Will Model 3 be able to tow?

[rulaman]

Hi, this is my first post here in teslamotorsclub, I am owning a MS85D as primary car since more than a year,
and a Renault Zoe (new 40kW battery) as secondary car since 5 months. Better ask my wife which is primary or secondary.

Actually waiting until Tesla M3 arrival (reservation done) with hopefully both a dual motor and a towing hitch,
to replave my Zoe. Actually Zoe is fine, however kind of lower, so I would like to replace ASAP.
My Zoe has a third party towing hitch which is under german law kind of tricky, but barely legal so I urgently hope for M3
with cristal clear regulations.. MX is no option, because I only want one "big" car in the family.

Because I only need a really small trailer for really short distance with garden trash my plans are to replace the Zoe
as soon as the M3 will meet my needs hopefully.

Concerning trailers, I want to give a short clarification on german regulations,
which is possibly the same or similar in other EU countries:
If you only intend to tow a trailer for garden trash which is in my opinion 90% of average usage then you will own a trailer
without internal brake and this is in Germany cerified to 750 kg max towing capability, no matter of the towing cars capability.
If you need to tow horses or mobile homes then you certainly have higher needs.
However In my opinion this is a minority. And in addition these people need higher priced cars for status reasons.
Back to the trailers, if you need to tow more than 750kg, no matter if your towing car is a Truck or whatever,
you will need a trailer with internal braking which is more than double the price of a mainstream, and therefore rare to find.

What I want to tell you in my opinion if Tesla M3 would be certified to 750kg (or even less) it would meet 90% of european (german) needs.
I will keep fingers crossed and hopefully in 2 days we know more.
Best regards from Black Forest Germany

 

[JOEV1]

Hi, this is my first post here in teslamotorsclub, I am owning a MS85D as primary car since more than a year,
and a Renault Zoe (new 40kW battery) as secondary car since 5 months. Better ask my wife which is primary or secondary.

Actually waiting until Tesla M3 arrival (reservation done) with hopefully both a dual motor and a towing hitch,
to replave my Zoe. Actually Zoe is fine, however kind of lower, so I would like to replace ASAP.
My Zoe has a third party towing hitch which is under german law kind of tricky, but barely legal so I urgently hope for M3
with cristal clear regulations.. MX is no option, because I only want one "big" car in the family.

Because I only need a really small trailer for really short distance with garden trash my plans are to replace the Zoe
as soon as the M3 will meet my needs hopefully.

Concerning trailers, I want to give a short clarification on german regulations,
which is possibly the same or similar in other EU countries:
If you only intend to tow a trailer for garden trash which is in my opinion 90% of average usage then you will own a trailer
without internal brake and this is in Germany cerified to 750 kg max towing capability, no matter of the towing cars capability.
If you need to tow horses or mobile homes then you certainly have higher needs.
However In my opinion this is a minority. And in addition these people need higher priced cars for status reasons.
Back to the trailers, if you need to tow more than 750kg, no matter if your towing car is a Truck or whatever,
you will need a trailer with internal braking which is more than double the price of a mainstream, and therefore rare to find.

What I want to tell you in my opinion if Tesla M3 would be certified to 750kg (or even less) it would meet 90% of european (german) needs.
I will keep fingers crossed and hopefully in 2 days we know more.
Best regards from Black Forest Germany

"rulaman´s" post describes best why I made my reservation for a Model 3, And, because EM said earlier that towing will be available with Model 3. Otherwise, I shall drop my reservation (as many others might do as well in Europe) even I am very happy with my Model SD. I recommend Elon to speak with his Dutch community, and he will understand what I mean.
Sure they will tell him that reduced range is not an issue when pulling a Caravan across the continent.

I also sincerely hope that TM will come up with a towing-kit for the Model S which will give it another sales "kick"
Maybe, EM finds that there is a market for the "S", specially when orders are going to be decreasing because of Model 3.

 

[dhanson865]

ah, but are you looking at Euro-spec websites?

that's comparing apples and oranges. i'm willing to bet that 50% number you've come by in Europe is significantly less here in the US.

