Towing

[Saghost]

Looking at a shot of the "side mirror" cameras in the wheel arches are there any thoughts on how cybertruck will deal with the need to see behind a travel trailer?

One of the things we’ll have to wait and see on.

The Tesla “just works” solution would be one or more wireless cameras that you can easily attach to the trailer and are integrated with one of the interior displays, but that’s just me speculating, and how they are powered or recharged is an open question.

They could even uses the AP computers to calibrate the spot you put them in over a few miles and then integrate data from them into the car’s overall 3D world and blend data or imagery from the various sources...

 

[coleAK]

I have a blue tooth camera on the back of our current travel trailer. Seeing down the sides for changing lanes and backing into spots is why I use tow mirrors. I guess 2 additional cameras on the front sides of the camper could work but what happens when they get covered in dirt/dust/mud? The front quarter lower half of my camper is always dirty. Then I have to stop walk around the camper and clear them with my finger?

 

[SSonnentag]

Further proof that the CyberTruck vs. F-150 tug-of-war was only a stunt is the fact that the F-150 has been proven to be able to tow 1,000,000 lbs. while the CyberTruck is only rated for 14,000 lbs.

Ford teases all-electric F-150 pickup truck by pulling a million-pound train

 

[muleferg]

Air Stream has a camera on the rear.

 

[Blup85]

I want the dual motor with 500 mile range. I have no need for 0-60 acceleration, I have both an AWD and Tri RN, but I'm wondering how long Tesla will take to offer an AWD 500 mile range like the did with the MX P100D then eventually just a 100D.

My fear for the AWD 300 range is the limited range while towing, it would actually be way less than the current MX, which is not good, and the CT will probably tow larger heavy trailers, lowering it even more.
So... how long after the release until I get what I think most folks want... An AWD 500 mile ( 300 mile when towing) kickass CT?

 

[ecarfan]

I had the same thought. With the cameras you can’t add extended tow mirrors. Unless they make a plug in camera extension that sticks out further? Or mirrors that clip in the door frame?

I see no need for the CT to have conventional mirrors that can be extended in some way. I tow a 17 ft long/86” wide trailer with my X. I have a rear camera attached to my trailer that wirelessly connects to a display in the X. With that and the X mirrors with no extensions added I have no difficulty seeing what I need to see to safely tow and change lanes. The same approach would work with the CT.

 

[coleAK]

I see no need for the CT to have conventional mirrors that can be extended in some way. I tow a 17 ft long/86” wide trailer with my X. I have a rear camera attached to my trailer that wirelessly connects to a display in the X. With that and the X mirrors with no extensions added I have no difficulty seeing what I need to see to safely tow and change lanes. The same approach would work with the CT.

Well most full size campers are 96” wide and can be up to 102”. I pull a Black rock 22BHS: 26’ long, 96” wide, ~6800 lbs all over Alaska 50-70 days a summer with my Lexus LX570. As mentioned I have a blue tooth camera on the back but Without tow mirrors have a huge blind spot on the side of the trailer and without the mirror extensors would have a hard time navigating through and backing into some of the tight wooded areas we camp without a spotter. I CAN tow without them but it is much safer and easier with them. Even 3/4, 1 ton, and semi tractors use tow wider tow mirrors. Think about it to see with a mirror past a 96” trailer you need a mirror/camera that extends out at least that far. In the short distance between the tow rig and camper light mostly travels in a straight line.

 

[Saghost]

Well most full size campers are 96” wide and can be up to 102”. I pull a Black rock 22BHS: 26’ long, 96” wide, ~6800 lbs all over Alaska 50-70 days a summer with my Lexus LX570. As mentioned I have a blue tooth camera on the back but Without tow mirrors have a huge blind spot on the side of the trailer and without the mirror extensors would have a hard time navigating through and backing into some of the tight wooded areas we camp without a spotter. I CAN tow without them but it is much safer and easier with them. Even 3/4, 1 ton, and semi tractors use tow wider tow mirrors. Think about it to see with a mirror past a 96” trailer you need a mirror/camera that extends out at least that far. In the short distance between the tow rig and camper light mostly travels in a straight line.

As I think about it more, what I’d like to see is a pair of cameras on maybe eight foot cords that plug in near the hitch that can be easily mounted/clipped/magnetically tied to the sides of the trailer at the front and then a wireless rear camera - if there’s a universal standard for those, maybe just support the integration of input from one that meets the standard.

Hopefully they’d calibrate the fields of view of these cameras and integrate them into the AP surroundings view, and give options to see the view from one or more or possibly some sort of fused view.

 

[SSonnentag]

I just want my own dedicated high-resolution satellite to keep an eye on my vehicle 24/7 to provide me with in-car overhead footage. Then AP can take over and handle all the driving AND backing.

 

[Blup85]

You can get these in the US now apparently. Friend of mine did an offroad demo trip in Moab to show them off. They are slowly releasing the trips in a series. Looks like a perfect pairing for the Cybertruck.
Black Series Trailers

Moab Series

 

[coleAK]

You can get these in the US now apparently. Friend of mine did an offroad demo trip in Moab to show them off. They are slowly releasing the trips in a series. Looks like a perfect pairing for the Cybertruck.
Black Series Trailers

Moab Series

Black series are awesome! I have 2 friends with them (21’ and 19’). Just a heads up the camper is $50-$70k (which is a deal considering an airstream is at least that much) and towing efficiency is horrible. additional ~20% efficiency hit from other similar size campers, so you’d probably be looking at 900-1000+ Wh/mi towing one.

