Another long tow with an EV

ChocolateTrees replied on 23/07/2022 21:19

ChocolateTrees

Posted on 23/07/2022 21:19

Great journey yesterday from South Northamptonshire to the Lake District, towing our 1550kg Unicorn Vigo, with our Polestar 2 LRDM. It’s our 7th or 8th holiday towing with the Polestar so are getting the hang of it.
Two stops, the first after 110 miles in Crew at an Instavolt. Insta was on a go slow at only 80kW max (49 mins)
Second stop 85 miles later at the South lakes Porsche experience center. Great 350kW charger peaked at 136kW for me (battery at 26%). Stopped for just 25mins. Then on to Borrowdale. The whole journey used 146kWh over 260 miles giving a potential range of 132 miles on a single charge. The first leg was even better (much flatter) with a potential range or 140miles towing.
In all just 75 mins of charging on a 7:25 min journey, but we had some long delays on the M6 (around 50 mins). Car was superb…
Total electricity cost, about £61, with about 40 solo miles left over at the end.

We did the same journey last October. I have learned 4 key things since then.
1) ultra-rapid chargers make a huge difference. I would love an EV6 as a tow car for that reason (though I am not sure I would give up the Polestar just for that).
2) there are a LOT more ultra-rapid chargers than just 8 months ago.
3) Gridserve MSA that replaced the Electric Highway chargers are NOT ultra-rapid, even though they are advertised as 120kW.
4) Plan to use as much of your charge as possible each time to maximise charge rate and minimise charge time. As the number of Ultra-rapid chargers grows, this gets easier.

The infrastructure is definitely not as bad either the press make out or people think it is, but it still has a long way to go!

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83 replies

DavidKlyne replied on 25/07/2022 09:07

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DavidKlyne

Motorhomer

Posted on 25/07/2022 09:07

Chocolate Trees said:-

I would love an EV6 as a tow car for that reason (though I am not sure I would give up the Polestar just for that).

Just out of interest have you been following the Andrew Ditton videos on YouTube as I think he is currently towing with an EV6?

David

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eribaMotters replied on 25/07/2022 09:36

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eribaMotters

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 09:36

On a cost basis I was interested to see the figures.

On 13th July we drove from Harwich to Merseyside after our 5 weeks in Holland.

We were not towing the same weight but did have a very full car, 1.5 petrol towing a 1200kg low height van. Our costs are comparable.

The leisurely 6 hour journey with a lunch break was 275 miles, recording 39mpg when brimming the tank, cost £60.58.

Colin

Tinwheeler replied on 25/07/2022 10:50

Tinwheeler

Campervanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 09:36 by eribaMotters

On a cost basis I was interested to see the figures.

On 13th July we drove from Harwich to Merseyside after our 5 weeks in Holland.

We were not towing the same weight but did have a very full car, 1.5 petrol towing a 1200kg low height van. Our costs are comparable.

The leisurely 6 hour journey with a lunch break was 275 miles, recording 39mpg when brimming the tank, cost £60.58.

Colin

Posted on 25/07/2022 10:50

While that's not bad at all, EM, for it to be a true comparison you'd need to be towing the same caravan as ChocT with an ICE car the equivalent of the Polestar. However, you show it can be done economically.

commeyras replied on 25/07/2022 11:18

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commeyras

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 11:18

I know well away from where Choc Trees was towing but it was a good thing he was not trying to charge up at Cobham Services on M25 yesterday. All points full when I stopped there and I do not think you could have used them with a caravan behind you. I stand to be corrected on last this point.

ChocolateTrees replied on 25/07/2022 20:01

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ChocolateTrees

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 09:07 by DavidKlyne

Chocolate Trees said:-

I would love an EV6 as a tow car for that reason (though I am not sure I would give up the Polestar just for that).

Just out of interest have you been following the Andrew Ditton videos on YouTube as I think he is currently towing with an EV6?

