# Trailing the Solution to EV Range Anxiety



## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

U-Haul or the other truck rental companies should be doing this. But, EVs need to come with attachable trailer hitches.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

Caps18 said:


> U-Haul or the other truck rental companies should be doing this. But, EVs need to come with attachable trailer hitches.


I considered this. To get a 350 mile total range the trailer would have to have around $40k in batteries on it. People that rent such a thing are going to probably use a full cycle per day so they can only rent it a few thousand times before the batteries need replacing. Assume they are really good people and dont want to make any money at all and the trailer costs nothing so it is just the $40k in batteries and 2000 cycles gives $20 per day. I would gladly pay that. But they aren't good guys and they want to make a profit, so they would need to charge a LOT more than this. Consider they charge about $60 per day for a trailer that costs only a couple thousand to buy.

It would take a 30A Level 2 charger around 19 hours to charge it. It would take a 70A level 2 charger around 8 hours to charge such a pack. A 100kw Tesla super charger could do it in maybe 90 minutes. A 15 amp 120V outlet would take 73 hours to charge it.

I don't see how you could justify this as a business venture and make a profit. I would like to drive my car onto a train and transport it that way. Would be a lot more energy efficient.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Good points. The sheer amount of power needed to recharge something like that makes it a show stopper. Hey Gramma, can I borrow your Jiggawatt extension cord?

Plus most EVs don't come with trailer hitches or motors large enough to haul themselves and a trailer safely.

I've considered moving my lead to a solar trailer when I finish upgrading to lithium so I would typically never even need to plug in and I'd have somewhat of a range boost, but then my rational brain always comes back and tells me it's not worth it.


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

I made provisions for a trailer hitch on my EV with the idea of a range extender. I got a lot of negative feed back on this forum back in 2010. I planed on a gen set with a small motor on the trailer to aid in propulsion. I kind of gave up on it for various reasons but mainly I didn’t want to be burdened with a trailer. Tesla’s 150 mile range would suit me fine and with 250 mile range I would be in tall clover. The biggest problem with the limited range of EV’s is not necessarily the EV but the general public. Most people now days are fat and lazy. If there was an app for charging or the burger joints put in charging stations more people would be inclined to by EV’s. From my observation while traveling the U.S. for 18 years a forty minute charge at rest areas and stations would work. On cross country trips to art shows I pulled a 16 foot camp trailer. I usually kept my speed at 60mph so a lot of cars passed me on the interstates. I would pull in to a rest stop or a service station and see many of the vehicles that passed me sitting there. I would do whatever it was I pulled off for and would pull back out on the highway leaving many of the cars still sitting only to have them zoom past me to the next rest and repeat the scenario. I think most auto travelers spend enough time at stops to allow for a charge.


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## Mark C (Jun 25, 2010)

dougingraham said:


> I would like to drive my car onto a train and transport it that way. Would be a lot more energy efficient.


Doug,

I'm in complete agreement here. It's the way some snowbirds do when they spend about half their year in the northeast and the other half in Florida. {I'll let you guess which half } They load their cars on the train and ride. 

For long distance travel, it may work out great in many ways. Not so much for Hertz, Avis and Cracker Barrel though.

Mark


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