[jmcbrew]

Towing isn’t some magically dangerous thing. Driving is dangerous. Every person you put in your car makes it more dangerous. Every item you store in your trunk, including the spare tire that GM decided we didn’t need makes it more dangerous. Driving in the rain is dangerous. Driving while listening to music is more dangerous. Red turn signals are more dangerous than yellow ones.

Just because something is legal or expressly allowed does not mean it is safe and that you are not endangering yourself, your family, or someone else’s family. Some people are coming off as pretty self-righteous in previous posts.

 

[jdunmyer]

I'm with the "don't tow with the Bolt" crowd, especially something as large and heavy as the Scamp. Maybe one of those very light Harbor Freight trailers.

Also, if you're going to insist on it, definitely get the trailer brakes working and be sure to have 10% or a bit more of the trailer weight on the tongue. If tongue weight is too low, you risk sway, and that leads to a wreck. There are any number of YouTube videos showing that.

 

[jmcbrew]

Also, if you're going to insist on it, definitely get the trailer brakes working and be sure to have 10% or a bit more of the trailer weight on the tongue. If tongue weight is too low, you risk sway, and that leads to a wreck. There are any number of YouTube videos showing that.

I agree on the brakes… but not necessarily on the tongue weight. In Europe, where it is extremely common to tow with small cars, they shoot for 4 to 6% tongue weight. This helps to keep the car stable. Sway is controlled with proper trailer design and safe towing speeds.

Having said that, there is no good way to get a Scamp to that low of a tongue weight. When I bought mine, the tongue weight was nearly 20% of the trailer weight. It towed like crap. Getting it down to around 10% was a huge improvement in towing dynamics. I would have gone a bit lower, but there just wasn’t anything else to rearrange.

 

[jimmarako]

I agree on the brakes… but not necessarily on the tongue weight. In Europe, where it is extremely common to tow with small cars, they shoot for 4 to 6% tongue weight. This helps to keep the car stable. Sway is controlled with proper trailer design and safe towing speeds.

Having said that, there is no good way to get a Scamp to that low of a tongue weight. When I bought mine, the tongue weight was nearly 20% of the trailer weight. It towed like crap. Getting it down to around 10% was a huge improvement in towing dynamics. I would have gone a bit lower, but there just wasn’t anything else to rearrange.

I agree on the brakes… but not necessarily on the tongue weight. In Europe, where it is extremely common to tow with small cars, they shoot for 4 to 6% tongue weight. This helps to keep the car stable. Sway is controlled with proper trailer design and safe towing speeds.

This is the primary reason that US cars/trucks have lower tow ratings than their European counter parts. From what I understand they are strict in Europe about not towing over 55mph (90kph?). Thats how they can get away with those very low tongue weights. 5% is low in general, way too low for a trailer with 10' tall sides, 30' long running down the road at 70mph. As speed increases, the possibility of sway goes up. Since no one in the US is going to putz around at 55 or slower, you need higher tongues weights. The Bolt has an 800 lbs payload capacity. Use 450 of that for a 3K lb trailer and you can't put anything in the car.

 

[Factoryhack]

“towing not recommended” does not mean they tested it and it failed. It means they didn’t test it. Here in America, people buy super-profitable trucks and large SUVs to tow. Why on Earth would GM give the Bolt a tow rating? They lose money on every Bolt they sold. Better to sell a Silverado for that.

In many cases, a car sold here will be “towing not recommended,” but the very same car sold in Europe may have a 3,000+ pound tow rating. Why? Because people over there don’t drive pickup trucks. They drive cars.. and tow with them. Yes, they have better designed tow hitches, better designed trailers, lower speed limits for towing, and they actually enforce them.

The EU version of the Bolt, branded as the Opel Ampera-e, had the same "don't tow" wording in the owner's manual as the Bolt.

Sure, it's not a "we tested it and it failed" thing. Platform engineering doesn't work that way.

They bake in towing capacity way upstream in the design and engineering process. Also, GM has a wide variety of vehicles that have tow ratings, not just Silverado.

As for the EU having different tow ratings on some vehicles, it has more to do with the road infrastructure, shorter travel distances, and regulatory environment where driving slow with a trailer on secondary roads is practical. The North American market is a completely different animal in that regard.

 

[jmcbrew]

The EU version of the Bolt, branded as the Opel Ampera-e, had the same "don't tow" wording in the owner's manual as the Bolt.

Sure, it's not a "we tested it and it failed" thing. Platform engineering doesn't work that way.

They bake in towing capacity way upstream in the design and engineering process. Also, GM has a wide variety of vehicles that have tow ratings, not just Silverado.

As for the EU having different tow ratings on some vehicles, it has more to do with the road infrastructure, shorter travel distances, and regulatory environment where driving slow with a trailer on secondary roads is practical. The North American market is a completely different animal in that regard.

Yup… sounds like we agree on almost everything.

 

[jefro]

I know folks who smoke and they don't die. Some drink and drive and never a problem.

 

[PaPaSteve]

Tongue weight . . . so in rainycoffee's example of a Scamp that weights 900 pounds the tongue weight should be 90 to 140 pounds.
Standing on a bathroom scale could determine that easy enough.
Hitch is rated 300 pounds tongue weight and 2000 pounds towing.
Structurally, the car should be fine.
Towing with front wheel drive is a different experience and should be done with a slight bit more awareness especially on slick roads.

 

[ProfessorBolta]

“towing not recommended” does not mean they tested it and it failed. It means they didn’t test it.

