Yes, provided box O.1 of its registration certificate shows a towable mass. Electric SUVs sold in Belgium tow from 750 to 2,500 kg. Two limits matter more than power: the weight of the battery, which closes the B licence quickly, and a range cut in half behind a caravan.
Can you tow a trailer with an electric car?
Yes, if the carmaker approved it for towing. The answer is on the registration certificate: box O.1 gives the towable mass with a braked trailer, box O.2 without brakes. An empty box means zero kilos.
The motor has nothing to do with it. A Kia EV9 GT delivers 740 Nm, more than most of the diesels that pulled Belgian caravans ten years ago, and it delivers it from standstill, exactly where a hill start with 1,500 kg behind you is won or lost. What holds carmakers back is the weight of the battery, the rear structure that has to be reinforced and the cost of approving a towing version. Hence those compact cars whose ball only carries a bike rack: ADAC cites the Volkswagen ID.3.
Towing without approval is illegal.
Which electric SUVs can tow, and how much?
From 750 to 2,500 kg for family SUVs, and the gap often comes down to the version rather than the model. The list published by ADAC on 8 July 2026 (in German), consulted on 29 September 2026, gives the limits of each range.
| Electric SUV | Maximum braked trailer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Kia EV9 (all wheel drive) | 2,500 kg | ADAC, Kia price list |
| BMW iX | 2,500 kg | ADAC |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 2,400 kg | ADAC |
| Electric Mercedes GLC | 2,400 kg | ADAC |
| Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 | 2,200 kg | ADAC |
| BMW iX3 (new generation) | 2,000 kg | ADAC |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 1,000 to 1,800 kg depending on version | ADAC |
| Tesla Model Y | 1,600 kg, 750 kg unbraked | Tesla manual |
| Suzuki e-Vitara | 750 kg | ADAC |
The Volkswagen ID.4 shows the trap of the model range. The least powerful versions stop at 1,000 kg, and only the all wheel drive versions go up to 1,800 kg. Same name, almost double the capacity: the line for your exact version is what counts, not the model brochure.
The Tesla Model Y manual (in German) adds two limits few salespeople mention: 100 kg at most on the ball, and no more than 100 km/h when towing with the seven seat version.
Can you tow a caravan with an electric car on a B licence?
Rarely above 750 kg. The B licence always allows a trailer with a maximum authorised mass (MMA) of 750 kg or less. Above that, the car's MMA plus the trailer's must not exceed 3,500 kg, or 4,250 kg with code 96, as the FPS Mobility (in French) points out. A family EV eats into that budget before anything is hitched.
Let us run the numbers on the SUV that tows the most in the list. The Kia price list (Austria, July 2025, in German) gives the EV9 GT an MMA of 3,210 kg with six seats and 3,280 kg with seven. That leaves 290 kg under the 3,500 kg bar, less than the 750 kg already allowed by default: on a B licence, this EV9 pulls 750 kg at most. With code 96, the combination may weigh 4,250 kg, which means a 1,040 kg trailer (970 kg with seven seats). To use the approved 2,500 kg, you need the BE licence.
The most capable SUV in the list is also the one that demands the biggest licence.
| Your situation | Licence | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Trailer with an MMA of 750 kg or less | B | Check box O.2 if the trailer has no brakes |
| Trailer above 750 kg, combination of 3,500 kg at most | B | Add box F.2 of the car to the trailer's MMA |
| Combination between 3,500 and 4,250 kg | B with code 96 | Have code 96 added before you leave |
| Combination above 4,250 kg | BE | Pass the BE licence, and drive at 90 km/h at most above 3.5 t |
| Caravan heavier than box O.1 | None | Change caravan or car |
For the details of the tests and code 96, our article on the caravan and the B licence covers each case.
How much range do you lose with a caravan?
Half, on the motorway. ADAC measured the extra consumption (in German) of a Kia EV6 pulling a large caravan: 54 % at 80 km/h, 79 % at 90 km/h, 103 % at 100 km/h. In its 2026 summary, the German club puts the usable range of the combination at 150 to 200 km. A 600 km trip south therefore takes three to four charging stops, against one or two solo.
Weight matters little. With 280 kg of extra load in the car, ADAC recorded only a 6 % difference, because an EV recovers under braking part of the energy spent accelerating. It is the frontal area of the caravan that costs, and it costs with the square of the speed. A small empty garden trailer pulled at 100 km/h barely changed the result at all. Cold weather adds to all this: our survey of range in a Belgian winter shows what it takes away before you even hitch up.
