Towing travel trailer with Model Y

[Araman0]

Something like that could always be hard wired in.

I've always wondered if when the tesla is "off" and unplugged if it still tops off its 12v battery from its big battery when the 12v battery runs low. If that were true then it would definitely be possible to run wires directly from the Tesla 12v battery contacts to be used for the camper power (or for topping off the camper battery).

 

[Johnny Vector]

Something like that could always be hard wired in.

I've always wondered if when the tesla is "off" and unplugged if it still tops off its 12v battery from its big battery when the 12v battery runs low. If that were true then it would definitely be possible to run wires directly from the Tesla 12v battery contacts to be used for the camper power (or for topping off the camper battery).

From the manual:

Note: When left idle and unplugged, your vehicle periodically uses energy from the Battery for system tests and recharging the 12V battery when necessary.

So, yes, it does.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Something like that could always be hard wired in.

I've always wondered if when the tesla is "off" and unplugged if it still tops off its 12v battery from its big battery when the 12v battery runs low. If that were true then it would definitely be possible to run wires directly from the Tesla 12v battery contacts to be used for the camper power (or for topping off the camper battery).

Sort of kind of but not really. People have tried this. The car essentially senses that the battery is using an inordinate amount of current and throws a code that can’t be easily reset. It essentially says you have a defective 12 volt battery and service wants to replace it. But yes, apparently the 12 volt battery continues to be charged with the car off.

We know someone who is going to be testing this method on a model 3 using a 9 amp DC to DC battery charger. 9 amps should be sufficient to trickle charge the trailer battery. I don’t know what type of battery he has on the trailer but probably an AGM

 

[Tom Spohn]

I agree with your assessment on the design of the hitch receiver. Apparently Tesla designers wanted to make it as unobtrusive as possible– which means it's extremely difficult to connect the safety chains and impossible to use an anti-rattle plate because there's simply not enough clearance. I'm still seeking a solution for the anti-rattle, but I solved the safety chain problem with a couple of shackles from Home Depot.

Towing package safety chains

I've rented U-Haul trailers multiple times to tow behind my 2021 Model Y with an integrated hitch receiver. It is a pain in the butt to hook the safety chains to the openings on either side of the receiver. Today I bought a couple of stainless steel heavy duty anchor shackles at Home Depot and...

teslamotorsclub.com

I use this gadget from Amazon to keep safety chains from rubbing on the hitch opening. Amazon.com

 

[wackojacko]

I was able to get an anti-rattle plate. What I did was put on on the hitch ball mount first, then stick it in the hitch on the Y. then I hand tightened and then wrenched it tight. I did it with the nuts on the bottom.

I was struggling trying to put on on after putting the hitch ball on the car, then BAM, it occurred to me lol.

anti rattle similar to this.

Amazon.ca

 

[rypalmer]

I use this gadget from Amazon to keep safety chains from rubbing on the hitch opening. Amazon.com

I had good luck with a cheap bungee cord, to pull the safety chains straight backwards. Tight enough to stay put, not too tight to cause a problem turning.

 

[Frost-e]

Not quite the same thing, but I tow a T@G teardrop with my Lr M3. If we drive conservatively, we get 200 miles of range. My takeaway is that in terms of range, aerodynamics matters more than weight. I have seen those Alto trailers in person, and it looks like a great fit for for a Model Y.

I found this after looking for info on range towing a T@G teardrop with a Tesla. I'd love to get rid of our Subaru Outback that currently tows our T@G (same one as in your profile pic). Main concern of course is the range, and 200 miles is probably the minimum I'd feel comfortable with. Do you have any more insights/experience towing the T@G since this original post? (Sharp looking setup with the M3 + T@G, BTW!)

 

[Misterbee]

I found this after looking for info on range towing a T@G teardrop with a Tesla. I'd love to get rid of our Subaru Outback that currently tows our T@G (same one as in your profile pic). Main concern of course is the range, and 200 miles is probably the minimum I'd feel comfortable with. Do you have any more insights/experience towing the T@G since this original post? (Sharp looking setup with the M3 + T@G, BTW!)

I wish I had more towing experience to draw on, but the pandemic pretty much shut that down. A few thoughts:

My M3 is a 2018 Dual motor Long Range. A 2021 M3 or Y will have longer range, so you might go farther.

The big trip I took was an 8000 mile tour of the Southwest USA. It was great, especially because we weren’t in a hurry.

Stayed at RV campgrounds, charged overnight to 100%. Drove to the next charging stop, plugged in, popped open the gallery and made lunch. By the time we found a bathroom and some coffee, the car was ready to go again.

Most of the time we drove 55, unless we were damned sure we had a enough range. Over time, we got better at guesstimating our range.
We never ran the battery to zero, but a couple of times it was close!

