Can a 2016 be towed

GEM Forum
1

Out riding today cart stopped,it started up got it home. Can this cart be towed, if so anything special has to be done.

2

Tbh I don’t think it’s a good idea to tow it. the motor will Act as a generator and it will energize the system while being towed,
Even Tesla recommends a Flat bed towing for their cars

3

How about for short distances?
I guess it depends on why it stopped/died.
With key off and no field it would not generate anything. One would just need to be careful about overspeed.

I remember a thread where somebody was getting a tow and halfway home they tried key ON lit up the car. He must have applied a little pedal to get the contactor to kick in. By the time he got home he had a few bars in the bank!
Regen For The Win!!!

4

Same happened with my car going down hill, in Colorado. arrived to my destination with the battery fully charged :slightly_smiling_face:.

5

I think that was @MikeKC

6

Yep, Is it sad to say a bunch of people I know do it.
I can only speak for AC conversions.

  1. If the key is off the motor spins freely - no power generation. Fine to tow.
  2. If you just run low on juice but still have enough for the contactor to kick on, you can tow and regenerate battery power. I would not tow at 50mph but a good 15/20 is not going to hurt anything.

Had a buddy who was at 60v on Lithium pack after a long drive - towed him home and he was at 83v.

7
8

That is one way to keep the tow rope tight.
I think having Range Anxiety and coming home early is probably better than suffering the recurring ribbing from the friend that towed you home with his dyno fueled vehicle. The secret joke on him would be that you used a bit more of his fuel regenning your car while he was doing it.

I’d have to study up more on what happens with an AC motor and you did NOT switch it ON. The controller is still hooked inline but without the battery pack (MC connected) is this bad for the controller?

Same goes for those running a PMac. (but who runs those things?)

Sidebar, but related -
I have a friend with a Chevy Bolt. He goes to great lengths to calculate remaining capacity when he charges at the top of his mountain retreat so he doesn’t overcharge his pack when he comes back down. When he first got it he had to blast his heater with his windows open to burn up some amps.

9

Those two things definitely go together… :slight_smile: