The TRUTH about Towing a Boat with a Tesla Model Y ( EPIC 4000 KM FAMILY ROAD TRIP) 

It kind of sucked having to unhook it in southern Ontario but we rarely had to unhook it up north. That will probably change as more people go electric. A pull-through charging station or more creative planning would be great though for towing.

glad you enjoyed it

No problem - glad you liked the video!

No problem it was a lot of fun. Towing close to home is awesome. We live really close to Lake Erie so range isn't a problem for us most of the time.

glad you enjoyed it!

No problem - glad you enjoyed the video!

Thank you!! I’ve never towed a boat before but once i get my full license that’s the first thing i’m gonna do!

@@AverieRose haha look forward to seeing that vlog if ur plan on filmning it

it was definitely an interesting setup lol. we went through blind river but didn't fish that area... maybe on the next road trip we will!

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thanks!

Thanks!

Sorry just saw this. The boat is 3500lbs with gear in it... max towing for the car. But I would have to check with the tongue weight. Travel did not include sleeping in the cabin. Towing with the Y isn't ideal for this type of thing. Dad bought a Ford Ranger for towing the boat longer distances. The Y works great for local towing.

Yah Dad is trying to figure out a replacement for the Xterra come winter. Not sure what we'll be getting. The Model Y is awesome at the ramp because it's such a heavy car for it's size. We'll have to wait and see how it does on some of our icy ramps in the late fall and early winter.

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Hey Mike… Averie’s dad here… the longest stretch we did was 222 kms on the way home. Between Wawa, On and Sault St. Marie, On. We made it with 3% charge left and I drove slow on some areas… like 50-60kms per hour. Towing locally is great with the Y but we ended up buying a Ford Ranger for towing anything farther than 20 minutes away. It’s just too inconvenient for me personally. We often fish lakes that are an hour away and want to hit the water at sunrise… last thing I want to do is charge for 30 minutes on the way. haha

Ahaha yes we are definitely going to try towing with other vehicles… the Tesla was an awesome experiment but for going long distances it’s probably best to tow with something else!

We didn't use the recommended supercharger stops at all. We figured out how far we could get and decided on our own which ones we should stop at.

Our model Y with 19” tires has a max towing capacity of 3500lbs with 5 people. We were somewhere between 3000 and 3500lbs with all of our gear in the boat.

Yeah 115 miles would be a comfortable number. But we only drove around 55 MPH to save on energy..

@@AverieRose damn. I want to do 65 and I bet I will hit a lot of traffic in Miami. Does traffic affect the range? The answer is yes I assume

​@@russkielolTraffic is actually beneficial! The greatest enemy of an EV is air resistance. At lower speeds, EVs are incredibly energy efficient. Unlike gas cars, the drivetrain doesn't "idle" and waste energy. Only the HVAC is a significant draw at slow speeds, and even that will be 1-2kw draw max, once you've cooled/heated the cabin. A 75kWh battery in something like a Model Y can literally run for days at a standstill in moderate temperatures. And anywhere from 15-30 hours in extreme temperatures

Our boat is a 2023 Smokercraft adventurer pro 188 dc! Its an awesome boat!

Canadian $

Yeah Canadian dollars… our gas is taxed to the moon, and I based it on my personal experience, towing with a 16 year old Nissan Xterra which is terrible on gas while towing our rig. Like really really bad.

yeah Dad travels all the time with it for work and said it's awesome... but when you're towing you lose too much range for quick turnaround kind of trips.

1000 km is about 600 miles, so they did around 2 400 miles in total. Canadians use Metric for distance, speed and temperature, but use Imperial for people's height and weight (and weight in general). Averie mentioned at the beginning that the boat weighs 3000 pounds. She did not say it in kilograms. Older Canadians still have trouble with the Metric System, even though Canada officially switched 50 years ago. It is a bizarre situation, lol.

We had to charge to 100% most of the time just to make it to the nearest charger. But yes, you are right for sure if charging to 80% is an option it’s way faster.

