VIENNA, Austria – Just how good are the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and Explorer at towing, and how difficult is to use charging stations with a caravan hooked up?
That’s a challenge local journalists in Austria took up recently when they embarked on an almost 600 kilometre camping road trip from Vienna to Lake Attersee and back.
Starting in Vienna's Simmering district, they drove both vehicles to nearby Leopoldsdorf, where they hired two Cara One caravans from Caramobil before heading west into the mountains to Hochstrass with a detour via Petzenkirchen before stopping to recharge at Eberstalzell.
And that’s where they discovered the charging stations aren’t designed to accommodate electric vehicles with trailers. Fortunately, the other users waited while they topped up their batteries.
“It had been over 250 kilometres up to this point, a figure that clearly exceeded our own expectations,” explains Stefan Schmudermaier, Chief Editor at Auto & Wirtschaft. “Just over half an hour later we were on our way to Lake Attersee, where we were able to spend the night in beautiful surroundings.
“The way back to Vienna took us via a refueling stop in Linz - where the caravans had to be unhooked - and via Leopoldsdorf, where we dropped them off. At the end of the trip, both vehicles still had more than 100 kilometres range left.”
So how did the vehicles perform as two cars?
Christian Wotypka, Manager, Communication and Public Affairs at Ford of Austria said: “The drivers were impressed by how agile and torquey they were, and how well they handled towing the caravans. In conclusion, it can be said that nothing stands in the way of a caravan trip with Ford electric vehicles. On the contrary, they help to make camping, which is already very resource-friendly, even more environmentally friendly.”