That's like saying it's OK for VW to violate EU emission standards in the US just because it's the US.

What's safe there is safe here. The laws are different by society rules. The laws of physics are the same here as there.

It doesn't become unsafe to tow a tiny trailer just because the steering wheel is on the other side of the car.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

That's like saying it's OK for VW to violate EU emission standards in the US just because it's the US.

What's safe there is safe here. The laws are different by society rules. The laws of physics are the same here as there.

It doesn't become unsafe to tow a tiny trailer just because the steering wheel is on the other side of the car.

and yet we have laws about what color your directional blinkers have to be or what color the seatbelt release button has to be.

Also, just how far back did we go to dig THIS thread up again?

 

[blownb310]

The early Model 3's may not have an available under car receiver but that doesn't mean you can fabricate or modify an existing one. It will be interesting to see what the rear frame looks like after the rear bumper cover is removed. If it is anything like most modern cars, you could mount it between the frame and the rear bumper support, like on this Outback. The beauty of this is that no holes would need to be drilled.

 

[Jdcorbitt3]

There have been just over one milion Miatas made in their 28 year history. Curt and a couple of other manufacturers have made hitches for every generation of miatas. There will be more Model 3s in 2 years than Miatas ever made. If the factory doesn’t offer a hitch, it will only be months before an aftermarket company makes one. I am just hoping to have the blessing of Tesla for the hitch going on my Model 3.

John

 

[run-the-joules]

that's comparing apples and oranges.

Why can't fruit be compared?

 

[Yggdrasill]

Hi, this is my first post here in teslamotorsclub, I am owning a MS85D as primary car since more than a year,
and a Renault Zoe (new 40kW battery) as secondary car since 5 months. Better ask my wife which is primary or secondary.

Actually waiting until Tesla M3 arrival (reservation done) with hopefully both a dual motor and a towing hitch,
to replave my Zoe. Actually Zoe is fine, however kind of lower, so I would like to replace ASAP.
My Zoe has a third party towing hitch which is under german law kind of tricky, but barely legal so I urgently hope for M3
with cristal clear regulations.. MX is no option, because I only want one "big" car in the family.

Because I only need a really small trailer for really short distance with garden trash my plans are to replace the Zoe
as soon as the M3 will meet my needs hopefully.

Concerning trailers, I want to give a short clarification on german regulations,
which is possibly the same or similar in other EU countries:
If you only intend to tow a trailer for garden trash which is in my opinion 90% of average usage then you will own a trailer
without internal brake and this is in Germany cerified to 750 kg max towing capability, no matter of the towing cars capability.
If you need to tow horses or mobile homes then you certainly have higher needs.
However In my opinion this is a minority. And in addition these people need higher priced cars for status reasons.
Back to the trailers, if you need to tow more than 750kg, no matter if your towing car is a Truck or whatever,
you will need a trailer with internal braking which is more than double the price of a mainstream, and therefore rare to find.

What I want to tell you in my opinion if Tesla M3 would be certified to 750kg (or even less) it would meet 90% of european (german) needs.
I will keep fingers crossed and hopefully in 2 days we know more.
Best regards from Black Forest Germany

Just to inform you, you can actually get a tow hitch for the Zoe in Germany: Wolf Feinmechanik - Einzelanfertigung und Kleinstserien, 85399 Hallbergmoos

It has a certification specifically for Germany, so it may or may not be approved outside Germany, but in Germany it's definitely an option.

A Norwegian guy got a Zoe approved with this tow hitch a few weeks ago, which caused quite a stir. His approval will most likely be retracted, but at least for a little while, he can legally drive with a 750 kg trailer on his Zoe. Google Oversetter

 

[Sverre]

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. ... Even if it is only 3000 pounds I'd be happy.

+1

This will really make a huge difference in Europe if model 3 will be able to tow. Usually families have only on car and many times a year you have a need to transport something to big or dirty to have inside your car.