Rightsizing your car to each day wants makes numerous sense. When you’re driving an enormous truck round daily to work, and no one else or their belongings journey with you, you’re throwing cash away day in and day trip. So, it is smart to maneuver to one thing that really is smart each day.
However, individuals who commute in a pickup truck usually have excuse: that month-to-month run to House Depot, or the occasional journey the place they take their youngsters within the truck as an alternative of sending them with their partner within the minivan. It’s no lie that these further seats and that cargo capability are extraordinarily helpful, even when they don’t get used daily. With the ability to get in the identical car you drive daily and canopy these odd duties that come up is value it to many Individuals.
As a substitute of arguing over who’s proper right here, I made a decision to attempt to discover a win-win answer for my household.
For 90% of my driving, my Bolt EUV does the job fantastically. It has the vary to cowl all of my regular wants, and most uncommon days, too. It has seating for many of my youngsters, and if I fold the seats down, it has room for the large grocery runs we do a couple of times a month. Life is nice. Sadly, although, we nonetheless do often want some further capability. Sure, like most home-owning households, we’ve that occasional journey to get provides at House Depot. Typically prolonged household wants to maneuver. There are additionally these journeys to the lake, mountain biking, and tenting journeys the place all of it simply doesn’t slot in that automotive that’s “simply the fitting dimension” more often than not.
Many “sane” folks would commerce of their car on this state of affairs. Get one thing larger, and with extra cargo room. However this was the EV I might afford, and buying and selling it in for one thing larger would imply going again to gasoline. Which may fly if I wrote at any previous automotive web site, however that is CleanTechnica. We don’t commerce in EVs for gas-powered jalopies right here.
So, as an alternative of doing the “sane” factor, I made a decision to do issues the European means for as soon as. Over there, they use smaller automobiles to drag trailers on a regular basis. This concept that you simply want a truck to drag a trailer might be the punchline to some European jokes. Perhaps I’m a penny-pinching weirdo, however getting issues accomplished with a $32,000 car makes much more sense than buying and selling it in for an $80,000 electrical pickup truck I can’t afford.
Torklift’s Stealth EcoHitch
I reached out to Torklift to see in the event that they’d allow us to overview one among their hitches, and thankfully they already had a good design able to go!
Plus, they appear to essentially like CleanTechnica, as a result of they supplied to let me not solely overview their hitch, however hold it afterward. Given the nice expertise different CleanTechnica writers have had with them (and we’ve no purpose to lie a couple of product simply to maintain it, as a result of we don’t want crappy merchandise laying round our homes), I might have been a idiot to not go for it.
The Set up
We usually like issues to be fascinating in life, and many individuals like surprises, however on the subject of belongings you spend massive cash on and have to work, we normally simply need issues to work as marketed. If there’s an educational video telling you what to do (above), you need issues to go identical to the video stated they might.
My Bolt EUV with the bumper cowl eliminated and out of the best way.
Whereas I’d like to put in writing a complete lot extra phrases in regards to the set up course of, the completely satisfied fact right here is that issues went simply as marketed and depicted within the video. We eliminated what saved the bumper on, eliminated the bumper, put the hitch in behind the interior bumper, after which put all of it again collectively in reverse. The whole lot went the best way it was purported to, besides my Bolt EUV is white and theirs was blue.
The EcoHitch put in behind the automotive’s bumper/affect level, and mounted to some very giant bolts to the physique.
Workmanship was glorious. I observed that the welds on the EcoHitch have been all clear and good, and there wasn’t a single factor on the hitch that made it look low-cost or home-made. It was so good trying that it was virtually unhappy to cover all of it behind the bumper once more on the finish!
The one factor the video doesn’t present is wiring. Torklift equipped me with a four-conductor wiring package for trailer lighting, which I put in on the identical time, and written directions have been included within the package. However, as soon as once more, the directions lined all the pieces and the wiring package went in simply. With no cuts or splices, the wiring package they promote intercepts operating lights and switch indicators and gives loads of energy for trailer lighting by way of a 12v wire that runs below the automotive (tucked away by the facet of the battery pack).
The controller for the trailer wiring harness, which I mounted on a naked bolt behind an inside panel.
I gained’t get into each little element, however I can confidently say that all the pieces went as described and as marketed. So long as you’ve gotten the fitting instruments readily available, you’ll haven’t any downside getting the hitch put in. If the video and directions intimidates you, there’s additionally no disgrace in having it professionally put in after it is available in, so actually anyone can purchase this hitch.
Testing
One of many issues that makes a hitch so extensively helpful is what number of various things it may possibly work with. A regular 2” receiver can maintain up bike racks, cargo trays/baskets, and trailer balls, amongst many different issues.
