Will Model 3 be able to tow?

[ratsbew]

I have no desire to ever buy a pickup truck (even an electric Tesla truck). I'd rather buy a cheap utility trailer that I can register for $20 per year and haul a couple thousand pounds a few times per year. Having the ability for the Model 3 to tow would be an enormous benefit for me. Do you think this will be a factory option like it is with the X? Even if it is only 3000 pounds I'd be happy.

 

[Krugerrand]

What do you tow that with now?

 

[dsm363]

My guess it that would be highly unlikely. Maybe if anything they'd put a hitch on the back capable of holding bikes but wouldn't expect anything more. Purely a guess of course. We will find out soon.

 

[GSP]

I signed the petition for Tesla to rate the Model S for towing. It was started by our Norweigian friends. Why keep or rent another vehicles for this purpose?

I hope Tesla offers towing on both the S and the III. Why not? Gas cars can do it, and there is no reason EVs can't.

GSP

 

[eye.surgeon]

Yes there is a very good reason why EVs can't. And why the M3 won't. 3 thousand pounds?? LOL. No way. How many 3 series do you see towing, anyways? I've never seen it in my life.

 

[ratsbew]

Yes there is a very good reason why EVs can't. And why the M3 won't. 3 thousand pounds?? LOL. No way. How many 3 series do you see towing, anyways? I've never seen it in my life.

I saw a Prius towing a U-Haul trailer today. Those weigh almost 1000 pounds empty.

 

[AudubonB]

"Can?" Jack LaLanne (or of that ilk) towed a barge as he swam around Manhattan.
"Should?" No, not to my way of reasoning. If the Model 3's carriage, suspension, and transmission each are manufactured so that in addition to carrying the vehicle's own weight and that of an appropriate passenger+baggage load, PLUS tow weight....then Tesla Motors has overbuilt the vehicle and overspent its budget on that metric. Money and effort far better used towards other criteria.
Model X? Sure, it should and it can.
Model S? Sure...within fairly strict limitations.

If you want to be able to tow and you want an EV, get an X, or an S....or keep raising your voice so that Tesla gets to market a pickup before the hereafter.

 

[Red Sage]

The BMW 3-Series has an optional tow package.

The Tesla Model ≡ will have an optional tow package.

Electric motors are very good for towing due to having tremendous torque. If there happens to be a Model ≡ 100, it will likely have tremendous towing capability. Though range will likely be halved at speeds over 60 MPH.

 

[jeremyz]

JB Straubel towed stuff with his Roadster. I don't tow with my Roadster, but I have the same crappy Harbor Freight trailer for my Leaf.
Tesla Tractor Trailer | Sun Frost Blog

 

[AlanSqB]

No...but will it blend?

 

[S'toon]

I disagree with the assumption that the 3 will be able to tow. After all, the S doesn't tow. The 3 is smaller than the S. Remember, the 3's priority is easy to build, not complicated. Expensive additions like a tow package would be avoided.

Maybe the Y would.

 

[eye.surgeon]

The BMW 3-Series has an optional tow package.

The Tesla Model ≡ will have an optional tow package.

.

No they don't. And no, it won't.

 

[jeremyz]

Cars in the United States are generally not rated to tow. That's different than them being unable to tow. In other countries, where nobody owns trucks, people tow stuff with cars.
These are the UK towing capacities of various 3-series cars.
BMW 3 SERIES Towing Capacity

 

[eye.surgeon]

Cars in the United States are generally not rated to tow. That's different than them being unable to tow. In other countries, where nobody owns trucks, people tow stuff with cars.
These are the UK towing capacities of various 3-series cars.
BMW 3 SERIES Towing Capacity

just because it can be done, and is done in other countries, doesn't mean it should be done.

This issue is irrelevant anyways. The number of people that plan to tow even occasionally with a M3 could likely fit in a conference room at Ruth Chris.

 

[Tam]

...tow...

I would guess to facilitate timeliness, in the same spirit of less complexity (after the most complex Model X), the initial production won't tow.

I suspect, once the initial version of Model ≡ is produced without a hick up or delays, Tesla may add more features, more versions (including towing) later on.

 

[Morristhecat]

I signed the petition for Tesla to rate the Model S for towing. It was started by our Norweigian friends. Why keep or rent another vehicles for this purpose?

I hope Tesla offers towing on both the S and the III. Why not? Gas cars can do it, and there is no reason EVs can't.

GSP

Where is this petition? I'm interested in signing such a thing for sure!

 

[S'toon]

I find it interesting that people are projecting their desires for a car into the Model 3. They want it to be a super-car. It's not going to be. It's going to be a nice car, but it's not going to be everything that anyone could possibly want in one single vehicle. It's going to be something easy to construct, without anything overly complicated that will delay the release and production. It's going to be the anti-X, not the X-squared.

 

[AudubonB]

Electric motors are very good for towing due to having tremendous torque. If there happens to be a Model ≡ 100, it will likely have tremendous towing capability.

You're missing the point. There is a LOT more to towing than torque, as I posted above. You need a match between motor torque (which I carefully left off, as that one's easy), suspension, frame ("carriage") strength and structure, and transmission.

My takeaway point was and is, however, that given the rather significant restrictions of a $35K sales point, there are concomitant restrictions to what Tesla Motors can provide. Give the Model 3 the characteristics needed to be even a modest tow-er, and other features in far greater demand will perforce be omitted.

Now, as to whether one then can provide such ability as an add-on? I don't believe so. In my experience, it is not possible appropriately to beef up a carriage to make what almost certainly is a lightweight vehicle truly able to tow within any reasonable price - you're talking about a completely different frame. Suspension? The multi-link rear suspensions that Tesla uses are an incredible engineering feat, which means the effort would need be duplicated - thus twice the upfront creation cost - to multi-purpose the vehicle. Transmission? Here the advantages of an EV mitigate - but do not absolve completely - the cost problem, as that more readily can be beefed up as necessary.

Are those costs the appropriate ones for The Company Maker - which is how I believe the Model 3 must be viewed? I absolutely, incontrovertibly, cannot see it.

 

[ohmman]

There is no question that the M3 will tow - just as there was no question that the MX would have electrochromic tinting windows, side cameras, seats that rotated outward and presented themselves, rear seats that folded flat, and any number of other things that were speculated upon.

What I mean is - be careful with your assumptions about incorporated features, or you're going to wind up being disappointed. The Model X, a much more expensive vehicle, is a taller Model S with interesting doors, a big windshield, and an option for towing. Don't set yourself up for disappointment. Expecting a tow package in the 3 is a bad idea.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I don't expect towing. But it would be great if they did include it. If so, I would probably sell my i30/Elantra Touring (which has ample towing for my needs). And if Tesla had included towing on the Model S when they added AWD, I probably would have bought a D at launch.

The *perfect* car for Norway would be a Model 3 wagon with AWD and tow hitch. They would barely be able to make enough of them. (Okay, Norway is pretty small, so we'd maybe be talking about only 10k per year, but still.)