Tow Your Own Batteries: French Startup’s Trailers To Eliminate EV Range Anxiety

A French startup proposes a radical cure for EV range anxiety: tow your own batteries.

Paris-based company EP Tender believes it has found the magic formula for covering long distances in an electric vehicle without frequent stops for recharging. Actually, it’s not that magic: EP Tender’s solution comes in the form of a trailer packed with battery cells. According to the startup, battery trailers eliminate the need to choose between cost and range.

At the moment, customers who want an EV need to pay big for long range models, as cheaper EVs cover shorter distances on a single charge.

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“We are solving the issue of making EVs which are affordable convenient on long distances,” CEO Jean-Baptiste Segard told Autonews Europe. Named after small tender boats that service big ships, EP Tender has a simple business plan: scatter trailer compounds on major holiday routes and rent them to EV owners.

As the driver pulls up, the trailer hooks autonomously to the back of the car, giving the EV an extra 60 kWh of battery power. Thanks to the added range, the vehicle will be able to reach the final destination or the next trailer compound. According to EP Tender, renting one battery trailer will set users back €34 ($37).

Initially, the company wanted to put a combustion engine in the trailer and actually build 20 such trailers. Those are currently in use with customers driving Renault Zoe or Kangoo ZE electric vehicles. However, the falling cost of batteries convinced EP Tender to switch to battery trailers. The good thing about them is they can also be linked to the grid when not in use to return energy at peak times.

Mind you, battery trailers are not without downsides. Trailers typically affect a car’s aerodynamics and are difficult to maneuver in reverse. However, EP Tender’s battery trailers are designed for a minimum aerodynamic penalty. To make reversing easier, they also incorporate a second set of smaller wheels that drop down.

The company’s business plan is to have 4,150 trailers and 60,000 customers by 2024, when it estimates it will turn its first profit. Each trailer estimated to cost €10,000 ($10,860).