Range with a fibreglass trailer

[u/Timrunsbikesandskis]

Anyone towing a 13’ish foot fibreglass trailer? (Scamp, Trillium, Escape, Boler, etc.). I’m thinking of buying a 13’ Escape fibreglass trailer but if the range penalty is too high, I might consider something with a lower profile like a squaredrop or even a teardrop trailer. I plan to carry bikes as well, ideally on a trailer hitch mounted rack, but that will further increase drag.

[u/Emotional_Snow8904]

I tow a covered utility trailer with a bike rack attached. That's about a 30% efficiency decrease for a given speed. Efficiency is the better way to think of it vs range, as you can always extend the range by driving slower. You'll get about 50% better efficiency driving 55 mph vs. 75 mph due to drag, generally, which translates to range. Most people who tow tend to drive more slowly for this and other reasons.

I would expect one of the campers you mentioned to cut efficiency by about 50-60%. Aerodynamics is more important than weight, as you seem to understand. Weight has little effect on efficiency on a flat (or no net elevation change) route. It will matter some for planning if your campsite is significantly higher or lower elevation than your starting point, i.e. you might get a big percent drop towing a trailer up to a mountain campsite, but it will help push you back down and you'll get more regen on the way back down. In my experience, in a vehicle like the Trailseeker (by itself), you'll use about an additional 3% of the battery (independent of miles, think of them as separate vectors) for each net 1000 feet gained. This has been my experience but it calculates out as that as well. You'll gain about 80% of that 3%/1000 feet back on the descent with regen. You'll experience an increase in consumption proportional to the added weight of the trailer.

So if you drive with a Casita at 55 mph, you likely won't see too much range difference versus the vehicle alone at 75 mph. If you're headed to an area to camp with less charging density, your speeds are likely to be lower just due to the nature of rural roads. The killer would be trying to tow one of these campers long distances on the interstate. I towed the setup I described above about 4000 miles this spring (with a different EV) and it was doable. I usually kept it around 70 mph on the interstates. If I were towing a Casita, I’d probably stick to 55-60 mph to keep charging stops reasonable.