Chains look a little low, that ain't your fault. 👍 Nice Ray, first photo I've seen with a trailer other than the promo shots with the Cake electric bikes.

 

It is his fault if he chained it up. U-Haul's chains are stupidly long but I've never had to make them drag to work.

Took a home Depot run myself today, but put the wood on the roof rack. Didn't take pictures.

 

After the photo was taken, I shortened them by twisting them some more... Always something new to learn, eh?

 

Midnight is not only faster than the other colors, but I heard it also tows better. Can you confirm?

 

I'm afraid I can't. I need to buy all the other colors and then test them side-by-side. Care to sponsor my research effort?

 

Our American cars come with a 2" ball and the 4-pin flat connector as seems most common here. So all that was fine.

Of course, towing a trailer isn't smooth... the trailer rattles around and pushes and pulls on the car. I wouldn't call it fun, but it did work just fine. (I used it to get an all-electric mower back from Lowe's.)

I had an aftermarket 2" receiver on my Bolt EV, and a special hitch pin that put pressure on the receiver to keep the hitch from rocking around in the receiver. It made a huge difference in the amount of noise the trailer would make. I haven't looked into anything like that for the polestar's 1.25" receiver, but I also don't have that trailer anymore. It towed like a champ, hardly noticed it at all on the freeway.

 

So I reserved another trailer at U-Haul, but when I got there and hooked up, the lights didn't work. Interestingly, the car told me that the right side was out before the U-Haul person did. 'Hooked up to the other trailer they had, and this time the other light was out. Again, somehow the car knew the light was wrong even before we checked it. 'Nice feature.

So... off to the Home Depot where I got a much nicer trailer for a bit more cost and everything worked great again. 'Love the versatility of the car and I'm impressed by how integrated towing is in the software.

 

 

How much different was it this time with the taller gate? I find those add a good bit more wind resistance.

 

Thanks for posting the info! My wife and I rely on her father's pickup truck for now, but it's 21 years old and he got in an accident with it lately. We weren't sure if it was going to be repaired or totaled (they repaired it. Sorta...zip ties were used on some stuff by the body shop!)

It's good knowing we CAN tow because our backup has been buying a cheap trailer for going to the dump, picking up supplies etc. So never more than 20-30 miles round trip ideally and never hauling TOO much weight. Just need to keep an eye out for cheap trailer now.

 

Renting isn't that much of a bother if there's a place nearby. Between the trailer and the load, I figure I was pulling 1500 pounds. I had a round trip, all said and done, of probably 100 miles including some interstate driving at 65 mph or so.

40 degrees F, started at 80% and finished with 20%.

 

You know, of all the things I've read about the range of the car, THIS Is the most confidence inspiring. Thanks for the info!

 

By the way, instead of trying to back up at that farm... Having off loaded, I simply did a big sweeping turn through the snow in the hay field. No slipping or concerns. Worked great. (Yes... Dedicated snow tires.)

 

Now THAT I would have liked to see a video of.

 

I'd still like to know if the difference between towing capacities between US and EU are due to the design difference or regulatory compliance.

 

Other than the tow hook itself, I don't think there are any design differences. I think it all boils down to regulations and how things are tested.

I don't really know, but this is what would make sense to me.

 

Just in case it's handy for somebody...

 

Just in case it's handy for somebody...

View attachment 10683

View attachment 10684

Thanks. I foolishly bought an incompatible one from O'Reilly auto parts. The hole for the pin was wrongly positioned. The part you have is obviously a Polestar OEM part - I too need a 2" ball on a 1 1/4" hitch so I can tow my small sailboat (as an alternative to towing with my Volvo XC70 which has a 2" receiver). I suppose I should head on down to the Volvo dealer which also has Polestar parts.

 

What is the story with Polestar and towing? For a while on the Polestar site they labeled some cars as having tow bars equipped and others not, and offered the retractable tow hitch as an option. All that stuff disappeared by the time I placed my order and towing wasn’t mentioned at all. I didn’t think to ask since I wouldn‘t tow with this car anyway, but what is the story with that?

 

you can still fit a tow bar for a custom configured option. For whatever reason they’re not ordering preconfigured cars already with the tow bar. So if you want the tow package you can get it but have to wait.

that said it doesn’t make a lot of sense because the tow bar is fitted at port here, not in China, afaik. So should be no different to fit a tow bar on a preconfigured car vs a custom order. But they do charge more to do it on a preconfigured car. Maybe chalk it up as another effect of the chip shortage, etc

 

I don't plan to tow often, but it's a nice capability and I really like the fact that it's retractable. I tell folks it's the car's party trick.

I'm guessing they found it to be too much of a bother somehow to allow people to order it up right from the start. 'Don't see how the computer chip shortage adds to the problem unless there's some module that gets installed with the towing hardware.

 

There is.

 

All set for a 300km trip with a 10.5*2.1*2.1m, 1100kg sailplane (ASK 21) trailer. (that's 180mi, 35*7*7ft, 2450lbs for our american friends)

Relaxed situation at the fast chargers.

