Do you need an upgraded license to allow you to tow a trailer?
Do you need an upgraded license to allow you to tow a trailer?
Well, in depends on the car and trailer.
Swedish trailer rules in short;
* With a normal car license:
- You can always (almost) tow a trailer with a max allowed weight of 750 kg
- You can also tow a combination (car and trailer) with a maximum combined total allowed weight of 3500 kg (so for example, if the cars max allowed weight is 2500 kg you can tow a trailer with a max allowed weight of 1000 kg)
* With a slightly upgraded license, B96 (only a simple driving test with trailer):
- You can tow a combination with a a maximum combined total allowed weight of 4250 kg (meaning with my Kuga, total weight of 2230 kg and the car trailer, 2000kg, is OK since it is inside the 4250 kg limit)
In all cases you also need to be below the maximum tow weight for the car
* With a "heavy trailer license", BE (requiring also a theoretical test):
- There is no limit on combined total weights but you need to stick to the maximum tow weight for the car, with the trailer loaded
What happens with the Mach-E is that the car itself is too heavy to be legal with a heavier trailer (1560 kg maximum total weight with B96). My camper is at 1600 kg total weight and the car trailer 2000 kg.
But, with a BE license, both can be towed as long as they do not weigh more than 1500 kg (with the 2023 Mach-E tow weight), ie I couldn't tow a car but the camper could work in a pinch.
Our rules are a bit complicated and not entirely logical. For example, there are older cars like Volvos with high tow weights, so it might be legal to tow my car trailer with an old Volvo, without ABS, ESP etc. but illegal with the Kuga that has all safety systems (including a trailer anti-sway function) with a normal license. The Kuga is no doubt the safer car to tow with...
Gustaf
I´m two days late for the 1 year anniversary here...on the Mach-E.
We have done over 19 000 kms and it has mostly been sweet sailing. But today it had another spa-day at the dealer and they still can´t get the updates to work, the frunk is still in error and no OTA´s.
It would be great to get the few extra kWh from the battery and the new UI if that makes it to the Job 1 cars. But it´s no deal breaker.
We are still satisfied and happy but it is also interesting to see how the market is possibly moving. I really wonder when Ford will announce their take on the VW ID3 (Focusish?) and ID4 (Kugaish/Escapeish?), unless I have dreamt that Ford bought in on that platform.
Gustaf
Thank you for sharing all of this. It's enlightening and inspires some new thoughts.
I don't really want an electric car and I hate that Ford has wh*red out the Mustang name....but its all interesting!
Thanks for updating.
While I really do think that electric is one of the main ways forward I also respect that right now, at this time, it is not THE solution for everybody. That is for different reasons for different people - for some the range/charging/parking does work out, for some the financial part doesn't and for some it just doesn't feel right. I have never been in the "everybody should do the same" camp and I also rarely try to "win over" supporters to the car/brand I like. Sure, I can inform about what I like about what I choose but ultimately, you have to make you own choices and be happy (or not) with those.
As I think I have said before, I hesitate to call this a "Mustang" but that's nitpicking, IMO.
What is more concerning, is that I kind of realize these might be the last years that it is possible to buy a new, real, ICE-only V8 Mustang. And I kind of want that. But my wallet says "no". Or maybe it is just in my mind?
Yea...EV is the path forward that the world has chosen, for some OK reasons and for some misguided reasons.
There are a lot that think the last ICE only cars will appreciate (so get one!) and be collectors items, just as the last manual cars are becoming.
About the update problem - I have a friend with a Mach-E in the US and his dealership is having trouble getting it to take the latest update as well. At least it's not preventing the car from being a car.
I am happy that my Fords generally seem to stick to the path of errors and problems not stranding me (very often) on the road but this Mach-E is more than twice as expensive as any other car we have had. Granted, the Focus DID strand me with a broken piston... And I do hope Ford get their stuff in order to cater for us early Mach-E adopters.
The problem with a new ICE Mustang apart from funding, is that I really have no room for it (space-wise or "use case") unless I sell at least one, maybe two, other cars. Yes it could be almost a 1:1 replacement for the black Sierra (that really is Kajsa's car but let's forget that for a minute). The Sierra is probably better as a 4-seater (5, really), and has a tow bar, but we rarely use any of those features. Performance-wise a Mustang GT would also be on par with the red Capri but I can't sell that, can I? The white Capri in storage? Yes, a GT Mustang is basically what I want to build from that so it's a possibility. But it is in *storage* meaning I couldn't really put a Mustang there. And the Cortina...also in storage, 10 hours away.
As much as I would want to, it couldn't replace the Kuga either since a GT Mustang is not allowed to tow a heavy trailer or camper. And I suspect the rwd GT would be...exciting in the winter. We are just experiencing our first yearly "snow cannon". I think we are at something like 7" of snow since yesterday morning and still counting.
I've been seeing the Mach-E on the road for awhile now, but I saw one in a parking lot up close recently. I was surprised at how small it looked - at least compared to the other SUVs parked next to it.
In European terms, I still feel the Mach-E is quite "big" but that is relative, of course.
