What have you happily pulled with a prius?

[mud]

Hello,
We are almost-empty-nesters with a home schooled seven year old and we travel to teach classes on building houses out of mud. We have been happy with sleeping in our prius with him in a bed we made that goes over the top of the front seat. It works well for gas mileage and stealth camping convenience out of the weather and costs only about $1 to leave on all night for air conditioning or heating and electrical devices but we only have another year or two before he is too tall for that setup so we are looking for input as to what campers y'all have been happy pulling behind a prius, preferably hard sided but we are open to hearing what you do.
--Mud

[John in Santa Cruz]

IMHO, the prius is completely unsuitable as a tow vehicle. its hybrid configuration is optimized for urban stop and go, when you're towing, you're usually doing sustained highway speeds, which means you'll be out of electric pookah and entirely reliant on the rather low power gas motor. at most it might be able to pull 1000-1500 lbs, which would be a rather small "teardrop" trailer, which is basically a tiny bedroom you can sit up but not stand, with an outdoor kitchen.

[thrifty bill]

Nothing is going to match the current economics you enjoy, short of bringing a tent for one of you.

I found this information on the generation 4 Prius: "Toyota does not recommend towing a trailer with your vehicle. Toyota also does not recommend the installation of a tow hitch or the use of a tow hitch carrier for a wheelchair, scooter, bicycle, etc. Your vehicle is not designed for trailer towing or for the use of tow hitch mounted carriers."

So you have to decide whether to believe the manufacturer, or people on the internet. Spend some time on the web and I have no doubt you can find people towing trailers with a Prius. Whether you want to follow their lead is a personal decision for sure.

[Gompka]

There are no laws per sea that tell you what you can and can't tow, but be sure that if there is an accident whether your fault or not, if your car is not rated for towing it is another opportunity for the personal injury lawyer to pay you a visit.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Gompka

There are no laws per sea that tell you what you can and can't tow, but be sure that if there is an accident whether your fault or not, if your car is not rated for towing it is another opportunity for the personal injury lawyer to pay you a visit.

and for the insurance company to deny claims.

[David B.]

There was a person “Ken in Philly” that hasn’t visited this site since Dec 11, 2016 he was pulling a Scamp 16. I had in the past talked with a woman in Florida that had visited this site about towing with her Prius, and was pulling a 13’ Scamp without problems in flat Florida. I don’t remember her name or contact information, but a “search” might turn up the old thread so you could find her contact information to get her long term experience with doing this. We have a 2009 Prius, and had thought about using it for a tow vehicle, but since we have long steep grades here in Arizona and Colorado where we usually camp, I decided against trying.
Dave & Paula

[Jon in AZ]

Having driven a work Prius through our local mountains with two adults on board and listened to the endless drone of the small gas engine laboring to top a hill as the battery depleted, my answer is... nothing.

That's what the manufacturer says, and I concur.

My friend locked the engine on his Prius driving himself back and forth between AZ and OK. It had 150K, so I'd consider that a premature failure. My assessment is the Prius is optimized for suburban commuting, not high speed highway driving under load.

It's like using a ball peen hammer to drive a framing nail. Might work once in a pinch, but it's the wrong tool for the job.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Gompka

There are no laws per sea that tell you what you can and can't tow, but be sure that if there is an accident whether your fault or not, if your car is not rated for towing it is another opportunity for the personal injury lawyer to pay you a visit.

Laws or no laws in this case common sense should rule .

[Mike Magee]

When he grows too tall, why not upgrade to a Highlander hybrid?

[k corbin]

You might be thinking it is your car so it is your choice when it comes to your car and what you do with it in terms of towing or not with a Prius. That it might be worth the risk to the engine or transmission to have some fun camping with the family.


....or is it really as simple as that? The answer is no, when your child is in the car the courts say that your opinion is not the only one that counts when it comes to the safety of the child. So you don't get to pull a trailer the car is not rated to pull. Children really do complicate our lives

[Jon in AZ]

Could you elaborate on your need for climate control? You mentioned using the vehicle's heating and air conditioning for overnight sleeping- a new concept to me. Does it run entirely off the battery or does the gas engine cycle on and off? What kinds of temperature conditions are you talking about?

Air conditioning requires 110V power (power connection or generator) in any type of towable camper. Heat can come from an LP appliance, but not usually in a really tiny unit.

I said "nothing" earlier, but I might actually consider a small motorcycle trailer (200-300#) behind a Prius. I'm a fan of this one because it gives you a floor off the ground (and it's molded fiberglass), but there are others, some even lighter. They are not hard-sided, climate control options are limited (but natural ventilation is much better than a car), and you can't "stealth camp" (i.e., where equipment set-up is not permitted).


