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Comment by awjr | Hacker News Reader

One of the concerns I have is that many of the EVs that are being released are not capable of towing significantly. I own a horse and we need something that can tow a braked 3.5T trailer.

This market in the EU is primarily serviced by diesel 4x4s. I can see a future where the diesel engine is banned and only at that point will something fall out of the woodwork to cope with that towing capacity.

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Doesn't seem specific to electrics. I owned several trucks that couldn't tow that trailer. Towing capacity has more to do with the frame, brakes, and cooling than it does with energy and power. Still I think someone will make series hybrid pickups at some point. They already make big rigs that way.

I think that there will always be some internal combustion driven vehicles for tasks such as these.

Extra battery in the floor of the trailer? Hooks into the car and gives it some extra juice, why wouldn't that work?

IIRC it's not the battery power as much as it is the cooling.

Many of the parts on electric cars overheat when pushed pretty quickly, and while adding cooling similar to a traditional ICE seems to be the answer, it adds even more weight and complexity to a platform which is already fighting to save every oz.

Even the Tesla Model S can't do more than a single lap around many tracks without overheating.

I have heard that the more recent Model Ss (Models S?) are a lot better about being able to keep up with power output on tracks, although what you say was definitely true for a long time.

The diesel-electric locomotive comes to mind. The road has different challenges than rail, but the application is proven.

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