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That project was inspired by a pusher trailer built by JB Straubel[1] (co-founder and former CTO of Tesla), and in Straubel's write-up he addresses this: > Dyn

That project was inspired by a pusher trailer built by JB Straubel[1] (co-founder and former CTO of Tesla), and in Straubel's write-up he addresses this: > Dynamics: > Despite the facts that I shortened the trailer of the Gen-2 pusher by two feet and added more IC horsepower and much more pushing force with the ability of the AT to downshift...I have still found it basically impossible to get into a condition of oversteer. (This is where the car would want to turn into the direction of the turn if you take your hand off the wheel, normaly if you release the wheel a vehicle will straighten itself out of a turn) Even in relatively tight turns with the trailer at nearly full power, the car wants to straighten itself out. The shortened trailer also drafts behind the EV much better further improving the mpg. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20120319173545/http://www.jstraubel.com/EVpusher/EVpusher2.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20120319173545/http://www.jstrau...

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
That contradicts the experience of basically everyone that's ever towed anything. I'm gonna ignore a bunch of second order variables here but if you come into a turn too hot for the weight of the trailer compared to the tow vehicle the trailer can and will push the rear of the car straight (over-steer). This is exacerbated by long trailer axle spreads and short tongue length (hence why flat towing a car feels the way it does). Maybe he just drives really conservatively everywhere (wouldn't surprise me since a light foot was key for extending range on early EVs and many people developed that habit) or maybe the trailer is just light enough and being single axle makes it easy to steer enough that the natural tendency of the car to straighten out is greater.
- VBprogrammer 7y ago
  I wouldn't trust anyone crazy enough to build this contraption to evaluate how safe it is. I mean, it's probably fine for him, but you wouldn't want your [stereotypical poor driver of choice] to be driving it on a wet day.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

That contradicts the experience of basically everyone that's ever towed anything. I'm gonna ignore a bunch of second order variables here but if you come into a turn too hot for the weight of the trailer compared to the tow vehicle the trailer can and will push the rear of the car straight (over-steer). This is exacerbated by long trailer axle spreads and short tongue length (hence why flat towing a car feels the way it does). Maybe he just drives really conservatively everywhere (wouldn't surprise me since a light foot was key for extending range on early EVs and many people developed that habit) or maybe the trailer is just light enough and being single axle makes it easy to steer enough that the natural tendency of the car to straighten out is greater.

VBprogrammer 7y ago
I wouldn't trust anyone crazy enough to build this contraption to evaluate how safe it is. I mean, it's probably fine for him, but you wouldn't want your [stereotypical poor driver of choice] to be driving it on a wet day.