The electric car is really breaking through now.
How will this affect campers who are or want to be on the road with a tent trailer or rooftop tent?
We put ourselves to the test and went camping last summer with our electric car with a CAMPWERK onroad Economy tent trailer on the tow bar and iKamper Skycamp Mini 3.0 rooftop tent on the roof. [lwptoc]
Camping Ratgeber:
Crossing a threshold
I must say that at the beginning of 2023, I was still skeptical of electric driving.
Not because I don’t believe in it, but because I often have to pull a trailer on business.
What does that do to your range, can you charge enough, etc.
Questions that many people will have who are looking into an electric car.
So at first I thought that my 2011 RAV4 4×4 should be followed by a hybrid car.
For the shorter stretches you can then drive electric.
For the longer stretches with a trailer, or during vacations on gasoline.
However, people around me are very positive about the (towing) performance and comfort of electric driving.
Having to recharge and that it takes longer than filling up at the pump is just a matter of adjusting to that, is always their argument.
After also test driving the Skoda Enyaq, I made up my mind and went for the Tesla Y Long Range in June. Specifications Tesla Y Long Range
| Range: | 533 km (WLTP) in practice (summer) around 475 km |
| Battery | 75 KwH |
| Total maximum power | 324 kWh (441 hp) |
| Torque | 493 Nm |
| Acceleration | 0-100 in 5 seconds |
| Towing capacity braked | 1,600 kg |
On to Denmark
Last summer the destination was Legoland.
With our family of 4 we went from our home town of Annen to Billund during the summer vacations.
This time we left the dog at a lodging house, so we had our hands free to quietly check out Legoland and Legohûs.
We don’t like driving very much, so we planned to look for a place to spend the night halfway through the trip.
We keep to the speed limit when driving.
In practice, that means that in the Netherlands we drive around 95 km/h.
driving.
In Germany we drive around 100 km/h.
Our tent trailer has an approval for that speed.
So we do not rush.
When driving, we have fine weather.
It is around 20 degrees and occasionally it rains a little.
In the north of Germany near Bremen, we will charge for the first time.
Coincidentally, there is a charging station where you don’t have to unhook your trailer.
That’s handy.
After just under half an hour of charging and a cup of coffee and a sandwich, we are back on the road.
The superchargers are close to the highway, often near an opportunity to get something to eat or go to the bathroom.
Even during the summer vacations we did not have to wait.
At one location it was busy, but then the car indicates an alternative supercharger well in advance.
So no charging stress here, which you often hear for the summer period in southern Europe.
But on the way to Denmark so no problems.
Car range
And then there’s the range.
The Tesla Y Long Range has a WLTP of 533 km.
That is the range in ideal conditions.
In practice, my experience is that the Tesla has a range of 475 km without a tent trailer or rooftop tent.
On the outward and return trips, I measured what range our combination had left.
It should be noted that we have both a tent trailer weighing about 650 kg including load and a roof tent of 60 kg on the roof.
Which loss causes what is not entirely known, but I estimate that both have about the same influence on the range.
The tent trailer is nicely hidden behind the car.
You don’t need side mirrors for this, for example.
While the rooftop tent is and a lot lighter, it does have more effect on aerodynamics.
Especially with Tesla, which has a very good streamline, anything you change about it has a greater effect on fuel consumption than any other electric car that is less streamlined.
This is despite the beautiful, aerodynamic shape of the Skycamp Mini.
Charging points
We drove about 225 km before we hit another charge point.
Then we often still had between 50 and 90 km on the counter.
We charged up to 90%.
We also found that a fine distance for driving.
After more than 2.5 hours of driving, it is also time for a break.
So the range is just under 300 km.
In numbers that comes down to 235 Wh/km.
So you lose about 40%.
For us, in practice, this proved to be fine during the vacations.
Cost
Charging stations often have variable rates.
This also applies to Tesla’s superchargers.
For the drive from Annen (Drenthe) to Billund and back, we spent about €100 on charging.
With the RAV4, that would have been at least double.
Tesla Y as a tow vehicle
Driving with a trailer is like a dream with the electric Tesla Y.
With 493 Nm of torque, you hardly feel the tent trailer hanging behind the car.
Anyway, driving a CAMPWERK tent trailer is comfortable, even for fuel cars.
How it will be with a caravan I cannot say.
But I found our combination drove super.
