Hi Tom,

An interesting question. Towing with pure electric vehicles is pretty much impossible, because of strains that the extra weight of a trailer/caravan/horsebox/boat etc would put on the regenerative braking system. There is an exception, which is the Tesla Model X (up to 2,270kg of braked trailer and it has a ‘Trailer Mode’, too), but that’s very expensive.

However, this knowledge that EVs cannot tow may have filtered, erroneously, into the hybrid world – but that’s not the case. Almost every hybrid and plug-in hybrid out there will be rated for towing in some shape or form, as they have internal combustion engines to fall back on. And if they’re rated for towing, then a towbar can be fitted.

Parallel hybrids, like the Toyota Prius or C-HR, can only tow up to 725kg of braked trailer, which is not going to be enough for most towing needs, but bigger, SUV-like machines – such as the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus NX 300h (both can tow up to 1,500kg), the Lexus RX 450h (up to 2,000kg), the Range Rover Sport Hybrid or the Range Rover Hybrid (both 3,000kg) and the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid (can tow the maximum of 3,500kg of braked trailer) – are the best bet. There are some luxury hybrid saloons, like the Lexus GS 450h and the Mercedes C 300 h, which can tow a tonne-and-a-half of braked trailer, too.

Your first port of call, though, should be the plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Volkswagen’s Golf and Passat GTE models can tow 1,500kg and 1,600kg respectively, while the Audi A3 e-tron and the Mercedes C 350 e can both tow the same as the Passat GTE. However, it’s SUVs that present the best options as towing PHEVs: the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (1,500kg), the old Mercedes GLE 500 e (2,000kg), the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin-Engine (2,400kg), the BMW X5 xDrive40e (old model, 2,700kg) and the Audi Q7 e-tron (2,800kg) are all strong, if pricey, contenders. However, the best hybrid tow car of the lot is the mighty (and mighty expensive) Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, which can tow the same 3.5 tonnes of braked trailer as its non-plug-in relation.