physics would help)
3. Aerodynamics are still better on X, so it may be still more efficient towing. Frontal area is smaller than on ICE creating gradual increase towards the back of the trailer (depending on the trailer of course) cutting through the air
I wonder if Model S owners who tow stuff can give us some data
P.S. How many EPA miles X loses comparing to S?
With that weight difference we could get the ratio of range loss per LB?
Also, not sure how accurate EVTripPlaner is, but you not loosing a lot of rated miles as you increase payload
While it may give us a ballpark where the range is going to be at max towing capacity, it may not be fair comparison due to different drive train efficiency
1. ICE will not be able to put gas back into its tank on deceleration, only heavier brake usage occur. X will have more regen with trailer decelerating
2. ICE is wasting even more gas through automatic transmission when more weight is towed (Torque Converter will have to work harder and lock later). X will use extra KW for additional weight (this is the part where degree in physics would help)
3. Aerodynamics are still better on X, so it may be still more efficient towing. Frontal area is smaller than on ICE creating gradual increase towards the back of the trailer (depending on the trailer of course) cutting through the air
I wonder if Model S owners who tow stuff can give us some data
P.S. How many EPA miles X loses comparing to S?
With that weight difference we could get the ratio of range loss per LB?
Also, not sure how accurate EVTripPlaner is, but you not loosing a lot of rated miles as you increase payload
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