Tesla Model X Review: The Reality of Electric Towing

With Tesla’s recent news that they are ending production of the Tesla X, this felt like the right time to finally make this video. So, this review is of the 2020 Tesla X Long Range.

Hi, I’m Geneva Long, CEO of Bowlus. We get a lot of questions from customers like, “What’s a good tow vehicle for a Bowlus?” The truth is, there’s a huge range of vehicles that make for a great towing experience. Everything from small SUVs to EVs. The Bowlus is so lightweight and such a low center of gravity that it tows the smoothest of any RV. You don’t get the sway or push pull you’d feel with a heavier trailer. The aerodynamics and balance of the Bowlus mean that even smaller, more efficient vehicles can tow comfortably and confidently. But we heard you. You want specific recommendations. So, this will be the first in a series of videos where we talk about what we like and what we don’t like about each of our marketing fleet vehicles, specifically in the context of towing a Bowlus. With Tesla’s recent news that they are ending production of the Tesla X, this felt like the right time to finally make this video. So, this review is of the 2020 Tesla X Long Range. We’ve been towing Bowlus with the Tesla Model X since early 2016, back when the idea of towing with an electric vehicle was almost unthinkable. Until then, EVs simply weren’t rated to tow at all. The Tesla X changed that. And for us, it changed everything. That moment was the spark for our first all-electric road trip. It was proof that if you paired true electric innovation with a lightweight aircraft inspired travel trailer, you could completely rethink what road travel looked like. Bowlus was uniquely positioned to lead that future. Our all aluminum monocoque construction born from aircraft design principles dating back to the 1920s as the original riveted aluminum travel trailer means dramatically lower weight without sacrificing strength or comfort. Long before EV towing became mainstream conversation before charging infrastructure before range calculators before “can it tow?” was even a common question. We were already out there doing it. Quietly testing, learning, and proving that electric vehicles and thoughtfully designed travel trailers weren’t just compatible. They were the future. That early experience shaped everything that followed. It reinforced our belief that sustainability, performance, and luxury don’t have to compete with one another. And it’s why Bowlus continues to lead at the intersection of design, innovation, and electric mobility. Not because it was easy, but because we were willing to lead. So why did we buy this one? We saw more and more customers interested in towing their Bowlus with EVs, especially the Tesla Model X. In fact, the Model X was among the most popular tow vehicles among our customers for 2 to 3 years, and it’s been a real workhorse for us as well. We purchased it in November 2021 with 15,000 miles. It’s now at 92,000 miles, so that’s nearly 20,000 miles a year, much of that towing a Bowlus across country and even into Canada. Here’s my take.

Five things I like about the X and five things I don’t. Let’s start with the positives. First, range. The factory range of this 2020 Tesla X long range is 328 miles per charge and we get over 230 miles between charges towing a Bowlus. That’s more than enough for a full travel day, and we’ve done entire cross-country trips, including all the way to British Columbia and back, without issue. The regeneration also works really well when towing a lightweight travel trailer like the Bowlus. If you go up a steep hill, you get back about 80% of what you lost going down the other side. Number two, power. The Tesla Model X has an instant torque and because the Bowlus is so lightweight, acceleration feels effortless. You forget your towing. The factory rating was 557 ft-lbs of torque. By comparison, the Porsche Macon, Land Rover Defender, and Audi Q7 are in the fleet all feel sluggish. Three, charging network. Tesla’s Supercharger system is the most consistent and reliable network in North America. We’ve never been in a position where we were unsure if we could make it to the next charging station. Yes, EV travel still requires slightly more advanced planning, but it’s not a big deal with a Tesla charging network. Number four, space and convenience. The X has so much room for people, dogs, and gear. It’s been a great all-around travel vehicle and daily driver. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s really more like a wagon or a minivan in terms of its practical space layout than a traditional SUV. Number five, Tesla app and tech. Tesla’s connected features make ownership much easier. Remote climate control for dogs, service scheduling, location tracking, all right in your phone in the screen in your car. It’s still miles ahead of the competition. One of our staff members also mentioned how he likes the built-in Sudoku. There are also five things I don’t like about it.