In practice, that gives a simple rule: 80 to 90 km/h in the wake of the lorries, and legs planned around 150 km.
Where can you charge with a trailer hitched?
Where you can drive through the charger. Most rapid chargers face a parking bay, so the hitched combination blocks the neighbouring charger or the aisle: ADAC advises unhitching, or choosing drive through stations built like fuel pumps.
Do you need a roadworthiness test after fitting a tow bar?
It depends on the region, and since this September the answer is no longer the same everywhere. Flanders scrapped the separate test on 1 September 2026, Touring reports (in French); in Brussels and Wallonia, the tow bar must still be presented at the test centre (in French) as soon as it is fitted, with a "trailer towing vehicle" certificate for trailers above 750 kg.
| Rule (September 2026) | Wallonia | Brussels | Flanders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test after fitting a tow bar | Yes | Yes | No, since 1 September 2026 |
| Trailer of 750 kg or less | Prior declaration, 50.16 € up to 500 kg, 104.15 € above | Taxed, amount shown in MyTax | Exempt if the car belongs to a Flemish private owner |
| Caravan | 48.61 € a year | Taxed, amount shown in MyTax | Exempt up to 750 kg, taxed above |
The Walloon amounts are those published by SPW Finances (in French), valid from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027; the Flemish exemption is taken from Touring. Brussels Fiscality also taxes trailers, but publishes its scale only inside the MyTax portal: we found no open official page that gives it. Number plates follow a federal rule: up to 750 kg, a replica of the car's plate is enough, and above that the trailer gets its own registration with the DIV (the vehicle registration service).
A tow bar fitted after purchase puts the battery warranty at stake
A towable mass is bought with the car, not afterwards. If the version is not approved for towing, an aftermarket fitting may put the warranty on the battery and electric components at risk, ADAC warns, and those warranties often run for eight years or 160,000 km. Tesla goes further: its manual accepts only the brand's own tow bar.
Before signing, check five points on the order form:
- boxes O.1 and O.2 for the exact version, wheels included, not those of the model range;
- box F.2, which decides your licence far more than the caravan does;
- the permitted load on the ball, 100 kg on a Model Y and 125 kg on an EV9 GT;
- a factory tow bar or written carmaker approval for the fitting;
- trailer mode, to be checked at every departure on a Model Y, which limits some driver assistance features.
For a bike rack on the ball, our guide to the tow bar bike rack gives the nose weights. For a large caravan and a lot of motorway, our selection of SUVs for towing a caravan keeps combustion and hybrid engines, and the comparison tool sets towable mass against range model by model.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if it is approved for a heavy enough braked trailer. A loaded family caravan often weighs 1,300 to 1,700 kg, so you need an O.1 box of at least 1,600 kg, as on a Tesla Model Y, or 2,000 kg and more on a BMW iX3, an Audi Q6 e-tron or a Kia EV9. Then plan for a motorway range cut in half.
Among family SUVs, the all wheel drive Kia EV9 and the BMW iX are approved for 2,500 kg braked. Above that, the ADAC list of 8 July 2026 names the new electric Porsche Cayenne at 3,000 kg and the Maxus eTerron 9 pick-up at 3,500 kg, the legal ceiling for a trailer on a BE licence.
Sometimes, and only with a tow bar approved for that exact version. ADAC warns that without a factory approved towable mass, an aftermarket fitting may put the warranty on the battery and electric components at risk. On a Tesla Model Y, the manual requires the brand's own tow bar and rules out any other.
The same rules as for a combustion car, but you hit them sooner. The B licence covers a trailer with a maximum authorised mass of 750 kg or less, or a combination of 3,500 kg at most. Code 96 raises the combination to 4,250 kg. Beyond that you need the BE licence, and a heavy EV gets there with its first caravan.
On the motorway, allow 150 to 200 km between charges behind a large caravan, according to ADAC. Speed decides almost everything: extra consumption goes from 54 % at 80 km/h to 103 % at 100 km/h. A small garden trailer, by contrast, changes almost nothing.
No. The Zoe was not approved to tow a trailer, and the hitches sold for it are meant to carry a bike rack, which is not the same thing. Towing with a car that has no towable mass is illegal and, in principle, not covered by insurance in the event of a claim.
Rarely. Most rapid chargers face parking bays, so a hitched combination blocks the neighbouring chargers or the aisle. Drive through stations, built like fuel pumps, are spreading along motorways but remain a minority: plan to unhitch.
We dig through the Belgian market data — TÜV reliability, real-world ADAC consumption, company-car taxation, list prices — to call it straight. No brand pays us.