EV owners of today and tomorrow

[WinterDeere]

The online manual says not to exceed a tongue weight of 10% of the 11,000# tow rating. That is where the 1,100# comes from. Since bumper pull tongue weight should be 10%-15% to avoid swaying from side to side, that's cutting it close to tow at max capacity.

It's not fair to call Tesla out for this, because this is standard practice across the entire industry. Pull out any Ram or Silverado 1/2-ton manual, and you'll find their towing capacities max out at 10x tongue weight rating for a given configuration. Or stated in reverse, they're calculating on the same 10% tongue weight ratio.

 

[sd455dan]

Seems a likely explanation, but maybe not inaccurate in the end, after what we've seen from these hitches.

If they had it originally rated 1100 lb., I suspect they must be lowering that number today, based on those that have cracked or fallen off. It is a serious problem, and I'll be surprised if they don't address it in future revisions.

In the grand scheme of the pretty difficult problems they've solved over the years, this is a 1 on the 10 scale. It needs to be fixed, but that fix isn't going to require their top talent.

Maybe a 4 on that scale, I think it all depends on if they knew this might happen eventually and made design choices that will allow a reinforcement retrofit using some steel without major labor time involved.
Which brings up a question as to why Tesla let this slide in the first place?, which imo they did.

 

[sd455dan]

It's not fair to call Tesla out for this, because this is standard practice across the entire industry. Pull out any Ram or Silverado 1/2-ton manual, and you'll find their towing capacities max out at 10x tongue weight rating for a given configuration. Or stated in reverse, they're calculating on the same 10% tongue weight ratio.

That would be true IF people did not off road these vehicles and sometimes need to extract other vehicles. how many old Jeep CJ's or FJ 40 Land cruisers have tied off to a tree and then winched a full size truck out of a mud hole over the years or tugged on the bumper to pull a stuck rig out of the ditch over a 50+ year life? Sorry on this one even as a Tesla owner, they get no slack from me. And they Do need to address this issue on existing Cybers and update the design for new production.

 

[WinterDeere]

That would be true IF people did not off road these vehicles and sometimes need to extract other vehicles. how many old Jeep CJ's have tied off to a tree and then winched a full size truck out of a mud hole over the years or tugged on the bumper to pull a stuck rig out of the ditch over a 50+ year life? Sorry on this one even as a Tesla owner, they get no slack from me. And they Do need to address this issue on existing Cybers and update the design for new production.

We're talking about how tow capacities are calculated here, theoretical discussion. Totally separate conversation from the real issue of hitches falling off Teslas. You're quoting my post on subject #2, with an argument on subject #1.

But yeah, I've exceeded listed hitch capacity many times on many vehicles, especially in static or low-speed situations. But in these scenarios, you're only exceeding the listing, and not the real capacity, as the listing includes the safety factors associated with dynamic loading, all created by that ~1000# listed load bouncing along at highway speeds.

In other words, a hitch listed for 1000# trailer tongue weight at highway speed might be able to realistically handle a 4000# static load.

 

[sd455dan]

We're talking about how tow capacities are calculated here, theoretical discussion. Totally separate conversation from the real issue of hitches falling off Teslas. You're quoting my post on subject #2, with an argument on subject #1.

But yeah, I've exceeded listed hitch capacity many times on many vehicles, especially in static or low-speed situations. But in these scenarios, you're only exceeding the listing, and not the real capacity, as the listing includes the safety factors associated with dynamic loading, all created by that ~1000# listed load bouncing along at highway speeds.

In other words, a hitch listed for 1000# trailer tongue weight at highway speed might be able to realistically handle a 4000# static load.

Yes I am talking very generally, but still believe Tesla dropped the ball on basic durability /destructive testing that a 70 year old "1/4 ton" Jeep would survive.

Tesla should deal with this. There will eventually be cases of losing a loaded trailer at highway speeds on 2 lane roads, God help a small cars occupants going the other direction when this happens.

The safety chains will be travelling with the tow hitch, loaded trailer and bumper as well.

Again JMO as a Tesla stock holder and car owner.

 

[WinterDeere]

The safety chains will be travelling with the tow hitch, loaded trailer and bumper as well.

That's a terrifying thought. I always wondered why it's allowed to have our safety chains connect to the same hitch assembly as the receiver, especially given we have decades of experience with whole hitch assemblies falling off... even before Tesla.

 

[sd455dan]

More Good news on the refreshed Model 3 LR AWD and how efficient it is

Another new 70 MPH range test car made it 370 miles. That easily exceeds the EPA rating using the same battery size and type as the older model 3.

 

[sd455dan]

Eye opening Autoline, about just how under the radar China's long term strategic market domination is being put into action using USMCA. Even Mexico is now getting nervous about their own labor force remaining employed long term.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The first non-electric zero-emission motorcycle, unveiled to the world: Japan has just achieved the impossible

A Zero Emission of a different color?

 

[Grumpycat]

Think I'm going to be a Square Earther:

Off the Mark by Mark Parisi for September 22, 2024 | GoComics.com

View the comic strip for Off the Mark by cartoonist Mark Parisi created September 22, 2024 available on GoComics.com

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