Model X trailer mode

[santana338]

When you are driving you NEVER want your trailer pushing the tow vehicle !!! VERY BAD news can happen very fast.

That's true. When going downhill if regen is active you will want the (hopefully) integrated brake controller to be activating the trailer brakes. This would negate some of the regen energy, but it is much safer.

I think a new connecter to replace the traditional trailer wiring harnesses is in order. An ethernet type weatherproof connector that would allow the car to talk to a smarter braek/regen setup in the trailer would be good. It would be a start on the ultimate spare battery and pusher motor in the trailer.

 

[tga]

"Trailer backing assist" Put it in reverse, press the trailer-mode button, take your hands off the wheel, touch the gas pedal and the X+trailer reverse perfectly straight with the computer doing the steering adjustments to keep it that way. Grab the wheel to resume manual control.

Just a stray thought. Backing up with a trailer causes some people a lot of anxiety. Especially if you don't have a good view of the trailer other than in the mirrors.

:biggrin: (At the risk of offending the female towers - sexist title aside, it's a funny book)

When you are driving you NEVER want your trailer pushing the tow vehicle !!! VERY BAD news can happen very fast.

I had a bad connection on my trailer plug, and lost brakes as a result while towing 6000 lbs, downhill, through the Finger Lakes region in Upstate NY. I managed to stop and get the connection working, but the truck brakes were pretty stinky. Not something you want.

I expect at worst the same range loss than I get with my Toyota Sequoia towing almost 8,000 lbs, and that's less than 30% loss. Still plenty to get from one supercharger to the next (this has been discussed in other forums).

For comparison, my Chevy 2500 looses a bit less than that (18->14) when towing 6000lbs, the GMC Envoy I used prior to that was worse (18->11).

 

[patrick42h]

Backing up with a trailer isn't all that tricky. I just move my hand from the top of the wheel to the bottom so that left is still left and right is still right. I keep an eye on my mirrors to make sure I won't hurt anything. Also, if you have someone with you, having a spotter to keep you from hitting things you can't see in the mirrors would be helpful.

 

[wk057]

Just curious, is there even confirmation from Tesla that the Model X will officially support towing in the first place? All the pics of the mules I've seen don't show any hitch attachment points...

 

[gregincal]

Just curious, is there even confirmation from Tesla that the Model X will officially support towing in the first place? All the pics of the mules I've seen don't show any hitch attachment points...

Strange, I'm not sure what pictures you've been looking at, but every Model X mule picture I can remember that shows the back end always has a hitch receiver.

 

[Chris TX]

I wonder if there's a way to make a pull-through Supercharger stall specifically for an X with a trailer. It would be the length of two parking spots, but with signage stating it's for trailer towing Teslas (including Model S)

I think any trailer towed by an S or an X is going to be light enough to take on and off with ease, so taking off the trailer, locking it up, and driving over to the SC shouldn't be a big deal. The trailer Bonnie is looking at seems to be easy enough to roll around by hand.

 

[bonnie]

The trailer Bonnie is looking at seems to be easy enough to roll around by hand.

The trailer Bonnie already has is definitely easy to roll around by hand (speaking from two summer's worth of experience).

 

[vandacca]

I think any trailer towed by an S or an X is going to be light enough to take on and off with ease, so taking off the trailer, locking it up, and driving over to the SC shouldn't be a big deal. The trailer Bonnie is looking at seems to be easy enough to roll around by hand.

A Bike Hitch would not be an easy thing to take off because you would first have to take off all the bikes (can be as many as 4-5 bikes on some racks) which can take a while if they are all mountain bikes. Then you need to take off the bike hitch. Probably a 5-7 minute job to take off and another 5-7 minutes to put back on. I would not want to do that every time I had to charge. It would almost double the charging time.