mikeash

Thanks a lot for the feedback, everyone. Looks like my current car is going to live for a little while longer, so this is no longer an immediate concern, but all great stuff to know.

I may be in the market for a new car soon and the Energi sounds about perfect for me, with one potential problem. I have a trailer that I need to tow on a very occasional basis, maybe once or twice a year. The trailer is about 1,200lbs. It's a bit tricky, because I don't tow it often enough to justify buying a beefy car to tow it, but I can't always predict when I'll need to tow it, so renting a tow car for the day of isn't really practical. I'm perfectly fine with reduced speeds and efficiency while towing. I don't expect it to be a super-strong tow vehicle, I just need it to work. If fuel economy drops to 10MPG with the trailer, that's OK. I just need it to not catch fire or explode. Any thoughts on whether this is a good idea or not? Direct experience with similar loads would be, of course, awesome, but I'd love to hear any advice anyone might have.