Towing With A BEV Truck — Evaluation

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Battery electrical vehicles ought to, in concept, be superior to gasoline & diesel vehicles as a consequence of their highly effective, increased torque electrical motors. Additionally, because the middle of gravity is so low in a BEV, they’re much extra secure on the highway vs. inside combustion vehicles. There is only one downside. Vary.

Towing takes plenty of energy. This shouldn’t be stunning when you think about the burden and aerodynamics of many trailers. Larger RVs can have a gross car weight of 6,500 lb or extra, and so they usually have the aerodynamics of a brick wall. When you double the burden and aerodynamics of a car, it makes good sense that you’d undergo twice the gas when hauling these hundreds. Clearly, electrical autos don’t have any downside on the facility aspect, however batteries are one other story. The issue in fact is that batteries are heavy and costly, and the BEV vehicles at present in the marketplace get very costly if you need a spread a lot over about 340 miles!

I just lately wrote a evaluation assessing whether or not Cybertruck was aggressive vs. the opposite BEV vehicles in the marketplace. I did this evaluation as a result of I personally needed to purchase a BEV truck and I needed to grasp which vehicles, if any, might meet my wants. Since consumers are sometimes concerned about various things, my evaluation centered on what I personally needed, wanted, and valued in a truck. Right here is the hyperlink in case you missed it.

I knew going into my BEV truck comparability that I actually didn’t need to spend far more than about $80,000 on a truck, and I used to be additionally fairly positive I wanted 450–500 miles of vary to satisfy my towing wants. I’ve owned a Mannequin S since 2015 and after placing 210,000 miles on it, I knew that, for me, 250 miles of vary was the minimal I wanted for the journeys that I used to be doing. Given how towing can drop vary in half or extra, this prompt to me that I’d want a truck with nearer to 500 miles of EPA vary to realize that 250-mile goal I had in my head.

Now, as an alternative of instantly writing off the present crop of BEV vehicles in my value vary for not having sufficient vary (usually about 340 miles), I made a decision to do the mathematics and work out what I actually wanted primarily based on my precise truck use over the previous 5 years.

The evaluation proved enlightening to me since what I really wanted proved to be fairly completely different from what I thought I wanted. Until you take a look at your assumptions, it’s tremendous straightforward to idiot your self, I suppose. This text discusses the method I used to determine my precise towing wants. I hope you discover it helpful.

I’ll begin by mentioning that I’ve owned many vehicles over the previous 40 years, together with two Fords, a Chevy, a Toyota, and two Dodges — together with my present RAM 2500 4X4 diesel. I’ll additionally word that I’m a educated mechanic. Lastly, I ought to point out that I’ve a farm, I hav a photo voltaic set up enterprise, and I’m a administration marketing consultant (thus the OCD evaluation stuff I do).

As a long-term BEV proprietor, I’ve direct expertise of what impacts mileage and how you can get extra out of a BEV. In relation to towing, I’ve 3 trailers that I usually use, together with a 16-foot flat-deck, a small 8-foot enclosed utility trailer, plus I exploit my truck to haul a 6,000 lb RV for as much as 4 tenting holidays a 12 months. My different makes use of embody getting provides for my farm and enterprise, normal farm/truck issues, and plowing snow. I might also begin to use my future BEV truck as a every day driver since I’ve photo voltaic, and since BEVs are so low cost to function. This may enable me to do away with my second car.

Course of

Step 1 — I began by creating an inventory of each route I took with my truck over the previous 5 years.

Step 2 — I then recognized the important thing components that might influence truck vary for every route, together with journey distance, hilly vs. flat roads, velocity, the ambient temperature for the drive (time of 12 months), availability of chargers (L3 & vacation spot), plus the traits of the load (i.e., weight/air resistance).

Step 3 — I then kicked out a lot of the best journeys and grouped others to make the info desk an affordable measurement (making certain I captured all of my troublesome routes).

Step 4 — I spotted step 2 wasn’t detailed sufficient for my tougher routes with my RV or flat deck, so I used a separate spreadsheet to calculate and element every leg of those journeys. This ensured I absolutely understood which chargers alongside every route I’d have to cease at, plus how a lot cost I’d want at every charger and at my vacation spot. This step additionally ensured I used to be permitting for ample reserve vary.

Step 5 — I then calculated the vary of a 340-mile EPA truck beneath these completely different load/trailer/route situations. See Vary Calculations beneath.

Step 6 — I then analysed the info to evaluate if every journey might be executed in any respect, and in that case, how troublesome it might be given the main points of the route and contemplating the necessity to take away the trailer when L3 charging.

Desk Information 

Journeys — The journeys listed characterize the commonest ones I take and embody all my troublesome routes.

