First towing - NOT impressed

[JABO]

i was towing our caravan (1400 kg's) this weekend for a trip of 100km's motorway, this gave me a few concerned moments.... first of all mileage dropped to 7 km/l , this is by far the worst result of all towing i've done in 7 different cars in the past 20 years

next issue is that it seems that the gearbox does not adapt to the load, meaning that as soon as we hit the motorway, the RPM's settled at 1900 (90km/h) , however it was only just enough to maintain speed at 100% flat road, the slightest hill and speed fell to 80 and the ICE struggled like hell. sometimes i had luck to floor it and the box would downshift 2 gears, and then only upshift 1 gear afterwards, giving me 2500 RPM, this was JUST enough.

worst part was after the motorway, as soon as we hit the drive off lane and came to a standstill, ICE turned off and EV on , leaving the ICE to overheat on its own..... all cooling stopped, even the engine fan. after driving the remaining 3 km's in EV mode........ we arrived at home and a strong smell of burned electronics emerged in the cabin , coming from the engine compartment. the smell disappeared after 1 minute of standstill, and ICE turned back on, idling. now with a loud rattling along it's normal hum, i left it idling for 10mins to let it cool down, and slowly the rattling got better, and fully gone after a few hours and cold ICE.

i'm glad this first trip was not going to Italy, passing the Swiss alps

The HS really need a gear lock, or paddles, as well as an option to not turning off ICE when towing.........

has anyone done towing yet


?

 

[LarsJensen]

Something is rotten ... I have been towing 1200kg caravan with 10km/L and no proformance issues at all. I tend to forget i was towing. Even with ACC fixed at 85Km/h the car had lots of power to give and sounded helthy. I have never heard other with these issues.

 

[JABO]

now thats quite a difference did you feel any difference in gearchanges or other changes when towing ? did you tow in EV mode as well when you were below 40 km/h ? no overheating?

many times during the trip it felt like the throttle was disconnected, there was absolutely no response to it.

just recalculated the mileage, it's actually 6.4 km/l

 

[LarsJensen]

I never drowe in EV, only in Hybrid mode. Don't think I drowe 40km/h for very long time but I never felt that the car was even close to the limits. I did not exerience any of the issues you mention.

 

[Lovemyev]

I assume that the brakes on the caravan are working correctly of course and not binding in any way ?.
It sounds like your car is working WAY to hard at the moment.
It should not be getting anything close to running that hot ?.
Putting the whole drive system under THAT level of stress and strain, is really not doing it any good what’s so ever !.
I am not a caravan user myself, but would it be possible to get the loan of another car and trying pulling you caravan to see if it acts in the same way ?.
Too much to expect the dealer to have another HS available ?.
The instant poor economy and lack of pulling power, together with the smell of over heating tells you something is clearly NOT correct somewhere.
The knocking noise you heard alone really worries me.
The DSG auto box must have working extremely hard also.
The fluid in that box must have been cooking, maybe hence the smell.
It needs investigating ASAP.

 

[Chrispydoc]

Personally I think its "horses for courses".....Ev's and PHEV's are great for most things.....however if I wanted to tow regularly, I'd use a diesel car.

 

[JABO]

I assume that the brakes on the caravan are working correctly of course and not binding in any way ?.
It sounds like your car is working WAY to hard at the moment.
It should not be getting anything close to running that hot ?.
Putting the whole drive system under THAT level of stress and strain, is really not doing it any good what’s so ever !.
I am not a caravan user myself, but would it be possible to get the loan of another car and trying pulling you caravan to see if it acts in the same way ?.
Too much to expect the dealer to have another HS available ?.
The instant poor economy and lack of pulling power, together with the smell of over heating tells you something is clearly NOT correct somewhere.
The knocking noise you heard alone really worries me.
The DSG auto box must have working extremely hard also.
The fluid in that box must have been cooking, maybe hence the smell.
It needs investigating ASAP.

must be something wrong in the drivetrain, i towed the exact same caravan with same weight ect. 2 months ago with my Kadjar (1.5 diesel 110Hp) without issues, i know that diesel has torque at very low rpm's , but the HS has the same stated torque, and 50 hp more , so it should be capable.

my biggest worry is as you say, that gearbox temp got way too high, and thats why the noise disappeared after the oil cooled down and became thick again.
the box has it's own cooling system which ran at least ½ an hour after towing

 

[JABO]

Personally I think its "horses for courses".....Ev's and PHEV's are great for most things.....however if I wanted to tow regularly, I'd use a diesel car.

for sure, PHEV is not about towing, but it's the only reason not to go full EV for me.....