We just made the same Christmas trip as last year, basically. As a reminder, basically a 1600 km / 1000 miles round trip from the northern part of Sweden south to the Stockholm area and back. This time we planned charging a little bit better, also, in some cases, helped by a few more charging stations up and running. But it also means another 3-4 apps to pay charging with.
Since last year the number of electric cars on the road has increased quite a bit. Careful planning meant that we only had to change plans once because of waiting times but also that we did a few extra "opportunity charging" stops.
With energy prices going up and also fluctuating I tried to pay more attention to charging costs, with varying success. While I tried to avoid known "high cost charging" (like using Teslas Superchargers) I didn't avoid it at all cost (haha). Sometimes convenience wins.
The one error I made was using the Ford charging card at one Allego station - apparently the roaming fee adds to the price - would have been cheaper to just pay with a credit card. You live and learn...
Kajsa drove a substantial part of the way, allowing me to check on charging stations and taking a photo or 2 :-)
The Mach-E continues to be a sure-footed travel companion also in the snow and ice. Good, studded winter tyres are of course essential in this. There was a stretch when I was driving, with freezing rain, that was a bit exciting. I spotted the Nissan Leaf on front of us dance around a bit when the trucks in front slowed. But the only near-miss we really saw was a 1960's diesel Mercedes outside of Örnsköldsvik that nearly rear-ended another car. The ratty tatty Mercedes had to use the snow bank emergency brake to avoid a crash...
Gustaf
Winter is not really over here yet but summer tires are on. And of course we had another 2-3 inches of snow...
We are continuing to add miles (or kilometres) , but we have also had a real "failure" during the winter. One of the weekends we went to the ski camp in the "mountains", I thought I would take advantage of the freshly installed chargers at the camp site. Plugged in, went for a walk (or something), and got a "charging error" message. Went back to restart the charger, but still got the same error and then a power train malfunction too.
Moved the car (since it "started") to our own parking spot to see if the "emergency charger" would charge. Nope. Waited, no difference. Did the "12v battery reset" (remove the low voltage battery wires for a while) - nope. So, we called Ford Assistance for help. A tow truck was no problem but rental cars...they really had no options since we were "so far north". Ah, yeah, that´s sort of why the assistance is needed.
The tow truck driver called me before leaving his town, asking if Ford had arranged a rental car. Nope. Hold on, he said, I´ll pull some strings - and swiftly found an old Golf for us.
A few days later the verdict was that the onboard charger had failed. Took some time to get a new one but then it was back to normal operations.
The other ongoing saga has been the updates and the frunk module. They tried once more when the charger was replaced, no-go. Then once again...but finally, a week ago, they had a new module to fit. And now it works! No warning message, and the frunk can be opened from the key, from the center screen and using the door code. Ford Pass does still not operate it but that´s a minor issue.
During the winter/spring Ford has also launched the Explorer EV for Europe. Based on the VW MEB platform, it may be an option for when the leasing ends on this one. But final specifications are still to be released. If the range is shorter (real life range) it will be a hard sell for us...
Months go on and Sally, the electric "horse" keeps on riding.
Not much to report apart from the fact that OTAs (over the air updates) are now rolling in, usually something like one every other week or so.
In general updates have not been substantial, some new games and some small UI changes. Some time ago though, it activated the Frunk opening from Ford Pass. That is nice.
Summer has reminded me how good it is to drive electric when it is warmer. Range and charging speeds improve...
A couple of weeks ago I also brought out Forscan to finally try to adjust some "issues". The annoying double honk when it thinks you may forget keys (or passengers, or...something) in the car. I deactivated it but now it is back. But I found another thing that I really, really like. There was a choice to have the rear position lights turn on with the DRL fronts. That's one of my pet peeves, the European regulation allowing cars to run around with no rear lights in daylight.
You see, in Sweden we have had a law on using lights also during daytime for ages. Visibility improves a lot. But the European regulations mean we have to accept the DRL laws and generally, it is OK but in dawn, dusk, rain, fog...people forget turning on their lights OR the "auto light" function is less than auto.
Now the pony shows it's rear lights all the time. Me like.
And, the question about a replacement is still open. One year left on the lease (plus 3 months). The "new" Mach-E's sold here now gets the 1500 kg towing capacity and at least the rwd version just falls into the limits so I could tow the camper. That might be the thing that eventually seals the deal. Or we have to get a Kia EV6 (GT?).
Time for a winter update perhaps.
We are having a cold spell here. It somewhat started around new years eve when we had around minus 15-20 C up in the mountains, at the camper. But that is fairly common and no big deal. The forecasts for the start of 2024 said temperatures would drop and "someone" needed to get back to work so we drove back home on the afternoon of the 1st. We had topped up to just over an 80% charge with the plan to stop for coffee and a charge in Arvidsjaur, an hours drive towards home.
This is where we really could see the increase of EV's during the years. Our favored charging spot was occupied, and with only a single Tesla stall free we continued on (since the different charging port locations means it is tricky to fit when there are few spots open). The closest option in town (Circle K) just got it's second stall occupied and I tend to avoid the costly Ionity now so we drove onto the last resort, 4-stall Virta at the VAG dealership. This was deserted but just after I plugged in a Kia EV6 with trailer pulled in. They parked in the most convenient way for them, meaning we together blocked three stalls (I should have parked more to the side). But just as they started charging the Virta app showed the chargers as off-line. We still had power so I did not want to move the car, with the fear of not getting charging restarted.
