How heavy a trailer you can tow is important to many when they buy a new car, and on that point unclear information in the car register can cause major problems, reports We Car Owners.
Now the Swedish Transport Agency has admitted that the information may be misleading.
Unclear about trailer weight
The problem lies in how the information about how heavy trailers a certain car can pull is reported in the Swedish Transport Agency’s web service.
There is something called “Maximum total weight of the trailer for driving license authorization B”.
The Hyundai Ioniq Electric must not have a towbar – Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
This is a theoretical figure calculated by deducting the total weight of the car from the maximum permissible train weight for B driving license of 3,500 kilos. However, the number does not mean that the car is designed or registered to tow that much.
To find how much the car is actually allowed to tow, you have to look in the car’s registration certificate, under the item “Maximum trailer weight, kg”.
Car dealers are using the wrong number
The confusion surrounding how much different cars are allowed to tow becomes particularly serious when it comes to certain electric cars and hybrids, which are not actually approved to tow trailers at all.
Even more distressing is that many car dealers report the wrong figure from the Swedish Transport Agency in their advertisements.
We Car owners raise the example of a Hyundai Ioniq electric car that was advertised with a towing weight of 1,530 kilograms, but in fact cannot even be equipped with a towbar.
There are also cars, for example the Volkswagen ID.3, which can be equipped with a towbar which is only intended for, for example, mounting a bicycle holder.
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The Swedish Transport Agency admits error
On the question of whether the way in which the information on trailer weight is reported can in some cases be misleading, Vi Bilägare agrees with Mikael Andersson, the Swedish Transport Agency’s press officer.
– It is reasonable that such information that is not applicable to a specific vehicle must necessarily be displayed in our e-services. It can invite misinterpretations and this is a good example, he tells the newspaper.
Mikael Andersson also says that the wording may need to be revised, but that he cannot give a timetable for when the error may be resolved.
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