[ptom]

My Prius had a 1 1/4", which seemed about right for it. With the Prime, 2" was a no brainer. I carry my trailer ball insert all the time, even when no towing is planned, though I resent it's weight a bit, soley to have a quick and easy rigging point if needed.

 

[ptom]

Though I've been using the ball as a place to pull on, for about 50+ years, and was about to blow this topic off unread, I'm also a certifed crane rigger, and oddly enough also just this winter bought (still unused) my first "stretchy" recovery sling, and a few seconds into the video it all clicked for me, why NOT using the old habit of using the ball was for sure not a good idea. Unlike a chain or using my old wore out slings, that have little to no stretch (though their failure would still not be pretty) the purpose built stretchy ropes/slings are a whole different deal, think slingshot. I've got all kinds of rigging hardware, certified for overhead liting no less, that I can rig up to do the same job, that will have to pull the entire hitch off the car not just snap the ball off, no more pulling off the ball for me.
I just watched some more of the video, and saw it was a drop hitch, which kind of explains how it failed as opposed to a straight pull on a ball, but I'll still quit using the ball.

 

[ptom]

There is nothing better for us hybrid car driving ebikers, than having the capability to charge a bike while in ready mode, while eating lunch, driving, or whenever. Then throw in the fact we can camp out in it , with heat or AC as required, and the bike/car combo makes for a pretty unique RV setup. I did that with my plug in Prius several times in the Idaho mountains, at 8600' one night.

 

[ptom]

What do you use to charge your Ebike ? My Bosch system does not offer a 12 volt plug in for 36 volt batteries, so the only way is to use an inverter to run my 120 volt charger. I have the parts for a home brew buck and boost charger but have not assembled them yet.

I use a variable rate charger, that allows me to select the amps and the % of charge, by Chi Battery Systems, that does require 120 VAC, which I provide via a 1 KW pure sine wave inverter (though my experience has been that even the cheap modified Harbor Freight ones work as well for running a charger). I also have a custom charger for my small plane, that boosts it's 12 VDC to 58 VDC (my ebikes are 52 volt), so I can charge while flying. On a road trip or when flying, if time permits and I see something interesting, having the e bike onboard is a nice break from driving and a more fun way to get around. Inverting the car's 12 VDC to 120 VAC and than back down to a lower voltage DC is crude and inefficient but was the simplest and most cost effective way to.....go. I adapted the rack I made for my Prius to the Prime, right before winter hit, and am ready to ride once it stops snowing.

 

[ptom]

I'm debating buying a light weight single axle dump bed trailer...., having owned a double axle one a few years ago I know how handy they can be. Just yesterday I pulled my little lightweight utility trailer up the mountain with about 1700 pounds of firewood on it (next winter's) and the Prime didn't seem to know it was there, all in EV mode no less. I'm not going to get crazy, hauling yards of gravel (I can use the one ton pickup for that) but for smaller loads of wood chips, my bi-annual dump runs, and other light bulky stuff, the economy of using the Prime would leave the gas hog pickup parked. Once you use a dump bed, shoveling out loads by hand kind of sucks, but it did occur to me that though the Prime has the power, having trailer brakes would be a good idea, good info on this thread.

 

[ptom]

With the Curt hitch I have, and the backup camera POV, I can not only see the ball/trailer hitch junction as I'm backing up, I can even tell, like in this shot, when I need to raise the tongue a bit. I find this to be super handy!