You will attract attention. At RV parks, people wil be interested in the car. At Superchargers, they will be interested in the trailer.

I used an app called EV Trip Optimizer for planning. It has a handy feature called Power Factor that lets you set a higher than normal power consumption for your vehicle. This allows the app to give you better range estimates when plotting your course. This was in 2019, there might be other options now.

Unhitching to charge seems like a pain, but with practice we were able to got it down to two minutes.

Tesla still does not offer a towing package for the M3. In 2019 there were two aftermarket solutions. There may be more now.

Overall, it wears a raging success. That said, if I were doing it today, I would go with a Y. A little more elbow room in the cabin makes the drive more pleasant. And the hatchback is handy for long trips.

 

[Deleted member 205258]

Anyone (else) towing a MYPOD? about 40 mile hit on range.

 

[janni730708]

Just hitched our new Y to our Alto trailer.
Looking forwad to our first camping trip in May.
Dry weight 1750lb
Top up for camping

View attachment 651174
View attachment 651173

Looks awesome!!

 

[ecarfan]

Anyone (else) towing a MYPOD? about 40 mile hit on range.

Thanks for that data point. What speed did you average, was the road mostly flat, temperatures?

That is a nice low profile trailer. For those who don’t know about it, see MyPod | Little Guy Trailers

 

[Deleted member 205258]

Thanks for that data point. What speed did you average, was the road mostly flat, temperatures?

That is a nice low profile trailer. For those who don’t know about it, see MyPod | Little Guy Trailers

I got to load pics and vid from over the spring/summer/fall/winter.usually do speed plus +, cause the trailer says 690 at the scale, once we load, there's another 300 LBS, the groovy thing is it's a slight smaller than the "Y" so and air is in the low pressure zone. for road conditions, we are in Washington state, we had a couple 4000 feet of elevation of 20 miles, that got exciting. first trip was in April to Eastern Washington, so we saw temps for 30-80, bipolar. July we had a few 100 + days, good thing the camper has A/C, our dog appreciated. October of 21 was a challenge, cause the temps and we went to crater lake, usually pulled over every 60-90 min, to let the dog walk, plus any trip over 200 miles, we get a 5 mile run in while charging, everyone asking about the camper buys us about an extra few min at chargers. Campgrounds are fun, if we don't have the tent attached, and taking a nap, people come up and stare. we have parked and snoozed with the fan blowing if we have to, to keep fresh air in the camper. The 3 big climbs and 2 were back to back , Snoquamine Pass, then up to Wenachiee, had to opportune charge a North Bend, then Cle Elum on to Wenachiee, October we went to Crater lake, so that was a great trip. We had a great little EV camping group at Umpqua Last resort, surprising, all the 5th wheels came to chat, there was a bolt, 2 Tesla, and a Leaf. its amazing the range of people that own EV's, a lawyer, a engineer, a teacher, and navy guy. Hope I didn't highjack your thread. to much Black Tea.

 

[240vPlug]

These trailers look nice!

I get frustrated sometimes when I see tow capacity ratings for vehicles. The numbers are heavily dependent on how loaded the vehicle itself is. You need to look at the maximum vehicle load as well. Without getting to long winded …if your loading the tow vehicle full of people and gear you will find your tow rating to be significantly lower. I haven’t looked at how the model Y tow rating is calculated, but most vehicles have charts that will adjust the tow rating based on the number of occupants. Not trying to make anyone fearful….just saying that these advertised tow ratings for vehicles in general are deceptive and could potentially lead folks to think their towing safely when they aren’t.

I’m not an expert on this by any means. You have to look at curb weight and GVWR and the difference would be your maximum load (including your tongue weight). So let’s say you have a max load for occupants and cargo of 900lbs….then you have 600lbs of passengers and cargo…this means you only have 300 lbs to spare before you exceed the amount the vehicle can safely carry. Most dealers will tell you not to come within 1000 lbs of the tow limit.

It doesn’t take much for the weight to add up. Two medium sized adults can easily be 400 lbs.

 

[Unclepaul]

This GVWR weigh rating is the same issue for most all RVs. We had a class C and were always careful to not overload the Suspension. People need to be judicious about bringing more stuff than the load rating. Even filling the fresh water tank can put you over your limit.

 

[avs007]

Exactly. It's the same thing in the RV groups I'm in... People looking at tow rating of their truck, while ignoring their payload and tongue weight.

 

[Deleted member 205258]

These trailers look nice!