Minutes later an Audi E-tron pulled in to the last accessible stall. He had obvious issues so I approached him, and he asked what app to use. I guided him to the Virta app but it would not work (still "off line"). Then he explained that he had tried every charger in town and the Audi refused them all. With 50 km of range, minus 24 degrees C, the family at the only gas station with coffee on the other side of town and 130 km to go back home he was...unhappy. I offered to try starting the charge with one of my charge cards, that I know have roaming with most suppliers. Thankfully, the Chargepoint card was accepted and the German car also accepted the Finnish electrons from Virta.
I would be paying for his charge and of course he said that he would "Swish" me the money (Venmo is the similar service in the US I think).
With that settled I watched an ID.4 pull in just as the chargers went online again. The EV6 unhitched his trailer and repositioned so we all could charge happily.
At home we were greeted with a solid snow bank to take care of before pulling into our drive way. It was still cold (around minus 20 C) but after dinner I decided it would be best to clear the rest of the snow. Happy I did that because on January 2nd, we woke up to a minus 29 C morning. I had already decided to be off but my wife drove off to work in the Mach-E.
As temperatures kept dropping I was happy to be at home and watch the house.
Yesterday I had promised to take a friends parents back to their house. That is an 80 km round trip. At these temperatures our home main fuse (20A, 3-phase) does not really allow much charging since the heat pump for heating the house runs pretty much purely on the backup electric heaters. Charging at work is slow and the range buffer for doing and extra 80 km this evening was not great. I planned to use the ICE Kuga but at this point it was an "ICE car" in double meaning. Having not been driven since before Christmas, it was iced over. The already weak battery deserved a charge. But despite being on the Ctek charger for hours (and indicating a full charge), despite running the block heater for hours, at minus 30 C it did not even try to turn over.
So it had to be the Mach-E for the trip. It went well but I didn't manage to capture the new all-time low of minus 35 C for this car:
The blurry -34 is all I got.
Anyway, after dropping them off I came to the conclusion that range going to work the next day would be abysmal at best. The upside was that we had forgotten to get coffee for the house, and I would practically pass the best grocery store in town on my way back. Not only are they the best, they have also recently added 4 stalls of Eviny quick chargers. I added some well needed juice as I made a new record of shopping sloooowly.
We have also gotten the 23S56 recall letter, the high voltage junction battery contactor thingy. This is basically what failed in our car in March 2023 but there is a recall for a better part, apparently. Let's see when the dealer can get that sorted.
In the meantime, the Kuga needs a new battery but it is out of stock at the "cheap place". I need to see how far away the delivery is, or if I have to splurge for the almost double price at more fancy places...
therealpinto said:Time for a winter update perhaps.
We are having a cold spell here.
I was thinking about this thread and how your MachE had been doing.
I have been in Sweden/Finland since before Xmas and you are not joking about the cold spell. Been to Sweden probably over 6x and this is the first time I experienced these kind of temperatures.
In reply to therealpinto :
this morning, before reading your post i felt cold when i went out for a run at -5 C. I have only felt -30 C once in my life and I hope I never feel it again!
Luckily it is rare to have this cold weather several days in a row. But it really stresses the infrastructure. I have had some minor water freezing issues in the house and our heating system actually struggles to keep all parts of the house at the 20C setpoint. It is not "really" cold inside but on the 3rd day of these temperatures the difference was marked. Last night we lit a fire in the fireplace and we will keep on today. The issue is we are basically out of firewood so now I am "burning through" the pile of scrap wood I have saved up for "projects".
All in all we are happy with the Mach-E. I am hoping for (but not anticipating) a true facelift soon that would mean we can order a revised Mach-E when the lease on this one ends. I would love a higher heater capacity (the 5kW heater is marginal), and with that also a higher capacity battery of course. Ideally a 1600 kg tow weight and I would also like a short-cut button for just the electric heated windscreen. Preferably physical but I would settle for the ability to decide what software "buttons" are available on the screen. Better/smarter battery pre-conditioning would also be nice to have.
Great update. I had no clue how EVs perform in extreme cold. It doesn't often stay below freezing where I live so it's a very minor concern.. Ultimately - I'm ready for the EV lease deals to start getting better!
Current EV's mostly work great when temperatures are sane, for the last two summers it has almost been a surprise when range increases and charging speeds follow.
If I may go out on a tangent, I see a risk with the global market and the fact that the number of customers with real cold climate are relatively few. For the ICE cars, the issue was not really similar. For one, we had "regional" manufacturers (Saab, Volvo) that would supply "winter fit" cars and for others, a line of cold climate adaptations were developed. Ranging from factory fit "arctic heaters", through port or dealer fit gasoline or diesel extra heaters all the way to DIY solutions for block heaters etc.
These, so far, does not seem so available for EV's but maybe they will come? The risk otherwise is that people that really need these things will have a hard time finding new cars to drive (if ICE production really goes down).
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