Why Tesla's are bad at towing!

[ShinerBock]

Two words......energy density.

Video - Why Teslas Are Bad At Towing (Today)

Maybe someday, but not today.


Now let the excuses commence......

[mich800]

agesilaus wrote:
OK there are roughly 50,000 miles of interstate. I'm sure you'd want to add in all those miles of state thruways and such so lets call the total 70,000 miles. These are all multi-lane so let make a guess and call them 6 lanes, 3 each way, on average. Those will be more expensive to electrify so lets call that $1,000,000 a mile which works out to $70,000,000,000. Who is going to pay for that? I vote electric car owners should foot the bill. Plus the O&M costs.

Do we really want the government in charge (no pun intended) of the fueling requirements for travel? That is a recipe for disaster.

So now we get rid of 150k+ gas stations and now the government is in charge of what we pay and when we pay. Sounds like a scary proposition to me.

[NJRVer]

agesilaus wrote:
OK there are roughly 50,000 miles of interstate. I'm sure you'd want to add in all those miles of state thruways and such so lets call the total 70,000 miles. These are all multi-lane so let make a guess and call them 6 lanes, 3 each way, on average. Those will be more expensive to electrify so lets call that $1,000,000 a mile which works out to $70,000,000,000. Who is going to pay for that? I vote electric car owners should foot the bill. Plus the O&M costs.

And how many $trillions have we flushed down the toilet by footing the bill for the military to provide private security for the oil companies.

I vote the oil companies pay for security out of their profits.

[agesilaus]

OK there are roughly 50,000 miles of interstate. I'm sure you'd want to add in all those miles of state thruways and such so lets call the total 70,000 miles. These are all multi-lane so let make a guess and call them 6 lanes, 3 each way, on average. Those will be more expensive to electrify so lets call that $1,000,000 a mile which works out to $70,000,000,000. Who is going to pay for that? I vote electric car owners should foot the bill. Plus the O&M costs.

[Huntindog]

ShinerBock wrote:

agesilaus wrote:

4x4ord wrote:
I think it makes sense to have the power for electric vehicles embedded in the roadways to keep the batteries charged as the vehicles drive along the road... kind of like trolley busses.

LOL how many millions of miles of roadway are there in the US? Aha! There are about 4,071,000 miles of road, changing all the time of course. And figuring a conservative $100,000 a mile to electrify that would be $4,000,000,000, that 4 Trillion bucks plus operating and maintenance costs. And that does not include all the dirt an gravel roads that we like so much out west.

Not to mention the fact that wireless charging is very inefficient and wastes a lot of energy. There is also the factor of voltage drop over long distances.

I have thought about this alot. You would not need to wire every road. Start with the interstates, then the seconday highways and major roads. The beauty of is that with the car being constantly charged while driving, then the on board battery can be a lot smaller, as it would only be needed in residential areas.
Cars could be cheaper and more efficient, and the nasty stuff in batteries would be lessened.
If we ever get to 100% EV use, there will be some crashes,,, and a crash could turn into a hazmat situation real easy when two huge battery packs run into one another.

[Campfire_Time]

I love this guy. Hard to argue with math.

time2roll wrote:

mich800 wrote:
:h who called out Tesla? Are you suggesting that Jason Fenske's analysis is flawed because it references Tesla?

Main title to the thread. So that is member ShinerBock that called out Tesla.
Not flawed at all. Just that it is an EV problem not a Tesla problem.

Same as calling out FORD because the DEF hurts performance and economy when ALL have the same issues.

Since Tesla seems to have the best range and best technology, Jason Fenske is using them as the best case scenario. And because no one else has specs on a consumer level electric PU, or has an electric car with any useful tow rating like the Model X. But you are correct, it is an EV problem.

pianotuna wrote:
How many folks tow at 75 miles per hour? 55 would make more sense.

Watch it again, he accounted for 60 mph towing.

[ford_truck_guy]

agesilaus wrote:
The OTHER issue with the BIG RIG will be the NEW "ELD" Electronic Logging Device... The drivers have to factor inn the fact that they are "On Duty-Not driving" at each fill up.. They only have a certain amount of hours to work with.. Charging could eat into that pretty fast..

"This window is usually thought of as a “daily” limit even though it is not based on a 24-hour period. You are allowed a period of 14 consecutive hours in which to drive up to 11 hours after being off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours. The 14-consecutive-hour driving window begins when you start any kind of work."
-----------------------------------------

I think you just answered a question that has been a minor puzzlement. In the last year or so why have truck parking spots become so hard to find. In rest areas and such. This device must be preventing their workarounds for skipping rest breaks.

The days of us running "paper Logs" are gone.. no more running a good log, and a "FAKE" log... It is ALL electronic now.. UNLESS the vehicle is older than the year 2000.. OR the driver does not go past the 100 mile mark from his starting location more that 7 times in a period of 30 days..
Your truck will show EXCEPTIONS,a and they will be electronically sent to the trucks owner as well.. IF you get pulled for a random check, the first thing they do is ask for the device.

To answer you original question... YES, that is why parking is at a premium at MOST or ALL stops now. That is the reason I stopped staying in one for the night.. They have nowhere else to go... I have options..

[agesilaus]

The OTHER issue with the BIG RIG will be the NEW "ELD" Electronic Logging Device... The drivers have to factor inn the fact that they are "On Duty-Not driving" at each fill up.. They only have a certain amount of hours to work with.. Charging could eat into that pretty fast..

