Hauling a Trailer & Range

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sandange

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
907
Location
Quebec, Canada
My Maximum Winter Range Hauling a Trailer

This may be of interest to some one wanting to haul a trailer in winter conditions.

Helped out a neighbor today.
We hauled his snow blower to the repair shop with the I Miev
Almost froze our fingers off connecting the trailer

We left with fully charged
got back with ...............................2 km.........( 1.24 miles ) left
I did not use the electric
heater only the diesel heater.

The temperature was .....................-23C............( -9 F )

21 km (13 miles ) each way
Total trip was..............................42 km........( 26 miles )

The average speed was...................50 kmph....( 31 mph )

Elevation difference.....................195 meters...( 640 feet )
between the two points
with a few ups & downs in between


There was one casualty
Our center fold down arm rest lost its padded flip up lid
for the storage compartment.
The thin plastic on the hinge became too brittle with the cold
and snapped when my neighbor bumped it
wrestling with his heavy winter coat buckling up his seat belt

Might have to look into a replacement
 
I bet the reduced regen caused most of your charge loss. I know when trying to stop with a cold battery, I lose some serious RR because I only have 10-15 kW of regen instead of 30 kW.

Still impressive that the i-MiEV can tow a trailer that size.
 
Hi Frosty
How are you holding out with these temperatures ,

We're bracing for a couple of days of this &
putting the car in the garage

All the info for trailer hitch is right here
I had it imported from California and professionally installed locally (St -Jerome) on my 2012.
With the installation it was quite expensive.

Link edited
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=664&hilit=trailer+hitch


If you go to a local hitch place you might be able to get one custom fitted for a price.

Later I trade up to my 2014. I had it removed from the 2012 & installed on the 2014 .
The dealer refused to do this , so I went across the street to an independent garage. I had them pick up the 2014 install it return it before I picked it up brand new from the dealer.
PV1
You're absolutely right ,regen was practically non existent in these temperatures.
At least the car was warm with the diesel heater going.
 
Hello Sandange, no pampering our little ice-cube imiev which is parked outside fully exposed to the elements.

-31 yesterday night and -27c right now.

Funny but the car starts and runs just fine and without complaint.

I can't say the same for our Dodge Journey which barely turnovers and when it does it makes noises from the depth of hell. :twisted:

The only difference I notice with out little (i) is reduced range when using the cabine heater and very light regen braking.

Do you know when or how the heater kicks-in for the battery warming in cold weather?

Does it only go on when plugged into the mains only?

Brian
 
sandange said:
All the info for trailer hitch is right here
I had it imported from California and professionally installed locally (St -Jerome) on my 2012.
With the installation it was quite expensive.

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1248&start=200
If you go to a local hitch place you might be able to get one custom fitted for a price.

Later I trade up to my 2014. I had it removed from the 2012 & installed on the 2014 .
The dealer refused to do this , so I went across the street to an independent garage. I had them pick up the 2014 install it return it before I picked it up brand new from the dealer.
.

Sandange, the link you posted was for a diesel heater install. :shock:

Would you have a place to recommend or would any trailer hitch place do?

The wife and I were wondering if the install was easy to do "technically" or must they mod the frame of the car substantially just get the hitch in there?

I'm also wondering how they tie in to the signal light wiring.

Brian
 
Hi Frosty
sorry for the wrong link It's now edited in the original post

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=664&hilit=trailer+hitch

I had it installed at Les Attaches Ethier .
http://www.attachesremorquesethier.ca/contactez_nous.html

They did a good job , electrical & all, - but found them expensive.
They also said they could have adapted one they had to fit .
You have to take into account for the heavy cost of the Currency exchange rate today as well.

The car was a new model then and the Torklift Central ECO Series-Stealth was the only one specially made to fit he Miev off the shelf, - There may be more options out there now.


For the cold overnight outdoor parking -the battery heater only works if you keep the car plugged in and activates at its preset temperature setting.
Just keep it plugged in on night colder than -20C (-4 F) and allow for longer time to charge up
 
Thanks for the comprehensive numbers Sandange!