Now, we’re on to the downsides. First, interior quality. For a vehicle that costs over $100,000, the materials just don’t compare to any of the competitors at that price point. Too much hard plastic, average seats, and a mediocre sound system. Our Audi Q5 is miles ahead in all the things that make long-distance drives more comfortable, and it was about $30,000 less. Number two, noise. This could have been combined with my first point, but the noise is so annoying, it deserves its own call out. The model is loud at freeway speeds. so loud you might find yourself yelling at the hands-free audio to hear yourself talk over the wind noise. Again, this is not what you would expect from a $100,000 luxury SUV. Number three, build quality. If I were to summarize my feelings in one sentence, the Model X is not built like a Bowlus. Interior and exterior trim pieces started to loosen and come off at 40,000 miles, and we’ve been shedding plastic bits ever since. Number four, reliability and service. My feelings are mixed on this point. While I appreciate the ability to schedule and pay for service through the app, doesn’t matter when wait times are long and parts are unavailable. Our X suffered from the common shutter issue where it feels like your Tesla is vibrating when you accelerate onto the freeway. It took multiple trips to Tesla and over a month of waiting for Tesla service to source the replacement parts for the warranty repair. Number five, depreciation. This car was over $100,000 new in 2020 and we paid around $95,000 for it in 2021. It’s now worth under $30,000. That’s more than a 70% drop in 5 years on a used vehicle. Yes, we’ve put a lot of miles on it in that time, but we would still expect a more friendly depreciation curve. But hey, it’s not a Bowlus.

So, here I am behind the wheel of the Tesla Model X. We’re going to take a little bit of a spin to a charging station and show what it’s like to charge your X or any EV really while you’re towing your Bowlus. Now, when you’re selecting an RV that’s compatible with an EV, you need to look for a few things. First of all, it needs to be very lightweight, very aerodynamic, and it needs to be easy to hitch and unhitch. Because while they’re still working on building drive-thru charging stations, the reality is that most charging stations are still back in. And so that means that you’re going to need to unhitch every time you’re going to be charging your EV. And I’m going to show you what that looks like with a Bowlus and why the Bowlus is a perfect pick for your EV. Both because of how efficient it is, which really translates into how great range is going to be with you. Bowlus has the best range of any travel trailer, including those with e axles because it is so aerodynamic and so lightweight. But we’ll get started and show you exactly what that looks like and why the Bowlus is perfect. So, we just pulled into the Supercharger station and I’m going to show you how the Bowlus fits perfectly with something like the Tesla X into a stall parking space. And what this enables you to do is park the Bowlus, chalk it, unhitch, and then we’re going to pull the Tesla to the charging station. And I’ll show you what this looks like. So, here we are in the stall parking spot. And as you can see with the 27 foot long endless highways, it fits perfectly in that two spot. So you can just pull through really easily. And then what I’m going to do is uh use the AeroMove here to chock the wheels. And then I will pull forward the Tesla. So unhitch, which is going to take less than a minute. And then we’ll pull forward the Tesla into one of the charging spaces here. So, as the first step, I’m going to engage AeroMove against the wheel. And that’s going to act as a chock so that my wheels are chocked. I’m just doing that really easily on this handheld remote, which is great. Great. So, it’s engaged now. Now, I’m going to go unhitch, which is going to take less than a minute. And then I’m going to lower the suspension on inside the Tesla and drive right into the charging station. Backed into the spot. We’ve connected to the supercharger. We’re charging up the Bowlus. If this supercharger had a little bit of a different setup, we might even be able to still stay connected. And there are some drive-thru uh charging stations as well. So, that can be an option. But even for a more densely urban one like this one, you can see we just have to unhitch, which took under a minute. Super easy with something like a Bowlus. It’s the right width to fit in any standard parking spot. We simply backed up and now we can even go wait in our Bowlus while we’re waiting for this to charge as well. So now let’s untether from the charging station and go hitch up the Bowlus.