Distance — That is the complete one-way distance to the vacation spot.

Trailer — As talked about, I’ve 3 trailers, together with a small utility trailer, a flat deck, and an RV.

Weight — That is the utmost weight I’d haul for the route. The primary quantity is trailer-weight and the second is cargo-weight within the mattress of the truck. Flat deck and utility trailer journeys are the common trailer weight since I’m solely operating loaded in a single path.

Velocity/Temperature — The typical velocity (MPH) for the route varies primarily based on velocity restrict and the trailer/cargo I’m hauling. I by no means go over 60 MPH with my RV, and I restrict my flat deck to 75 MPH max empty and fewer when loaded. I at present restrict my velocity to avoid wasting gas and since it is just too exhausting & harmful on trailers/hundreds to go quick. Gentle inexperienced represents spring/summer season temperatures and darkish blue represents the possibly coldest situations (max -35°F) driving the route.

Charging/Prices — That is the charging technique and variety of prices for the spherical journey. L3 charging assumed 250 kW and L1 was modeled at 1.44 kW (12 amps/120 V). Any L1 charging consists of the tough variety of days wanted to cost for the return journey. A full cost is never wanted however proved straightforward sufficient to do, as these have been all tenting journeys the place we keep for at least 3 days.

Vary — That is my finest estimate of a BEV truck’s precise vary on a 90% cost after calculating vary losses as a consequence of trailer weight, cargo weight, terrain (hills vs flat), velocity, and temperature. Shade denotes if the journey is comparatively straightforward (inexperienced) vs. troublesome (yellow) to do in a 340-mile BEV truck.

Vary Calculations

I’ve nice knowledge on the consequences of velocity, temperature, and terrain from driving my Mannequin S for near 9 years and 210,000 miles. To know the influence of towing, I feel I learn and watched a couple of hundred completely different articles and movies, so I attempted to develop the loss calculations beneath to be in step with my experiences and with what others have reported.

The maths behind the losses I calculated is listed beneath for every issue affecting vary. My guess is they are going to be out a bit right here and there, however are in all probability shut sufficient, and since they scale, the calculations will not less than be internally constant for this evaluation. Please word the losses in every class are cumulative. For this reason hauling an RV can minimize vary in half or extra!

• RV trailer weight losses — 1.818% per 100 lb (hauling a 5,500 lb RV would minimize vary in half). Word: I used this identical loss-rate for my flat-deck, so it might show to do a bit higher relying on what I’m hauling.
• Cargo weight losses — 1.428% per 100 lb (hauling 2,000 lb would value 30% vary).
• Terrain — 5% loss for hilly terrain (that is what I expertise on roundtrips on the hilly routes I drive). As BEV drivers know, vary loss going up a hill is essentially captured when going again down.
• Temperature — 6% loss at 20°F and 12% at -35°F (that is what I expertise after I precondition in a storage and/or use a charger to heat the battery). Chilly-soaked BEVs can expertise a lot increased losses at chilly temperatures.
• Velocity — I get EPA at 55 MPH on flat terrain, and I lose 25% vary at 80 MPH. RVs lose 12% going from 60 to 70 MPH primarily based on the analysis I’ve discovered, so the determine appears about proper.
• Cumulative instance — hauling a 5,500 lb trailer with 500 lb of cargo at 70 MPH in hilly terrain will lead to between 1/3 and 1/2 EPA vary! Brutal.

Your mileage might fluctuate. Please word that the vary calculations within the desk beneath are primarily based on how I personally drive and the routes I take. Your expertise could also be completely different.

Knowledge Desk

Vacation 1 instance. The space to my vacation spot is 219 miles, and I’m towing a loaded RV weighing 6,000 lb whereas hauling 500 lb within the field of the truck. I’m cruising on a flat highway at 60 MPH in the summertime. Because of the spacing of L3 chargers alongside the route, I calculate that I wanted to cost twice at L3 chargers on the way in which to my vacation spot and twice on the way in which again. I additionally have to make use of L1 charging for one full day whereas at my vacation spot. I calculate the utmost vary for the truck at 90% cost beneath these situations is 138 miles. I rated this journey as “troublesome” as a result of I’d have to take away the trailer and cost twice in every path to do the journey.

Will a 340-mile vary BEV truck work for me personally?

Non-towing use — Basic (non-towing) represents 83% of my driving. This consists of normal use hauling stuff for my photo voltaic enterprise, farm use, plowing snow, and private use. A BEV truck would very simply meet these normal wants.

Towing — In brief, sure. As a contractor, my jobs are all usually inside 60 miles of the place I stay, and I strongly suspect most contractors are like me. It simply prices an excessive amount of money and time to tackle jobs a lot additional away than this.

