While electric vehicles are only a very small percentage of the vehicle market today announcements by various car companies indicate that that won’t be the case for much longer. GM is only one of the latest to announce that it won’t build petroleum-powered vehicles after 2035 following a similar announcement by Ford.

California has already mandated that new vehicles sold in state no longer be propelled by petroleum power by 2035, so the announcement by GM and Ford and the inevitable similar announcements by other companies should come as no surprise.

But what of we RV enthusiasts? Sure, there have been some interesting discussions about electric motorhomes but nothing much has hit dealer showrooms yet and that’s not a surprise, this is a huge investment that probably won’t pay off for RV companies. At least not in the short run.

Electric is perfect

On paper an electric vehicle is almost the perfect choice for pulling a travel trailer. Electric vehicles have a ton of torque and that torque is available essentially right from the start. This is why electric vehicles are so much fun to drive - you get an immediate rush of power from a dead stop that throws you back in your seat.

While this is nothing any high-performance car owner isn’t familiar with, the people who first stumbled into a Tesla showroom and bought a Model S were buying a full-size four-door sedan that rivaled those sports cars. Some even took them to drag strips…and and took home prizes. This is for a four-door bone stock factory sedan.

But the down side of electric vehicles is the inevitable discussion of range. And anybody who’s pulled a travel trailer knows that hauling a big box through the wind means your fuel mileage goes right down the drain. Basically, RVs are giant air dams and your tow vehicle’s job is to overcome their wind resistance.

In fact much of the fuel you use moving an RV isn’t spent overcoming their heft. A lot of what you’re overcoming is terrible aerodynamics.

That’s why it’s funny when people ask about fuel mileage because, inevitably, it comes down to about 11-14 miles per gallon when towing. Not because of the weight of the tow vehicle or the trailer, but because you’re hauling a barn through the breeze and the faster you go, the more your engine has to work to overcome wind resistance.

Electric vehicle towables

So it’s not so much that electric vehicles can’t tow any modern travel trailer, it’s that doing so will affect the distance you are able to travel significantly. Electric vehicles are very, very aerodynamic because carmakers know that the less energy you expend on overcoming wind resistance, the further your vehicle will be able to travel. It’s pretty simple.

As such I took a look at a few trailers that might be good to tow with an electric vehicle. None of these are very large and one of the few electric vehicles that has actually been rated to tow is the Tesla Model X, a full-size SUV with a starting price of just $83,910. But you’re going to want the “Plaid” model with three electric drive motors and all-wheel-drive which has a starting price of $119,990. Now that you have that, let’s see what you can tow.

One of the things to know is that towing a big box behind you is going to dramatically reduce how far you can tow it. Just as with any liquid fuel-powered vehicle, how far you can go drops significantly when you’ve hung a trailer behind you. So the lower the wind resistance that trailer has, the further you’re going to get. Literally.

Travel Trailers

One of the only companies I’ve seen that has specifically tested their trailer for how it performs in the wind is Safari Condo Alto A2124 was specifically designed to be towed by an electric vehicle. Despite its unusual shape this trailer offers a lot of space for a couple or even a family and I wouldn’t mind having one of these even towing with my Ram.

The creator of the Polydrop P17A said his inspiration came from being able to tow with his own electric vehicle, also a Tesla, and he has actually documented mileage runs on the website for the trailer.

Even more compact and innovative than the Polydrop is the Earth Traveler T300. This is truly a unique trailer starting with the fact that part of the construction uses chicken feathers. Seriously! But this trailer is as light as a feather and also very, very sculpted so I would guess that it’s going to have a small footprint aerodynamically speaking. It certainly offers a lot in a small package.

If you can reduce what is called the “frontal area” of an RV that means less resistance to the wind. One way of doing this is to fold the RV in half and that’s exactly what the TrailManor trailers do. These unique trailers literally fold in half and, when expanded for camping, offer virtually all the functionality of a traditional travel trailer. This might be the best solution for those looking to go RVing while experiencing the least compromise in functionality.

If you love electricity

There are two rather traditional trailers that are all electric that I’ve come across, the Canadian-made ProLite E-Volt and the Palomino Revolve EV-2. Both of these trailers are all-electric in every aspect using solar panels to power batteries that then run every piece of the trailer right down to the water heater, AC and furnace.

