Can you tow a caravan or trailer with an Electric Car?

During the early adoption phase, most manufacturers have not subjected their electric vehicles to the required homologation (certification) for towing.

This is thought to be because EV’s tend to have short ranges compared to petrol and diesel cars, which would be cut drastically shorter when hauling a big trailer or caravan behind them! And most people who want to tow a caravan tend to want to travel long distances to go on holiday, etc.

This essentially makes almost all currently available EV’s quite useless for towing, despite their better torque and sturdier weight over their petrol and diesel equivalents.

However, meet the Tesla Model X.

This powerhouse of an Electric SUV has the weight, power and range to tow almost anything. What’s more, it’s totally certified to tow, and will do 0-62 in just 2.8 seconds! Just remember not to accelerate too quickly when towing! Obviously, towing a ruddy big caravan is likely to impinge on your acceleration quite substantially.

There are a few other EV’s that are certified to tow at the time of writing. Whilst these are not as powerful as the Tesla Model X, they are thankfully a bit cheaper. Here are the towing limits for each car:

Tesla Model X: 2,270Kg

Audi e-tron: 1,800Kg

Mercedes EQC: 1,800Kg

Jaguar I-Pace: 750Kg