Going on holiday with a roof box, bike rack, or caravan? This is the impact on your driving range.

By now, the impact of roof boxes, bike racks and caravans on an EV’s driving range has been tested many times. And the figures speak for themselves. A roof box typically reduces your range by about 15%. That’s quite logical, as an extra box on top of your vehicle increases air resistance—especially when driving long distances on the motorway.

Taking bikes with you? It’s worth thinking about how you transport them. A bike rack on the tow bar will cost you roughly 14% of your range. Mount the bikes on the roof, however, and the loss can increase to as much as 33%. Good to know before you start figuring out how to pack your luggage.

The positive impact of a tow bar cargo box

Fortunately, there’s also good news for those who want extra luggage space without sacrificing range: the tow bar cargo box. This is essentially an additional storage box mounted at the rear of your vehicle on the tow bar. And surprisingly, it doesn’t reduce your driving range—quite the opposite! Because your vehicle becomes slightly longer, its aerodynamics improve marginally, which can give you up to 5% extra range. That’s a nice bonus.

The right EV for your caravan

And what about towing a caravan? Absolutely, that’s perfectly possible with an EV. Do keep in mind, however, that a caravan can reduce your range by up to half. That may sound like a lot, but it’s comparable to what you would experience with a traditional combustion engine—there too, you typically need to refuel about twice as often when towing a caravan. Want to know which EVs are best suited for towing a caravan? Be sure to check the permitted towing capacity of your vehicle. For heavier caravans, you’ll automatically be looking at larger models such as the Kia EV9, BMW iX or Tesla Model X.