Electric Toad

JRscooby wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
This all is theoretically possible, but it would require the EV to engineered to be used as a toad. The OEM could program the car to sense the need for braking when connected to a tow vehicle to engage regen braking, and once the battery was topped off the car could revert to regular service brakes. It could be controlled by a wired or wireless connection, or possibly the toad's own computer and sensors could do it. The same thing could be done with a gas engine car, a factory "toad" package with fully integrated wiring and braking. With most cars having electrically boosted brakes as opposed to the old vacuum boosted systems it wouldn't be hard to do if the OEMs chose to do the engineering. Sure would be a step up from a hokey electric box that plugs into a 12V outlet.

As EVs become more common, the demand they become 4-down towable will increase. And mechanically I think it would be simpler and less power demand than todays 4X4. (Assuming the motor shaft is parallel to axle) The extra friction changing direction in differential is eliminated.
And if/when the regen system gets near a full charge the toad could pull it's own weight long enough to get room in batt for another stop. This would reduce fuel use by MH. Best if the driver could shut that off if close to where going to unhook and use toad.
Is there a gearset between motor and wheel, or does the motor turn same RPM as wheel?

Rivian and Lordstown use hub motors but don’t know if it’s 1 to 1. Tesla has a sort of transaxle...so gears in there.

Sorry. Not an expert.

Cheers.

rjstractor wrote:
This all is theoretically possible, but it would require the EV to engineered to be used as a toad. The OEM could program the car to sense the need for braking when connected to a tow vehicle to engage regen braking, and once the battery was topped off the car could revert to regular service brakes. It could be controlled by a wired or wireless connection, or possibly the toad's own computer and sensors could do it. The same thing could be done with a gas engine car, a factory "toad" package with fully integrated wiring and braking. With most cars having electrically boosted brakes as opposed to the old vacuum boosted systems it wouldn't be hard to do if the OEMs chose to do the engineering. Sure would be a step up from a hokey electric box that plugs into a 12V outlet.

As EVs become more common, the demand they become 4-down towable will increase. And mechanically I think it would be simpler and less power demand than todays 4X4. (Assuming the motor shaft is parallel to axle) The extra friction changing direction in differential is eliminated.
And if/when the regen system gets near a full charge the toad could pull it's own weight long enough to get room in batt for another stop. This would reduce fuel use by MH. Best if the driver could shut that off if close to where going to unhook and use toad.
Is there a gearset between motor and wheel, or does the motor turn same RPM as wheel?

This all is theoretically possible, but it would require the EV to engineered to be used as a toad. The OEM could program the car to sense the need for braking when connected to a tow vehicle to engage regen braking, and once the battery was topped off the car could revert to regular service brakes. It could be controlled by a wired or wireless connection, or possibly the toad's own computer and sensors could do it. The same thing could be done with a gas engine car, a factory "toad" package with fully integrated wiring and braking. With most cars having electrically boosted brakes as opposed to the old vacuum boosted systems it wouldn't be hard to do if the OEMs chose to do the engineering. Sure would be a step up from a hokey electric box that plugs into a 12V outlet.

A guy needs to be able to plug his BEV/FT (battery electric vehicle/flat towed) into the RV and have driver controlled dynamic braking/regen/charge available when under way.

The BEV uses dynamic braking to first top off it’s battery (aka regen mode) then to grid heat inside the RV during cold weather travel and or charges the RV house batteries, then to the RV water heater, and finally when all else is topped up the excess braking energy is wasted to atmosphere through a grid heater like a locomotive.

The tech already exists see “locomotives, downgrade”

Of course 27 kinds of connectors will be needed because a Tesla to a Tiffin will be all different than a Rivian to a Winnebago...

worob40 wrote:
If you tow and electric car will the battery recharge while you are traveling? Seems like the vehicle could be set to recharge the battery by a switch selection.

Um, no, not unless you wanted (theoretically, as there are many "practical" issues as well) to effectively tow your toad with the "brakes on."

JRscooby wrote:

Reisender wrote:


There is no on switch or off switch on a Tesla. Your butt turns it on and your butt turns it off. :).

Did god make it that way? Can a man, the designer or somebody that knows what their doing install a switch to flip when hooking up the towbar?

I can’t see why not, but Tesla would have to be involved for modifying the code. It will come down to Tesla authorizing and approving it.

If we decide to tow a vehicle again we’ll probably just get another Leaf and tow it on a dolly. Works well.

Reisender wrote:


There is no on switch or off switch on a Tesla. Your butt turns it on and your butt turns it off. :).

Did god make it that way? Can a man, the designer or somebody that knows what their doing install a switch to flip when hooking up the towbar?

gbopp wrote:
Towing a Tesla

There are all kinds of articles online. Some say a Tesla can't be towed, this one says yes.
One article I previously read said the charging system would overheat if the vehicle was being flat towed. (I believe it was a Tesla)

He was in the drivers seat the whole time. In a Tesla, as soon as you leave the Drivers seat it goes into park and the car powers down. Unless somebody cracks the software it wouldn’t work.

There is no on switch or off switch on a Tesla. Your butt turns it on and your butt turns it off. :).

gbopp wrote:
Towing a Tesla

There are all kinds of articles online. Some say a Tesla can't be towed, this one says yes.
One article I previously read said the charging system would overheat if the vehicle was being flat towed. (I believe it was a Tesla)

Towed at 20 mph for 1 mile isn't going to work for an RV toad. When the Tesla Cyber truck was announced, I contacted support at Tesla to see if it was going to be 4 down towable... they told me no. Had they said yes, I would have gotten into the order queue.

I don't know anything about EVs, but have put some thought into the idea. Just what I know of other things mechanical and electrical, and some simple logic. It is a discussion I enjoy.

Reisender wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
And don't forget the extra fuel used by the MH to generate that extra power. Lot of inefficiencies built into such a system

Yep, no free lunch. I think it would be more of a convenience. For what it’s worth, after 5 years of RVing with an EV in tow (on a trailer) it has never been a problem charging the EV. Either at the campground or mostly at commercial chargers while out sight seeing. Seriously folks, EV chargers are pretty much ubiquitous out there, and more and more every day. They just announced a 16 stall station at the local shopping plaza maybe 600 meters from our house. (12 Tesla v3 Superchargers and 4 public fast chargers) That and another dozen locations in the province, and there will be more announced next month.

Bottom line, don’t worry about charging your EV.

But what if the re-gen was controlled by the MH's jake circuit? Then the energy put into batteries would be some of what needs to be dissipated to slow the rig. Would need some way to pull power out of battery while towing because full charge would reduce braking power.

gbopp wrote:
Towing a Tesla

There are all kinds of articles online. Some say a Tesla can't be towed, this one says yes.
One article I previously read said the charging system would overheat if the vehicle was being flat towed. (I believe it was a Tesla)

What cools the system when it is putting out power? Do they use a separate generator for braking? I have seen applications where battery voltage is put to the generator to start a engine, so assumed the drive motors would be used as gen to charge. I know a motor makes heat when powered to move a load. Does it make more heat when spinning on open circuit?