Towing a Off-Road Trailer with the Terra

[Chavannigans]

Nice experiment. I could nit pick a few things, but overall it's a good experiment.

Air resistance is the worst.

Dude holy crap you arent kidding.

Rolling resistance is a notable factor too since both BEVs dropped to the same miles per kW towing, but the wind sail results were pretty wild.

A low profile pop up camper shell may be the way to go instead of an offroad travel trailer.

Lightning owners have reported around 15%-30% range loss with various types of pop up truck campers at highway speeds.

Thats a lot better than over 50%

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The sail thing he constructed is one nitpick that's not that small of a nit. A box is more efficient to tow than a sail.

The only trailer I'll consider for camping is a popup. This is for a lot of reasons, efficiency being only one.

But, what I would like to find/build is a below-cab popup shell. A very low profile popup camper, basically. It would be especially nice if it was easy and fast to remove.

 

[Chavannigans]

The sail thing he constructed is one nitpick that's not that small of a nit. A box is more efficient to tow than a sail.

The only trailer I'll consider for camping is a popup. This is for a lot of reasons, efficiency being only one.

But, what I would like to find/build is a below-cab popup shell. A very low profile popup camper, basically. It would be especially nice if it was easy and fast to remove.

I am not sure if such a thing exists but I will keep my eye out.

There wouldnt be much space to sleep on unless you fill the access gap with a panel that your bedding goes on. You would have to wake you partner up and remove a panel if you needed to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night.

Almost all below cab builds I have seen used a low profile rack and a roof top tent.

Im sure you could fab up a rear slideout or something if you were doing it yourself.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I am not sure if such a thing exists but I will keep my eye out.

There wouldnt be much space to sleep on unless you fill the access gap with a panel that your bedding goes on. You would have to wake you partner up and remove a panel if you needed to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night.

Almost all below cab builds I have seen used a low profile rack and a roof top tent.

Im sure you could fab up a rear slideout or something if you were doing it yourself.

I've never seen such a thing either.

I can imagine a few ways to build something, but the issues always boil down to complexity and stability.

 

[Mousehunter]

kind of relevant. Towing tests with an EV truck. Interesting. Just towing a trailer hurts m/kw a bunch - extra rolling resistance. But put a sail on the same trailer (same weight) devastates m/kw. Loading down the vehicle (without adding a trailer and without adding wind resistance) barely effects m/kw. So moral of the story-a at the roof line pop-up would be significantly more efficient than towing a trailer.

Side test - he did the towing test with both a Chevy and a Rivian. Without the trailer, Rivian was more efficient. But put a Uhaul behind them - they had roughly the same (significantly worse) efficiency. Trailer made more difference than vehicle.

sorry for the dupe.

 

[dreamweaver]

kind of relevant. Towing tests with an EV truck. Interesting. Just towing a trailer hurts m/kw a bunch - extra rolling resistance. But put a sail on the same trailer (same weight) devastates m/kw. Loading down the vehicle (without adding a trailer and without adding wind resistance) barely effects m/kw. So moral of the story-a at the roof line pop-up would be significantly more efficient than towing a trailer.

Side test - he did the towing test with both a Chevy and a Rivian. Without the trailer, Rivian was more efficient. But put a Uhaul behind them - they had roughly the same (significantly worse) efficiency. Trailer made more difference than vehicle.

These tests answer so many questions people are thinking about EVs, and some we haven't. Thanks for the post.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

I really enjoyed this guys ICE vs BEV towing comparison today.

Some of it was surprising like how much adding 1,600lbs to the bed affected range.

Yes this was an interesting video.

 

[Chavannigans]

Yes this was an interesting video.

So I have to ask.

Do you have 6 Boy Scouts or 6 Scout vehicles?

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

So I have to ask.

Do you have 6 Boy Scouts or 6 Scout vehicles?

Vehicles. My Dad had 4 scouts, i learned to drive in the ‘67. I had two. The ‘66 was my first car, then I had a ‘73 many years later. All are long gone.

 

[Chavannigans]

I found the perfect offroad trailer!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I found the perfect offroad trailer!

 

[J Alynn]

I’d like that as a button for people on their cell phones not moving when light turns green. At a very high decibel level