Can you Tow a Tesla Behind a Motorhome?

A motorhome is indeed an ideal way to make your journey incredibly exciting. Taking a road trip in a motorhome will undoubtedly make the experience more enjoyable because it gives you all the facilities of a home, like a bathroom, kitchen, storage area, and bedroom. Moreover, if you’re traveling in a motorhome and want to visit the restaurants and other attractions inside the city, you might want to bring your car along as well. This will enable you to drive the city’s narrow streets. Therefore, people love to tow their cars behind motorhomes.

While towing a diesel or petrol car behind a motorhome is quite simple, doing so with an electric car like a Tesla can be incredibly challenging. Due to the world’s rapid transition to electric vehicles and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, Teslas are growing in popularity. As a result, electric vehicles are regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly and safest forms of transportation.

However, due to some specific factors, flat towing an electric vehicle is practically impossible. Here are a few reasons why we are unable to flat tow a Tesla.

Reasons not to Tow a Tesla Behind a Motorhome

People find it easy to tow their cars behind the motorhomes because it is the cheapest way to carry a car with you on your trip. Towing a Tesla is not that easy, though. Since electric vehicles differ greatly from diesel or gasoline-powered vehicles in many aspects, flat-towing an EV is certainly not allowed. Let’s have a look at a few reasons.

No Transmission System

The most typical method for flat-towing a car involves shifting into neutral before starting the tow. The electric parking brake is deactivated once the car is in neutral, so the wheels won’t be locked. This is how you can tow a car easily. But, this is possible only in manual cars. However, when we talk about towing an electric vehicle it is completely different as there is no transmission system in the EVs.

You can’t put your tesla in neutral. EVs have direct wiring from their motors to their wheels. Even after putting it into neutral the wheels won’t be fully disconnected from the motors and it can cause major damage to your vehicle.

Overheating Issues

We have already discussed that there is no transmission system in electric vehicles. Hence, an electric motor is not operated similarly to an internal combustion engine because it is powered by a battery. Moreover, the cooling system of the Tesla works when the engine of the car is working.

Therefore, if the Tesla is not working, as a result, the cooling system is also unworkable. When you pull your electric car around the road, a lot of heat will be generated due to friction. So, it leads to overheating issues that will cause big damage to your Tesla.

Warranty Issues

Tesla prohibits flat-towing its electric vehicles. It is always easy to tow other diesel and patrol cars. But, flat towing an electric vehicle is not possible due to the different motors or operating systems. Hence, you will harm your Tesla in several ways when you attempt to flat tow it behind a motorhome, and those damages will be quite expensive.

No matter what the model is, Tesla forbids flat-towing its cars. And if you do that, the warranty can be voided as a result. Therefore, you will be responsible for paying for the repairs out of your pocket which will cost you heavily.

Some Practical Ways to tow a Tesla behind a Motorhome

It has been confirmed that it is not feasible to flat tow a Tesla behind a motorhome because doing so will severely harm your electric vehicle due to certain reasons. However, there are a few practical ways to bring your Tesla along with you on a road trip. Let’s explore!

Use a Flatbed Trailer

Now that you are aware that you can’t flat tow your Tesla, using a flatbed will make it simpler for you to carry your EV on your trip. If you use a flatbed, you won’t be pulling the Tesla with its wheels, thus it won’t harm your electric vehicle in any way.

A Tesla typically weighs 4,500 pounds, however, it’s important to be sure your motorhome can tow the weight of your Tesla and trailer. A motorhome often has the necessary towing capacity. They can generally support up to 15,000 lbs.

Attach Dollies

Another way to tow your Tesla is to attach the front and the rear dollies to it. By doing this you will lift the Tesla and all four wheels will not be touching the road. However, you need to spend money wisely on high-quality equipment and long-lasting straps that will stay in place while covering long distances.

Once you’ve positioned the Tesla and fastened the electric car to the dollies, you can leave it in “Park” because all of the wheels will be raised. How firmly the wheels are connected to the dollies is the main concern when towing with front and rear dollies, especially for long distances.

Drive your Tesla

We are aware that using dollies or a flatbed trailer will be quite expensive. As a result, we have another suggestion: bring a driver along who can just drive your Tesla behind your RV without having to tow it. This will be the simplest and safest option for you to carry your Tesla.

Wrap Up

Since an electric vehicle has a different functioning motor than a motorhome, Tesla prohibits flat-towing its vehicles because it is practically difficult to tow an electric vehicle behind RVs. Therefore, as it is already prohibited by the makers, doing this will probably void the warranty. Due to the lack of a transmission system, unlike other diesel and patrol cars, your Tesla cannot be put in neutral. As a result, it will cause overheating, which could seriously harm your Tesla. There are, however, a few simple techniques that may be used to safely transport your car without risking damage. Therefore, it is suggested not to try flat towing your Tesla behind the motorhome without taking some effective measurements first.

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Ever since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by travel. I inherited this passion from my parents. Since my college years and to this day, I have had a passion for traveling in a motorhome. I am here to share my experiences with you.

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