 

[Ulmo]

I got curious about towing. In order from most towing weight to least ("cargo" is my word for what the pickup bed can carry):

• Ford F250: $63K, 11 tons towing, 2? tons cargo.
• Ford F450: $50K, 10.5 tons towing, 3 tons cargo.
• Ram 3500: $35K, 7.5 tons towing, >2 tons cargo.
• Ram 2500: $34K, 7.5 tons towing, 2 tons cargo.
• CT Tricycle: $70K, 7 tons towing, <2 tons cargo.
• Ford F350: $36K, 6.5 tons towing, 2 tons cargo.
• TCT Dual: $50K, 5 tons towing, <2 tons cargo.
• Ford F150: $48K, 4 tons towing, <1 ton cargo.
• CT Single: $40K, <4 tons towing, <2 tons cargo.
• Ram 1500: $32K, 3 tons towing, 1 ton cargo.*

It gets more complicated, because, for instance, the Ram website says "see dealer" to put add-ons that double towing; the web site doesn't really say what that means. And the website quotes the no-addons price for a model and then gives the max towing for that line but has a footnote "with addon bla bla bla" but doesn't have a button that tells you what that addon costs. Scammy.

Tesla has the "Tri Motor", which sounds like you are trying, tricycle, or trisexual or something. I think it's bad marketing. I know they started with the Dual Motor back in the days of the 85 (Tesla P85D and such), but for marketing reasons, it seems like a bad idea to use the available prefix for the next step up in motor count. I am trying to think of better marketing names than "Tri Motor": let's say "3 motor". Well, it's not a big change, but I think it counts. Tesla: take out the "Tri Motor" marketing. That "Tri" hurts.

Here is Ford's F150 towing brochure: https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten...eneral/pdf/guides/21Towing_Ford_F150_Dec3.pdf
It looks like the EcoBoost is the obvious F150 to get for towing, so I'll spec that. Well, no, I can't figure out its price, and mechanics don't like it. I found a dealer and hit the top F150 on the page so got what I put above.

While doing this, I realized the F250 is the towing favorite for Ford models, since it specs out a high range of towing capabilities that the higher models don't seem to talk about much. With the high configurability of the entire Ford lineup, that makes me think I just didn't research enough, and that a properly equipped F350, F450, or higher Ford model would be able to tow way more than anything above.

Ok, let me say it. The "Tesla Tri" only tows 7 tons. Time for a "Tesla Quad" that goes up in the 10 ton tow range? Push it even ... 12 or 13 tons tow? Even 14 tons tow. The F250 has a top-spec of 14 tons tow, but I couldn't figure out how to price that out. How about 3 axles with 4 or more motors? That would add weight and allow less pressure on the roadways. Or, even do something odd like what a lowboy trailer does and have a full-width line of tires (they have 8 tires on one "axle"). Anyway, just talking out loud here. Hold that off until later I suppose is the plan. Or just let Ford or Ram do it (when they offer electric).

 

[Ludalicious]

Really hard to compare. Unless Tesla fixes the supercharging infrastructure not many people are going to be using their trucks for towing other than around town. Going to be a complete PIA trying to charge with a 20-30' trailer attached. I haven't seen too many pull through chargers. Actually I haven't seen any locally.

 

[Ulmo]

Any towing with a trailer over 26,000 pounds requires a CDL

Who cares. I already have one of those.

 

[Ulmo]

Really hard to compare. Unless Tesla fixes the supercharging infrastructure not many people are going to be using their trucks for towing other than around town. Going to be a complete PIA trying to charge with a 20-30' trailer attached. I haven't seen too many pull through chargers. Actually I haven't seen any locally.

I agree. I was just curious.

We know that electric has drive-up-a-hill-with-a-trailer long distance problems, but maybe that's not the only use case. I know a lot of vacationers would love to pull their trailer to a camp site in the Sierras when it is snowing, but a lot of camps close when it snows, but who knows, someone might try it. That would be very hard in electric.

But what about pulling stuff from the shop to the work site? That might be a 20 mile drive, which is within range of a fully charged CyberTruck even if it is pulling its maximum rating with bad weather. Then, when you need to move some tractor on a trailer around, or pick up a bunch of lumber, that's another 30 miles no problem. I'm just thinking out loud here. I don't know the actual use cases. But it seems like there ought to be some use cases for CyberTrucks that include quite a bit of towing, especially for people that do a lot of labor (thus won't be on the road as much during their day, so are just moving stuff around to put it in place). But, laborers don't make a lot of money (lack of leverage), so they will be looking for inexpensive vehicles. Maybe laborers that use machines have a "little more leverage", but any guy that can pick up a baseball and throw it can also push a hydraulic lever, so I'm not even sure about that.

 

[rodmacpherson]

I had the same thought. With the cameras you can’t add extended tow mirrors. Unless they make a plug in camera extension that sticks out further? Or mirrors that clip in the door frame?

Mirrors that clip in the door frame are already a thing and super inexpensive to add on. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07N76WNGD/