Taking a look at all journeys, it was clear from the info that 100% of my towing journeys have been theoretically attainable. Nonetheless, I rated about 28% of my present towing miles as “troublesome” (yellow). The troublesome journeys in my scenario have been my longer-distance tenting journeys towing my RV plus considered one of my common provider journeys. Whereas these journeys have been all technically attainable, the fact is, I’d a lot desire to not take away my trailer to cost greater than as soon as on anybody spherical journey. I simply don’t need to try this, and my guess is few individuals would.

Now, to be honest, my towing points are clearly not less than as a lot an infrastructure problem as a BEV truck vary problem since, if I had pull-through charging choices, I’d in all probability fee solely considered one of my long-distance RV journeys as “troublesome.” Happily, in my case, I discovered tremendous straightforward options that I can implement to make a BEV truck work for me. Earlier than we discover options, although, let’s have a look at how different truck homeowners use their vehicles.

How truck homeowners use their vehicles

After determining my very own wants, I used to be inquisitive about how common homeowners use their vehicles, as I needed to grasp the potential marketplace for these 340-mile autos. There’s not a ton of knowledge on this query, however the data I did discover was largely constant not less than. Primarily based on what varied RV associations are reporting, plus analysis from teams like Axios & Edwards, that is how individuals use their vehicles.

• Hauling Trailers — 75% of truck homeowners by no means haul trailers in any respect, whereas 25% do. 
• Hauling Cargo — 35% of truck homeowners don’t haul significant cargo, whereas 65% do. 
• Off-Street Use — 70% of truck homeowners by no means go off-road, whereas 30% do. 
• RVs — RV affiliation websites recommend individuals use their RVs about 20 days per 12 months. Absolutely 24% of RVers by no means journey greater than 50 miles and 18% restrict their journey to beneath 100 miles. One other 30% at all times keep beneath 200 miles, and the remaining 27% repeatedly journey over 200 miles. 

This means the potential addressable marketplace for 340-mile vary BEV vehicles is arguably as much as 85% (possibly extra) primarily based on how individuals really use their vehicles. This 85% determine consists of the 75% of householders who use their vehicles extra like SUVs, plus 42% of householders who tow shorter distances (42% of the 25% who tow = about 10%). That mentioned, purchaser notion (desires) vs. wants are various things. In relation to BEV vary, most consumers report they need extra vary than they really want. Time will inform how this performs out within the market.

Towing Options 

This part lists some concepts for individuals eager to haul RVs & trailers with a 340-mile vary BEV truck. 

1. Decelerate — I feel everybody is aware of that how briskly you drive a automobile impacts its vary considerably as a consequence of air resistance. Rising velocity impacts air resistance exponentially, so going 10 mph sooner has a a lot greater impact going from 70–80 mph than it does from 50-60 mph. As talked about, the vary penalty for driving 70 mph vs. 60 mph in an RV is 12% primarily based on an RV research I discovered.
2. Loosen up! — I used to be personally very shocked on the influence of weight on each towing and cargo.
3. Camp nearer to house — That is clearly a technique many RVers already use, given how 42% drive fewer than 100 miles each time they go tenting. I’ll be doing extra of this myself sooner or later!
4. Retailer your RV near the place you camp — That is clearly additionally a technique many RVers already use given the variety of long-term storage choices close to tenting areas. When you pay to retailer your RV anyway, it positive is sensible to retailer it at or close to the place you go tenting.
5. Hire a cabin — That is yet one more technique that folks already use, presumably as a result of excessive value of gas and RVs. I’d not be shocked if right now’s increased gas and RV costs begin to drive extra individuals to this feature, as it’s already fairly in style — particularly in different nations.
6. Tenting/Pop-ups — For troublesome routes, tenting could also be a viable choice for some. Personally, my restrict is about 4 hours driving time towing my RV with my present diesel truck anyway. Once I go tenting, I am going to hike and bike, to not drive. My spouse and I are planning a 4-week cross-country journey subsequent 12 months, and by no means as soon as did we even think about using our RV. Our plan is to tent when climate is good and to make use of lodges/cabins when it isn’t. This might be considered one of our go-to methods for any long-distance tenting we do sooner or later. Alternatively, pop-up tent-trailers might enchantment to some consumers. I’ve owned two of them in my youthful days and liked them!
7. Vacation spot Charging — Don’t rely out vacation spot charging even whether it is simply L1! A primary 120V × 15-amp plug at a campsite could be sufficient if you’ll be there for days anyway. Earlier than Superchargers have been frequent, I’d typically journey to 3-day conferences the place all I had was a primary L1 plug. It labored nice! An L1 plug ought to provide you with about 75 miles of EPA vary/day in a BEV truck in the summertime.
8. Off-grid tenting — Some individuals need to camp at distant campgrounds with out energy. Relying how far these campgrounds are from the grid, there are two potential options. If the campsite just isn’t too removed from an L3 charger, you’ll be able to merely cost up earlier than you go to the campsite. If the campsite is simply too far, you’ll need a decent-size generator. For instance, a 10kW generator can simply ship 7.7 kW steady energy (identical as a Tesla cellular connector) and would provide you with about 17 mph charging. A full cost from zero (which might by no means occur) would take 19 hours and you’ll undergo 1.3 gallons of gas/hour (25 gallons). This can be OK for a top-up, however for anybody needing a full cost, this feature would seemingly be a troublesome capsule to swallow! Some campgrounds additionally restrict what number of hours you’re allowed to run a generator. Having photo voltaic panels might assist, however you’ll be playing on having sunny climate and/or staying longer than deliberate.
9. Purchase a PHEV truck or lease — RAM is popping out with a plug-in-hybrid in 2025. When you typically haul lengthy distances and don’t thoughts burning gasoline, this truck could also be for you. Alternatively, for those who solely haul lengthy distances sometimes, you could possibly simply lease a gasoline truck for these outlier journeys. The dearth of pull-through chargers is the largest problem actually, and that can go away because the charging community is constructed out to incorporate pull-through stalls over the subsequent few years.
10. Energy-Help RVs — Some subsequent era “electrified” RVs hitting the market now are lighter and are far more aerodynamic. Some even incorporate massive battery packs with powered axles to extend vary considerably. These powered-axle RVs can be very enticing for the group of RV homeowners who tow the longest distances and/or who go deep off-grid.

