Tesla Model 3 and a glider

On Monday, December 16, 2019 at 8:16:13 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Friday, December 13, 2019 at 1:19:35 PM UTC-8, bertvaneyken wrote:
Is there anyone using a Tesla Model 3 to tow his/her glider regularly?

Curious about the impact on range and usability to go on (European) gliding holiday.

More importantly, how long until the Tesla Model 3 is autonomous? No more need for ground crew!

Sorry, but all Tesla autonomous features are disabled in the towing mode.

Tom, your comparison between hybrid and regular gas car is completely off.
I am on my second Lexus RX hybrid SUV. Cost few thousand more but I probably recoup it in couple of years.
Most of us glider pilots drive far more than 8000 miles per year. More like 20K miles per year for me. And at least anywhere in the west, cost of gas is $3-$4 on average. And you don’t need to use premium as they said.. I am getting close to 5MPG more on average (26MPG overall average city+Hwy with lots of towing) And the maintenance cost is actually less as the brakes need replacement every 100-150K miles thanks to the regenerative braking. And the hybrid battery last longer then the car probably. My 2007 RX400 has over 250K, and never needed more than the scheduled maintenance. Never broke down. I only needed to replace the 12v battery few times. Best car I ever owned and towed gliders with. I hope my new RX450 will serve me as well.
My wife has a tesla model 3 and we both love it. But I can’t imagine hooking my glider trailer to it.

Ramy

Yes, and last time (and hopefully THE last time) I was in California,
the speed limit while towing a trailer was 55 mph.

On 12/16/2019 6:00 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Martin Gregorie wrote on 12/16/2019 4:23 PM:
On Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:22:44 -0800, Eric Greenwell wrote:

Charlie Quebec wrote on 12/16/2019 2:20 PM:
Ah, Americans and their overcompensation trucks.sad.

Why is the same trailer stable in Europe, but not in America?

Speed possibly?

In the UK towing with a car at more than 60mph makes you eligible for a
speeding ticket. I haven't towed in Europe, but I'd expect a towing
speed
limit below the standard motorway limit there too.

It's a big country, and we do have some impatient pilots, so that's
certainly some of it. Some western states have 80 mph speed limits on
the interstate highways.


--
Dan, 5J

Does the car know that it's towing a trailer or do you have to tell it
so?Â* My mere Ford has a separate towing mode, but I have to manually set it.

On 12/16/2019 9:37 PM, 2G wrote:
On Monday, December 16, 2019 at 8:16:13 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Friday, December 13, 2019 at 1:19:35 PM UTC-8, bertvaneyken wrote:
Is there anyone using a Tesla Model 3 to tow his/her glider regularly?

Curious about the impact on range and usability to go on (European) gliding holiday.
More importantly, how long until the Tesla Model 3 is autonomous? No more need for ground crew!
Sorry, but all Tesla autonomous features are disabled in the towing mode.

--
Dan, 5J

On Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 9:21:37 AM UTC-6, Dan Marotta wrote:
Does the car know that it's towing a trailer or do you have to tell it
so?Â* My mere Ford has a separate towing mode, but I have to manually set it.

On 12/16/2019 9:37 PM, 2G wrote:
On Monday, December 16, 2019 at 8:16:13 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Friday, December 13, 2019 at 1:19:35 PM UTC-8, bertvaneyken wrote:
Is there anyone using a Tesla Model 3 to tow his/her glider regularly?

Curious about the impact on range and usability to go on (European) gliding holiday.
More importantly, how long until the Tesla Model 3 is autonomous? No more need for ground crew!
Sorry, but all Tesla autonomous features are disabled in the towing mode.

--
Dan, 5J

Dan, the scary thing is that yes, the car knows. My Mercedes SUV gives me a warning that the blind spot feature is disabled as soon as I hook up the trailer.

You can set trailer mode manually, but the Model X goes into trailer mode when I plug the trailer lights in.

