The Great Towing Debate: Can Electric Vehicles Unseat the Trusty Diesel Bakkie?

There is a sacred rhythm to the classic South African long weekend. You pack the high-output cooler, hitch the caravan, and hit the blacktop just as the sun dips below the horizon. For decades, the undisputed king of this ritual has been the turbo-diesel bakkie. Its low-down grunt and relentless range have made it the backbone of our camping culture. When looking at electric vehicles vs diesel options for towing, the relation is more complex than meets the eye. 

But a quiet revolution is humming on the horizon. Electric vehicles (EVs) are no longer just futuristic commuter cars; they are entering the heavy-duty arena. Mechanically, an EV delivers an effortlessly smooth towing experience that makes even the finest modern internal combustion engines feel unrefined. Yet, when the tarmac gives way to the open road, the debate gets complicated.

For South African caravanners, the choice is no longer just about brand loyalty – it is a fundamental clash of automotive philosophy.

1. Electric Vehicles vs Diesel: Towing Performance

To understand why an EV feels so revolutionary on a tow bar, you have to look at how it generates twisting power, or torque.

Traditional petrol and diesel engines are bound by the laws of mechanical physics. A naturally aspirated petrol engine needs to rev high to find its strength, which often leads to a noisy, frantic drive when pulling a heavy load up a steep pass. Turbo-diesels solve this with brilliant low-down grunt, but their optimal power band is narrow – usually operating between 2,000 and 4,500 RPM. To keep the engine in this sweet spot, modern bakkies rely on complex 8- to 10-speed automatic transmissions that constantly hunt for the right gear on undulating terrain.

Electric motors tear up this rulebook entirely. By utilising electromagnetic forces rather than internal explosions, an EV delivers 100% of its peak torque instantly from zero RPM. When you step on the accelerator at a green light with a two-ton caravan hitched behind you, there is no hesitation, no turbo lag, and no gear shifting. The acceleration is linear, silent, and relentlessly powerful. Overtaking heavy trucks on a single-lane road becomes a stress-free affair rather than a calculated gamble.

2. The Heavyweight Advantage: Stability on the Road

Ask any experienced tower what keeps them awake at night, and they will give you a single answer: caravan sway. When a sudden crosswind or a passing semi-truck disrupts the airflow, a heavy trailer can begin to act like a physical lever, threatening to destabilise the tow vehicle.

This is where the unique architecture of an EV becomes an accidental superpower. Because electric vehicles house massive battery packs beneath their floorboards, they are incredibly heavy – often tipping the scales well over 2.5 tons.

More importantly, this weight is distributed perfectly flat and low to the ground. In the towing world, a heavy tow vehicle with a low centre of gravity acts as a massive anchor. It physically dictates terms to the caravan, absorbing the physical forces that would typically cause a lighter, high-riding ladder-frame bakkie to pitch and roll. While a traditional bakkie relies on stiff leaf-spring suspension to manage payload weight, an EV’s balanced chassis makes the entire rig feel like it is running on rails.

3. The Aerodynamic Tax and the Range Penalty

If the debate stopped at power and stability, the combustion engine would already be obsolete. But the open road introduces a brutal equaliser: aerodynamic drag.

When you double the speed of a vehicle, the aerodynamic resistance it faces increases fourfold. A caravan is essentially a giant, un-aerodynamic box on wheels. It shatters the clean airflow that vehicle designers spend years engineering.

Both diesel and electric vehicles suffer a massive consumption penalty when pulling a heavy load, but the impact hurts the electric vehicle far more severely. Hooking up a full-sized caravan can instantly slash an EV’s real-world driving range by 45% to 50%. A premium electric SUV capable of covering 400 kilometres on a single charge during a normal commute may find itself searching for a plug after just 200 kilometres of towing.

While a diesel bakkie’s fuel economy will also plummet, its inherent energy density and large fuel tank mean it can still comfortably cover 400 to 600 kilometres between stops. For long stretches across the Karoo, that margin isn’t just a convenience – it is a necessity.

4. The Bushveld Bottleneck: Infrastructure Realities

The final, decisive battleground isn’t fought on technical specifications; it is fought at the service station.

Pulling into a standard fuel station in a diesel bakkie is a seamless, five-minute affair. Crucially, almost all fuel bays are designed as “pull-through” lanes, allowing you to top up without ever unhooking your rig.

The current EV charging grid tells a very different story. Most public DC fast-chargers are tucked into standard, single-car parking bays designed for nose-in or tail-in parking. If you arrive with a caravan hitched to your vehicle, you will block the entire parking lot. This means that at every single charging stop, you must physically unhitch the caravan, park it safely aside, manoeuvre into the charging bay, wait 45 minutes for a top-up, and then hitch up all over again.

Furthermore, while the charging network along major lifelines like the N1 or N2 is expanding rapidly, the high-voltage infrastructure required to replenish a massive towing battery simply does not exist yet near our remote game reserves or off-grid coastal hideaways.

The Verdict

The towing landscape is fracturing into two distinct use cases. If your camping lifestyle revolves around regional weekend getaways – heading to a coastal resort or a managed inland campsite within a 150-kilometre radius of a major city – an EV offers an unparalleled, luxurious towing experience that leaves internal combustion in the dust.

But for the explorers, the overlanders, and the bushveld die-hards who want to point their nose toward the horizon and drive deep into untamed territory without a care in the world, the trusty diesel bakkie remains safely on its throne. For now.