EV's need gas too - Tow with a Tesla?

[BobsYourUncle]

Had to laugh when a buddy sent me this pic.

Here's a Tesla on the side of the road somewhere, 2 gennys cranked, to charge his car so he can continue. And a big bucket of gas sitting there. Wow, isn't this fun?

Of course, we all know how environmentally friendly our generators are...:R

I wonder how long he sat there charging until he could go again...

[PButler96]

Reisender wrote:


Yah. Hard to say on the tongue weight of the trailer without knowing the model.

It's either a R195 or R196, both similar on weights and specs.

Hitch @ 360 without gas or battery per R pod, most likely higher.
Cargo @1160
UVW @3600 (factory scale sticker on one seen on RV trader calls it 3762)
GVWR call it @ 4922 (5K axle)

The Tesla owner evidently does not belong to the RVnet weight police auxiliary.

[Reisender]

Durb wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Durb wrote:
Hmmm. Tesla has released a tow package for the Model 3 shown here. The maximum tow weight is 2,000# and max tongue weight is 220#. The lightest RPod made weighs 2,714 dry and most likely has a tongue weight of over 300#. Tesla 3s can tow teardrop trailers and that is about all. Maybe overloading his vehicle caused him to have greatly reduced range creating the need for a roadside charge.

I wonder where he hauled the generators and gas can.

Is that a model 3 or model Y. Hard to tell. If it’s a model Y then his towing capacity is 3500 lbs and max tounge weight is 350 pounds. Hard to tell from the pic though. I’ll look at it on the PC tomorrow.

No idea on the weight of the trailer.

But still no reason for a roadside charge. We have travelled that highway pulling a trailer. There are at least a half dozen charge opportunities. There is something else going on here.

Could be a Y. An X has central door handles on the rear doors. He could probably squeak under the tow rating, but would be pushing the tongue weight. Toting a couple of generators and extra fuel isn't going to help with the numbers.

Yah. Hard to say on the tongue weight of the trailer without knowing the model. The model Y has a pretty stiff sport suspension. When we are fully loaded headed out the driveway with our teardrop the tongue weight is 338 pounds and the car doesn't squat more than 3/4 of an inch. We carry a chihuahua cage, a coleman propane stove and a 47 pound propane champion suitcase generator for dry camping. I can't imagine having to use it for charging. Ugh

Nice thing about the Y is it has a really deep subtrunk in the hatch. We can put our little champion and our coleman stove in there, cover them up with the floor covers and they are out of site from prying eyes. Great little propane camping generator but I'm sure it would suck for charging.

[Durb]

Reisender wrote:

Durb wrote:
Hmmm. Tesla has released a tow package for the Model 3 shown here. The maximum tow weight is 2,000# and max tongue weight is 220#. The lightest RPod made weighs 2,714 dry and most likely has a tongue weight of over 300#. Tesla 3s can tow teardrop trailers and that is about all. Maybe overloading his vehicle caused him to have greatly reduced range creating the need for a roadside charge.

I wonder where he hauled the generators and gas can.

Is that a model 3 or model Y. Hard to tell. If it’s a model Y then his towing capacity is 3500 lbs and max tounge weight is 350 pounds. Hard to tell from the pic though. I’ll look at it on the PC tomorrow.

No idea on the weight of the trailer.

But still no reason for a roadside charge. We have travelled that highway pulling a trailer. There are at least a half dozen charge opportunities. There is something else going on here.

Could be a Y. An X has central door handles on the rear doors. He could probably squeak under the tow rating, but would be pushing the tongue weight. Toting a couple of generators and extra fuel isn't going to help with the numbers.

[toedtoes]

time2roll wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
I also think there are two different types of people buying Teslas.

The first are the "greenies". They want an electric vehicle and to not use fossil fuels. These folks are NOT parked on the side of the road charging their Teslas with generators - period.

The second group are those who buy a Tesla because they are "first adopters", "technophiles", or "image people". They are not concerned about being "green" but about having the newest, latest, big name, fad, etc. They WILL happily charge their Tesla from a generator because they don't care about not using fossil fuels - and they see nothing hypocritical about it.

To judge the first group as hypocrites based on the actions of the second group is unfair.

What about the 3rd group that just likes the smooth, quiet, effortless power combined with great handling of lower center of gravity.

And group 4 that wants to stop feeding the oil suppliers around the word.

Your 3rd group would fall under the second category - they aren't buying the Tesla because of the no fuel use. If they have to charge using fossil fuel, it doesn't lessen their desire/purpose in buying a Tesla.

Your 4th group would fall into the 1st group - their goal is to eliminate their dependence on fossil fuels.

Basically, it's that for one group of people NOT using fossil fuel is the end goal. You won't see these people on the side of the road charging their Tesla with a gas generator. For the other group, they will happily use fossil fuels to charge their Tesla because "eliminating the need for fossil fuel" isn't the reason they bought the Tesla.

And I'll add that Teslas are probably the only electric vehicle that is getting a significant number of buyers in group 2. For most electric cars, there is no image, etc, for driving around in a Leaf that will have folks saying "wow!"

[Reisender]

Durb wrote:
Hmmm. Tesla has released a tow package for the Model 3 shown here. The maximum tow weight is 2,000# and max tongue weight is 220#. The lightest RPod made weighs 2,714 dry and most likely has a tongue weight of over 300#. Tesla 3s can tow teardrop trailers and that is about all. Maybe overloading his vehicle caused him to have greatly reduced range creating the need for a roadside charge.

I wonder where he hauled the generators and gas can.

Is that a model 3 or model Y. Hard to tell. If it’s a model Y then his towing capacity is 3500 lbs and max tounge weight is 350 pounds. Hard to tell from the pic though. I’ll look at it on the PC tomorrow.

