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The Government has announced that they are to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel-engined cars by 2030 and car manufacturers are ramping up production of electric cars this decade.
Many electric cars aren’t capable of towing but plug-in hybrid cars are improving all the time, as are the technology developments and charging infrastructure.
In our first community poll for 2021, we’d like to know if you’re considering buying an electric car or an electric hybrid car to tow your caravan? Or maybe you already have one? Or is it too soon to start thinking about?
We’d love to hear your views about towing with an electric or hybrid tow car in the comments box below and we’ll report back the results in February 2021. For instance, is it already starting to affect your plans for future towcar and caravan purchases?
Caravanners are being treated like idiots at the moment. Rarely any practical common sense available from anyone in the caravan business. Plenty pie in the sky and pipe dreams though!!
Totally agree Richard, this mad run to EVs is OK if you live in a town and do not want to go far, or do not want to tow.
I will wait for Hydrogen fuel cells, but will hang on to my motorhome with a proper engine for as long as I can ,or until Hydrogen powered vehicles arrive. The thought of only being able to drive a hundred miles or so at a time is not something I wish to contemplate.
We have motor movers already on most caravans. Why not hybrid caravans that are propelled self charging caravans that support electric driven cars.
Must be something possible out there, something that can assist with drive, push assist. A new type of drive axle.
I have been towing a Coachman Festival 630 double axel 8M long. We have been towing it for nearly 4 years with a Electic Tesla Model X fully loaded with gear and passengers with no problem at all. We have towed it in the UK and in Europe with no issues. Chargers are abundant and Electric vehicle make superb tow vehicles due to all wheel drive and immediate torque. I had a Mitsibushi Shogan LWB before and this car puts that to shame. I encourage owners to look into it as lots of new electric cars are coming out and the running costs are very low compare to an ICE vehicle.
I completely agree with G McD above and will wait for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to become a viable alternative to my aging torquey diesel. I go beyond thinking government policy is wrong to announce bans on I.C. engines until viable alternative technologies are available, I say government in this instance is stupid.
I will be keeping my 2.2 Diesel until I can drive and refuel an electric car in the same way. Like others I am waiting for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and as at least one of the big oil companies has committed to hydrogen technology hopefully it wont be too long.
I think government policy is wrong to announce bans on I.C. engines until viable alternative technologies are available, all this will do is encourage people to keep older inefficient and higher polluting vehicles. finally I am not a fan of the current methods of extracting lithium and the misleading advertising claiming electric cars are zero emission in use.
Thank You for Excellent review on the Outlander Phev, we’ve had our 2.4ltr Phev since July now and sadly haven’t used it for towing yet and similarly we’d be happy with 26mpg whilst pulling our Bailey Pegasus Milan especially when averaging fuel costs across the year. Once you learn how, when and where to use the electric motors and/or petrol engine efficiently reduced running costs are achievable. Incidentally I last put petrol in my car in August of last year (£20 to top up to full) and appreciating it now needs fresh fuel (it starts the petrol engine to move fuel around) we have done 1300 Miles on electricity and petrol combined. They are an expensive initial outlay and luckily ours is a company car therefore with the BIK added versus my last car a Nissan X Trail, it’s far more cost effective imho.
I would be interested in buying electric for a tow-car, but I’m concerned about several issues, including the fact that most reviews indicate that electric cars are not really up to riguors of towing, and that recharging points have not been installed widely enough. We like caravanning in France and would need to be convinced that this would continue to be possible with an electric tow-car.
I support the manufacturers of fully electric and Hybrids, but feel that they ought to be trying to develop more models that use the Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology. It has all the eco positives of plug-ins and hybrids without the disadvantages of the long recharge times and short driving distances of plug-ins, or the emissions from the engines powering the hybrids.
Hydrogen fuel cell powered electric vehicles can drive distances and perform very similarly to petrol / diesel vehicles, producing only water from the exhaust, and having a refuel time of around 4 minutes.
Most hydrogen fuel cell powered electric vehicles develop more than enough torque to enable them to tow comfortably, so until I can get one at a reasonable cost, I will stay with my 2 litre diesel with catalytic converter and AD-BLUE technology.
As electric cars are grossly over priced and under powered for caravan towing I will not be purchasing one
Until ‘e’ cars can give the same torque + range of current diesels why change? Current situation with C-19 aside I can plan on 300 miles between fill ups towing a 1650Kg caravan with my Kodiaq. There are not many ‘e’ cars that can travel that distance when not towing. If government/s started a scheme to encourage owners of older more polluting diesels to exchange for new diesels with at least Euro 6 spec we would overnight reduce pollution. There are several reports circulating that highlight the fact that new diesels from the last couple of years emit cleaner air than they are taking in at certain times in some inner city areas. Diesels have been getting bad press for a number of years there is also a report that shows some modern readily available diesels when tested like for like power / torque against petrol are virtually identical when tested for polluting agents. You simply have to search out the reports and not be taken in by the hype. I will be staying with good tried and tested diesel power for as long as I can.
We bought a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in July as most of our mileage is now local and not suited to diesel due to DPF. I accepted that on longer runs and towing it would be less economical than a diesel but the vast majority of the time it is purely on battery and the solar panels at home means it is mostly free. Due to Covid we have only managed one trip with the caravan, approx 175 miles each way, mostly motorway at 55 mph, and was pleasantly surprised to achieve 26 mpg towing a Bailey Valencia. the outfit is rock solid on the road and performance is more than adequate, the instant torque from the electric motors making pulling away or accelerating easy. Once you are used to the CVT and the fact that the engine revs are not related to the speed (not noisy anyway) I find it a very relaxing towcar.
By the time I could afford to buy an electric tow car I will probably be too old or even…….
The whole page of articals give you information . It has the latest items for your motohome with particular reference to safety both for the vehicle and for when you are out on the road. Yor email is well received and kept for future reference.
Until I see consistent reports that show caravans can be towed successfully with electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure will support us will I not be considering electric vehicle for towing caravan at 1500kg. Not seen any locations yet that I could drive in with caravan attached to charge the vehicle. At peak times hard enough to get parked in a motorway service station with a caravan never mind a few charging stations. Would however consider electric vehicle for normal driving.