Heavy EVs

[ZedLeg]

Saw a discussion on Twitter spurred by this ad this morning.

https://www.clivesutton.co.uk/vehicles/ ... edition-1/

The Hummer EV is close to 4 tonnes so I thought you would need an LGV license for it. Apparently they've waived that rule for EVs.

Seems like a bonkers decision tbh. Any numbskull (you would have to be a numbskull to spend £180k on one) can buy a 4 tonne 1000bhp vehicle and go on their way.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Yep - makes no sense whatsoever. And how is that supposed to work then if you want to use your heavy EV to tow another vehicle, given that you could traditionally be pulled for the combined weight being over the threshold? Or are you not allowed to tow using an EV?

[V8Granite]

Yep - makes no sense whatsoever. And how is that supposed to work then if you want to use your heavy EV to tow another vehicle, given that you could traditionally be pulled for the combined weight being over the threshold? Or are you not allowed to tow using an EV?

EVs do about 10 miles when towing anything heavy so the police find any miscriants easy to catch.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

It only weighs a few hundred KG more than the Hummer H1 so it’s within acceptable weight gain limits for an EV

[jamcg]

4 tonnes that does 0-60 in 3 seconds, with no training/knowledge of handling a 4 tonne vehicle. Doesn’t sound dangerous at all……

[Barry]

It doesn't hang about for four tonne no..

[RobYob]

EVs do about 10 miles when towing anything heavy...
Dave!

Actually EVs are outstanding at towing heavy stuff, just really bad if it isn't aerodynamic...

[ZedLeg]

It's mad to me that governments would change established laws to support these boondoggles.

They should be putting pressure on manufacturers to build their evs more intelligently.

[V8Granite]

EVs do about 10 miles when towing anything heavy...
Dave!

Actually EVs are outstanding at towing heavy stuff, just really bad if it isn't aerodynamic...

No they are currently horrific, absolutely pathetic range. You don’t need a lot of power or torque to tow well at all.

Dave!

[RobYob]

EVs do about 10 miles when towing anything heavy...
Dave!

Actually EVs are outstanding at towing heavy stuff, just really bad if it isn't aerodynamic...

No they are currently horrific, absolutely pathetic range. You don’t need a lot of power or torque to tow well at all.

Dave!

What uses most of an EVs range, rolling resistance or aero drag?
Max torque from 0rpm is extremely nice to have when towing.

[Sundayjumper]

You don’t need a lot of power or torque to tow well at all.

I think we had this conversation already and we disagreed. I say you need torque, and a lot of it. My Cayenne has plenty more power than my Touareg did, but less torque. The Touareg beat it hands-down for towing. And it's a good comparison here because they're exactly the same platform underneath. Just different power plants.

[integrale_evo]

Mechanically they’re great for towing, however they’re so optimised to eke out every mm of range that sticking a big ugly trailer on the back ruins it. Made even worse if you have to go up any sort of a gradient.

[V8Granite]

Actually EVs are outstanding at towing heavy stuff, just really bad if it isn't aerodynamic...

No they are currently horrific, absolutely pathetic range. You don’t need a lot of power or torque to tow well at all.

Dave!

What uses most of an EVs range, rolling resistance or aero drag?
Max torque from 0rpm is extremely nice to have when towing.

Why is the range so incredibly bad when electric vehicles tow then ? Due to how much more efficient they are they will always lose more range when affected by external factors. Even if you had a 50% efficient petrol engine on a steady cruise then external factors would affect the electric car twice as much.

The range drops through the floor with anything heavy. If it were a perfectly flat road with no hills then it isn’t affected as much.

Dave!

[RobYob]

Why is the range so incredibly bad when electric vehicles tow then ? Due to how much more efficient they are they will always lose more range when affected by external factors. Even if you had a 50% efficient petrol engine on a steady cruise then external factors would affect the electric car twice as much.

The range drops through the floor with anything heavy. If it were a perfectly flat road with no hills then it isn’t affected as much.

Dave!

Because you've usually attached an incredibly draggy box to the EV and (easily) run up to NSL. The mass of the box is largely irrelevant.

Tow around town and I think you'll be surprised.

Yes EV towing is crap, but it's not about the trailer weight.

Teardrop caravans to make a big comeback!

[Rich B]

So what we're saying is, EVs are crap at towing anything that you'd actually want to tow in an actual real life situation, but great at towing a trailer full of flat aerodynamic metal sheets or something similar.

[Sundayjumper]

…or a trailer with an aerodynamic shape sitting on it. Like a car.

[Mito Man]

It’s probably still crap. Tesla removed the fog lights on the facelift model 3 and that increased range by 40 miles.

Thus we can extrapolate that adding something behind your car which is thousands of times bigger than a fog light will result in a range of negative 12,000 miles.

[Rich B]

…or a trailer with an aerodynamic shape sitting on it. Like a car.

it would be good to see if this actually is the case - any examples?

[Sundayjumper]

…or a trailer with an aerodynamic shape sitting on it. Like a car.

it would be good to see if this actually is the case - any examples?

Probably ? No idea. Do your own research

A car on a flat trailer *ought* to be more aerodynamic than a big box but sometimes life isn't as you'd expect.

[RobYob]

Flat trailer Vs caravan, Diesel Vs EV towing.
Data from about 8min.

And I helped out on this video.