Can I tow a caravan with an electric car?

[Dustydog]

There are two charging points northbound just opposite the left turn into the caravan parking area. You can also access six southbound chargers from the northbound directions too. You can access south and north via the service road.
So you full Scottish is future proofed. but your heart may not be.
filling-station

Sounds very complicated to me . Hopefully as the years pass by things will improve. I still can’t see how you can go south from the north bound pumps unless things have changed over the last four years🙃

 

[otherclive]

Sounds very complicated to me . Hopefully as the years pass by things will improve. I still can’t see how you can go south from the north bound pumps unless things have changed over the last four years🙃

Internal Combustion Engine vehicles made a great leap forwards in WW1 then with the model T Ford. Yet as a kid I clearly remember that the baker and coal man had horse drawn wagons, as did the rag and bone man ( recycling executive for younger readers) yet the milkman had an EV. I sometimes think people are expecting too much too quickly. As has been stated before on the Forum it’s not going to happen overnight.

 

[RogerL]

If I was on a motorway journey I cannot see the point of leaving the motorway to have sandwiches. We would just pull into the motorway services and park up in the designated bays. If they were full then we would use the HGV parking areas. What I would do is use GE to review the service area layout to ensure that you could go from the designated caravan/motorhome bays and into the HGV parking if necessary without being “ ejected “ from the services before you reached the HGV parking.

Other roads besides motorways have Service Areas, which we avoid where possible - not dfficult with Google Earth to find places where the road has been straightened leaving an "ox-bow" lay-by.

With the one exception of M6>A74(M)>M74>M73>M80>M9, motorways end after 200 miles in any direction from the Midlands so lunch taken after 4:30 hours driving (with a 10 minute comfort break at 2:15) is usually not on a motorway.

 

[RogerL]

Internal Combustion Engine vehicles made a great leap forwards in WW1 then with the model T Ford. Yet as a kid I clearly remember that the baker and coal man had horse drawn wagons, as did the rag and bone man ( recycling executive for younger readers) yet the milkman had an EV. I sometimes think people are expecting too much too quickly. As has been stated before on the Forum it’s not going to happen overnight.

I think we all know it's not going to happen overnight - that's why some of us are sceptical about the practicality of 2030/2035 dates to end sales of IC cars.

 

[otherclive]

I think we all know it's not going to happen overnight - that's why some of us are sceptical about the practicality of 2030/2035 dates to end sales of IC cars.

I think those dates will be held. Just look at the major motor manufacturers current and future offerings. Whether those cars can meet the needs of caravanning where parity of range and refuelling seem to be the obstacles to many potential owners. But they do have the option to continue their hobby using ICE vehicles. So it’s not a problem.

 

[Dustydog]

I never expected it overnight. Just surprised the service station people and Tesla haven’t thought it out better😉

 

[Tobes]

I never expected it overnight. Just surprised the service station people and Tesla haven’t thought it out better😉

It's a work in progress DD. Things are improving all the time.

 

[Raywood]

Internal Combustion Engine vehicles made a great leap forwards in WW1 then with the model T Ford. Yet as a kid I clearly remember that the baker and coal man had horse drawn wagons, as did the rag and bone man ( recycling executive for younger readers) yet the milkman had an EV. I sometimes think people are expecting too much too quickly. As has been stated before on the Forum it’s not going to happen overnight.

I do agree. Climate change requirements were ignored for far too long and we now have to proceed at breakneck speed. The move to EV's is desirable, but possibly if it had been thought through earlier the current situation would be far better. If the milk float makers had invested in improving them, who knows where EV's would be now.

 

[otherclive]

I do agree. Climate change requirements were ignored for far too long and we now have to proceed at breakneck speed. The move to EV's is desirable, but possibly if it had been thought through earlier the current situation would be far better. If the milk float makers had invested in improving them, who knows where EV's would be now.

Well Ernie had the fastest milk float of them all. 😂

 

[otherclive]

Not a full electric car, but unusual for Mazda to buck a trend and go for a very large diesel. Could be good Towcar.

Mazda CX-60 will get new six-cylinder diesel engine in 2023 | Carbuyer

Powerful new diesel engine will be offered alongside the existing plug-in hybrid option

www.carbuyer.co.uk

 

[Raywood]

I thought Mazda were reducing diesel options but this seems to be a divergence from that. Looks a very good tow car though.

 

[Dustydog]

Worldwide scrappage of fossil fuels ICE. will probably not happen for decades. Wise move by Mazda. Added to my list for 2029😉👍

 

[otherclive]

Worldwide scrappage of fossil fuels ICE. will probably not happen for decades. Wise move by Mazda. Added to my list for 2029😉👍

Mazda are one of those makes that tend to sit under the radar but they do have a good reputation for towing, dealer support and reliability.

 

[Buckman]

Not a full electric car, but unusual for Mazda to buck a trend and go for a very large diesel. Could be good Towcar.

