Diesel & petrol alternatives? Your thoughts please

The thing that puzzles me about EVs is what proportion of the charge in the battery is lost?

I have in mind that you can't drive  a 1/4 ton of battery pack (or less) around without it costing power that then will not be available to add to the mileage driven?

That's not difficult when you're starting from a very low base figure.

I understand that Volvo now fit a diesel hybrid to the xc90, in fact I don’t think you can get just a diesel. Anyone any experience of towing with one of these? I think the electric motor just powers ancillaries. Does  this free up more engine power to the wheels. 
my current tow car is 3.0 litre Diesel and I’m concerned about going back to a 2.0 litre for towing a large van. But I would like to be greener and get more mpg!

can anyone with real world experience provide mpg figures and towing thoughts.

Many of the engine systems work on regeneration, you can actually add to the mileage using this provision.

Regarding EV sales, I just pulled this off the web regarding the present EV market. LINK

A lot of other info on there regarding the most popular models etc.

The build up against the plug in hybrid continues to gain pace just as it did with the diesel with a news story today concerning emissions being far higher than claimed by manufacturers. 

Mercedes and Volvo are in discussions to  manufacture a new combustion engine more suited to hybrid use.

The Ineos owner is investigating the use of a hydrogen fuel cell to power his version of the defender - the Grenadier. In addition he is looking at how to set up a hydrogen distribution network.

Whichever way you jump they`ll be another way you could have gone!

You have a point, but to be fair a (say) 2 litre engine, gearbox and 70 litres of diesel weighs a bit as well.

As I have said before, the issues for caravanning are towing weights, range and charging, particularly in rural areas or at events (such as caravan rallies, agricultural shows or horse trials)?

I looked at the new Gridserve EV charging station in Essex on their website.  I don't see any spaces for charging caravan towing EVs (unless they let you use the space in front of two EV charging points)..  I have sent them an email to ask what their policy is for accommodating towing vehicles and await their response.

Just discovered this thread. I have been towing with a 2017my Volvo V60 D6 PHEV. is the 2.5L 5cyl Diesel with a 78hp electric assist and is excellent. It tows our Unicorn Vigo without any trouble, returning around 30MPG. It will tow between 10-12 miles in summer in all electric mode from a full battery. When on site at a CLwith hookup, I will check with the owner if charging is OK (and pay for the extra electricity) and am able to use local miles on Electric only. When solo, it has about 20miles range in summer. Last 100 days has seen an average MPG of 64, with a few long trips. 

I am about to take ownership of a Polestar 2 EV, and plan to use that with the caravan too - probably for trips less than 100miles from home to start, and only to sites with hookup to charge over night. Thinking of changing the van in the next 2 years, and would go for something lighter weight, maybe with less front area, to improve EV range. Looking forward to trying it out!

I too have a V60 Diesel PHEV, great tow car and economical too albeit economy is different to yours. Solo EV only can be high 20’s in summer albeit high teens in winter. Overall it gives over 40mpg on long runs (such as a very high speed drive to Prague) and can exceed 50mpg with gentle driving. Towing mpg is mid/high 20’s. Winter is hammering economy but then i only drive at weekends at the moment and i am not a hypermiler. Reliability is rubbish, it will be my first and last Volvo. Good luck towing with an EV, no good to us though. When we go away it is usually 3/400 miles each way and so far have never seen a recharging point that can accommodate a car/caravan and i don’t spend more than £18k on a used car. Not sure what sites if any have EV charging points yet? What used EV’s can someone who has a caravan and on average wages who spends £8/10k on a used Mondeo or similar every few years buy? They can’t so EV’s will long remain the preserve of a relative few wealthy individuals or those who have an EV on their company car list. And used Nissan Leaf etc are almost unsellable, about the only used EV in demand is the Tessla.

Sounds like our economy on the PHEV is similar. I too see 40-42 on long high speed runs, and also around 50 if more gentle. My 64 has come from a lot of EV only journeys in lockdown. Shame to hear you have had poor reliability. So far mine has been excellent, as have the previous 5 Volvos of different shapes and varieties. 

Understand what you mean about towing with an EV - 3/400 miles each way would be hard work in any car but I am looking forward to the challenge. There is youtube vid of a polestar 2 towing a twin axle horse box and it looks like he gets about a 50% penalty - that would give me a range of about 100 miles towing between charges. My current trip to the lakes is 230 and we stop twice in the ICE on that run (once for comfort and once for comfort and fuel), so by extending those stops for about 10 mins each it should be doable. You are right that apart from Gridserve, most EV chargers are not caravan friendly, but I am prepared to unhitch to charge if needed - its a 2 minute exercise, and same with hitching after.  

All club sites with hookup are EV chargers  - you can plug into the bollard via the van - and I charge the PHEV that way too - Pay per day in the office. One or two have dedicated EV chargers too. 

Right now there are few EVs that can tow (though the list is growing almost by the week) and most of those are new, so it will be a while until they trickle down to the 2nd hand market, but they will get there. 

Not so sure that used EVs (of any make - not just the Leaf) apart from Tesla are unsellable, They seem to have a strong market and high residuals from what I have seen so far. But again - that may change as there are more to choose from. Either way - I am happy to be a part of the "early adopter" phase for towing (I cant class myself as early adopter for EV - we are beyond that now), and will be really interested to see how practical or otherwise it turns out to be. As with most things, I think you get out what you put in. A bit of planning (as with any caravan holiday to avoid those pesky single track CL accesses) and a relaxed approach, and it should be just fine.