What do you suggest for a smaller, fuel-efficient car that can tow 3,000 pounds?

My husband and I are in our 40s with a six-year-old soon to graduate from a booster and we want to replace our 2016 Volkswagen Golf with 190,000 kilometres that we enjoy driving. We live in Toronto near the Danforth and do not have a dedicated parking spot, but we have Level 2 charging options nearby. We drive daily and parallel park, so we value a smaller car that is manoeuverable and shorter in length.

Our cottage is a 275-kilometre drive, mostly on a 400-series highway, and we would love for our new car to have driver-assistance features for highway driving (our friend’s Ford Mustang with BlueCruise is so cool). We have a boat and trailer that weighs about 3,000 pounds we would like to tow. We care about fuel efficiency and are open to an electric vehicle with enough range.

Can you please recommend a small unicorn that can tow and is fuel efficient? We would prefer to spend less than $55,000, including tax, and are open to buying a one-to-three-year-old Certified Pre-Owned vehicle with low mileage. We like the Volvo XC40 but wish it was more fuel efficient. – Jennifer

Mark Richardson: I think Jennifer first needs to understand and accept a couple of realities about electric car ownership. One is that when EVs tow something, their driving range decreases dramatically – probably by half.

Miranda Lightstone: And what’s the other? That they’re expensive?

Richardson: No, though they’re not cheap. It’s that she says she cannot charge at home, but has Level 2 charging options nearby. If those are commercial options that will charge her commercial rates for electricity, the price of refuelling may not be any cheaper than gasoline.

Lightstone: I experience this when I drive an electric vehicle, because I don’t have a charger at home. It can be frustrating to say the least, especially during winter when the car sits cold overnight and can’t be preconditioned. Owning an EV can be easy, but with the right equipment on-hand.

Richardson: Me too. I’m going to install a charger at home this year, and that will change my driving life with an electric vehicle. Aside from the convenience, this winter, at home, I pay 12 cents for a kilowatt-hour of electricity. If I change to time-based charging here in Ontario, I can lower that to 3.9 cents a kilowatt-hour for overnight charging, but if I charge at my local commercial charging station, I pay at least 40 cents a kilowatt-hour, and probably closer to 60 cents or more.

Lightstone: How does that work out with the cost of a full charge?

Richardson: Electricity consumption varies with the size of the vehicle, of course, as it does with gas consumption. But I found a Ford F-150 Lightning will use about 100 kilowatt-hours to travel 400 kilometres in winter, while a much-smaller Nissan Leaf will use about 70 kilowatt-hours to travel the same distance when it’s cold. You can do the math from that. It’s a fraction of the cost to charge at home, but maybe no cheaper than gasoline when you refuel at commercial chargers, and far more time-consuming.

How billing by the kilowatt-hour stacks up to paying for gas

When it comes to fast chargers, we found prices ranging from steep to cheap

Lightstone: So, in all of this I’m hearing that perhaps a full EV is not something we should be suggesting to Jennifer just yet. It seems that the Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid ticks all the boxes.

Richardson: The RAV4 PHEV misses two of the boxes, and they’re the most important: it will only tow up to 2,500 pounds, and it’s still almost unobtainable as a new vehicle. Mind you, my brother-in-law bought one easily as a used vehicle in Halifax and he still goes on about how great it is.

Lightstone: I’d love to be able to suggest a Ford Escape Hybrid, which offers decent fuel mileage in the six-litre-per-100-kilometre range, along with the BlueCruise hands-free highway driving, and it’s even under her $55,000 cap, but it won’t tow as much as Jennifer needs, tapping out around 1,500-2,000 pounds.

Richardson: The only hybrids and electrified vehicles that will tow such a weight are larger SUVs. The 2025 rear-wheel drive Chevy Blazer EV can tow 3,500 pounds and can include GM’s exceptional Super Cruise semi-autonomous system, but it’s at least $10,000 more than her budget and it’s not sold as a 2026. The new Toyota RAV4 hybrid will also tow up to 3,500 pounds in all but its most basic trim, but I’m sure Jennifer was hoping for a smaller vehicle. It’s a good size for a family with a growing child, though.

Lightstone: I feel that way too, which is why I’m going to play devil’s advocate as I do and forget about fuel efficiency for the moment. I’ll suggest Jennifer look at a Volkswagen Golf R. She already has experience with a Golf but wants something “more.”

Richardson: You know, that’s not such a bad idea if Jennifer isn’t looking for a larger vehicle. The Golf R and the cheaper – and more available – GTi are fabulous to drive. They’re officially rated as “not recommended” for towing in North America, but European models are routinely rated for 3,500 pounds or more. I wouldn’t recommend a new one myself if towing is important, because the warranty might be void with a hitch on the back, but it’s worth tucking away as useful information.

Lightstone: I will take that! And I also agree with the GTi and the ability to tow, despite it not being common knowledge here. Now, what about the Volvo XC40? Jennifer wishes it was more fuel efficient, and while it’s not the best, it’s also not terrible, coming in at a combined 9.1 litres per 100 kilometres.

Richardson: Let’s agree right now that a small vehicle towing near its limit needs a strong engine, and that means a sacrifice in fuel efficiency compared to lighter-duty vehicles. So 9.1 litres every 100 kilometres is fairly respectable given the towing demands. It shouldn’t be a reason to not consider the XC40.

Lightstone: Keep in mind that consumption figure is an average and Jennifer can stretch a tank much farther depending on her driving style and frequency – and if she doesn’t tow too often. The XC40 has the features Jennifer is looking for as well as being easy to park and manoeuver in the city.

Richardson: It’s rated to tow just over 3,500 pounds and it’s considered a mild hybrid, which means it uses dedicated electricity to help boost the power of the engine. It can’t drive on electricity alone, but it’s a way to find that greater towing strength without making the engine or the vehicle too large.

Lightstone: So, I think we need to gather all these random thoughts for Jennifer and tell her that a fully electric vehicle is likely not the right solution for her at the moment. Hybrid, yes. Should she look to VW because she knows and likes them already? Absolutely. But also, don’t ignore the bigwigs in the hybrid crossover segment such as the Volvo XC40 and make sure she takes each for a test drive.

Richardson: If she didn’t need to tow with her new car, the choice would be much wider. As it is, she needs a vehicle somewhere in the middle for both size and electrification, and both the Toyota RAV4 hybrid or the Volvo XC40 fit that bill and their budget – especially if they’re certified pre-owned. At a starting price of around $40,000 plus taxes, the new Toyota is about $5,000 less than the basic Volvo and is a better deal, but there’s a waiting list for delivery that’s often several months or more.

What car should you buy? Write to Mark and Miranda at [email protected] and use ‘What car’ as part of your subject line. E-mails with different subject lines may not be answered.

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