The Tesla has a separate trailer mode.
And with the rear view camera you can occasionally check if the trailer is still hanging behind your car 😉.
For the rest of the year, I have to pull a heavier trailer for my job sometimes too.
The heaviest in my case is our offroad trailer with a maximum weight of 1,500 kg.
Again, the Tesla pulls it easily.
Although on paper my former RAV4 could tow more (2,000 kg), the Tesla Y with a maximum towing capacity of 1,600 kg braked does so considerably easier.
Tesla Y with rooftop tent
We mounted the roof tent on the Tesla Y with Tesla’s original roof racks.
On the Tesla Model 3, by the way, this roof tent then tilts slightly forward, because the front roof racks are slightly lower.
You can easily solve this by taking drive-up wedges with you during your vacation and thus level the car.
With the Teslay Y, the roof racks are already nicely horizontal.
When no roof tent is mounted on the car, these roof racks are also quite aerodynamic.
According to the theory, it only costs you 1% range.
So I leave these on for most of the year.
Yes, the roof rack makes some noise when driving, but it is minimal.
When driving faster, the noise increases correspondingly, but we did not find that distracting.
The Skycamp Mini 3.0 sits like a house on the car roof and is also not in the way when opening the tailgate.
So camping with electric car and rooftop tent is definitely an alternative for many to explore further.
Camping with combination tent trailer and rooftop tent
Everyone has different needs and requirements when camping.
For us (a family with 2 boys aged 8 and 10), the combination of a compact tent trailer (Economy) that can be equipped with awning/awning, combined with a two-person rooftop tent is the most ideal.
The tent trailer gives extra comfort in the form of a particularly nice bed and plenty of living space.
For one night stays, we don’t put the awning on the Economy, so the tent trailer base is up in about 10 minutes.
When staying more than 1 night, we do put the awning up and that can also be done within 15 minutes.
When the dog is with us, there is plenty of room in the base tent where it can sleep.
The roof tent iKamper Skycamp Mini is really quick to put up.
It takes no longer than 2 minutes.
Folding it down is just as fast.
Because we use the tent trailer as our base, we don’t have to clean up our stuff when we go out and need to use the car.
Therefore, this disadvantage of a rooftop tent does not apply and you do have your car free.
More often we see people combining and folding trailer or caravan with roof tent.
By using a compact roof tent you create 2 full-fledged extra sleeping places.
This allows you to choose a smaller trailer tent or caravan.
This comes in handy when your children might not be coming with you in the near future or want to sleep in their own tent (and not with their parents), or when your car has less towing capacity.
You can also go away for the weekend as a couple in the rooftop tent.
So you are super flexible.
Conclusion
We are very satisfied with our purchase of the car.
Both electric driving with trailer is comfortable, and also the combination of tent trailer and roof tent is a fine combination for us.
Camping with an electric car has not really brought any disadvantages for us.
The towing capacity of this Tesla Y is great.
For other electric cars where towing a caravan becomes tight, a tent trailer can actually be a solution.
If you have any specific questions after reading this article, please contact us.
We are happy to share more details about our experiences and are here to advise you on what would be most ideal for you.
The rooftop tent is folded in an instant and thus the car is free.
Photos and text: Ivar van der Leij.
I work at CAMPWERK and love to try out all the camping equipment and thus inform our customers from my own experience. Want to know more about vacations and electric driving?
Then the website electricautovakanties.nl/ you might find more useful information here.
They also did a study on vacations with an electric car.
You can read the results here: https://elektrischeautovakanties.nl/blog-vakantie-met-elektrische-auto/onderzoeksresultaten-op-vakantie-met-de-elektrische-auto-in-2023/ Renske and Maarten of 4x4electric.com/ proved that you can also get far with an electric car and roof tent.
They drove their Skoda Enyaq to Cape Town and back.
Along the way, they slept in the Skycamp Mini and charged primarily on solar power.
Learn more about the iKamper Skycamp Mini here: https://www.campwerk.nl/ikamper-skycamp-mini-daktent/ You can find more info about the car on Tesla’s site. https://www.tesla.com/nl_nl/modely We liked the Legohûs more than Legoland.
You can find more about that here: https://legohouse.com/en-gb/ From Camping Jellling you can be in Billund in 15 minutes by car.
Not a very great campsite, but fine to be a few days and go to Legoland from there. https://jellingcamping.dk/
