Long distance towing / boat retreival

[blweeden]

Hi,

I have a boat, probably 1000 pounds or a bit over. With the vehicle I'm considering replacing with the PHEV (a 6 cylinder Subaru Outback), I do a bunch of short tows, plus two of about 40-50 miles, and one long excursion (150-500 miles one way and then back again) per year. I am wondering:

1) How does the PHEV do with this sort of thing? Seems brilliant for the short tows, seems questionable for the long one...?

2) Does towing long distances cause battery degradation? I think at least one user that tows a lot also had some degradation issues.

3) I did see a video where a guy had trouble getting the boat up a gravel ramp. His boat weighs WAY more than mine, though. Anyone think I'd have issues with that, or at say max 1200 lbs am I good to go? To be fair, I've used almost exclusively concrete ramps so far, which certainly shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks!

Brian

 

[jaapv]

500 kg? Should be child's play for the PHEV. You'll find that the ICE will run more and more intrusively when towing.
As you will have the new type PHEV it should have less problems with cross-axling and other difficult off-road situations than the first version.

 

[anko]

I don't want to comment on the boat ramp, as I have 0 experience with this.

When it comes to the traveling itself, you should not be concerned with the weight. Be concerned with the drag. Put a cover on your boat and it will make half the difference, so to speak.

I might be the guy that tows a lot (1500 kg caravan) and has a bad battery (67%). It is questionable if these are related. I always use Charge mode while towing and most of the work is done by the ICE. The battery supports the engine. Only during accelerations and climbing the battery has to provide a lot of power. In these situations, weight is mote important than drag, and you have only a light boat. So I would not worry at all.

But do get a cover though, if you don't have it. There was a report fro a guy in NZ with a somewhat similar boat. Far lighter than my caravan and with a much smaller frontal surface. And his consumption towing his boat seemed to be comparable or even worse to mine towing my caravan. I think it is the wind first hitting the front of the boat and then the rear board.

 

[blweeden]

Anko,

Good call if I can find a towable cover. Can I ask what kind of consumption you see? Also, how old is your battery? Mitsubishi covering it?

My apologies if covered elsewhere.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[anko]

In the area of 12 liter / 100 km, doing 95 km/h GPS.
At 67% SoH after 155.000 km / 5 years.
To be seen.