Miserable Towing Experience - NEED HELP! (Updated)

[Keeney]

Did some simple calcs on the drag from various "things" sticking out of the boat and trailer:

The windshield of the console estimated at about 24x36 inches with a CD around 0.8. If you could remove the windshield, it could save you 86 Wh/mi or 38 kWh for the 446 mi trip.

The docking poles on the trailer I estimate to be 3x60 inches x 2 x Cd ~ 0.5 = another 10 kWh for trip.

Similar for the Shallow water anchors would also be 10 total.

Seat back is maybe 12x48 inches? That is another 15 kWh per trip.

Add them all up, and you could save the time and cost of almost a full charging stop each way.

 

[Lasttoy]

I towed 7500 to Iowa and back to st Augustine. Got 150 miles on esch 318. Cost less than 400 each way. 48 hours of each way.

 

[MeadowShade]

So, If you had a 1,000 kw battery, you could go further than your bladder can.

There are so many factors in which is best. Towing our camper for over 6,000 miles now, we are locked in at about 600 wpm or 1.6 miles per kw. We can easily go 170-180 miles on a charge.

Hills are our friends. Wind can be.

We took Route 14 east from Shell WY to Dayton WY just before the Elk Fire closed that road 3 weeks or so ago. It is 80 miles and over 6,000 feet elevation change up and back down.

30% up and -10% down for a net of 20% for 80 miles. That is 375 wpm or 2.6 Miles per kw with a camper that is over 3,000 pounds.

Totally amazing.

 

[mongo]

So, If you had a 1,000 kw battery, you could go further than your bladder can.

There are so many factors in which is best. Towing our camper for over 6,000 miles now, we are locked in at about 600 wpm or 1.6 miles per kw. We can easily go 170-180 miles on a charge.

Hills are our friends. Wind can be.

We took Route 14 east from Shell WY to Dayton WY just before the Elk Fire closed that road 3 weeks or so ago. It is 80 miles and over 6,000 feet elevation change up and back down.

30% up and -10% down for a net of 20% for 80 miles. That is 375 wpm or 2.6 Miles per kw with a camper that is over 3,000 pounds.

Totally amazing.

We drive into a region without supercharging, so bladder endurance is irrelevant
What we (personally) need is range greater than double the distance from closest charger to our destination.
(Or to install level 2 charging there).

 

[MeadowShade]

We drive into a region without supercharging, so bladder endurance is irrelevant
What we (personally) need is range greater than double the distance from closest charger to our destination.
(Or to install level 2 charging there).

camping helps fix that. Plug-in a 50 amp space and in the morning, start the next leg!!

there are still fairly high traffic areas without supercharging.

Look at Jackson WY. One set in town but it is a LOOOOOOONG WAYS to Rock Springs or the one in Montana.

Or Charleston WV to Lexington Ky. 170+ miles of I-64 and Huntington has been offline for weeks. 170+ miles too!

Campgrounds could fill the gap, even in an emergency.

 

[mongo]

camping helps fix that. Plug-in a 50 amp space and in the morning, start the next leg!!

there are still fairly high traffic areas without supercharging.

Look at Jackson WY. One set in town but it is a LOOOOOOONG WAYS to Rock Springs or the one in Montana.

Or Charleston WV to Lexington Ky. 170+ miles of I-64 and Huntington has been offline for weeks. 170+ miles too!

Campgrounds could fill the gap, even in an emergency.

Sure, but currently due to reasons, we currently only do day trips.

 

[rb92gt]

Drive slower and lower…
I know in my beast it defaults back to medium from most settings unless I specifically keep it in beast mode low height.
That Ttop and helm windshield are killing you, can that windshield come off of the helm?
Make sure your trailer hubs/bearings are in top condition, properly greased.
I’m in Ponte Vedra btw, we are neighbors!

 

[sefar]

Those tips seems great along with keeping on CHILL/LOW/ in custom while avoiding cruise may be best. Cruise doesn't seem to re-gen much if any while CHILL seems to cut back on a/c and probably some other things usage savings. I noticed in traffic the other day, the truck hardly used much power as it was re-gen quite a bit.

My friend who also has a CT told me he got less range in the chill setting than regular. I towed a utility trailer with a 4 ft mesh gate and minimal weight. I only got about 120 miles in range. When I ran my diesel truck it had a similar loss of range because it is like pulling a brick wall. Like others say, speed kills range. Other than driving at 50 or 55 mph, not much you can do except take a book and enjoy the charging stations.

 

[Lasttoy]

I towed 7500 , S, to Iowa and back to st Augustine. System said charge at 150, but i always had between 30 and 50 left. Went good at 70+ mph

 

[Jack27]

Just want to say you can use your app to find superchargers also

 

[langenbahn]

Ok... Heading out to the forum to solicit some advice. Does anyone think I could make a material impact on range while towing my center console by adding a wedge in front of the boat wind screen? I was thinking about making a wedge out of plywood and 2x2's and affixing it to the windscreen before my next trip to the keys. I am envisioning something that would extend from the bench seat to the hardtop creating a wind wedge which would be about 2 feet thick.

Thoughts?

 

[mongo]

Ok... Heading out to the forum to solicit some advice. Does anyone think I could make a material impact on range while towing my center console by adding a wedge in front of the boat wind screen? I was thinking about making a wedge out of plywood and 2x2's and affixing it to the windscreen before my next trip to the keys. I am envisioning something that would extend from the bench seat to the hardtop creating a wind wedge which would be about 2 feet thick.

Thoughts?

Yes

Though I might look at using pvc pipe as a bendable lightweight frame and a tarp to shape both the leading and trailing airflow from the pilot house. Shrink wrap would be ideal, but impractical.

 

[langenbahn]

I hadn't thought of PVC. That is a great idea.

Any thoughts on potential percentage range improvement?

I once heard that the wheel covers on my model 3 increased range by 10%.

 

[mongo]

I hadn't thought of PVC. That is a great idea.

Any thoughts on potential percentage range improvement?

I once heard that the wheel covers on my model 3 increased range by 10%.

Well, rolling drag is about 2Wh/mile per 100 pounds, so the rest is aero. Here are drag coefficient comparisons from Wikipedia:

 

[MeadowShade]

speed, then speed, and watch your speed. After that ... speed. Slower the better.

Huge difference between 55 and 60. Over 60 it gets ugly quicker as well.

Oh yeah, don't forget about speed.!