Mazda CX-60 will get new six-cylinder diesel engine in 2023 | Carbuyer

Powerful new diesel engine will be offered alongside the existing plug-in hybrid option

www.carbuyer.co.uk

I posted a thread about it recently on the tow car forum as it does look interesting. https://forums.practicalcaravan.com/threads/new-phev-as-towcar.64595/

 

[ProfJohnL]

There is no doubt that with present day battery types, there are no EV's presently available in the UK where the EV version can match the range of the equivalent ICE car. This means in practice that you have to apply a new approach to towing caravans with EV's. Essentially factoring in significantly reduced towing range, and much longer stops to refuel compared to an ICE. So you can tow today, but it's not the same experience as with ICE tow vehicles. Basically: It's different

Here in the UK we still don't have enough charging stations spread around, And of the ones already constructed there are three additional concerns. The first is the poor provision of chargers suitable for accepting a towed outfit, The second is if the charger is already in use , and thirdly a factoid I read recently which suggests that presently 10% or more of chargers are out of service at any one time.

Add to this the inconvenience of having so many different charging companies, all of whom started out by requiring EV owners to download and set up an account on a smartphone to use their chargers. I believe recently the UK Gov't did require all new public chargers to have credit/debit card payment options just like buying dino juice at any filling station, but account holders may get a preferential cost per unit or energy.

All this means route planning and checking what apps you may need is essential.

This situation is changing slowly, through a combination of bigger batteries fitted to some vehicles, and charging facilities with higher kWH charge rates. However if your car has a lower charge rate than the charger its connected to, the extra charge rate is of no use.

But there are many large scale battery development programmes under way, and some have published working papers and some prototypes which do seem to offer hope of increasing the charge capacity of the battery per unit size, and/or allowing greater range, and some also offer faster charging rates both of which expand the possibility of towing.

I'm certain caravanning will continue to have a future here in the UK, but I expect as the number of EV's on our roads increases, we will see more charging points become available, but I somehow don't think the caravanner is going to top of the agenda when it comes to planning charging sites. So I believe caravanners will have to adopt new procedures to cope with charging difficulties, and there will still be range issues for many users, Consequently I believe we may see the traditions of caravanning change to adapt to the realities of the available facilities both for charging and caravan sites.

 

[Buckman]

Surely people tow other types of trailers besides caravans? Some even tow other cars. So maybe people towing are not such a small minority of the motoring population?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Surely people tow other types of trailers besides caravans? Some even tow other cars. So maybe people towing are not such a small minority of the motoring population?

No one knows the true figures for towing, because there is no formal way of collating the figures, but there are some guestimates. For example the NCC estimate there are about 550000 touring caravans in the UK, which is less than 2% of all UK road vehicles. But caravans are generally only used for a few days per year, so the number of times a car towing a caravan needs to use a fuel station is much much lower than non towing vehicles, as a percentage of all fuel purchased towing caravans is a very very very small percentage of the total fuel\energy purchased.

Of the other types of trailers used, most will be doing very short local journeys, and will probably never be taken to a public charging station.

However, caravans will be different, until EV batteries gain a lot more capacity, most caravanner's will need to use enroute charging facilities, so there is a need for the charge providers to give more consideration to being able to accept towing outfits.

This is an aspect that the caravanning club's, and trade bodies like the NCC should be lobbying both the charge site providers and government about.

Even individuals could do something like writing to you MP about the lack of space at charging sites, which might render the trailer open to theft if it has to be detached from the towing vehicle. Half a million caravanner's could make quite an impact and cause the gov to introduce certain planning considerations to future sites.

 

[Buckman]

Even individuals could do something like writing to you MP about the lack of space at charging sites, which might render the trailer open to theft if it has to be detached from the towing vehicle. Half a million caravanner's could make quite an impact and cause the gov to introduce certain planning considerations to future sites.

Sadly as we have found out although the MP will maybe answer your letter and state that they will look into it, with most you probably will never hear from them again.

 

[RogerL]

No one knows the true figures for towing, because there is no formal way of collating the figures, but there are some guestimates. For example the NCC estimate there are about 550000 touring caravans in the UK, which is less than 2% of all UK road vehicles. But caravans are generally only used for a few days per year, so the number of times a car towing a caravan needs to use a fuel station is much much lower than non towing vehicles, as a percentage of all fuel purchased towing caravans is a very very very small percentage of the total fuel\energy purchased.

Of the other types of trailers used, most will be doing very short local journeys, and will probably never be taken to a public charging station.

However, caravans will be different, until EV batteries gain a lot more capacity, most caravanner's will need to use enroute charging facilities, so there is a need for the charge providers to give more consideration to being able to accept towing outfits.

This is an aspect that the caravanning club's, and trade bodies like the NCC should be lobbying both the charge site providers and government about.

Even individuals could do something like writing to you MP about the lack of space at charging sites, which might render the trailer open to theft if it has to be detached from the towing vehicle. Half a million caravanner's could make quite an impact and cause the gov to introduce certain planning considerations to future sites.

