Towing with Hybrid/electric cars

I am with Milo on this. The theoretical EV only distance referred to above will most certainly be a lot less in winter and even worse with 100,000 miles on the clock. The ONLY used hybrid in my budget (£11,000) that will potentially tow my caravan with a MTPLM of 1800kg is a Lexus RX400h SUV. However the nose weight limit is a bit low at 80kg and real world solo economy is poor in comparison with an equivalent diesel. There was  Touareg Hybrid briefly available some years ago and MBZ sold a diesel hybrid E class estate however it does not appear type approved for towing. The only other possible option i have identified is the Volvo V60 diesel hybrid which will eventually drop in value into my budget, if it is type approved and can tow my caravan. Even our local Mitsubishi dealer does not recommend the Outlander PHEV for towing and suggests buying a Shogun Sport. 

A cycle is even cheaper, couple of hundred pounds excellent for short journeys and no faffing with a power lead. Plus the one person power does not cost a penny.

I fail to understand the logic of spending £1000’s of pounds on depreciation to upgrade a perfectly good tow car to one which is inferior at towing just to be able to drive (an alleged) 28 miles for 94p. The most environmentally sustainable car is the one you already have.... (or in this case had). Do people not get that depreciation is THE single biggest cost of motoring and their is nothing environmentally friendly about buying a brand new car, hybrid or otherwise?  

The ONLY used hybrid in my budget (£11,000) that will potentially tow my caravan with a MTPLM of 1800kg is a Lexus RX400h SUV. However the nose weight limit is a bit low at 80kg and real world solo economy is poor in comparison with an equivalent diesel.

I towed an 1800kg caravan with a Lexus RX400h for over 6 years and can't say that the solo fuel economy was bad. On the contrary, I thought it was good, especially in lots of stop-start city driving where I was getting up to 50mpg, which can't be bad for a car of that size and weight. It was more the economy when towing that wasn't so good - somewhere around 20mpg, sometimes even worse, depending on the conditions.

Any view will be coloured by whether the tow car is also used for a relatively short urban commute. As they are not the most nimble in an urban environment requiring also bigger parking spaces, I would imagine such vehicles would only be used as a "last resort" urban choice. It therefore makes more sense to choose a straightforward capable tug rather than trying to get the best of both worlds. Most of us would do better to use public transport/bike. The environmental cost of manufacture rarely gets mentioned either.

I think that's a fair comment Lutz and no -ne is saying "go out and buy a hybrid" it's been an interesting discussion. 

A poster on the Volvo Forum quotes his MPG on a drive to the S of France in a T8 XC60 (hybrid) as 16mpg with a fairly large van, Aside from the cost he found it necessary to plan the fuel stops presumably due to a smaller fuel tank in addition to the consumption.

I used to get about double that towing a medium sized van with my diesel Kuga. So much for saving the planet.

Towing is a relatively small part of driving for most of us so the poor fuel consumption when doing this may be offset by the cheap travel at other times. If you are towing to Italy though hybrids look out of the question.

You do need to look at your towing mileage compared with the rest and do your own sums to see if they work for you.

You do need to look at your towing mileage compared with the rest and do your own sums to see if they work for you.
 

Exactly. 40% of our tow cars mileage is towing and I guess 50% is while on site and I guess only 10% running around at home as we have another daily driver at home.

I suppose that for lower mileage motorists that relative purchase cost of the car to make a saving is another factor.