I get frustrated sometimes when I see tow capacity ratings for vehicles. The numbers are heavily dependent on how loaded the vehicle itself is. You need to look at the maximum vehicle load as well. Without getting to long winded …if your loading the tow vehicle full of people and gear you will find your tow rating to be significantly lower. I haven’t looked at how the model Y tow rating is calculated, but most vehicles have charts that will adjust the tow rating based on the number of occupants. Not trying to make anyone fearful….just saying that these advertised tow ratings for vehicles in general are deceptive and could potentially lead folks to think their towing safely when they aren’t.

I’m not an expert on this by any means. You have to look at curb weight and GVWR and the difference would be your maximum load (including your tongue weight). So let’s say you have a max load for occupants and cargo of 900lbs….then you have 600lbs of passengers and cargo…this means you only have 300 lbs to spare before you exceed the amount the vehicle can safely carry. Most dealers will tell you not to come within 1000 lbs of the tow limit.

It doesn’t take much for the weight to add up. Two medium sized adults can easily be 400 lbs.

I loaned the MyPod to a couple that own a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the can only level 2 it, They borrowed for a month. They got beaten by the range pretty good, but their camp trip was just in Washington state, so it was drive, charge, drive, camp. We did the same with the Bolt. and would have to stop 4 to 5 times before a few destinations.
240VPlug---0who's 400 pounds...man it's New Years, I'm trying!!!!!
We towed with a Leaf- was a 300 lbs camper not made anymore called a quicksilver. the things we love about the MYPOD is, it's insulated, so stays warm, or cool, fits me the wife and a 65 pound selfish dog that takes so much space I feel like I'm still sleeping on a submarine. it is a bit testy when you get to a charger, and have to push to a spot and then charge. At super chargers, people been really great with hea, I'll be back in such and such min., or they stay and ask about the camper, and give a tour, when they are done, still chatting (talk story if your from Hawaii). we are getting 2 more, and 3 HELIO H3 campers to rent out here in the peninsula.

HE3 Series

Lit confortable transformable en sofa pour deux adultes, espace de rangement avant, grandes fenêtres, aérateur de toit, prise pour panneau solaire, centre de recharge (12-USb), A/C, etc..

heliovr.com

I believe most Tesla owners want more room, but I'd say 30% are like people that grew up with a jeep or a Subaru BRAT/BAJA

​

 

[Gigabyte]

I bought a Little Guy rascal, which is the smallest teardrop that weight only 490 lbs and tongue weight is 50 pounds. I tried to hook it up today but had trouble getting the trailer plug to seat properly in the car outlet. It wouldn’t snap and make a connection, we tried two different ones, not sure if this is a factory defect or what.

 

[Gigabyte]

I loaned the MyPod to a couple that own a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the can only level 2 it, They borrowed for a month. They got beaten by the range pretty good, but their camp trip was just in Washington state, so it was drive, charge, drive, camp. We did the same with the Bolt. and would have to stop 4 to 5 times before a few destinations.
240VPlug---0who's 400 pounds...man it's New Years, I'm trying!!!!!
We towed with a Leaf- was a 300 lbs camper not made anymore called a quicksilver. the things we love about the MYPOD is, it's insulated, so stays warm, or cool, fits me the wife and a 65 pound selfish dog that takes so much space I feel like I'm still sleeping on a submarine. it is a bit testy when you get to a charger, and have to push to a spot and then charge. At super chargers, people been really great with hea, I'll be back in such and such min., or they stay and ask about the camper, and give a tour, when they are done, still chatting (talk story if your from Hawaii). we are getting 2 more, and 3 HELIO H3 campers to rent out here in the peninsula.

HE3 Series

Lit confortable transformable en sofa pour deux adultes, espace de rangement avant, grandes fenêtres, aérateur de toit, prise pour panneau solaire, centre de recharge (12-USb), A/C, etc..

heliovr.com

I believe most Tesla owners want more room, but I'd say 30% are like people that grew up with a jeep or a Subaru BRAT/BAJA

​

I almost bought this quicksilver, but it was too far to drive. I bought a little guy instead.https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2583173058645845/?referralSurface=messenger_lightspeed_banner&referralCode=messenger_banner
its still available I think.

 

[Deleted member 205258]

I bought a Little Guy rascal, which is the smallest teardrop that weight only 490 lbs and tongue weight is 50 pounds. I tried to hook it up today but had trouble getting the trailer plug to seat properly in the car outlet. It wouldn’t snap and make a connection, we tried two different ones, not sure if this is a factory defect or what. View attachment 757009

I had one of those for a year back in 08, didn't get to use much so sold it. what plug do you have for the connector I can help if you like PM

Stephen

 

[Gigabyte]

I had one of those for a year back in 08, didn't get to use much so sold it. what plug do you have for the connector I can help if you like PM

Stephen

It a round 7 pin, husband plugged in one his son had and it worked, guess I’ll need to change the one on the trailer.