Tesla Model Y gets factory tow pack

Scott Morrison once infamously quipped an electric car wouldn’t tow a boat. However, electric car disruptor Tesla last week proved the former prime minister wrong, launching a factory-fitted towbar option for the Tesla Model Y – at a boat show.

The new $1970 option introduced at last week’s Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show on the Gold Coast can be retrofitted to new and existing versions of the mid-size compact SUV-styled crossover – the world’s top-selling new vehicle so far in 2023.

The box-fresh towbar is rated at 750kg unbraked – making the Tesla Model Y perfect for towing a couple of jet skis similar to how it was introduced at the Sanctuary Cove show – or up to 1600kg braked with a 160kg maximum towball weight, meaning it will also pull a decent-sized trailer boat or caravan behind it.

A Tesla customer service and support specialist said Model Y customers who bought the vehicle before the towbar was launched could visit their local Tesla service centre and have it fitted.

“We’ve had a lot of people actually purchasing [Model Y] Teslas before we could get them installed, knowing we would get them with that expectation that you will be able to tow with them,” said the Tesla spokesperson.

The new towbar also comes with a software tweak to install Tesla’s special tow mode into the car’s electronic brains. The software disables some of the Model Y’s functions if a trailer is plugged into the vehicle, to help ensure the driver is always in control of both the vehicle and the trailer.

“There is a towing mode that the cars go into as well because Teslas have a lot of Autopilot functions, and if you do use those you can’t use full Autopilot when it’s towing,” he said.

“You still need to be driving.”

While that means drivers won’t be able to use some of the Level 3 autonomous driving functions that come close to making the EV a fully self-driving car, the software will allow commonplace Level 2 autonomous functions such as adaptive cruise control, which automatically keeps the Model Y a set distance from the vehicle in front.

Model Y owners who want to fit their Tesla with a towbar can book an installation appointment via the vehicle’s app.

The kit comes with a towbar, 2.0-inch hitch receiver, the towing software and a trailer harness.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au