Trailer hitch with lighting cable installed for 350$ can

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noisette123

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
Messages
3
Just a FYI,

I went last fall to a trailer hitch dealer here in Quebec , Canada to have a removable trailer hitch installed for 350$ , including all lighting harnesses.

Test drove my 2014 Spark with a 4 x 8 trailer full of wood , and lost only 30% capacity on the ride.

What an amazing little car!
JF
 
I would love to do this. I use wood to heat.

But what if you have a dead car and need to have it towed to a dealer for warranty work on the drive train?

Would you, could you quickly remove all evidence of the trailer hitch first?
 
Warranty concerns duly noted, adding a trailer hitch does interest me. Once the warranty expires, it will be an even more attractive modification. I expect to hit 100k before I hit 8 years. Historically, I have driven about 20k miles per year. With the low cost of operating the Spark EV, I find myself driving even more because it is so wonderfully inexpensive.

One thing I wish that EV's would consider as a standard is supporting trailer use as a means to attach a battery trailer for occasions when extended range or capacity is desired. If the trailer can also haul some things or perhaps even serve as a small camper trailer, even better, especially if charging at RV parks will be part of the travel plan.

My 1968 Cutlass has the gas cap in the center of the rear bumper hidden behind the license plate, which seems like an ideal place to locate a charge port or other battery extension connection, as it would be very close to the trailer hitch. Perhaps not hidden behind the license plate on a moving vehicle, but in a rear center location. Pretty much opposite of how the Leaf has its charge port in the front.

I have seen some EV hobbyists make battery trailers to extend range, as well as the Ebuggy and Nomadic concepts. I can see such a trailer being more practical to rent than own. Such a battery trailer may also be desirable for uses besides extending EV range for various applications where portable power is desired without the noise or emissions of a gas or diesel generator.
 
noisette123 said:
Just a FYI,

I went last fall to a trailer hitch dealer here in Quebec , Canada to have a removable trailer hitch installed for 350$ , including all lighting harnesses.

Test drove my 2014 Spark with a 4 x 8 trailer full of wood , and lost only 30% capacity on the ride.

What an amazing little car!
JF

Tell us more! Part number? Pics?

I PM'd noisette123 to see if he/she would provide more info. I would lovelovelove to have a trailer hitch!

-Bob K.
 
I also had the same idea. There’s a small aluminum trailer for sale that’s 170 lbs, plus the battery pack (approximately 450-500 lbs). So, call it 650-700 lbs total, the car is designed for that much weight in passengers and cargo alone. If you put the batteries in parallel, I don’t expect the batteries would have a situation where they would heat up more than what they were designed for.

I can’t seem to attach pictures unfortunately.

I’ve been speaking with a guy that did this same setup for his Toyota RAV4 EV, and I’m in the process of getting more information, and will likely post an update real soon.
 
BEANS said:
I also had the same idea. There’s a small aluminum trailer for sale that’s 170 lbs, plus the battery pack (approximately 450-500 lbs). So, call it 650-700 lbs total, the car is designed for that much weight in passengers and cargo alone. If you put the batteries in parallel, I don’t expect the batteries would have a situation where they would heat up more than what they were designed for.

Honestly, doesn't sound ideal... A 450-500lb battery pack is what the Spark already has, so you're talking about double the range. Except, a battery pack charging a battery pack is inefficient. So you'd get maybe 80% or less of the additional capacity which would be (82 rated mileage x 80% = 65.6) another 66 miles? When I think of additional range 66 miles is miniscule considering I can easily conquer 600-800 miles for a full day of driving an ICE vehicle (think road trip).

If you could wire them in parallel, could the software adjust as necessary? Would it adapt to the additional battery capacity?

The only vehicle this would make sense to me on is a Tesla long range model. They can go 300 miles on their main pack, and since the pack is already a large rectangle it's exactly the shape of a trailer floor and if you could get another 240 miles (80% of 300) that's approaching a full day's max travel.

This is where towing a generator just makes way more sense than trying to rig another battery.
 
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