Towing a Trailer

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I believe pedm might be located in Europe because he has a rear fog light installed on his car? AFAIK the US Leafs do not have that feature. In that case he will also have the side markers as these are required in Europe and installed on all Leafs, even if they are pre'13.

But the charger hump in the trunk will of course be the same as in the US, it got removed after the facelift. Also, the facelift appeared later in Europe than in the US. The delivery of the facelifted cars in Europe started in summer of 2013, which means that early MY2013 Euro-Leafs are pre-facelift.
 
Tonyt said:
pedm said:
Is there any make for it? Also how do I know it is 2012 or 2013?
Click to expand...

If you look at the trunk the 13+ have relocated the car charger under the hood, means the bump in behind the rear seat where the charger used to be has been eliminated.
Click to expand...

Thank you Tonyt the bump is there so it is a Pre 2013.
kaiat said:
I believe pedm might be located in Europe because he has a rear fog light installed on his car? AFAIK the US Leafs do not have that feature.
Click to expand...

Yes Kaiat, I am from Portugal (EU). The fog light could be in other place...
 
Here's a combined 500HP of watercraft behind my '13 LEAF... Pulls them out of the water just fine... even on a wet boat ramp. :D

leafjetski.jpg


Josh
 
Each ski is ~1100lbs. ready to ride w/full tank of fuel etc.
I'd say the trailer is 300lbs. or so...

Maybe 2500lbs. total weight?

Josh
 
Wow, that's heavy! I had no idea that those little things weighed so much! I guess it makes sense if the glass is going to be strong enough to withstand waves at 50+mph (or however fast yours go)

Let's see, my boat is about 2500 lbs (lead keel displacement sailboat). With the trailer, I estimate it is about 3000 lbs. It almost sounds like the Leaf could pull it. Not that I'm about to try. Maybe in 3 years when I have a Model III and this Leaf is relegated to beater car, I'll give it a shot!
 
jopickens said:
Each ski is ~1100lbs. ready to ride w/full tank of fuel etc.
I'd say the trailer is 300lbs. or so...

Maybe 2500lbs. total weight?

Josh
Click to expand...
Holly crap! just one of those skis and trailer almost weigh what my old '94 Geo Metro weighed(1610 lbs) and probably have more HP than the Geo, which topped out at 66HP :lol: on the plus side, it got 55MPG on the highway and even more important for me, 44 city, all without the aid of hybrid technology.....of course I could really feel the drop in power when the AC kicked in :(
Of course it had no automatic, power windows, power seats, or even air bags, basic transportation at it's best ;)
 
Hmm, I haven't contributed to this thread yet? :D

Weight is virtually a non-issue for EVs. Look at the Tesla Model S. Only a marginal efficiency penalty for a car that's 1-1/2 the weight of the Leaf. Why? Regen. It takes more energy to accelerate, but regen basically flattens your weight - you get more power back when you slow down, same as it takes more power to accelerate. Wind is at least 70% of the force you're pushing against when going down the road - and no matter what you do with weight, if you're pushing solely a 2-pound styrofoam LEAF-shaped block down the road at 70 MPH, you're gonna be putting kilowatts into moving it.

That said, the U-Haul 5x8' cargo trailer is my best friend. I've made at least 6 trips with one now, including moving in it. And if you buy a JuiceBox (at least a Classic/non-WiFi version), there's a fair chance you might get one that took a ride in a trailer behind my LEAF. :)




That particular load (partially unloaded here) ended up being calculated to 2,838lb in tow, with some very careful loading and driving given the hitch, which I was most concerned about. The car/drivetrain, though, of course never even broke a sweat. :lol:

If I only had a more powerful/sturdy hitch, I'd be towing other cars in this thing, no joke.
 
Every time this thread pops up, I get the urge to try and tow my boat. Sounds like your calculated U-Haul load is a similar weight. Where did you get a class-II hitch for the Leaf? (at least, that's what I hope you are using, given the nearly 3000 lb trailer!)
 
GetOffYourGas said:
Every time this thread pops up, I get the urge to try and tow my boat. Sounds like your calculated U-Haul load is a similar weight. Where did you get a class-II hitch for the Leaf? (at least, that's what I hope you are using, given the nearly 3000 lb trailer!)
Click to expand...

I got it by driving carefully. :lol:

No, I have the crappy Curt hitch, not even the nice Torklift one. Installed myself (proper and tight), so I know just how tight it is and what its limitations are, and I loaded accordingly. Mostly because I'm super not rich, and can't afford the nice things in life like a proper, strong hitch.

Seriously, if you have the means to install a better hitch system, the LEAF will totally handle it. IMO, the hitch is your only limitation.
 
I think that we can really go overboard with this towing issue...

You can push your equipment past its limit, but you need to keep the safety of others in mind..

Soon your leaf will look like this....

http://dpatlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/overloaded-motorcycle-1.jpg
 
As a rough reference I would recommend limiting trailer specs to universal limits EU has for trailers.
As Leaf does not have guidelines for towing at all (not allowed) reasonable limits should still be obeyed for safety.

Trailers without braking system up to 750kg (1650lbs)
Trailer with braking system up to vehicle curb weight (for Leaf it is twice as much as previous limit).
Also standard recommendation to have not a lot of vertical load on the hitch.
If you can't raise it over the ball on your own - it is too much. Negative load is not acceptable.
If hitch is installed with load safety margins in mind it should be as safe as it will be with legal hitch.

Also the weird fact that in some states drivers can tow at holys*it speeds, I would not abuse that "lack of regulation".
IF you don't care about range it would be still reasonable not to go over 90-100km/h in any situation (55-60mph).

I see no reason not to tow with Leaf. It has all motor protection it needs. Brakes are totally capable of handling 750kg,
even with older Leafs with nonexisting regen.
 
This is an awesome thread! Thank you all who've been contributing to it over the years!

Just one clarification, do the current curt hitches still require drilling? And does both sizes (1.25" & 2") of the ecohitch not require drilling?

Thanks!
 
Ok. So I'm going to order an Ecohitch from Torquelift. But I'm trying to decide between 2" and 1 1/4". I doubt I'd ever tow more than the 2,000lb limit. I'm looking at 1,000lb trailers actually. It looks like a 1 1/4 ball mount can pull 3,500lbs. I'm leaning towards the smaller 1 1/4" receiver but is there any reason I should get the 2"?
 

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