@@AverieRose Ahh makes total sense! I didnt consider that being the only option.

it was an experiment to see how the car could tow the boat! just for fun!

Yeah Dad uses it for work all the time when he isn't towing and his road trips are complexity fine... You just lose so much range when you're towing something. I'm sure it'll get better with time.

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You’re 100% right Frank. We actually ordered an F-150 lightning initially but the price went up to 130k which was way above what we were willing to pay. We will tow to our local spots with the Model Y for sure, but we won’t be using it to tow for long trips like this. When not towing, it’s an awesome travel car… but loses way too much range while pulling the boat. You won’t see any ranchers towing cattle around with an electric truck anytime soon either! lol

When gas prices come down to normal it will be better to stick with my Ram truck. Plus the the price break on charging vehicles will not last.

Thanks for the comment, but I just don’t get what you felt it was necessary to tell us you are not ready to go electric.

@@dianelittle3111 because I wont spend $130k on a vehicle that wont work well for my needs as for the needs of similar people watching this. Electric sucks for pulling and generally for all outdoor sports related stuff. I had my 5 ltr v8 in water up to my door handle pulling my atv trailer . Try that with an electric. for city its great

@@dianelittle3111 FOR ONE HE PROBABLY DOESN'T WANT THE HASLE OF CHARGING IT. PLUS THE PRICE OF IT AND THE FACT THAT OF THEY WILL STOP GIVING MONEY BACK ON YOUR BILL.

4.5 months and 40,000kms in and it’s the best investment I’ve ever made for my business and family. We don’t often tow the boat with it, but for running around for work, hockey and so on it’s been amazing. The money I save on gas every month more than makes up for the cost of the vehicle. They may not be for everyone, or every scenario but I couldn’t be more happy with the purchase. I’ll never own a gas vehicle again as my daily driver. But we do have a small truck (Ford Ranger) as our secondary vehicle… my wife and daughter drive it when I’m gone with the Tesla, or if we want to do “truck stuff” 🤟🏼

Yep it was a long trip and would've been shorter with gas but VERY expensive.

Tesla battery packs live long and prosper. Our Tesla is 11 years old and supercharged 4x PER WEEK. 90% original capacity.

In production

we've actually never drove it in the winter yet... that will be the next test lol.

no

have you drove an electric car in the winter if so give us your thoughts on doing so@@OtisFlint

I weighed the rig at the local dump station and am well aware of what is safe and what isn’t. Also drove up with an empty gas tank in the boat to shed a little weight. I’ve been towing trailers for 25 years… Not a newbie here. And yes, the trailer has brakes. The car tows our boat better than any other ICE vehicle I used prior. (Minus the lack of range) This was an experiment, and an experience documented which my family will remember for many years, and we have zero regrets. Running to near zero is going to have to happen from time to time, whether towing or not. In this instance as an example, it’s impossible to “double up” on charging because there are no chargers to double up on. They’re to far apart. It’s not going to destroy the battery from doing it on a single trip. We’re now 50,000kms in with the Model Y after only 6 months and the battery / car is doing just fine. 👌🏻 But all of our long distance towing (aside from this trip) has been done with our little ford Ranger since. I just don’t have the patience with the lack of range while towing with an electric vehicle.

Model Y can tow up to 3500 pounds

Cry about it 😢😢

@@ryanbonin8956I really enjoyed this video. Excellently presented and edited. Some people just don’t get it hey. I live in Queensland Australia and unfortunately we don’t have superchargers anywhere close to 150klms apart but I believe that’s the plan eventually? I hope that instead of tacking chargers on the side of service stations, ground up charging installations have drive through chargers as is with fuel bowsers. At least you can keep your trailer hitched and easier for people that struggle to reverse. I saw another video with a bloke towing a caravan with a model Y and man, having to unhitch a caravan with sway control stuff would be a pain. Thanks again for the video. You have a beautiful family and you’ll all remember this trip forever. Cheers, Peter