It means they didn't design for it. The frame, handling, internal algorithms, capacities and so forth are not designed for towing, when it fishtails you're car will have no idea what is going on, unlike one designed for it. And as others have said you'll have 100% legal liability and no sympathy from your insurance, the insurance for some other poor driver who is affected by this idiocy, the police and the courts.

Additionally towing a Scamp with a Bolt qualifies you for a Darwin award, there's plenty of them on the road, don't be surprised if you make internet fame like this guy

 

[jefro]

That scamp normal scale weight packed should be around 1600??

 

[LittleBlue2-2]

The thing I would be worried about towing with the Bolt are-

Grab a flashlight and crawl underneath. The main frame rails on the unibody end just behind the rear, upper coil spring mounts. The extensions from that main frame (just behind the upper coil spring mounts) under the trunk area to the rear bumper mounts are spot welded. And substantially thinner. Behind that, is the aluminum rear bumper & fascia supports.

Its basically a lightweight extension to support the trunk area and attach the rear bumper.

I don't think the rear frame extensions can handle a hitch and the weight.

Myself, . . . . I would not do it.

 

[Charles' Bolt]

When GM decided not to recommend towing for Bolt EV, that also freed up their structural design to make the entire section behind the battery part of the crumple zone. Their choice of rear axle with solid attachment at the front also confirm this design choice. That portion of the car is designed to crumple, not to tow a 1000~2000 lb trailer. In hard braking, that trailer may cause crumple zone to start compressing. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jmcbrew]

This reminds me of people who have never owned, driven, been in, or possibly even seen an EV telling me how my Bolt battery will never last more than three years and I’ll never be able to find a charger… and it’s worse for the environment.

 

[jefro]

To be honest we assume the Bolt should or could be better eco. Hope it's true. I did think that asbestos in clothing sounded great in 1963.

I can say the Bolt is pretty flimsy. Guess one could add a subframe.

The scamp is a cool trailer but not sure it's worth what they are asking.

 

[jmcbrew]

I will say — from actual real life experience — that towing our current camper, which is well within the tow rating of our minivan, and has brakes, is much less stable than towing our old Scamp (no brakes) with my subcompact 128 horsepower Scion xD. Nobody is going to convince me otherwise… because I actually experienced it. But I guess you all can go ahead with the Monday morning quarterbacking.

 

[Factoryhack]

Tongue weight . . . so in rainycoffee's example of a Scamp that weights 900 pounds the tongue weight should be 90 to 140 pounds.
Standing on a bathroom scale could determine that easy enough.
Hitch is rated 300 pounds tongue weight and 2000 pounds towing.
Structurally, the car should be fine.
Towing with front wheel drive is a different experience and should be done with a slight bit more awareness especially on slick roads.

“Structurally the car should be fine.”
With all due respect, what is your opinion based on, exactly?

Have you taken a good look at your Bolt when it’s on a lift to see how it’s constructed?

As others have mentioned, there’s no way that car is designed even remotely well for towing.

 

[PaPaSteve]

“Structurally the car should be fine.”
With all due respect, what is your opinion based on, exactly?

Have you taken a good look at your Bolt when it’s on a lift to see how it’s constructed?

As others have mentioned, there’s no way that car is designed even remotely well for towing.

Well no . . . I'm not a licensed structural engineer nor designed the car.
Since the early 1980's I have installed trailer hitches on a succession of front wheel drive cars and pulled light weight trailers with them.
Without going back and looking at the original factory specs for each one I'd guess they could have easily all said not to tow yet I have done many local and cross country trips.
Thing is, being a lifetime experienced maker, machinist, welder, fabricator with a shop full of tools including a 2 post car lift I am known to successfully do things like this and not give it a second thought.
First mod I did to our BOLT was install a hitch.
So have many other BOLT owners.
Here's a valid question,
are there any examples of catastrophic failures of BOLT's towing trailers ?

 

[bsanford95]

I'd say go for it. The nay sayers can say what they want. You just need to be mindful that you have a trailer behind you. Slow down, brake early, and be careful. I've seen big pickups towing what seems to be a full house behind them, This can't be any less safe than what you're proposing. I have an eco-hitch 2" receiver hitch on my Bolt EV for a small utility trailer and a bike rack. I installed it and saw how it mounts to the vehicle. It mounts to the vehicle more solid than the hitch that was on my mini van that was rated to tow 3000 pounds. Any time you add more weight to ANY vehicle, you increase your risk... Be safe and have fun!

 

[jefro]

I never usually mind folks killing themselves or their loved ones. Guess it's their right to die.
Shouldn't one consider the others on the road?
Exactly how many deaths happen on the road?
Is one accident too much? Yes.

lifetime experienced maker, machinist, welder, fabricator

I'd think with that kind of skill they'd follow safety?

 

[SpicyBolt]

I will say — from actual real life experience — that towing our current camper, which is well within the tow rating of our minivan, and has brakes, is much less stable than towing our old Scamp (no brakes) with my subcompact 128 horsepower Scion xD. Nobody is going to convince me otherwise… because I actually experienced it. But I guess you all can go ahead with the Monday morning quarterbacking.

No matter how safe it may be, I'd be concerned about liability. Obviously, one could be liable if an accident occurs when towing a trailer that exceeds the rated towing capacity of the vehicle. Isn't the rated towing capacity of a Bolt essentially 0 lbs? We had a Scamp, and while light, it wasn't that light.