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Topic ClosedCharging battery while connected to tow vehicle

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Charging battery while connected to tow vehicle
    Posted: 30 Sep 2020 at 10:35am
Please correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe Lexus said they don’t allow brake controllers. They said they don’t install them. That’s fine. Probably there are other manufacturers who won’t install brake controllers or other aftermarket parts either. If you want to have a brake controller installed in a Lexus, go somewhere else to do it or do it yourself.

That being said, I wouldn’t tow my 179 with the Lexus. The RX450h has the Toyota hybrid synergy drive, its the same car as the Highlander Hybrid with a different badge. Both have a 3500 lb tow rating. I like that drivetrain and originally wanted to get a HiHy to tow my 179 but after researching it got a V6 standard drivetrain Highlander with tow package and 5000 lb rating. I have no idea what Toyota’s response would have been if I had asked them to install my brake controller because I did it myself.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2020 at 11:11am
That is a good point. The dealer won't install it, but you can either do it yourself or find a shop to do it if you don't want to. Towing with a hybrid is an interesting idea. The electric motors should provide plenty of torque and the gasoline motor should provide the range you would need. The part that would concern me is the CV Transmission. I don't know if it would stand up to the load.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2020 at 6:30pm
CV transmission? That would be a deal breaker for sure WRT towing.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2020 at 8:47pm
It might be doable. This site says it is possible as long as weights are not exceeded.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Oct 2020 at 8:38am
Originally posted by GlueGuy

CV transmission? That would be a deal breaker for sure WRT towing.

The Toyota hybrid drive isn't a conventional CVT with a belt and variable diameter pulleys if that's what you're thinking. Those are limited to pretty low power capacity. 

The hybrid drive is actually a planetary gearset which is continuously engaged. The ICE is connected to the planetary gear carrier, one electric motor (MG1) is connected to the sun gear, and one (MG2) to the ring gear, which is also connected to the final drive. By varying the speed and direction of rotation of the two motors, the system can keep the ICE operating in the desired rpm range, as well as change the power flow to either draw from the battery to augment the ICE if high power is needed or charge the battery from the ICE if there is extra power available, or shut off the ICE entirely. MG2 runs in reverse to back up the vehicle, and MG1 is used to start the ICE. 

Toyota calls it an e-CVT but it really has nothing in common with a conventional CVT. It is a very robust and reliable drivetrain, with far fewer moving parts than a conventional transmission. 

So, why not tow with one? For me, the answer was simple, Toyota limits the Highlander Hybrid to 3500/350 which is a show stopper. 

Other reasons not to tow with one:

in early HiHy's when Toyota first scaled up the drive system from the Prius there were some cases where the cars bricked themselves on the highway due to overtemp shutdown in the ac motor drives (which are essentially the same thing as  inverters but with variable frequency output). Not good. I haven't heard that to be a problem in more recent models but I haven't checked either.

The hybrid drive is FWD only, to get AWD Toyota adds an electric motor for the rear wheels. Rear drive is for me essential for towing, but the rear motor is pretty low horsepower, IIRC about 60. That might be fine for those low traction situations but I didn't want to take that chance. 

Hybrids do the most to improve efficiency under light to moderate power demand, where the extra power available from the ICE can be used to charge the battery and it can be shut off part of the time. At high power demand the ICE has to run all the time so they don't improve efficiency much. So towing on the highway is not their strong suit. I doubt the fuel economy towing would be much different between the hybrid and standard versions. 

The HiHy has a smaller fuel tank than the standard Highlander (17 vs 19 gal). That doesn't sound like much but its actually a significant improvement in range while towing. 

All that being said, I would definitely consider a hybrid if the towing capacity could be bumped up in the 5000/500 range and the cars had proven reliable after a few years of operation at those higher loads. No way I'd buy a new one anyway, way too expensive for me. Star 



1994 Chinook Concourse
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