David

Posted on 25/07/2022 20:01

Yes, watching with interest. His experience of charging and range seems very similar to mine. I love the V2L capability the EV6 has too.

ChocolateTrees replied on 25/07/2022 20:04

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ChocolateTrees

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 11:18 by commeyras

I know well away from where Choc Trees was towing but it was a good thing he was not trying to charge up at Cobham Services on M25 yesterday. All points full when I stopped there and I do not think you could have used them with a caravan behind you. I stand to be corrected on last this point.

Posted on 25/07/2022 20:04

I definitely could not charge with a caravan on hitch. My charging point is at the rear so have to back in. But I would not plan to stop at Cobham just because of its business, and especially as I can see the charger use from the Navigation on the car. I pick places that are empty!

Gabbleduck replied on 11/08/2022 09:23

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Gabbleduck

Caravanner

Posted on 24/07/2022 22:49 by Tinwheeler

Thanks, ChocT, and for the charging info as well. The granny charger is so slow and definitely only for emergencies. So far we’ve only charged at home on the 7kw charger. I have heard the advice about only charging to 90° but I don’t think it’s in our instructions.

The Kona does seem to be a good smallish car and we've found that with careful driving and making max use of the regen braking, we can extend its range of 300mls to something like 350. We're currently getting 5.3mls to the kw but we have only used it locally as yet. Long trips are done in the MH. We deliberately chose the 64kw model to give ourselves a good range using the theory that bigger is better.

My goodness what a learning curve it was getting used to it! It was almost like learning to drive all over again. All made good, though, when the price of filling the 'tank' is worked out.

Posted on 11/08/2022 09:23

Amazing, if you can get 350mi from a charge, you're only 20mi short of the range of our petrol 5 series with a full tank!

Gabbleduck replied on 11/08/2022 09:29

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Gabbleduck

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 20:01 by ChocolateTrees

Yes, watching with interest. His experience of charging and range seems very similar to mine. I love the V2L capability the EV6 has too.

Posted on 11/08/2022 09:29

Still waiting for the EV6 to land, but the first thing I'm going to do when it gets delivered is plug the mower into the socket by the rear seats and mow the front lawn. Simply because I can :D

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Gabbleduck replied on 11/08/2022 09:47

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Gabbleduck

Caravanner

Posted on 25/07/2022 09:36 by eribaMotters

On a cost basis I was interested to see the figures.

On 13th July we drove from Harwich to Merseyside after our 5 weeks in Holland.

We were not towing the same weight but did have a very full car, 1.5 petrol towing a 1200kg low height van. Our costs are comparable.

The leisurely 6 hour journey with a lunch break was 275 miles, recording 39mpg when brimming the tank, cost £60.58.

Colin

Posted on 11/08/2022 09:47

Colin, there's a chap on the kia EV forums just starting to tow an Eriba with the EV6.

https://www.kiaownersclub.co.uk/threads/official-kia-uk-towbar-fitted.67314/

post #4

The mileage he gets (which is not yet that accurate due to lack of miles) suggests the lower height of the van might make a significant difference to range. It certainly backs up much of the info from the Norwegian YouTuber who tests all the different EVs for towing ability - that the shape of the load has far more effect than the weight.

If we find towing a 1500kg Vigo more troublesome than CT, I think our first mitigation would be to swap for an Eriba. Eriba's are incredibly cool already, but with an EV towing it, could anything be cooler? ;)

1 person likes this

Tinwheeler replied on 11/08/2022 13:38

Tinwheeler

Campervanner

Posted on 11/08/2022 09:23 by Gabbleduck

Amazing, if you can get 350mi from a charge, you're only 20mi short of the range of our petrol 5 series with a full tank!

Posted on 11/08/2022 13:38

Yes, it is pretty amazing but, as with all cars, it depends how you drive and what sort of journeys you make. I’m very happy😃👍🏻

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