No idea on the weight of the trailer.

But still no reason for a roadside charge. We have travelled that highway pulling a trailer. There are at least a half dozen charge opportunities. There is something else going on here.

[rlw999]

Durb wrote:
Hmmm. Tesla has released a tow package for the Model 3 shown here. The maximum tow weight is 2,000# and max tongue weight is 220#. The lightest RPod made weighs 2,714 dry and most likely has a tongue weight of over 300#. Tesla 3s can tow teardrop trailers and that is about all. Maybe overloading his vehicle caused him to have greatly reduced range creating the need for a roadside charge.

I wonder where he hauled the generators and gas can.

Isn't that a Model X? The Model 3 has a plain painted rear bumper, the Model X has a grey panel at the bottom of the bumper which seems to match this car. Also, on the model 3, the rear door seam runs diagonally toward the front of the car, on the model X it's near vertical.

The Model X has a 5000 lb towing capacity.

[12thgenusa]

First impression is that the picture is staged. If it is not, there is something else going on other than trying to charge the car.

In the first episode of the TFL series where they take the Lightning to Alaska, they explain their plans for emergency charging which involved taking a Ford 150 hybrid with them from which they could charge the Lighting. They did a test to see how much charge they could get from the hybrid. They connected the Lighting to the hybrid and got two legs of 3600 watts for a total of 7.2 Kw at a rate of about 1 gallon of gas per hour from the hybrid. After an hour and 38 minutes they gained 8% on the battery which they estimated was about 24 miles.

Two generators in parallel (30 amp) would give you half of that, if that's what you think is really going on in the picture. A single generator would at best give 25% of the hybrid or about 1.8 Kw.

Considering that the 7.2 Kw rate from the hybrid is only about 1/7 of a "regular" 50 Kw charging station, you can see that trying to charge an electric car from a portable generator would be rather like trying to fuel your gas car with an eye dropper from a quart bottle.

[RetiredRealtorR]

way2roll wrote:

mkirsch wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

These "generator recharging the electric car proves the technology will never ever succeed" memes are getting tiresome.

Agreed. Fill up in an ICE you have a limited rage. Run out of gas you're stuck. Fill up an EV you have limited rage, run out of electric you're stuck.

There is no difference.

The big difference is that I can buy gasoline at sooooo many more places than I can charge an electric vehicle. At least when I start to run low, I usually have plenty of options.

As I've said before, American's aren't ready for all-electric yet. Hybrids for now, and all-electric down the road a ways, once proper infrastructure is in place.

[Durb]

Hmmm. Tesla has released a tow package for the Model 3 shown here. The maximum tow weight is 2,000# and max tongue weight is 220#. The lightest RPod made weighs 2,714 dry and most likely has a tongue weight of over 300#. Tesla 3s can tow teardrop trailers and that is about all. Maybe overloading his vehicle caused him to have greatly reduced range creating the need for a roadside charge.

I wonder where he hauled the generators and gas can.

[nickthehunter]

mkirsch wrote:
Misjudging the remaining range when the needle is on "E" is not exclusive to electric vehicles, I'm afraid.

"Just put in fuel and go" can take HOURS waiting for someone to bring you some, especially if you don't happen to have roadside assistance.

In the meantime this fellow, or fellette, was able to start addressing the situation themselves immediately. By the time roadside assistance would have showed up, it's charged enough to make it to the next rest stop and charging station. 20 minutes later, they're back on the road.

Worst case scenario vs. worst case scenario. Fair is fair.

Keep that smug expression on your face long enough, it will stick that way.

There is one notable difference - take that gas can and pour the contents into the gas tank and in 5 minutes you’re going down the road again. This guy is going to have charge for an hour after which he’ll be able to go about 10 miles.

[BobsYourUncle]

mkirsch wrote:

Keep that smug expression on your face long enough, it will stick that way.

Smug look? No, I was smiling 🙂 I guess you didn't see the irony of it the way I did! :B Think about it...

[time2roll]

toedtoes wrote:
I also think there are two different types of people buying Teslas.

The first are the "greenies". They want an electric vehicle and to not use fossil fuels. These folks are NOT parked on the side of the road charging their Teslas with generators - period.

The second group are those who buy a Tesla because they are "first adopters", "technophiles", or "image people". They are not concerned about being "green" but about having the newest, latest, big name, fad, etc. They WILL happily charge their Tesla from a generator because they don't care about not using fossil fuels - and they see nothing hypocritical about it.

To judge the first group as hypocrites based on the actions of the second group is unfair.

What about the 3rd group that just likes the smooth, quiet, effortless power combined with great handling of lower center of gravity.

And group 4 that wants to stop feeding the oil suppliers around the word.

[shelbyfv]

If the photo isn't staged, it just shows someone made a mistake and is doing what they can to recover. "Had to laugh" says more about the poster than the situation. It's not the fault of the vehicle when folks run out of juice on the side of the road, EV or ICE.

[toedtoes]

I also think there are two different types of people buying Teslas.

The first are the "greenies". They want an electric vehicle and to not use fossil fuels. These folks are NOT parked on the side of the road charging their Teslas with generators - period.

The second group are those who buy a Tesla because they are "first adopters", "technophiles", or "image people". They are not concerned about being "green" but about having the newest, latest, big name, fad, etc. They WILL happily charge their Tesla from a generator because they don't care about not using fossil fuels - and they see nothing hypocritical about it.

To judge the first group as hypocrites based on the actions of the second group is unfair.

[way2roll]

mkirsch wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

These "generator recharging the electric car proves the technology will never ever succeed" memes are getting tiresome.

Agreed. Fill up in an ICE you have a limited rage. Run out of gas you're stuck. Fill up an EV you have limited rage, run out of electric you're stuck.

There is no difference.