X to tow a LEAF across country?

[cantdecide]

Suppose you have 2 adults and you want to get an X and a LEAF halfway across the US (CA to CO). What is the best way?
Obviously you would drive the X, but what about the LEAF

1) Pay someone to take the LEAF
I think the cost would be about $1000

2) Sell the LEAF and buy another LEAF in the destination
Cost is probably $1000 or more (depending on how good you are at buying and selling, and tax)

3) Use a tow bar.
Cost is probably $800 for the equipment, but you can resell it so real cost about $200
Not sure that you can use a tow bar on a LEAF.
At superchargers you would need to unhook the car (about every 100 miles)

4) Use a tow dolly.
Cost is about $1200 but you can resell the equipment afterwards so real cost about $200.
This should work with the LEAF... as others have reported using a tow dolly to tow a LEAF
However at each supercharger it would be annoying... you need to unstrap the leaf and take it off the dolly, then unhook the dolly from the car (and do the opposite after charging)... and do this operation every 100 miles or so.

5) Use a tow trailer.
Cost is about $3k but you can sell it afterwards... so real cost is likely $600.
Easier to unhook and rehook at superchargers, but still a hassle.

6) Drive the LEAF. Stop for CHADEMO charging in lots of RV parks to charge. Cost is mainly an EVSE or Jesla, but we already have an appropriate EVSE.

Overall I suspect that (4) may be the best compromise... sure it takes an extra 15 minutes every 100 miles given 2 adults to load and unload but that would only add 3 hours to traveling time.
Otherwise (1) would make the overall trip much faster and less risky.
Any thoughts?

 

[FarmerDave]

How about a U-Haul one-way rental?

 

[cantdecide]

Using U-Haul to rent a trailer, dolly, or truck and put a dolly on the back of that?
My guess is that renting a trailer or dolly would be similar cost to buying and selling a trailer or dolly (but maybe less hassle)

 

[Solarman004]

Rent a tow dolly would be my first choice. Driving the Leaf (I own a 2012 Leaf) would be dead last. I would sooner remove my own appendix with a broken bottle than attempt that drive in a Leaf.

 

[ecarfan]

Rent a car trailer.

Definitely not option #6. That would take weeks.

 

[Az_Rael]

Honestly I would do option 1 and just pay to have it shipped.

 

[Yggdrasill]

In Norway I would do #6, but I guess you don't have the required infrastructure. Maybe the dolly? You'd probably be passing through a lot of almost deserted superchargers, so you could likely just take up 2-4 spaces at some of the superchargers.

 

[BerTX]

You cant tow a Leaf with the front wheels on the ground, so #3 is out right away.

I don't think you can just unhitch a tow dolly -- you have to put the car on and off to unhitch the dolly. In most non-urban Superchargers you would be able to pull in to charge without unhitching, so maybe you would not have to unload too often. But when you did, it will be much more hassle than you think. Also, you can't really back up with a tow dolly more that a couple of feet straight back.

The trailer will be heavy and increase drag more than the tow dolly, and you would still have to unhitch. But you could back up and unhitch.

If you like the Leaf, do #1, otherwise #2.

 

[SageBrush]

I brought a LEAF from CA to Colorado a couple of months ago. Shipping costs to my home were higher than I wanted to pay so I ended up with a combination:

1. I shipped to a convenient place for myself and the trucker about 125 miles from my home. I picked a major highway that I knew car shippers frequented. ~ $600 from Stockton to Gallup, NM

2. I rented a 'one-way' dolly from U-haul to pick it up. ~ $50

The trade-off here, other than the obvious part of saving the trucker miles and time in return for a lower shipping price, is that you or your representative have to be available to pick up the car at the drop-off spot when the trucker arrives.

 

[McRat]

A U-Haul full car trailer one-way is not necessarily cheap, and the empty trailer is heavy, make sure you do not exceed your tow capacity. They may not allow you to rent it though, some places are very picky about what is used as a tow vehicle. They can be backed up after you lock the trailer surge brakes.

Tow bars are specific to the car installed on, and can involve cutting and drilling. I use a Blue Ox. It wasn't cheap, and backing up is not an option like a trailer is, it can damage the tow bar. Only vehicles that can be towed with all 4 on the ground are candidates, which is rare.

Dolly is an option, but without any form of trailer braking, you can see heavy brake loading on the tow vehicle on grades. Rock chips will occur.

Enclosed trailer is what we used for race cars. This is the safest for the car, but driver should be very experienced towing heavy. Not even worth it for an inexpensive car.

Personally, I would hire an open trailer car hauling service. Safer for both you and your vehicle.

 

[SageBrush]

You cant tow a Leaf with the front wheels on the ground, so #3 is out right away.

You most certainly can, and I have.

