What would you tow?!

[slateya]

Commercial teardrop trailers are out of my price range. They sure do look pretty. There is a reddit group, lots of websites, and at least one book on DIY building. As I understand it, teardrops started after WW2 and were mostly a home built rig for ten or twenty years.

I would hope to build one for < $3000. And have a finished weight under 800 pounds. Maybe 1100# with the fixed gear, the rest can ride in the truck bed. Close enough to fit Slate towing limit in my book.

But I am curious about what the limiting factors are with Slate. Do you think it is overheating the motor?

Hopefully there would be a towing upgrade option. Certainly I think a 4000# vehicle should handle 2000#. Ideally it would get up to Airstream Bambi 16' levels, 2500#. But maybe frontal area figures into it too.

I busted my first two trucks. Making a trash run with '63 F100 rust bucket. Just a normal amount of bagged trash in the bed, but towing my brother-in-law's 10' trailer that maybe had more than it looked like. I look in the side rear view mirror and the driver side wheel is 2' out from the truck. Turns out there was a small metal plate that holds the axle in, it had failed. I did fix it myself I think. The part was cheap.

I suspect motor cooling. Tow rating applies at all speeds, grades, continues duty. A lot of cost can be trimmed by not trying to build a vehicle to stay cool and functioning with an extra 2-3.5k lbs up hill at 80 mph in 100 degrees.

Think of battery, controller, wiring, and motor. Lots to keep cool on electric vehicles.

 

[AZFox]

But I am curious about what the limiting factors are with Slate. Do you think it is overheating the motor?

That's what I imagine, but I'm no expert. My EV experience is limited to a 48V electric golf cart.

Hauling a heavy load uphill takes the cart out of its Happy Place. I notice it straining, but maybe it's just my imagination because I'm accustomed to being able to downshift and the cart, similar to the Slate, has only one forward gear.

The cart's motor does get kinda toasty when it's been working hard.

To me the Slate appears to be an economy car with a pickup truck form factor. It stands to reason that the drivetrain and brakes are built to get the job done without a great deal of excess capacity.

 

[GoinPostall]

Ass. I'm gonna be hauling ass.

In all seriousness, the most I'm probably going to haul is 10-20 bags of wood pellets. I have a wood pellet stove to heat my house, and each bag is 40lbs. My 2020 Civic can haul 10 of them up CA18 just fine, and my 1979 W150 can haul 2000lbs, but the Slate would be great for 10-20 bags.

 

[Garbone]

Did 90 miles towing a small Uhaul utility trailer with scaffolding using our MachE, got 40% less range and that cost me under $6 of electricity, My C10 would burn 6 to 8 gallons of Non ethanol fuel thru its 4 barrel at about $4 a gallon. $15 for the Uhaul paid for itself. Now for over 100 miles, yup, I would go with the gasser because DC fast charging is a rip off.

 

[AZFox]

Did 90 miles towing a small Uhaul utility trailer with scaffolding using our MachE, got 40% less range [...]

Thank you for mentioning this because I was wondering how much towing affects range.

You're supposed to keep the battery's state-of-charge above 20% and below 80%, so brand new batteries provide 90 or 144 miles of range as a practical matter. 40% less range would mean 60% of those numbers, so 54 miles and 86 miles respectively.

The Slate isn't a tow mule.