This is the smallest hard-sided fiberglass trailer I know of, and at over 600# empty, it is still too heavy for a Prius IMO. There might be some lighter, bed-only, non-fiberglass teardrop options. Climate control remains an issue.


Your dilemma interests me. There are a number of small, fuel efficient commercial vans you might convert, or even a conventional minivan. Chrysler makes a hybrid version of the Pacifica. Again, I don't know how you'd handle overnight climate control when "stealth" camping.

[Kenny Strong]

I put 1 1/2inch receiver hitch on a VW Passat; to carry a bike rack. It would drag in the gutter at our drive or parking lots when empty. I have owned a Prius. I suggest to not do this.

[Casita Greg]

Having a predominantly "electric" vehicle, albeit equipped with an woefully undersized auxiliary "lawn mower" sized gas engine to supplement the dismal performance of the battery powered motor, (in addition to making you heavily dependent on charging stations everywhere you go,) and then trying to tow a travel trailer with a vehicle that really can't get out of its own way even without a trailer behind it, (and usually for extended mileage trips when towing a trailer,) seems a bit incongruous at best. You not only have to deal with an under-powered vehicle that was never intended for towing, but also a limited travel range between the need to recharge. In short, I would have to say that it is not a suitable vehicle for towing a trailer, on flat land or otherwise.

[Jon in AZ]

Unless the OP has the plug-in Prius, there is no stopping to recharge. It all happens while moving.

In a way that makes it worse. Power from the 1.5L gas engine that might have gone into recharging the batteries via the on-board generator will be required to move a trailer. The batteries will likely remain in a more depleted state, meaning you may not have that extra help from the electric motor when needed.

One factor hasn't been mentioned. The Prius was optimized in a wind tunnel and has one of the most efficient shapes on the road. A trailer alters that significantly. Even a low profile trailer will disrupt the slipstream behind the vehicle.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

...
Air conditioning requires 110V power (power connection or generator) in any type of towable camper...

Ahh the dreaded absolute wording...

There are 12 VDC air conditioners. For example these, but since these draw a minimum of 30 amps they are not practical and so your statement is true enough for our purposes.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Ahh the dreaded absolute wording...

There are 12 VDC air conditioners. For example these, but since these draw a minimum of 30 amps they are not practical and so your statement is true enough for our purposes.

I am impressed. 5000 BTU with 420 watts, (35A x 12 VDC). I wonder, at 14.4 VDC, does the BTU rating, (and probably the current) go up or does the current load go down?


I see no prices on the site, so likely very costly.

[Nor Cal Mike]

One might buy a second Prius, split the licensed drivers between the two, and wind up with two bedrooms of Prius's. But I digress........

More seriously, if you are living in a Prius travelling around the country teaching mud house building, you are operating way out of the conventional mode that most of us operate in. Here is my suggestion that you might explore. I have been seeing a lot of really nice, roof top rack mounted, quick folding tents lately. I don't suggest mounting one of these on the roof of your Prius. That would be way too areo funky. Rather I suggest installing one on a tiny lightweight trailer such as the folding ones that are sold at places like Harbor Freight. If you got creative (look at what the areo tricks that long haul truckers do), you might be able to restore some of the lost aerodynamic efficiencies built into your Prius.

[John in Santa Cruz]

what nor cal mike is saying is something like this...

[callison82]

The Prius transmission isn't designed for towing so towing anything immediately invalidates the warranty. Still, Dermot Mulroney towed around a canoe on a light-weight trailer in "Must Love Dogs". That would probably be as heavy a load as that particular vehicle should be subjected to. My 2004 Prius had very active traction control and it was scary as hell in a panic stop. I wouldn't want a trailer in back of that car - too dangerous. I now have a 2014 Prius V and although I now have a nice light-weight Ascape after ditching my Burro project, it would not be something I'd tow behind a Prius, even if the V is heavier. You would lose entirely the mpg benefit of the vehicle as well. I have an old beat-up pickup truck for camping.

[ROBERT ONEILL]

I believe the OP was referring to leaving the Prius run all night long to run the engine driven in dash air conditioner not a household type. Liability in the USA today should tell you not to tow when the manufacture say not to puts the full burden on you for any accident that the Peius maybe in besides do you want to live with the thought of an accident that leaves someone else or your family injured or dead.

If you decide to do it could you Please post on here where you are going and when so the rest of us can get off the road and warn our friends and family of you travels for their safety.