 

[LarsJensen]

Personally I think its "horses for courses".....Ev's and PHEV's are great for most things.....however if I wanted to tow regularly, I'd use a diesel car.

So in a few years we will se no Caravans and trailers?
MG EHS is build for pulling 1500kg and lots of users do that without any issues.

 

[biffo]

Lots of EVs can tow - I guess the issue is how quickly that kills the battery and range though. It'll improve as battery density improves no doubt. When though? Who knows.

Best Electric Cars For Towing A Caravan - Complete Guide 2023 | Electrifying

Can electric cars tow? If you need to pull a horse box, trailer or caravan there is no reason you can't ditch the diesel. Here's a complete run down of all the electric cars that can tow.

www.electrifying.com

 

[Deleted member 823]

There's a post around here somewhere about a caravan with a battery pack in it to help with towing!

 

[hermitdave]

Were you driving with
1) battery fully charge
2) charge settings to High?

 

[JABO]

Battery was 10% as we had been away all weekend without possibility to charge. It was not in charge mode, i didn't think of that option to keep ICE running until it was too late ? it was in hybrid mode. Is there any way to keep ICE running without activating charging ?

 

[JABO]

Lots of EVs can tow - I guess the issue is how quickly that kills the battery and range though. It'll improve as battery density improves no doubt. When though? Who knows.

Best Electric Cars For Towing A Caravan - Complete Guide 2023 | Electrifying

Can electric cars tow? If you need to pull a horse box, trailer or caravan there is no reason you can't ditch the diesel. Here's a complete run down of all the electric cars that can tow.

www.electrifying.com

I know that some full ev's can, but those that goes to 1500kg are way out of my league, and next issue as you say is charging, when we're at the campsite there's no charging avail within 50km's?

 

[hermitdave]

Battery was 10% as we had been away all weekend without possibility to charge. It was not in charge mode, i didn't think of that option to keep ICE running until it was too late ? it was in hybrid mode. Is there any way to keep ICE running without activating charging ?

manual clearly states use of High settings for high power usage - aka towing. Try this next time and maybe start with fully charged pack

 

[JABO]

I did look for towing mentioned in the manual but didn't find anything, seems i should have looked a little harder ? i didn't think of preserving battery for towing, but it might be helpfull

 

[Flatcoat]

MG EHS is build for pulling 1500kg and lots of users do that without any issues.

So where are these users? I have asked on here and Facebook and so far have had a total of none, zero, zilch responses from owners towing 1500kg. If I could get some objective feedback I would put the HS PHEV back on my shortlist.

 

[LarsJensen]

So where are these users? I have asked on here and Facebook and so far have had a total of none, zero, zilch responses from owners towing 1500kg. If I could get some objective feedback I would put the HS PHEV back on my shortlist.

Unfortunately they are in a danish FB group. I have been driven a 1200kg Caravan without problems. Actually it drowe very well. Don't think additional 300kg should course a disaster.

 

[hermitdave]

Unfortunately they are in a danish FB group. I have been driven a 1200kg Caravan without problems. Actually it drowe very well. Don't think additional 300kg should course a disaster.

HS Phev relies on HV battery for side adjustment in normal motorway usage (ACC)- I can see why it would be in dire straits with a flat battery

 

[JABO]

Unfortunately they are in a danish FB group. I have been driven a 1200kg Caravan without problems. Actually it drowe very well. Don't think additional 300kg should course a disaster.

@ Lars , did you drive it in the High charge setting when towing? as Hermitdave say my combo of towing with a flat battery and normal hybrid mode is probably the worst i could do