I've been looking and looking for the right trailer and finally bought a fairly unique one a week ago Friday. I didn't want to drop between $2.5k and $4k for a new or used aluminum one. So with some patience I think I got just what I need (with a few changes needed). I'll post some pictures at some point. It's a tilt utility trailer built by a local welder out of 3 and 4 inch channel. He had built it for his 12 foot fiberglass fishing boat, but it's more like a flat bed utility with bolt on boat supports and a winch on the front. It's long (which I wanted, easier to back and will carry 16 foot stock if needed). Narrow too (63 inches outside of wheel to outside of wheel). So it tucks in behind the car very nicely for better aerodynamics, only 300 lbs (trailer only) according to the title.

Long story short, between the trailer and the boat plus 5 inches of ice and water inside the boat. I figure it was at around 1000 pounds for the drive home. I was very impressed with how the iMiEV handled it. I know pulling trailers of all sizes too. So now I just need to sell the boat and electric outboard motor and I should come out at about $1.00 per pound on the trailer. I won't use the tilt feature much, but it does mean no ramps needed and/or no tailgate ramp sticking up catching the wind. $600.00 for the whole package had me feeling pretty fortunate!

Aerowhatt
 
Pulling a trailer behind the i-MiEV can take a significant range hit, even though the trailer itself doesn't represent much of a load. Very speed-dependent. Getting around here usually means hopping onto a freeway, which results in an alarming drop and I wouldn't want to push much past 40 miles with the trailer at 50-55mph (80-88kph).

Your temperatures are mind-boggling and totally unheard-of around here. :shock: They're predicting 75degF (24degC) here today...
 
Aerowhatt said:
I won't use the tilt feature much, but it does mean no ramps needed and/or no tailgate ramp sticking up catching the wind. $600.00 for the whole package had me feeling pretty fortunate!

Aerowhatt

That sounds like you lucked out - a really good deal. I paid around $ 1200 for ours new.

I had concerns with hauling around the extra weight of the loading ramp so
I had a welder cut it off leaving 6 " of square tube sticking up over the top of the tailgate .

On the cut off ramp stubs, he welded on two 6" lengths of square channel stock (the next size larger) that tightly fit slipping over on to the tail gate stubs ,
He slipped the ramp on to the tailgate stubs - drilled & installed 2 security pins so now I can remove it when I don't need to use it.
I find it's less weight & less noise (tailgate rattling when driving)
 
sandange said:
I had concerns with hauling around the extra weight of the loading ramp so
I had a welder cut it off leaving 6 " of square tube sticking up over the top of the tailgate .

On the cut off ramp stubs, he welded on two 6" lengths of square channel stock (the next size larger) that tightly fit slipping over on to the tail gate stubs ,
He slipped the ramp on to the tailgate stubs - drilled & installed 2 security pins so now I can remove it when I don't need to use it.
I find it's less weight & less noise (tailgate rattling when driving)

Good Idea! I think the aerodynamics of it are worse than the weight. In warmer weather the weight can augment regen. Aero drag is just plain lost.

Judging by your warmer weather trailer hauling it cost about 30% - 33% of available range? I hope to get that down to 20% - 25% overall. With a narrower trailer and a true flatbed. Sidewalls are nice for sure, but I always needed removable ones anyway for side loading with a forklift and they do increase drag and weight. Without sidewalls one just needs to be very, very diligent about tying down the loads. It will be nice to part with my old utility trailer 2,130 lbs empty!

Aerowhatt
 
I appreciate the information on this thread. I own a small hot dog cart concession business here in Bowling Green, Kentucky and I'm considering picking up a used iMiev dedicated for business use in the next year or so.

Being able to have a dedicated vehicle for my business would be awesome for marketing purposes, plus it would keep all the hot dog mess in one car.

The hot dog cart I tow weighs about 250 pounds and and my commute is 12-16 miles per day, so I'm thinking that this car would be suitable for my purposes. The actual amount of cargo I carry for business is fairly small (I currently use a '13 Honda Insight) and only weights about another 100 pounds, so I'm certain I wouldn't even be close to overloading the vehicle. Is this a viable use for a car like the iMiev?

TIA!
Rapid Rick
 
RapidRick said:
...The hot dog cart I tow weighs about 250 pounds and and my commute is 12-16 miles per day... The actual amount of cargo I carry for business is fairly small (I currently use a '13 Honda Insight) and only weights about another 100 pound... Is this a viable use for a car like the iMiev?
Absolutely! Even triple the distance of your commute, and you'll have little problem. Negligible operating cost, zero emissions, terrific storage space, and excellent maneuverability are just a few of the attributes you'll appreciate.
 
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