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by joshlegs 2502 days ago
> towing capacity

what? Electric vehicles are vastly superior in towing capacity. The Model X from tesla can TOW a boeing jet -- 230,000 pounds. Now that has some tradeoffs for range, i believe. but in terms of actual towing capacity, it's leaps and bounds ahead of any other vehicle capable of towing. if you'd said 'towing range', i might be willing to accept that.

range itself is also just not really a concern any more. 300+ miles of range on a single charge is more than enough for the vast majority of drivers.

winter performance is possibly somethign to worry about, but when you can charge overnight at your home, you can still leave every morning with a 'full tank', so it's also just not really a concern any more.

2 comments

What?

The towing capacity of a Model X is around 5k pounds. It's illegal to tow more the door sticker says on public roads in the US. For comparison, depending on what kind of Ford F-150 you get, you can tow from 5k to 8k pounds. According to some [1], you're also looking at a 45-60% decrease in range if you tow something like a camper.

[1] https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1122487_towing-a-camper...

Towing capacity isn't same as being able to pull heavy things. Pulling has to be matched with the corresponding braking power, which with regenerative braking means a massively over-spec regenerative system. Or you give up on regenerative braking and just install bigger disks, hammering range. That tesla can move an airbus along a runway (so can any honda civic btw) but try moving that aircraft down a hill at speed ... heading towards a sharp turn ... beside a cliff .. over a river... and maybe there is some ice.
Trains have been using regenerative braking to stop massive multi-ton loads for decades. I don't think this is a real issue.