"This window is usually thought of as a “daily” limit even though it is not based on a 24-hour period. You are allowed a period of 14 consecutive hours in which to drive up to 11 hours after being off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours. The 14-consecutive-hour driving window begins when you start any kind of work."
-----------------------------------------

I think you just answered a question that has been a minor puzzlement. In the last year or so why have truck parking spots become so hard to find. In rest areas and such. This device must be preventing their workarounds for skipping rest breaks.

[ford_truck_guy]

Terryallan wrote:

8.1 Van wrote:
Tesla semi towing

Tesla semi towing #2

Break it down some. A trailer truck with 240 gal fuel tanks can travel 1200 miles before stopping to fuel. Hmm that is what 3 times farther than the pictured truck can go. and can be refueled in 15 minutes. This is very important. most time when you load, and go. You have a time limit to deliver your load. get there late. You lose money. You really don't have time to stop and charge batteries three times compared to not stopping with diesel in the same 1200 miles, and the farther you go the more you have to stop. This is a time killing option.

Normal tractors weight in the 25000 to 30000lb range. leaving a payload of 50,000lbs, and for them weight is money.
How much does the electric truck weigh? Well we aren't told. But I would tend to believe it weighs considerably more than a normal tractor. just for fun, say weighs 40K. You have just cut your payload 10000 to 15000lbs. You just lose money. And you got there late.

The OTHER issue with the BIG RIG will be the NEW "ELD" Electronic Logging Device... The drivers have to factor inn the fact that they are "On Duty-Not driving" at each fill up.. They only have a certain amount of hours to work with.. Charging could eat into that pretty fast..

"This window is usually thought of as a “daily” limit even though it is not based on a 24-hour period. You are allowed a period of 14 consecutive hours in which to drive up to 11 hours after being off duty for 10 or more consecutive hours. The 14-consecutive-hour driving window begins when you start any kind of work."

[Terryallan]

8.1 Van wrote:
Tesla semi towing

Tesla semi towing #2

Break it down some. A trailer truck with 240 gal fuel tanks can travel 1200 miles before stopping to fuel. Hmm that is what 3 times farther than the pictured truck can go. and can be refueled in 15 minutes. This is very important. most time when you load, and go. You have a time limit to deliver your load. get there late. You lose money. You really don't have time to stop and charge batteries three times compared to not stopping with diesel in the same 1200 miles, and the farther you go the more you have to stop. This is a time killing option.

Normal tractors weight in the 25000 to 30000lb range. leaving a payload of 50,000lbs, and for them weight is money.
How much does the electric truck weigh? Well we aren't told. But I would tend to believe it weighs considerably more than a normal tractor. just for fun, say weighs 40K. You have just cut your payload 10000 to 15000lbs. You just lose money. And you got there late.

[ford_truck_guy]

Talking infrastructure . .

I DO NOT have a Tesla, but have driven with the coworker that does... IF towing a trailer, you would HAVE to unhook to re-charge..
The charging stations I have seen were located in the back or side of a store/hotel and are side by side. There would be no room to extend the cord enough to stay hooked up

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Groover wrote:
A lot comes down to the type of towing you do. Granted, most people on this forum are expected to hitch up a camper and go cross country so range is very important. On the other hand, I tow a trailer most every day with my business but rarely travel more than 120 miles in a day and there are probably quite a few contractors that meet that description. The Tesla truck would probably work out very well for me. There are quite a few people that just want to run down to the building supply store and pick up some lumber. The Model Y towing a small trailer would work for that. The advance orders for the Semi are mostly from companies with defined runs less than 500 miles between facilities that they own and can put charging stations at. I think that we will see EV's towing trailers first in niche markets then expanding. It would also be nice for me to be able to leave home every day fully charged and not have to worry with getting my trailer through gas stations.

Meanwhile, Tesla keeps improving battery life and charging rates. This will make the EV as a tow vehicle more and more practical as time goes by.

Agree. My daughter owns a Tesla X and move around California and Nevada for her business.

99% of time she charges at home. You cannot anymore tell her to go back to ICE with the convenience and cool factor she is having with Tesla.

I ordered my Cybertruck to pull my travel trailer. If I can get 150 to 200 miles in between charging, I'll be ok with it as this is also my stops right now for gas, lunch and bathroom breaks. And think of the savings in gas and maintenance.

[noteven]

It’s not hype or bs or marketing or cult or smoke or mirrors...

Current production EV’s have too much power, not enough battery capacity, & too slow a recharge rate.

My Edsel F350 6.2 gasohol engine would have about 100 miles of range towing up a grade trying to keep up with a EV and a $120 to “recharge” it.

[97chevor]

Guys I got this, we just need to stick a pole to the power line like in Back to the future. We never gonna run outta energy then.

[IdaD]

Grit dog wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
How many folks tow at 75 miles per hour? 55 would make more sense.

Me. (Depends what I'm towing and where)

After enough miles of empty wide open road with no traffic in the high desert west, it starts to feel like you could step out of the truck and jog at 75 mph. I'll gladly pay a little fuel economy penalty to reduce travel time over a long distance.

[Groover]

2. So you agree pure marketing BS.

Not at all. But if you think it would be an issue for you then you should do due diligence before purchase.