You definetly feel the weight when going up a 4% incline @ 90km/h (105kWh/100mi @ 55mph)

Overall, quite happy with the consumption... (49kwH/100mi @ 45mph avg.)

...especially, when you compare it with the consumption on my way home without the trailer. (55kwH/100mi @ 58mph avg.)

Those empty stretches of german Autobahn at night are simply no compatible with keeping the consumption down 😬

 

Too heavy to tow for your American friends

 

Fantastic!

 

So does the OEM hitch really limit hitch options? When I looked at the P*2 receiver, it was reinforced by more metal. It must be stronger and similar to a 2" in strength. Hence my less concerns with using a 2" adaptor.

In another thread there was talk about hitch box. The 1.25" is rated much lower weight capacity than the 2" model. This really makes P*2's choice of a 1.25" receiver puzzling. Especially since they want to advertise it's towing capabilities.

StowAway Cargo Carriers - Versatility in Action.

How many times have you wished you had more space for your road trip? Packing up for a road trip requires careful planning - how much to take and where to put it.

www.stowaway2.com

 

So does the OEM hitch really limit hitch options? When I looked at the P*2 receiver, it was reinforced by more metal. It must be stronger and similar to a 2" in strength. Hence my less concerns with using a 2" adaptor.

In another thread there was talk about hitch box. The 1.25" is rated much lower weight capacity than the 2" model. This really makes P*2's choice of a 1.25" receiver puzzling. Especially since they want to advertise it's towing capabilities.

StowAway Cargo Carriers - Versatility in Action.

How many times have you wished you had more space for your road trip? Packing up for a road trip requires careful planning - how much to take and where to put it.

www.stowaway2.com

The Polestar hitch receiver feels a lot more sturdy than the typical class I hitch I've had on other vehicles. With my bike rack sticking out I can jump up and down on it and it barely moves relative to the car. I'm fairly certain that my 3500 lbs rated class II hitch fit in the receiver, but I couldn't use the pin because it wasn't long enough, the body of the receiver is unusually thick. I'll try to verify that it actually will work later today.

Typically class I only recommends two bikes on a rack, but the Polestar says 4 are okay as long as the combined weight of everything is 90kg or under.

 

Not towing, but... Probably "exactly 90 kg, no more" 😉

Seems to drive alright, didn't take it on the freeway. Might look at a way to pull the rear of the rack forward/up to stop it from leaning so much.

Was less bouncy than 3 bikes on my wife's old Malibu.

 

Not towing, but... Probably "exactly 90 kg, no more" 😉

Seems to drive alright, didn't take it on the freeway. Might look at a way to pull the rear of the rack forward/up to stop it from leaning so much.

Was less bouncy than 3 bikes on my wife's old Malibu.
View attachment 11035

View attachment 11034

2” adaptor? If not which platform rack?

 

 

We're going to need a bigger boat ...

 

AGGHH. I ordered the 5 1/8" shank and it was just a fraction too short. Past the 30 days return policy on Amazon now. I just got the 5 7/8" model but haven't tested.

Amazon.ca

 

AGGHH. I ordered the 5 1/8" shank and it was just a fraction too short. Past the 30 days return policy on Amazon now. I just got the 5 7/8" model but haven't tested.

Amazon.ca

Did that hitch adapter work? I need to put by bike rack that has a 2" hitch needing a 2" receiver on the vehicle. It seems that none of the adapters in the auto parts stores have the hole positioned about half an inch too far towards the 2" receiver end. Thanks in advance

 

An EV reviewer here in New Zealand has posted a YouTube piece of a DM Polestar2 towing a small caravan with honest comments about the experience.

In regard to his experience with regenerative braking vs. caravan's braking I raised the question suggesting backing off the caravan's braking severity in favour of utililising the caravan's inertia to boost regenerative braking. I realise there is a safety component in doing so but if this was done with a sensible balance of safety vs. battery range surely an opportunity for range improvement.

 

I agree, though I also agree it can be dangerous being pushed by a trailer. There's a lot of wind drag loss that just can't be recovered.

 

In New Zealand the most common trailer braking system involves a hydraulic ram as part of the trailer's drawbar configuration. This works by hydraulically activating brake cylinders in the trailers wheels. The degree of braking done by the trailer can be advanced or retarded by way of an adjustment in the control cylinder to avoid braking being severe to the point of activating under gentle deceleration or just coasting which would otherwise result in unnecessary trailer tyre wear and an uncomfortable ride for passengers. This excessive trailer braking would also cancel out any regeneration as the trailer would effectively replace the job done by the car's braking to an unnecessary degree.

I agree that the wind resistance of the caravan (or any box trailer such as a furniture mover) will heavily impact energy economy but for a flat bed trailer as shown earlier in this thread that would hardly be a factor.

So far as safety is concerned we own a tandem axle flatbed trailer which has no braking. We have towed it with our 3.8L current ICE station wagon ('estate') with some reasonably large loads and when doing so we respect the extra weight under braking and usually ensure the towing vehicle is also loaded to minimise the risk of jack-knifing under heavy braking. I'm confident the extra weight of the Polestar (battery) will serve the same purpose.

 

Very clever braking system!