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 Topic: electric/hybrid cars
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22/1/2014 at 1:35pm
Location: Surrey
Outfit: Bailey Valencia + Lexus RX400h
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I tow with a hybrid - Lexus RX400h.
The battery system is the same as on the Prius and there are numerous Prius's with over 200k miles on the clock and still the original batteries. My Lexus dealer (and several others I called) have not heard of ONE single case of new batteries having to be fitted to a Prius/Lexus (they have an 8 or 10 year warranty anyway).
My car tows my 1600kg Geist perfectly well - I can happily pull away on electrical power alone. The engine (270 bhp) comes on at all but the gentlest of acceleration - however, I have been towing at 60mph on a slight downhill and the engine will switch off and just the batteries do the job - although only for 2 or 3 miles before the engine comes on again to charge them (which takes about 10 mins).
However, overall, I get about 18mpg towing, so the rest of the time that the large engine is running, it isn't economical. My previous Hyundai Santa Fe did 23mpg, for example - although it never had 270 bhp or could do 0-60 in 7.5 seconds  (solo, of course).
Solo, I average about 30mpg (my SF did 26mpg) but I do have to try and be gentle so that I use the electric motors - if I had been that careful in the SF, I may also have got that mpg. Then again, my hybrid has a big old engine and decent performance for a car of its size (and it uses cheaper unleaded).
In summary, hybrids are perfectly fine for towing and they are more economical than an equivalent (ie. 3.3 litre petrol, 2 ton) car.
No-one seems to do a large hybrid with a 2 litre diesel (or do they?) but I think that would be the best option, with current technology.
Going forward, electric is the future IMO, once they sort out a network of 'battery stations' where you pull up and swap the batteries for a fully-charged set.
Hydrogen is fine but with hydrogen cars, they burn the hydrogen to make...electricity! Why not miss out the middle man? Oh yeah, and hydrogen has an awkward tendency to explode 
Post last edited on 22/01/2014 13:44:18
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'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
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22/1/2014 at 10:21pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Electricity is great for producing power, but poor at producing heat. Oil is good at producing heat, but not very efficient at producing power. So why do we heat our homes with electricity, and power our cars with oil? The answer is that electricity is very difficult to store, hence the battery problems, which hybrids overcome.
I personally don't think batteries can be improved much more, as they are already much better than they were 20 years ago. Battery technology just isn't suitable for the job of providing power for cars. The range is too short, and the recharging time is too long.
Induction may be an answer, but it would be incredibly expensive to install.
Battery stations have been talked about for the last 40 years or more, but nothing has happened about them. I think that is probably because of questions about ownership of the batteries. Battery swapping has been tried with buses, because no such problem with ownership arises.
For the private motorist, I believe hydrogen will be the solution, but there is a problem with its volatility.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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23/1/2014 at 3:11pm
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Hydrogen is undoubtedly the way forward, for high consumption vehicles like towing cars and lorries etc. In a crash scenario, it's somewhat less dangerous than petrol, contrary to popular belief. This is because, being a lighter than air gas, it disperses quickly. Petrol, on the other hand, exists as both a gas and a liquid at normal temperatures, giving both a fire and explosion risk in the event of spillage.
The main problems with hydrogen are production and distribution, because we currently lack the infrastructure for either. However, hydrogen production is a great match for intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar because, unlike electricity, it's relatively easy to store. Moving forward into the future, I expect Africa to become a major producer of hydrogen, which could then be piped to where it's needed. The Sahara desert is potentially vast resource for solar energy.
One thing that will have to change in cars is the size of fuel tanks - to get the same range with hydrogen, the tank will have to be about twice the size. That's not an insurmountable problem though.
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30/3/2014 at 9:54am
Location: Norfolk
Outfit: Still Looking
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In answer to the original question, the only hybrid cars suitable for towing a caravan are big things like Lexus 4X4s. Priuses, Insights, Lexus CT200s, Volts/Amperas etc. can't tow a caravan. Volvo's V60 hybrid will also fit the bill, but in the lower echelons there's nothing.
In answer to Nelmo's comment about a 2 litre hybrid, Peugeot's 3008 diesel hybrid sounds perfect - not too big for an everyday car, good torque from the 2 litre turbo-diesel, decent battery power, 200hp, free RFL, then the braked towing capacity: 500 kilograms!!! Surely they should have realised that a 3008 hybrid diesel would be a caravanner's dream car, and re-jigged it as necessary...
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