I think Palomino has done a far better job with this of the two having created a trailer that can be great in shoulder seasons, although the AC or furnace are really going to eat those batteries alive in temperature extremes. Furthermore both of these trailers are higher in profile which would result in significant wind drag and reduce the range you can pull them with an electric vehicle, if that’s your choice. Also, this is a lot of technology and expense and if you’re not using them for boondocking, you’re spending a lot of money on parts and technology that you may not be using. I suspect either of these will really appeal to early adopters more than anyone else.

Your mileage will vary

I had the privilege of speaking with a number of EV owners about their experience towing. There are definitely some commonalities.

EVs tend to be heavy due to the large battery pack under the floor. EVs also have high plenty of torque at low vehicle speeds which is exactly what you want for towing something. This is why a diesel railroad locomotive uses electric motors to actually provide power to the wheels.

One of the people I had the privilege of speaking with was Jose Anés who tows an rPod 178 with a Tesla Model X. The Model X has the largest physical size of any electric vehicle currently available so that would make it better suited to overcoming a large brick behind it. Furthermore the rPod 178 is a narrow-body travel trailer (6.5’ wide) and has a rather rounded shape. So you might almost consider this one of the better combinations.

Jose, like the others, indicated that the Tesla tows the trailer like it’s not even there. Remember the Model X has, at minimum, almost 500 ft-lbs of torque. It also has a coefficient of drag at .25 which basically means it’s really, really slippery through the air. Before you add the trailer. Then all bets are off.

While Jose typically can get about 350 miles of range from the Model X he said about towing, “It affects range significantly. It reduces range by about 40%.”

Charging is an issue at present with the Tesla chargers being designed so that you pull into a space directly in front of them. Thus far he’s found that they’re mostly unoccupied so he can pull in next to the chargers but that does take-up a number of parking places.

“I typically wait with the car when I’m doing this.”

He has also found that the cord the chargers are on are relatively short, no more than about 4’. This is unlike some of the hoses at a gasoline filling station where you can stretch them out to fill the tank from the opposite side of a vehicle.

I know I can tow that

One of the things that absolutely shouldn’t be ignored in any tow situation is overconfidence. While you may feel that you can tow something and people on the internet will have attested to having towed something, that doesn’t mean you should tow it.

Trailer weight isn’t the only factor in whether or not your vehicle can tow a trailer. There is tongue weight, or the amount of force the trailer exerts on the ball coupler and this is where a lot of people get into trouble.

hummerEvery vehicle has a maximum load capacity or GVW. In addition, there is a gross axle weight capacity as well. So that pickup that is advertised as being able to tow 12,000 pounds might have a cargo carrying capacity of 1,700 pounds. If you weigh 250 pounds and your wife weighs 150 pounds that reduces the cargo carrying capacity to 1,300 pounds. Gasoline weighs 6.06 pounds per gallon so if you’re filling 30 gallons there’s another 180 pounds off your cargo carrying capacity. Now you add a generator, some firewood, a couple of bicycles and more.

If your trailer has a tongue weight, dry, of 1,000lbs and you’re over capacity. Still, I know lots of people who will say things like “the truck can haul more than they say in the manual” or “the weight distribution hitch means I can haul more.” Okay.

If you want to learn more about towing we did a podcast episode about towing where you can also find a chart to help you determine what your vehicle can actually tow.

Now if you get into an accident a friend of mine who’s an insurance investigator will demand that they weigh your truck and your trailer and all the contents. If you’re over weight he specializes in denying your insurance claim. So you can claim all you want, his job is to deny yours.

My point in this bummer statement is that many, many electric vehicles specifically do not permit towing so modifying the vehicle to do so might get you and your trailer down the road but consider yourself uninsured if you’re breaking the rules. You may be fine, but the gamble is yours to take.

What’s the summary?

The bottom line. The good news is I see a number of viable choices today for those wishing to tow with an electric vehicle or who might be interested in an all-electric travel trailer. But I also see that the flood gates are about to open just because they have to.

Ford has an electric pickup coming, GM has announced an all-electric Hummer-branded truck and there is a lot of time and energy being invested in all-electric package delivery vehicles which means that that technology will very likely translate into the RV space.

There’s one thing that’s unavoidable - RVs are big boxes that create a tremendous amount of wind resistance. While we can do a lot to increase range and even current electric vehicles are well suited to tow some trailers, the future is likely more in things like the TrailManor or Safari Condo Alto.

These are better for towing with an electric but also with a traditional vehicle as well. So I think the onus is on the RV industry to make things that are better aerodynamically but we, as buyers, also have to demand better from RV companies if we want to tow more efficiently.