Towing to recharge

[brent]

The Leaf owner's manual says that the car should be hoisted to a flatbed or towed on it's
rear wheels only.

But every time you take your foot of the throttle, isn't it the same as towing, ie the car
is in re-generative mode. From my Carwings data it looks like 15 to 25% of the energy
comes from regeneration (traffic stop/go dependent I assume).

So what's the dif. Why couldn't we do a modest amount of towing to recharge ?
I would guess overheating could be an issue but if we knew a bit more about how to
do it "right" maybe we could work around that.

 

[cwerdna]

http://www.green.autoblog.com/2011/05/25/is-the-quickest-way-to-charge-a-nissan-leaf-by-towing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[EVDRIVER]

The Leaf owner's manual says that the car should be hoisted to a flatbed or towed on it's
rear wheels only.

But every time you take your foot of the throttle, isn't it the same as towing, ie the car
is in re-generative mode. From my Carwings data it looks like 15 to 25% of the energy
comes from regeneration (traffic stop/go dependent I assume).

So what's the dif. Why couldn't we do a modest amount of towing to recharge ?
I would guess overheating could be an issue but if we knew a bit more about how to
do it "right" maybe we could work around that.

Why? There are few safe ways to do this and it has already been discussed. Secondly, there would be no overheating even if you did do this.

 

[GeekEV]

It does beg the question why they specify flatbed or wheels up towing though. Perhaps because the car is only expected to regen for a short while whereas towing it could be for a dozen miles or more. Since there is no transmission to decouple from the motor, the motor would regen the whole time. When the battery is full, where does that power go? It has to go somewhere or it will feedback into the motor adding significant drag (sorry, I'm not an EE so I don't know the proper terms). That could lock up the wheels and cause an effect similar to towing with the handbrake on. That would be very bad for your tires! I've not tried it, of course, so I'm just speculating.

 

[garygid]

When the car can no longer regen, it SHOULD coast, and not automatically apply the mechanical brakes.

With the car charged to 100%, try "coasting" down a modest grade ... and see if it indeed does coast.

Towing against Regen forces requires properly strong towing point(s). The LEAF has one, off center, and probably not designed for forceful TOWing, just gentle emergency use.

 

[scottf200]

http://www.green.autoblog.com/2011/05/25/is-the-quickest-way-to-charge-a-nissan-leaf-by-towing/

Funny I mentioned this article today at work to someone. Be sure to hit the CC icon so you can read it in English.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5Sujv90PLLY[/youtube]
http://youtu.be/5Sujv90PLLY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;