BEV as a toad behind diesel pusher
As the BEV/RV capability debate rages on, I have couple of questions regarding the viability of an electric car being used as a towed vehicle. First, are some even rated as being capable of being t...
Forum Discussion
valhalla360 wrote:
A few minutes braking on the downhills won't add much to the battery pack. Regenerative braking is mostly about recovering the acceleration power used.
I don't recall any long downhills on that stretch...for the most part, you don't even need to touch the brakes to keep speed under control...but let's say you find a 2min stretch of downhill where the regen is putting out 50kw. That's going to generate a whopping 1.6kwh on a car that likely has a 80-120kwh battery bank. Even if you find 10 downhill stretches on the stretch of road you mention, that's only 16kwh. In much of the country, I never have to touch the brakes to keep the speed at the limit.
EVs are known to eat up tires in the first place (without locking up the tires). Trying to meaningfully slow down a 30,000lb MH is only going to accelerate the issue.
I picked that section of road, because Ks is known to be flat. As for "never use the brakes" I don't know about the air drag of a MH compared to the light weight, so you may not need to slow. I know that most times I'm on interstate I try to hold my speed real constant. Pick up speed going down, it looks like you are struggling to get up. Like a old outlaw told me when I first started "Put on what you want to haul, but never put on more than you can step with" 3 trucks on a small grade, 1 be struggling, he will get stopped. Because I would often run fat, I would always have my old snot turned up so I could pack a jag, and look right.
And tire slip will limit how much the toad will slow the combination, but most interstate travel, with the MH supplying the power, nothing will be coming out of batteries. But most anytime the rig slows, even to reduce speed to match a slower vehicle while a faster overtakes you, a little of the wasted energy could go in the battery. Would it get the battery from half to full in the course of a day? Don't know. But I would bet my last dollar a ICE has no more gas in the tank than when started at end of day, unless you pumped it there.
"EVs are known to eat up tires in the first place" I did not know this. Any idea as to the why of that?