Observations & Conclusions

1. Pull-through chargers — At this time limit, towing heavy trailers longer distances is technically attainable for some homeowners. That mentioned, the present L3 charging infrastructure is clearly insufficient since solely the earliest adopters will tolerate having to take away their trailers to cost even as soon as on a visit, not to mention a number of occasions! Pull-through L3 chargers might be wanted earlier than towing any distance with BEV vehicles turns into mainstream. That mentioned, this solely seems to be a problem for the roughly 15% of truck consumers who really tow longer distances.
2. Vacation spot charging — As society strikes to extra BEVs and electrified campers, we are going to want higher charging infrastructure at campgrounds and/or close to tenting areas. This may be completed in some ways, together with with L3 chargers close to tenting areas and/or with extra 240V/30 amp plugs at campsites. It is a clear alternative since renting campsites with entry to energy has at all times been a well-liked “product” for campgrounds, and now these campgrounds can earn a living “fueling up” their prospects. Price/kWh received’t even matter a lot since that is comfort charging.
3. The OEMs did their homework — It appears to me just like the automobile producers did the mathematics and knew completely effectively that 340 miles of vary must be sufficient for a lot of of their prospects primarily based on how individuals really use their vehicles. The actual fact is most homeowners don’t want huge vary since they use their vehicles extra like SUVs. Even for many who do tow, a major variety of these consumers don’t tow far, making BEVs a viable alternative.

My plan: Primarily based on how I exploit my present truck, this evaluation demonstrated that I solely have just a few routes that might be troublesome in a BEV truck. My options proved easy. Since I don’t like towing my RV lengthy distances anyway, my spouse and I are simply going to lease a cabin or pitch a tent if we do any longer tenting journeys sooner or later. My guess, nevertheless, is we simply begin to camp nearer to house as an alternative. My spouse loves this concept, btw. For the one “troublesome” provider journey I’ve for my photo voltaic enterprise, I’ll both settle for having to cease to cost for these journeys or, extra seemingly, I’ll simply shift to a better provider. These two minor adjustments would get rid of all my troublesome routes and would utterly resolve any towing considerations I’ve.

I’m getting one! After proudly owning a BEV for the previous 8 years and 210,000 miles, I can’t think about shopping for an ICE truck. BEVs are simply an excessive amount of enjoyable to go up, plus they’re highly effective, quiet, save a ton of cash on gas, final a very long time, and are higher for the planet besides. With so many good BEV vehicles coming onto the market now, the one query is which one!

So, do I nonetheless need extra vary? Completely! Having extra vary can be tremendous good and would make a BEV truck a lot simpler to stay with on longer hauls. That mentioned, I additionally like the concept of spending much less. Not less than now I do know what my precise real-world wants are and what I can do to make a BEV truck work for me. What do you assume? Can a BEV truck meet your wants as a truck purchaser?

By Luvhrtz