 

[abasile]

There's no way I'd drive our 2011 LEAF with its degraded 24 kWh battery - there just isn't enough range to work with.

However, if I had time, and in temperate weather, I might consider driving a newer LEAF if it had a 30 kWh battery with minimal capacity loss (107 miles of EPA rated range). Admittedly, I'm a sucker for adventures like that. I would carry a good road or mountain bike and go for rides while charging. Or maybe go running and also use a laptop computer.

 

[dhanson865]

You most certainly can, and I have.

The leafs owners manual says you shouldn't and doing so would void your warranty should a drive unit / power train issue occur.

 

[cantdecide]

Driving the Leaf (I own a 2012 Leaf) would be dead last. I would sooner remove my own appendix with a broken bottle than attempt that drive in a Leaf.

Definitely not option #6. That would take weeks.

In Norway I would do #6, but I guess you don't have the required infrastructure.

There's no way I'd drive our 2011 LEAF with its degraded 24 kWh battery - there just isn't enough range to work with.

However, if I had time, and in temperate weather, I might consider driving a newer LEAF if it had a 30 kWh battery with minimal capacity loss (107 miles of EPA rated range). Admittedly, I'm a sucker for adventures like that. I would carry a good road or mountain bike and go for rides while charging. Or maybe go running and also use a laptop computer.

Thanks for all the replies so far...
Regarding driving the LEAF... there is certainly not much infrastructure along the way.
Could probably do about 1/3 of the journey on Chademo level 3... drive an hour or so, wait 40 minutes, repeat...
Could probably do another 1/3 of the journey on j1772 ... drive an hour or so, wait 3 hours to charge... is no problem for a couple of overnight stays along the way, but the rest of the time it is slow.
The rest is campground 14-50.
The cost is a couple of extra night's accommodation at hotels and a couple of extra nights at campgrounds (bring a tent for summer)

For that option I wouldn't do it myself but if the other person is my father who is retired and has plenty of time and wants to see America anyway then the nice slow trip could be a plus as well as an adventure.
e.g. across Utah (the hole in public charging) you could stay a night at each of two KOAs 125 miles apart, drive slowly between them, and spend the rest of the day relaxing at the campground facilities.

 

[gabeincal]

Pay someone to deliver it.

 

[SageBrush]

The leafs owners manual says you shouldn't and doing so would void your warranty should a drive unit / power train issue occur.

No

The warning is against leaving the front wheels on the ground. This is a FWD vehicle, after all. You do have to release the parking (emergency) brake.

 

[cantdecide]

On tow bars...

You cant tow a Leaf with the front wheels on the ground, so #3 is out right away.

You most certainly can, and I have.

SageBrush, was the method to leave the LEAF on and just let it regen the whole time? How far did you travel that way?

The leafs owners manual says you shouldn't and doing so would void your warranty should a drive unit / power train issue occur.

It seems to be one of those things where theoretically you can't but in practice you might be able to risk it.
Even though it is a cheap car ($6k used) I imagine any drive train damage would be costly.

Tow bars are specific to the car installed on, and can involve cutting and drilling. I use a Blue Ox. It wasn't cheap, and backing up is not an option like a trailer is, it can damage the tow bar. Only vehicles that can be towed with all 4 on the ground are candidates, which is rare.

This sounds like a real hassle for a one-off drive.
This is probably my least favourite option.

 

[SageBrush]

SageBrush, was the method to leave the LEAF on and just let it regen the whole time? How far did you travel that way?

See my response to Dhanson. The rear wheels roll, the front wheels are on the dolly. Apologies if I was not clear. As you can see from my snippet of the User manual below, it is a Nissan approved way to tow the car.

 

[cantdecide]

On a tow dolly...

Rent a tow dolly would be my first choice.

I don't think you can just unhitch a tow dolly -- you have to put the car on and off to unhitch the dolly. In most non-urban Superchargers you would be able to pull in to charge without unhitching, so maybe you would not have to unload too often. But when you did, it will be much more hassle than you think. Also, you can't really back up with a tow dolly more that a couple of feet straight back.
If you like the Leaf, do #1, otherwise #2.

Removing the car to unhitch is definitely a hassle ... watched a couple of youtube videos seems only slightly easier that installing snow chains. Inability to back also makes life difficult.

Dolly is an option, but without any form of trailer braking, you can see heavy brake loading on the tow vehicle on grades. Rock chips will occur.
.

I wouldn't want to do it without brakes on the trailer... fortunately some car dollies include braking and this would be needed for a 3300lb car on the back of an X. I'm not too worried about rock chips on a nanny car worth $6k used... but it is still worth taking into account.

 

[SageBrush]

You most certainly can, and I have.

Sorry all, to clarify I was saying I towed the LEAF -- not that I used a bar. The front wheels should be off the ground.