Towing isn’t exactly an EV strong suit. Sure, EVs have gobs of torque, which means they have the power to tow an impressive amount of weight. However, their ranges suffer drastically from essentially doubling the weight that the powertrain has to pull. Moreover, many EVs lack the chassis to properly tow a hefty amount of weight. According to Autocar, though, if you need to do some electric towing in Europe, the BMW iX is your best bet.
I want to stress that this is for Europe and not the U.S. See, here in the ‘States, we like our pickup trucks. So we have the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T, both of which are rated to tow about double the iX’s 2,500 kg (5,511 lbs) capacity. However, Europe lacks such heavy duty electric pickups, so the iX is the best combination of towing capacity, battery size, range, and power.
The BMW iX uses a 111.5 kWh battery that gives it around 300 miles of normal driving. With a 5,000 lb trailer, that mileage halves at best but that’s still over 100 miles of range to tow something large. If you need to just tow a boat to and from a dock, it’s perfect for that sort of thing.
What’s interesting is that the BMW iX is rated for the same towing capacity regardless of powertrain. So the BMW iX xDrive50 and the iX xDrive40 have the same 2,500 kg tow rawting, despite one having much more power. The iX xDrive50 has 516 horsepower and 564 lb-ft of torque from its dual motors, while the xDrive40 has 322 horsepower and 435 lb-ft from its dual motors. With both cars having dual motors and all-wheel drive, they both have good traction to tow in the wet, which is helpful for towing boats.
Obviously, if you need to do some long-haul towing, such as towing a camper or a track car, you aren’t going to want an EV. That’s just not a strength of electric vehicles just yet, even ones like the F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T. Battery ranges deplete too much for long-distance towing to be viable right now. However, it’s nice to know that if you need to tow something for a short distance, the BMW iX is not only capable, it excels at it. With its high tow rating and immense power, the iX is probably the best EV for towing in Europe at the moment. Plus, it will do so in quiet comfort and luxury.
[Source: Autocar]