Tesla towing capacity: Model 3 and Model Y towing guide

A Tesla Model Y can tow up to 1,600kg and a Model 3 up to 1,000kg, both with a braked trailer. Towing a caravan roughly halves the range, so a Model Y RWD covers about 135 miles between charges on our sums.

That makes the Model Y a workable tow car for light and mid-size caravans, and the Model 3 a car for bike racks, box trailers and the lightest tourers. Neither is a heavy-duty tow car. Below are the limits, the cost of the tow bar, and how far each Tesla goes with something behind it.

How much can a Tesla Model Y tow?

Every Model Y is rated to tow 1,600kg with a braked trailer, according to Auto Express and Carwow. That applies to the Rear-Wheel Drive, the Premium Long Range versions and the Performance alike, and Green Car Guide confirms the same 1,600kg figure for the entry RWD.

The Model Y started at £44,990 in November 2026 on Carwow’s listing, so you do not have to buy a dear version to get the full towing rating. For context, the Premium Long Range AWD weighs 1,997kg at the kerb, so a 1,600kg caravan is about 80 per cent of the car’s own weight.

1,600kg covers many two and four berth tourers, but not the heaviest twin-axle caravans. Our guide to the best electric cars for towing lists EVs rated to 2,500kg if you need more.

How much can a Tesla Model 3 tow?

The Model 3 is rated at 1,000kg with a braked trailer and 750kg with an unbraked one, according to CarExpert’s specification for the 2026 China-built car, the same factory that supplies UK Model 3s. The Model 3 Standard cost £37,990 in November 2026 on Carwow.

1,000kg is enough for a box trailer, a small boat or a very light caravan. The Caravan and Motorhome Club towed a 995kg Bailey Discovery D4-2 with a 1,844kg Model 3 Long Range AWD in 2021, a 54 per cent ratio of caravan to car. Within six miles the predicted range had fallen by 100 miles.

Model	Braked towing limit	Unbraked limit	Entry price (Nov 2026)
Tesla Model Y (all versions)	1,600kg	Not published by our sources	£44,990
Tesla Model 3	1,000kg	750kg	£37,990

The legal limit for your car is the one on its certificate of conformity and the tow hitch label, which take precedence over any review or brochure.

How much does a Tesla tow bar cost?

A tow hitch is a £1,350 option on every Model Y, according to Auto Express in August 2026. The towing rating depends on the approved hitch, so an unapproved aftermarket bar does not give you the 1,600kg figure, and it can raise warranty questions with Tesla.

When you plug in the trailer’s electrics with the car in Park, Tesla’s owner’s manuals say the car switches to Trailer Mode, which adjusts the car’s behaviour for towing. Leave it on whenever a trailer is attached.

How much range does a Tesla lose when towing?

Range falls by roughly a quarter with a light trailer and by about half with a caravan. Two tests set the scale:

• Light trailer: Arval’s tests at Millbrook found towing cut real-world range by 23 to 31 per cent, and by 24.1 per cent for a mid-size van towing 1,000kg (Transport Engineer).
• Caravan: In an Auto Express test, a Kia EV9 towing a 1,446kg Bailey caravan averaged 1.5 miles per kWh against 2.9 miles per kWh solo, a 48 per cent drop in efficiency.

The caravan costs more because its tall, flat front pushes a wall of air, and drag rises sharply with speed. Our explainer on how towing affects electric car range covers the physics in more detail.

How far can a Tesla go when towing?

We applied those two losses to each Tesla’s range. Method: towing range = range × 0.76 for a light trailer (Arval’s 24 per cent loss) and × 0.52 for a mid-size caravan (Auto Express’s 48 per cent loss).

Model	WLTP range	With a light trailer	With a mid-size caravan
Model 3 Standard	332 miles	252 miles	173 miles
Model 3 Premium Long Range RWD	466 miles	354 miles	242 miles
Model Y RWD	314 miles	239 miles	163 miles
Model Y Long Range RWD	383 miles	291 miles	199 miles
Model Y Premium Long Range AWD	391 miles	297 miles	203 miles
Model Y Performance	360 miles	274 miles	187 miles

WLTP ranges come from Carwow, electrive and Auto Express. These figures start from the official test, so they are a ceiling. Real driving starts lower: Green Car Guide averaged about 260 miles over a week in a Model Y RWD. Apply the same losses and that car covers about 198 miles with a light trailer and 135 miles with a caravan (260 × 0.52).

Treat even that as a best case. A caravan’s drag is roughly fixed, so an efficient car like a Tesla can lose a bigger share of its range than the EV9 did. You should also keep a 10 to 20 per cent buffer at the end of each leg rather than running to empty. The Model 3’s 1,000kg limit also rules out the 1,446kg caravan in the Auto Express test, so its caravan column applies only to the lightest tourers.

For a real UK example, a Model Y owner towing a Swift six-berth caravan about 250 miles to Norfolk stopped at Blyth services after about 105 miles with 20 per cent left, and reached the final charger with 3 per cent (Yahoo Autos, August 2026). See our guide to Tesla real-world range for the solo figures for every version.

How much does towing add to the cost per mile?

Towing roughly doubles the cost of each mile. Green Car Guide averaged 4.59 miles per kWh solo in a Model Y RWD; cut that by 48 per cent for a caravan and you get 2.39 miles per kWh.

Model Y RWD	Solo	Towing a caravan
Home, 8p/kWh (Intelligent Octopus Go)	1.7p a mile	3.3p a mile
Price cap, 26.32p/kWh (Oct to Dec 2026)	5.7p a mile	11.0p a mile
Public rapid, 79p/kWh (Zapmap, Sept 2026)	17.2p a mile	33.1p a mile

Method: pence per kWh ÷ miles per kWh. On a 250-mile caravan trip charged entirely at public rapid prices, that is about £83 against £43 solo. Supercharger prices differ from the 79p average; our Tesla Supercharger prices guide has the current rates, and our page on the cost to charge a Tesla covers home charging.

What are the UK rules for towing with a Tesla?

The speed limit for a car towing a trailer or caravan is 60mph on motorways and dual carriageways and 50mph on single carriageways, according to GOV.UK. In Wales the built-up area limit is 20mph and elsewhere 30mph. The lower speeds help range, because drag climbs steeply above 50mph.

On licences, GOV.UK says drivers who passed on or after 1 January 1997 can tow a trailer of up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass, well above either Tesla’s limit. Drivers who passed before then can usually drive a combination of up to 8,250kg.

Which Tesla is best for towing?

The Model Y is the clear choice. It tows 600kg more than the Model 3, every version carries the same 1,600kg rating, and the tall hatchback is easier to load for a holiday. The Long Range versions give the most towing range, at about 199 to 203 miles with a caravan on our WLTP-based sums, though expect less in real driving.

The Model 3 makes sense if you only need a bike rack or a small trailer, where its long solo range and lower price matter more than its 1,000kg limit. If a heavy twin-axle caravan is the main job, no current Tesla in the UK is rated for it. Our guide on which Tesla to buy weighs the wider trade-offs between the two cars.