TESLA TOW BALLER
A unique Tesla Model S is showing ute-obsessed NZ that EVS can tow
It’s true that many plug-in vehicles are either not rated to tow or have reduced capacity. But newer models are beginning to get into the groove of hauling stuff — like the Audi e-tron, which is rated for 1.8 tonnes. Or the Tesla Model X, which can lug 2.268 tonnes. Yes, that’s a weirdly specific figure, but it’s a nice round 5000lb in American maths.
Even those EVS that can’t tow
. . . probably can. Case-in-point is the 2015 Tesla Model S run by Taupo-based dealership Drive EV. It was purchased as a $65,000,170,000km ex-japan used import, in P85 specification (85kwh battery, single-motor RWD) and has served as a tow car since earlier this year, delivering EVS to their new owners.
The 2015 Model S is not rated to tow. At all. But that didn’t stop Drive EV commissioning Raglan engineer Niall Darwin to build a towbar rated to 3.5 tonnes for the vehicle. That’s just a case of overdelivering in the interests of safety, as the Tesla tows a maximum of 2.5 tonnes at any one time: the trailer plus, say, a Model 3. The company now calls the car “Hulk”.
“There is no reason that EVS can’t tow,” says Drive EV owner Steve Greenwood. “In fact, they have excellent low-down torque, an asset when towing. The most limiting factor is the impact on the vehicle’s driving range, but the great thing about the Model S is it does have a pretty good range to begin with.”
Early runs indicated the realworld range was halved when towing, to around 160km. No different in theory to the extra fuel used by a petrol or diesel car, except that recharging en route takes much more careful planning and management.
Drive EV has recently taken the Hulk theme further by doing a battery swap, from the 85kw unit (which, incredibly, still had a 92 per cent State of Health) to a100kwh pack. The old one is being split in two for a pair of short-wheelbase Landrovers, but that’s a story for another time.
So Hulk is now unique in NZ: technically a P100 RWD, compared with the factory P100D, or D-fordual motor AWD, versions. Hulk has been on the dyno and makes 309kw/940nm at the rear wheels. And tows other EVS.
Hulk smash . . . preconceptions.