Towing With An EV: Are Electric Trailers The Future?

An electric trailer could solve the largest problem when towing with an electric vehicle: You might only go half the distance on a charge while towing.

To compensate, EV shoppers who plan to tow beyond city limits need to opt for the largest possible battery pack. But that means you’re hauling around many hundreds of pounds of extra batteries and environmental footprint the rest of the year—batteries you probably don’t need for the daily commute or trips without the trailer. 

So the German travel-trailer and motorhome maker Dethleffs has a potential game-changer—especially when you consider the electric trailers might be rented when needed and can interface with a wide range of vehicles. It's engineered and developed the E.Home Caravan prototype it originally presented in idea form as the E.Home Coco in 2018, with help from the trip-planning firm Erwin Hymer and the auto-industry supplier ZF. 

To prove the concept, Dethleffs last month covered a 240-mile route across the Alps that’s popular among European RV owners. Using an Audi E-Tron SUV (EPA range rating of 204 miles) it towed the big travel trailer the entire route without charging. 

The route, which started at the company’s factory in Isny im Allgäu, Germany, took them over Brenner Pass and ends on the northern shore of Lake Garda, Italy. 

The system provides acceleration equivalent to what the E-Tron would otherwise offer as a solo vehicle, and the setup is calibrated to enhance stability. It should also be pointed out that the pace on the mountain route was leisurely, with the team taking more than six hours to cover the 240 miles. 

After pushing against a strong headwind for part of the trip, the E-Tron and trailer reached the destination with 82 kwh used by the E-Tron and 74 kwh used by the trailer. The E.Home Caravan prototype has two battery modules, each with about 40 kwh, with one in front of the axle and the other behind it. The trailer can also provide power out for other camping needs, or support solar cells on the roof. It can be charged at up to 7.2 kw on AC, and it’s compatible with 50-kw DC fast-charging. 

The batteries are contained within an inner frame, while an outer frame houses the inverter, charging unit, and control unit. There’s a protective honeycomb crash structure at the rear, and the company says that it’s completed various simulations for stability and reliability. 

Check out the full article from Green Car Reports here.