Comment by xwdv
7 years ago
When I’m hauling around a 10,000 pound airstream trailer on highways that 500 miles becomes 250 and 250 becomes 125 on flat land. Now consider going uphill on mountains and the range drops even more. There’s a real possibility of being stranded with no place left to charge in the middle of nowhere where I could be easily killed without anyone even knowing.
> I could be easily killed without anyone even knowing.
Well, that escalated quickly.
haha, thought the same thing.
I don't think it's as extreme as you're making it seem. Going uphill on mountains means you're going downhill which not only doesn't use power but regenerates power to the battery. It's obviously not insignificant of a cost but adding a trailer doesn't immediately halve the usable range.
>Going uphill on mountains means you're going downhill which not only doesn't use power but regenerates power to the battery.
If you are pulling a trailer (let's say a camping trailer) you are likely going to stay a few days at a place before returning home and going down those hills you went up.
That's OK. It's not like the potential energy goes away just because you stay overnight. Plus there's a solar panel for all that power you are going to use while making hot toddies in the camper.
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I guess, but I've never driven 100 miles up a mountain to stay for a few days.
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> It's obviously not insignificant of a cost but adding a trailer doesn't immediately halve the usable range.
It probably would through aerodynamic drag at the same speed but if you're planning on towing you can just drive slower (65 instead of 80) to make up for it.
> Going uphill on mountains means you're going downhill
Not if the mountain's big enough. You might only go an appreciable distance downhill on the way home.
Barring something like a city decimating earthquake - for every foot you ascend, you must also descend. There is just as much uphill as downhill. This is true for any trip with any two destinations on the planet (a round trip between a beginning and a destination). This is equivalent to conservation of potential energy in physics.
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Then that means that you stopped somewhere along the way.
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My truck goes from 22 mpg to 10 mpg when I hook up my RV. Utility trailers aren't nearly so bad, but an RV trailer is like an open parachute behind you.
Towing puts a toll on any vehicle's gas mileage, and you can run out of gas in a normal truck too. Tesla's have range indicators built in and let you know how far you are from the nearest charging station. Turns out people who are traveling pay at least a little attention to vehicle range, particularly when hauling a load. This isn't unique to electric vehicles, regular trucks fuel economy goes way down with a load as well and gas stations are often few and far between in the mountains.