We don’t think it’s a good idea. Towing isn’t a priority for electric vehicle designers. Several models now on the market lack two ratings and those that do can only pull lightweights. It makes sense: electric vehicles are aerodynamically slick, and adding a trailer to one is akin to strapping a chute and ankle weights to a long-distance runner.
The Audi e-Tron has the highest towing capacity of the 11 cars in our EV of the Year test, at 4000 pounds, making it the ideal testbed for towing 3859 pounds of ski boat and trailer. We drove a 60-mile circle at the speed limit—80 percent of it on a 70-mph interstate—with and without the boat in tow, and the car recorded double the consumption with the skiff on its bumper, which was not surprising. The range is cut in half when the consumption is doubled.
