Is Your Trailer EV-Ready? 5 Things To Know Before Towing
Electric vehicles are great drivers. They’re fast, powerful, efficient, and fun. But hitching a trailer to one can change things quickly. Range drops, charging gets tricky, and not every trailer plays nice with an EV. Before you hook up and hit the road, you need to ask yourself whether your EV is trailer-ready. Here are five things you need to know before towing with an electric vehicle.
Towing Slashes EV Range
If you’re used to gas or diesel towing, this can be a hard adjustment. Towing with an EV can reduce driving range by 30-50% or more, depending on the trailer’s weight, aerodynamics, terrain, and speed.
Boxy cargo trailers, enclosed campers, and flat-front utility trailers create massive aerodynamic drag, and that’s something that many EV’s can’t handle well. Even a light trailer can cause a significant hit to how far you can drive because these trailers act like a brick in the wind.
This means that a 300-mile rated EV might only get 150-180 miles when towing a trailer, and even less at highway speeds. This means you have to be on point with trip planning, because the last thing you want is for your EV to die right out on the highway.
Trailer Weight Isn’t the Whole Story
Most people focus on tow rating, but tongue weight and rolling resistance matter just as much for EVs. Electric vehicles deliver instant torque, making it easy to pull things, but that same torque can chew through energy quickly if the trailer isn’t balanced correctly.
Trailers with poor wheel bearings, underinflated tires, or aggressive off-road tires add resistance that takes a toll on battery life. EV-ready trailers tend to have:
- Proper weight distribution
- Low rolling resistance tires
- Well-maintained axles and bearings
If your trailer hasn’t been serviced in years, it’s costing you more range than you think.
Regenerative Braking Helps, but Only if Set Up Right
One advantage EVs have over gas trucks is regenerative braking, which recovers energy as you slow down. However, this only works well if the trailer’s braking system is properly configured.
Electric brake controllers need to be properly dialed in so the trailer doesn’t push the vehicle during deceleration. A poorly adjusted trailer brake setup can reduce regen effectiveness, increase stopping distance, and waste energy as heat instead of recapturing it.
In mountainous terrain, a properly tuned setup can make towing more efficient than you would think, but only if all the parts are working together.
Charging While Towing: The Hidden Challenge
Your trailer setup might be dialed in, but can you charge it while it’s attached? Many public fast-charging stations are designed for solo cars, not for vehicles towing 20 feet of extra length. This often results in unhitching at busy charging stations, blocking multiple stalls, dealing with annoyed drivers, and planning routes around pull-through chargers, which are still hard to find.
Some newer charging networks are improving to become more trailer-friendly, but as of now, EV towing requires more patience and flexibility than gas fueling ever did.
Not All EVs Are Created Equal for Towing
Two EVs with the same tow rating can perform differently. EVs that handle towing best usually have:
- Large batteries
- Efficient thermal management systems
- Strong cooling for motors and inverters
- Vehicle software optimized for towing modes
Is Your Trailer EV-Ready?
An EV-ready trailer isn’t about the advanced tech; it’s about efficiency, balance, and planning. Lightweight construction, aerodynamic design, good brakes, and low rolling resistance make a huge difference when electrons—not gasoline or diesel fuel—are doing the work.
Let Bigfoot Trailers Help!
Bigfoot Trailers specializes in handcrafting the highest-quality trailers at factory-direct prices. If you need to pull something with your EV, we have what you need. Our trailers are proudly made in the U.S.A., and we go above and beyond to deliver outstanding customer service. Call us today!
