Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Tesla seems like a good state-of-the-art tow vehicle option, or should I say Ludicrous option?
For the price of a Tesla, you could have an EV Metro and a Bambi.
|
Hmm...and that Metro would be able to tow a Bambi about 10 miles before needing to recharge for half a day.
The Tesla Model X is currently the only EV capable of towing a useful distance. At 50-55mph towing ranges of 120 to 150 miles have been achieved with 1,800 to 2,400 lb trailers depending on conditions. Teslas can recharge to 90% in less than an hour, making for a nice midday meal break. So one could comfortably go up to 300 miles in about 7 hours time in total. That's about as long as I care to sit in a car in a day, and I like to take a break every few hours to stretch and walk around a bit. So it works out well for me. Those who like to drive 500+ miles in a day with just a brief pit stop will obviously not find that acceptable.
Battery energy densities have improved dramatically over the past decade, and they are continuing to improve as well as becoming much less expensive. In another 5 years it is very likely that long range EVs capable of going 400+ miles on a charge will be offered by multiple manufacturers, not just Tesla (which currently offers non-towing ranges of up to 300 miles) and they will be priced almost the same as the same size ICE vehicles while costing much less to operate. At that point ICE passenger vehicle sales will nose dive.