Towing and camping with an EV was easy, the weather was not

Late last year I took the plunge and finally got a towbar installed on my Tesla Model 3, ready for a week away camping on the NSW south coast.

I had been thinking about getting a towbar fitted to my Model 3 for a long time, after finding one useful on my previous car for carrying bikes or towing a small trailer for camping.

We had taken the Model 3 on a long weekend camping trip without a trailer once before, but with a family of four it was a frustratingly tight squeeze fitting the bare essentials in. We made do on that trip with two small hiking tents and a folding table and chair set strapped to the roof racks.

This time around, with a trailer hooked on the back, we were able to bring the big family tent, tarps and poles for setting up shelter as well as more comfortable chairs and a bigger table. It also left the roof racks free for surfboards, one of the main reasons for the holiday in the first place!

Towing itself was no issue at all, apart from having to disconnect the trailer once to fast charge on the way home, I hardly noticed the trailer was there. I found towing with an EV was by far the least of my problems, while other factors like the weather turned it into an eventful camping trip.

Towbar installation and costs

Despite some early rumours that Tesla would sell their official tow package for the Model 3, it has never been made available here. Around 4 years ago I made enquiries with a company in Canberra that was advertising towbars for the Model 3, although they had supply issues at the time and I gave up after that. 

Thankfully, there are now a number of aftermarket solutions readily available so it is much easier to get one these days. After some research I decided to go with an EV Stealth Solutions towbar as I wanted something that could be disconnected or hidden completely when not in use. 

They sell towbars for many popular EV models including Tesla, BYD, MG, Hyundai, Kia, Polestar and Volvo.

Boosting my confidence further was the fact EV Stealth is endorsed by both the Tesla Owners Club of Australia (TOCA) and Australian Electric Vehicles Association (AEVA), plus they maintain a network of approved, experienced installers across all states and territories.

The installation itself went smoothly and took only a few hours. All up the cost was $2,490 – $1,990 for the towbar and hitch combo plus $500 installation. If you don’t need to tow anything, the hitch alone is $1,599, saving you $400.

Installing and removing the towbar or hitch is pretty easy too, it only takes a couple of minutes. With the low ground clearance of the Model 3 it can be a bit tricky to see what you’re doing though, so I found myself lying on the ground to make sure it was securely locked into place the first few times.

Minimal impact on efficiency

Firstly, I was keen to see the impact the trailer had on efficiency, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was better than expected. To be fair, I was towing a small 5 x 3 foot trailer that weighs roughly 200 kg when empty. On top of that, it was mostly loaded with light and bulky items like camp chairs, table, eskies, food and utensil boxes. 

The trip meter showed 207 Wh/km on the trip down the coast, and overall efficiency for the return trip was 215 Wh/km. For comparison, this is around 20 % more than I used (180 Wh/km) on a subsequent trip down the coast minus the trailer, but still with a fully loaded car and the same two surfboards on the roof. 

Another interesting comparison, these figures are on par with my EV9 road trip (210 Wh/km), a vehicle which has enough space inside that I could probably get away without towing a trailer for camping. 

At the mercy of the weather

Leading up to the trip, the forecast predicted rain for only 1 or 2 days out of the week we were camping. However, the weather had other ideas and the first big downpour started on the first afternoon before we had finished setting up the tarp for shelter. 

Over the next couple of days the rain came and went, never staying away long enough for towels and clothes to fully dry out. On the second night there was heavy rain that soaked through an old hiking tent, where one of my kids insisted on sleeping despite us warning him it was not really waterproof anymore.

That same night the inside of the Model 3 boot got wet, which has never happened before even after driving through torrential downpours and storms in the past. Luckily there wasn’t much left in there apart from some towels that soaked up most of the water and a library book that unfortunately got ruined.

I’m still not exactly sure how the boot got wet, but I suspect there was a leaf or gum nut disrupting the rubber seal. Either that or the boot wasn’t fully closed, as it didn’t happen again over the rest of the holiday.

After getting home I dismantled the boot lining, discovering the thick foam padding underneath the recessed section was still quite damp. Shortly after setting up the fan in the picture above I found the whole section lifts out easily after detaching the velcro, so I left it out to dry completely for a few days before putting things back together. 

Luckily, after three days of soggy camping and a worsening forecast, the caravan park offered us a cabin after someone else cancelled, which we happily took for the remaining four nights. We were very thankful for the solid roof over our heads as the wet weather persisted for the rest of the week. 

I wish the Model 3 had more ground clearance

The only downside of the cabin was the curved gutter out the front being a bit too high for the Model 3 to navigate safely. The first couple of times going in and out I got by with a minor scrape, but backing up on the last day to attach the trailer unfortunately caused some damage that I will need to get fixed.

Low ground clearance is probably my biggest gripe with the Model 3, and is something that will deter people who want to take their car on camping trips or off the tarmac. I know others have taken their Model 3s on rough and remote dirt roads before, but it would be far less stressful with some extra ground clearance.

Extra ground clearance would also be helpful for people with steep driveways like me. I have to pick my line carefully, especially with three passengers in the car, to make sure it doesn’t scrape at the top.

I have looked into getting a lift kit installed, such as the Mountain Pass Performance 1.75” lift kit or the Unplugged Performance dirt and snow suspension, although I am hesitant to mess with the stock suspension. If you have used either of these kits or know someone who has, please let me know what you think in the comment section.

No trailer mode software

The European owners manual for the Model 3 describes a trailer mode accessible through the dynamics page in the settings, although this must require additional software from Tesla as it doesn’t automatically show up when I connect the trailer plug to my car.

The owners manual also says that Autopilot will be disabled with trailer mode but the adaptive cruise control can still be used albeit with longer following distances. I was surprised Autopilot was still available while towing, and only briefly enabled it to confirm. The screen looked nowhere near that dirty before the photo was taken either by the way.

Without trailer mode the car thinks you are constantly being tailgated by another car, and the rear parking sensors go off when reversing which is a bit annoying. On the positive side, I found the rear camera position was ideal for lining up the towbar, making it very easy to stop right under the trailer when connecting it.

Conclusion

I found towing a small and light trailer with an electric vehicle had a relatively small impact on efficiency, consuming only 20% more energy than an equivalently loaded car alone with surfboards on the roof. If you are towing a bigger or heavier trailer the impact would definitely be higher.

More public charging bays with towing friendly stalls would also be nice to help make charging stops seamless for those towing long distances. Filtering by 50+ kW trailer friendly locations on Plugshare reveals just over 50 chargers across the whole country with big gaps on popular routes such as Sydney to Ballina.

Overall the addition of a towbar to my Model 3 has greatly improved its utility, so if you are considering one for your electric vehicle I would definitely recommend it and wish I’d done it sooner. Last but not least, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for good weather next time we go camping.