I might already inform the hitch and its mounting technique have been sound. I didn’t actually see any want to check placing in a cargo basket or a motorbike rack, as a result of that was clearly going to work simply high-quality. I’ve these issues, however there’s simply no purpose they wouldn’t work like they need to. The one phrase of recommendation I’d give for this specific car’s EcoHitch is that it is available in fairly low, so that you simply don’t have to chop the bumper throughout set up (an excellent factor). So, should you’ve acquired a bizarre basket or rack that goes even decrease (designed for a truck), you will want to exchange or adapt it to forestall dragging it on driveways.
Then again, for regular receiver equipment that wouldn’t drag, having your bikes or different cargo sitting decrease is healthier each for aerodynamics and dealing with, so that is nonetheless an excellent factor.
In terms of trailers, I had somebody within the prolonged household abruptly want to maneuver on comparatively brief discover. I already had the hitch put in, they usually wanted me to assist them with two automobiles to get them moved quicker. My different car (an Acura MDX) was busy towing their camper, so we needed to run right down to U-Haul to hire a cargo trailer to get the remainder of their issues immediately.
A U-Haul 5×8′ enclosed cargo trailer hitched up behind the Bolt EUV. The trailer’s dry weight is 900 lb, and we loaded it to the roof. Weight was roughly 2,000 lb. The Bolt EUV had no downside pulling this weight plus 5 adults round city throughout the transfer.
I had solely deliberate on towing 1,000 to 1,500 kilos, both within the type of a small cargo trailer or a small popup camper. However, for this sudden want, I rented a 5×8 enclosed trailer, which U-Haul says weighs 900 kilos empty. For one load, we stuffed it to the highest with bins of belongings and small furnishings objects, and there’s no means this was under 1,100 kilos. So, we have been pulling someplace in extra of two,000 kilos with the Chevy Bolt, and I carried alongside 4 adults to assist transfer issues rapidly.
Whereas I might inform the Bolt EUV needed to work tougher to maneuver all of that, it didn’t battle. I had no issues pulling the burden of the trailer, the folks, and the issues in it. I had no downside maintaining with regular visitors (with some further room for security, after all). I didn’t even have to the touch the brake pedal on the EUV, because the regenerative braking was sufficient to cease it even with that load. The low and heavy battery pack made for terrific towing stability, too. The naysayers will probably be alongside to inform us that the Bolt EUV doesn’t have a tow ranking, however I couldn’t inform from towing with it.
I most likely gained’t tow this type of weight on the freeway, as it might have critical impacts on vary, however for round city it did simply high-quality at this stage. There’s no purpose a Bolt EUV can’t tow smaller campers lengthy distances, so long as you decelerate a bit and use the conventional security precautions you need to all the time use with towing (go away loads of house in entrance of you for braking, and so on.).
The one “gotcha” I bumped into was that the Stealth EcoHitch design has to return in actually low for max stealth and a no-cut set up. Because of this you’ll have to provide you with an adjustable hitch riser to maintain trailers stage. You’ll additionally most likely want a small extension of some sort to get the raised trailer ball behind the bumper.
In my case, an adjustable aluminum hitch ball from Harbor Freight did each of these issues, however provided that I used it backwards. The 6” riser as an alternative pushed the ball additional out, whereas the conventional receiver half held the ball up at simply the fitting peak. When you want extra rise or drop, you’ll have to discover a hitch setup that offers the little little bit of extension wanted to clear the bumper.
I used a Harbor Freight hitch rise/drop adapter backwards to provide the extension wanted whereas nonetheless giving round a 3″ rise.
Personally, I’m not bothered by this as a result of I feel it makes for a extra compact design that’s simpler to take away from the car and stash away below the false cargo ground when not in use. It additionally retains the empty receiver from catching you within the shins should you go away it in between towing jobs.
With this hitch setup, I’ll have the ability to begin utilizing my Bolt EUV for extra issues, together with an upcoming journey to House Depot. I’m additionally towing a small camper on journeys. All in all, I’d say that this hitch design makes the Bolt EUV a way more helpful car whereas not getting in the best way or trying dangerous on regular days.
With out hesitation, I’d advocate this hitch to anybody else seeking to develop the capabilities of their EUV.
A utility trailer is a good substitute for an costly pickup truck.
All photographs by Jennifer Sensiba.
Full our 2022 CleanTechnica reader survey for an opportunity to win an electrical bike.
Recognize CleanTechnica’s originality and cleantech information protection? Think about changing into a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter, Technician, or Ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.
Do not wish to miss a cleantech story? Join each day information updates from CleanTechnica on e-mail. Or comply with us on Google Information!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, wish to promote, or wish to counsel a visitor for our CleanTech Discuss podcast? Contact us right here.
