Many Tesla owners wonder how to tow a Tesla Model 3. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at this problem.
If you own a Model 3 or any other Tesla, you’re lucky, because you definitely have the best electric car. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t find yourself in a situation where you suddenly need to have your Tesla towed.
There is only one correct way to tow a Tesla. It means towing the car with all the wheels untouched on the road using a special tow truck or hoist. Since the wheels produce a lot of energy when they spin, towing with the wheels touching the road can cause a lot of overheating and damage the Tesla.
If you want to learn more about this towing method, this article is created especially for you. If you read it in its entirety, you will be able to tow your Tesla safely.
Will Towing a Tesla Damage It
When we try to find the right answer to this question, we may be at a loss, because our answer can be either positive or negative. Of course, your Tesla can be towed if you follow all the rules, not paying attention to all the towing recommendations means serious damage to your Tesla.
Remember: you must always carefully read all of the steps in your Tesla's manual so that you don't damage your vehicle.
As soon as you start reading the owner’s manual, you’ll find that it advises that all the wheels of your Tesla should not make contact with the road during the towing process, and this will lead you to the correct idea that you need to call in a flatbed truck or a long trailer.
If you can do that, we firmly believe that you can move your Tesla any distance with these vehicles.
Is It Safe to Tow a Tesla Model 3
But the situation becomes different if you do not have the option of using a flatbed truck or a long trailer, but instead decide to use wheel elevators and carts.
When towing a Tesla in this way, you should be very careful and trust that you will only need to move the Tesla a short distance.
Even though towing a Tesla has a fairly high percentage of safety, we still advise you to pay attention to the fact that you should carefully adhere to the manual from Tesla.
If you rely on wheel elevators and conventional carts, you are likely to do quite a bit of damage to your Tesla if you have to move it more than thirty miles.
If your car is towed a long distance, you could end up ruining your tires and most likely causing irreparable damage to your electric battery and computer system, costing you thousands of dollars in the future to fix everything.
Compared to familiar cars with a standard engine, your electric car produces a large amount of energy when the wheels are spinning, even if it’s at rest in tow. A simple conclusion to draw from this is that the farther a Tesla is towed, the more energy is produced by the wheels.
Unfortunately, a large number of cases have been known to occur with cars that have been damaged by such towing.
The saddest part is that since this method of towing a car is not supported by the owner’s manual, many drivers will have to do the repairs themselves, since the warranty does not include these damages, and sometimes even invalidates it.
Can You Flat Tow a Tesla Model 3
Even though towing your Tesla with a special truck or a long trailer is the safest way, and you can still move it a very short distance on elevators or carts, we can tell you one thing with certainty, towing a Tesla with all four wheels touching the road is a thing you should never use, no matter what happens there.
If you make such a terrible mistake, expect your Tesla to go into very serious disrepair, and you will be repairing it at your own expense because your warranty will come to an end.
Since while you are towing the car, it creates a huge amount of energy, the intense heat of the Tesla can not only kill your battery and completely de-energize all the electronics, but also cause objects near the Tesla to catch fire, which will cause a huge amount of damage and put everyone around you at risk.
You can tell that flatbed towing is pretty common for people who travel a lot and sometimes the car breaks down along the way, you shouldn’t have to resort to it if you own a Tesla. If you own an RV and decide to take your Tesla with you too, we suggest you buy or rent a trailer and tow the car with it.
Although flat-out towing is the worst way to do it, there are some drivers who do it when they want to top up their Tesla. It would seem that here it is, a simple and good way to charge your Tesla, but you shouldn’t use it.
To be honest, it’s more likely not to charge your car, but rather to ruin it, as the effectiveness of this method is highly questionable.
In such cases, you will not only need another car to pull your Tesla, but that car must accelerate to sixty miles per hour and keep that speed for a very long time.
That said, if you meet all of these conditions, you will charge your Tesla by a very small amount.
To charge it to full, you have to drive continuously for twenty-four hours. You shouldn’t do that; it’s easier to drive to a charging station and quickly recharge, rather than waste your energy while risking your Tesla.
Video: How to Tow a Tesla Model 3
In this video, you can find an explanation of the proper procedure on how to tow a Tesla Model 3 if it’s needed. The process isn’t as simple as you might think.
How to Tow a Tesla with the Transport Mode
In order to start towing, you will need to activate transport mode in your Tesla. But in order to start this mode, you must make sure that your Tesla is charged and can detect your key.
Once you activate transport mode on your Tesla, know that transport mode greatly reduces the acceleration of your Tesla. Once it is activated, your car will be able to reach speeds of up to three miles per hour within thirty feet.
If you want to accelerate faster or travel a greater distance when you have the transport mode on. In that case, we can confidently state that your Tesla will be susceptible to severe overheating.
If your Tesla needs to be moved with a winch in order to safely place the car on a truck or trailer, transport mode will be a major help. You can also use transport mode if you suddenly need to adjust the position of your Tesla before you start towing it.
When the Tesla Model 3 is in transport mode on the main screen you will see Free Rolling, which notifies you that the Tesla has found out that the parking brake is not working. On top of everything else, we advise you to check several times that you have the parking mode on in the car.
When you know for sure that the Tesla is activated in parking mode, press down on the parking brake pedal and hold it. Without releasing the pedal, touch the Tesla screen, then go to Control, then Service, and finally, Tesla Tow mode.
Once you tap the transport mode button, you’ll see a notification in front of you that tells you about all aspects of the vehicle’s transport mode and what you can’t do when the option is enabled.
Once you are familiar with the recommendations, you should turn on the transport mode and you can start towing your Tesla.
Does the Tesla Model 3 need to be turned to one side when towing?
Again, there is no clear answer to this question.
If you’re moving your Tesla on a truck or trailer, it doesn’t matter which side you place the car on them – whether you start at the front or the back. But if you want to tow your Tesla with elevators, be careful to make sure the front of the car is facing the direction you will be towing it.
In this situation, the rear wheels of Tesla will become free for the dolly.
How do I identify my electric cars’ towing eyelet/towing hook?
When you decide to tow your car, we’re sure the most important thing for you to do at first is to determine where the towing eye or towing hook of your Tesla is located. To avoid wasting time on a long and aimless search, we suggest you take the carpet in the front trunk and look underneath it.
You’ll need to look in the left corner, where you’ll be immediately delighted with your long-awaited find. Once you’ve found what you need, take your time pushing on the round piece, the opposite side of which will be raised.
At the end, gently pull on the protruding end until you pull it out, then bring it up to the winch and secure it carefully so that your car can be transported without risk.
If the need to tow your car should arise, just read our instructions and stick to them so your Tesla doesn’t suffer costly damage. Thank you for your attention! Here is how to reboot tesla model 3.