Towing with the PHEV

[chindley]

Found this video on towing with the PHEV. May allay any fears you have about towing with the PHEV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQwI0IDVMwg

 

[jaapv]

However, his idea of charging the car through the caravan is not very useful. Not many caravan parks and campings have electrical supply systems that can provide 13A, assuming the 10A the car pulls won't fry the wiring of the caravan.

 

[chindley]

I'm no electrician but I can't see why it would fry the wiring as the caravan wiring is no different to the wiring and RCD fuse box you have in your house, the only limitation is the caravan site power output. Many caravaners use standard kettles without a problem. As I say I'm no electrician so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[trilly]

I towed last weekend with the PHEV a caravan of 1500KGs and on a journey of 60 miles on hilly A roads with no battery got 25mpg. On purpose ran the battery down prior to trip as wanted to do a hill start with no battery with the van to get as near as possible as to what might happen on ferry boat. The hill was not as steep as ferry and there was a little bit of charge but it did OK, not great but OK.

So pleased it passed the first test as it where and would agree with the video that overall it was a good stable tow. I chickened out of trying to charge the van from the caravan, partly because I wanted the battery as low as possible. Couple of thoughts on charging at camp site, ordered one of these if concerned about running that much current through the van , mains connector http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002ATLK7G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or simply use the timer function via the app to schedule the charge overnight via the van.

 

[jaapv]

I'm no electrician but I can't see why it would fry the wiring as the caravan wiring is no different to the wiring and RCD fuse box you have in your house, the only limitation is the caravan site power output. Many caravaners use standard kettles without a problem. As I say I'm no electrician so maybe I'm wrong.

What I have seen on caravans was a bit skimpy and basically limited to 6A (which is the maximum for many campsites anyway.) I have lived for a while in a mobile home (log ago) and I had to get a low-wattage vacuum cleaner. So if the thing is built to a better standard, no problem. It begs the question, however, why not plug it directly into the campsite power point?

 

[chindley]

I'm no electrician but I can't see why it would fry the wiring as the caravan wiring is no different to the wiring and RCD fuse box you have in your house, the only limitation is the caravan site power output. Many caravaners use standard kettles without a problem. As I say I'm no electrician so maybe I'm wrong.

What I have seen on caravans was a bit skimpy and basically limited to 6A (which is the maximum for many campsites anyway.) I have lived for a while in a mobile home (log ago) and I had to get a low-wattage vacuum cleaner. So if the thing is built to a better standard, no problem. It begs the question, however, why not plug it directly into the campsite power point?

I did wonder that as well TBH. Maybe the site owner would want to charge him for 2 hook ups if he plugged it in at the same time as the van, but then you could just unplug the van at night and plug the car in.

 

[oxforddon]

I've towed my small caravan twice now, it's about 1 ton laden, petrol mpg towing is about 25 mpg not allowing for my initial full charge. Both journeys About 150 miles and involved hills - shap summit and lakes ,and Yorkshire for the TDF. It's important to save charge for the very hilly bits ( as it says in the handbook) the engine works quite hard otherwise . I had an electric hook up on the c/c site and managed to charge up a couple of times by plugging into a standard 13 amp socket in the van with the cable put through the kitchen window, this was a 16 amp site supply , however the van circuit is fused at 10 amp and I thought it might trip, I now know that the phev actualy draws 9.7 kWh over the 5 hours due to 20% charge always being retained in the battery and this puts the load nicely under 10 amps, I was also carefully not to boil the kettle etc, and checked the plug etc for any sign of getting hot. I also tried to be discreet about the charging since allthough the site policy had nothing to say I expect a veto or a charge may be levied sooner or later. Anyway I got 60 miles or so of free sight seeing which makes the towing mpg easier to swallow.
Mine is a GX3h and the best thing since sliced bread - as they probably say in Yorkshire.
Also the save setting is canceled when you stop at services etc and it's easy to set off again and deplete the battery without realising