On Monday, December 16, 2019 at 8:37:55 PM UTC-8, 2G wrote:
On Monday, December 16, 2019 at 8:16:13 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Friday, December 13, 2019 at 1:19:35 PM UTC-8, bertvaneyken wrote:
Is there anyone using a Tesla Model 3 to tow his/her glider regularly?

Curious about the impact on range and usability to go on (European) gliding holiday.

More importantly, how long until the Tesla Model 3 is autonomous? No more need for ground crew!

Sorry, but all Tesla autonomous features are disabled in the towing mode.

Get Elon into gliding and soon we will have self driving trailers!

On Tuesday, 17 December 2019 00:23:55 UTC, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:22:44 -0800, Eric Greenwell wrote:

Charlie Quebec wrote on 12/16/2019 2:20 PM:
Ah, Americans and their overcompensation trucks.sad.

Why is the same trailer stable in Europe, but not in America?

Speed possibly?

In the UK towing with a car at more than 60mph makes you eligible for a
speeding ticket. I haven't towed in Europe, but I'd expect a towing speed
limit below the standard motorway limit there too.

Not always. In some countries there's no difference for towing, e.g. France 130 km/h Belgium 120 km/h. Others quite low, like 80 km/h, or used to be 70 km/h in a couple.

Another post speculates that European cars have hard suspension and we drive like a wuss. I don't think so.

From the sound of the average speed mentioned by the Tesla on longer trips towing, any fuel cost saving might be outweighed by extra hotel bills.

Folks who don't drive electric vehicles often equate charging with putting fuel into a tank. Fill'er up. The reality is, when traveling I only charge to a capacity that allows me to reach the next planned charge location with a 20% reserve. If the next charge stop only requires a 60% charge (40% for travel + 20% reserve), I only charge until the battery reaches 60% (about 20 minutes at a Tesla Supercharger); then I hit the road. I rarely charge to 100%. For openers, the batteries don't like being fully charged, and secondarily charging is like pouring water into a bucket. When the bucket is empty, you can pour as fast as you like, but as the bucket approaches full, you need to slow down. So I can charge the Model X from 20% to 80% in the same time it takes to charge from 80% to 100%. To reduce time charging, the tactic is to run the battery down to as low a charge as is comfortable and then charge up only as needed to reach the next charging location. For what it is worth, having to stop for 1/2 hr to charge every 2-3 hours and driving in the left lane with the professional truck drivers and slight lower speeds makes for much more relaxed travel. Back to the topic of towing, the extra mass of the Model X (5500 lb) makes it a very stable towing platform. With the exceptions of a 35% reduction in range and not being able to see much out the back window, I barely noticed I was pulling a 30 foot trailer. The ample torque also allows for worry free and nearly instantaneous passing ability. A fellow Model X owner once told me, and after having driven mine for 3 years I must agree, none of the things you think would be a problem with an electric vehicle (especially a Tesla) are actually problems.

Scott Manley wrote on 12/17/2019 12:19 PM:
For what it is worth, having to stop for 1/2
hr to charge every 2-3 hours and driving in the left lane with the professional
truck drivers and slight lower speeds makes for much more relaxed travel. Back
to the topic of towing, the extra mass of the Model X (5500 lb) makes it a very
stable towing platform. With the exceptions of a 35% reduction in range and
not being able to see much out the back window, I barely noticed I was pulling
a 30 foot trailer. The ample torque also allows for worry free and nearly
instantaneous passing ability. A fellow Model X owner once told me, and after
having driven mine for 3 years I must agree, none of the things you think would
be a problem with an electric vehicle (especially a Tesla) are actually
problems.

You are still driving faster, though stopping about as often, as I do in my
motorhome towing my trailer. I fantasize about pickup/van electric propulsion
migrating to small(ish) motorhomes like mine, so I can get more than 400 miles out
of a 50 gallon tank. And, maybe get much better acceleration onto the freeways and
around the folks going 55 in the 65 lane.

Not sure which fantasy will arrive first, just hoping I last long enough to at
least see one appear: electric motorhomes or self-driving motorhomes.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1