Such lobbying from caravanners presumes that caravanners generally are keen to switch to EVs - but is that the case? Even with the high cost of fuel at present, it seems that most caravanners are content to run their existing car and aren't clamouring to make the switch to EV. The caravanning clubs are therefore unlikely to lobby for something their members are ambivalent about.

Personally, it's not the complexity of recharging while towing that stops me switching to an EV - it's the frequency I'd need to stop on a long haul towing as well as the cost of buying a new or nearly new EV to replace a perfectly good IC car - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Despite dieselgate, we'll never know the truth about real world diesel emissions but with a Euro 6 using Adblue that rarely ever goes into urban areas, my conscience isn't troubled.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Sadly as we have found out although the MP will maybe answer your letter and state that they will look into it, with most you probably will never hear from them again.

When I have corresponded with my MP I get a very different response. I receive a letter of acknowledgement, which also contains what the MP will do, for example to make representations to a departmental minister or authority. That is usually followed by a letter either from the MP or from the authority to explain their action or position on the subject.

Perhaps you should move to a different constituency.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Such lobbying from caravanners presumes that caravanners generally are keen to switch to EVs - but is that the case? Even with the high cost of fuel at present, it seems that most caravanners are content to run their existing car and aren't clamouring to make the switch to EV. The caravanning clubs are therefore unlikely to lobby for something their members are ambivalent about.

Personally, it's not the complexity of recharging while towing that stops me switching to an EV - it's the frequency I'd need to stop on a long haul towing as well as the cost of buying a new or nearly new EV to replace a perfectly good IC car - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Despite dieselgate, we'll never know the truth about real world diesel emissions but with a Euro 6 using Adblue that rarely ever goes into urban areas, my conscience isn't troubled.

Each person will have to make their own decisions about what transport they have in the future, and of course as I have often had to remind some forum members, the change away from ICE isn't going to happen suddenly it will follow the natural decay of the usability of present day vehicles, but assuming you outlive your present vehicle, you may have to consider changing away from ICE.

For some people the change has been forced on them, for example some employers will dictate that new cars on their fleet may have to EV's in which case there is no option. If the employee is a caravanner, then they will have to face the issues of charging whilst on route.

Regardless of your personal situation, you might have sympathy for those without your own freedom of choice, but as a fellow caravanner you might feel you can support public pressure to have charging facilities designed to consider EV's that are towing.

 

[RogerL]

Each person will have to make their own decisions about what transport they have in the future, and of course as I have often had to remind some forum members, the change away from ICE isn't going to happen suddenly it will follow the natural decay of the usability of present day vehicles, but assuming you outlive your present vehicle, you may have to consider changing away from ICE.

For some people the change has been forced on them, for example some employers will dictate that new cars on their fleet may have to EV's in which case there is no option. If the employee is a caravanner, then they will have to face the issues of charging whilst on route.

Regardless of your personal situation, you might have sympathy for those without your own freedom of choice, but as a fellow caravanner you might feel you can support public pressure to have charging facilities designed to consider EV's that are towing.

I'd prefer to let market choices dictate the speed of electrification - as a Blue Badge holder I'd rather support public pressure to end the conversion of disabled parking spaces at motorway service areas into EV charging points!

 

[otherclive]

Each person will have to make their own decisions about what transport they have in the future, and of course as I have often had to remind some forum members, the change away from ICE isn't going to happen suddenly it will follow the natural decay of the usability of present day vehicles, but assuming you outlive your present vehicle, you may have to consider changing away from ICE.

For some people the change has been forced on them, for example some employers will dictate that new cars on their fleet may have to EV's in which case there is no option. If the employee is a caravanner, then they will have to face the issues of charging whilst on route.

Regardless of your personal situation, you might have sympathy for those without your own freedom of choice, but as a fellow caravanner you might feel you can support public pressure to have charging facilities designed to consider EV's that are towing.

Both my daughter and grandson have cars provided by their employer, and as far as choice was concerned the cars listed were either SC, PHEV, or BEV. No MHEV or ICE. In their cases they have gone SC and PHEV respectively. But neither need to tow, and both show significant fuel savings over their previous ICE cars whilst still following their established pattern of journeys. So both public and private sector employers are driving change to electrified vehicles.

 

[Raywood]

Regardless of your personal situation, you might have sympathy for those without your own freedom of choice, but as a fellow caravanner you might feel you can support public pressure to have charging facilities designed to consider EV's that are towing.

I think it will come but as yet so few EV's are towing it will not be a priority.

 

[Buckman]

When I have corresponded with my MP I get a very different response. I receive a letter of acknowledgement, which also contains what the MP will do, for example to make representations to a departmental minister or authority. That is usually followed by a letter either from the MP or from the authority to explain their action or position on the subject.

Perhaps you should move to a different constituency.

The first part normlly happens, but we have never ever received feedback from the MP or the relative department what they have done. Zilch. Nothing! Are you willing to pay for our move to your constituency?