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.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:45 pm
by 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?
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:28 pm
by V8Granite
Swervin_Mervin wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:45 pm
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!
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:33 pm
by 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
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:41 pm
by 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……
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2023 8:52 pm
by Barry
It doesn't hang about for four tonne no..
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2023 8:02 am
by RobYob
V8Granite wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:28 pm
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...
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2023 9:38 am
by 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 wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:28 pm
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.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2023 9:29 pm
by Sundayjumper
V8Granite wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2023 10:03 am
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.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 3:10 am
by 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.
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!
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 8:58 am
by RobYob
V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2023 8:14 am
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!
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 9:05 am
by 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.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 9:14 am
by Sundayjumper
…or a trailer with an aerodynamic shape sitting on it. Like a car.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 10:13 am
by 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.
Re: Heavy EVs
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2023 10:15 am
by Rich B
Sundayjumper wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2023 9:14 am
…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?
