• Free ground shipping on rooftop tents and orders over $129. Exemptions apply. See details.
  • NEW! Thule Allax dog crate and Thule Bexey bike trailer—for safe adventures with your dog
  • The original all-terrain stroller Thule Urban Glide 3 just got an upgrade
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Articles
  4. /
  5. Packing an EV
A white electric vehicle drives with a Thule Arcos towbar cargo carrier.

Packing for an adventure in your electric vehicle

How do you pack your EV for adventures in the most efficient way possible? Find the most aerodynamic solutions so that you can go on trips with your EV without impacting the range of your car.

Head for adventures with your EV! Thule has lots of solutions that help you pack your electric vehicle full of gear – while still ensuring that the car is as aerodynamic as possible to optimize the battery range of your vehicle.

Rear-of-car solutions

A couple load their golf clubs into a rear cargo carrier that is on their EV.

Certain electric vehicles might not be able to hold anything on the roof due to a low load capacity. But not to fear! Thule has a range of solutions that go on the back of your vehicle and can carry cargo or bikes. These rear cargo boxes provide extra space for your luggage, perfect if you want to maximize the packing capacity of smaller cars.

Thule Arcos is to most aerodynamic option and looks fantastic on your vehicle thanks to a design that integrates seamlessly with the rest of your car. The hard-shell exterior makes it robust and weather-resistant, and the low-profile, curved design means you can access your trunk at any time.

Thule Onto is a soft-shell cargo box which makes it easy to fold and store away without taking up too much space. It's perfect for everyday errands or adventures off in the outdoors.

Thule BackSpace XT is a super flexible solution that mounts on the Thule VeloSpace XT towbar bike rack, and lets you bring your bikes one day, and your luggage the next.

Browse our rear-of-car solutions for electric vehicles

A man gets out of a black car that is parked in a parking lot with a Thule Arcos rear cargo box.
Towbar cargo carriers
Shop now
Outside of a house a man loads bikes onto a Thule EasyFold XT towbar bike carrier on a car.
Towbar bike racks
Shop now

Aerodynamic solutions to maximize the range of your EV

A car has a Thule Arcos towbar cargo carrier and a man gets out of the car and a family walks towards him.

Whether you’re packing your electric vehicle for a camping trip or a ski vacation, a cargo box is a great way to make space for all your gear. For EVs, it’s vital to choose the most aerodynamic solution. Minimal wind drag means minimal impact on the range of your electric vehicle.

Thule cargo and sports carriers have some of the most streamlined designs on the market. In fact, our internal tests show that with a rear-of-car cargo solution like Thule Arcos or Thule Onto, you can travel farther than a car without anything on it at all.

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Read on to learn more!

A woman loads items into the trunk of a car while her children help load items into the rear towbar box.

Bring more, go farther

We know from internal testing at the Thule Test Center that a rear-of-car-cargo solution makes for better aerodynamics than having nothing on your vehicle at all.

We drove a total of 5400 km in varying weather conditions with a fleet of Volkswagen ID4 – one of the most popular electric vehicles on the market. Some had the Thule Arcos rear cargo carriers installed, others had nothing installed, while some had cargo solutions like roof boxes installed on the roof. The results were interesting, to say the least.

The average consumption (kWh/100km) of a vehicle with the Thule Arcos towbar box was 95%. This means that when we drove with a Thule Arcos, the range improved by 5%* compared to the cars with nothing on them at all.

So based on the battery size of the ID4 and the consumption measured during the tests, we could travel roughly 17 km farther*. This data is also backed up by computer simulations that showed a similar result.

Tested in the real world

At Thule, we test our products a whole bunch – but people are also constantly testing our products out in the real world, too.

Vi Bilägare, one of the largest automotive magazines in Sweden, tested a roof box and our Thule Onto rear cargo box with an electric car. They found that the towbar cargo carrier created less wind drag than a roof box, and consumed less fuel and electricity than a car with nothing on it at all*.

They write, “We found that both the petrol car and the electric car had slightly lower consumption with the box fitted than when the car was running completely empty on the test route”.

So if electricicty consumption is something you worry about with your EV, a towbar cargo carrier is a great option.

Read the article from Vi Bilägare (in swedish).

A vehicle drives down the street with a Thule Onto rear cargo box.

Rear cargo boxes

Here are some rear-of-car cargo carriers that we recommend to optimize the packing space of your vehicle.

Roof racks

Roof racks are the base where you can load the roof carriers for all your adventures. They work with roof boxes, bike racks, ski racks, and more. Thule’s roof racks are specifically designed to be as aerodynamic and quiet as possible. This ensures minimal drag and less electricity consumption as a result.

Some of our most aerodynamic roof racks include:

Thule WingBar Evo is an all-around roof rack compatible with all accessories, from roof boxes to rooftop tents. Its wide loading area allows you to transport more gear.

Thule WingBar Edge is a sleek and sporty roof rack that integrates seamlessly with the rest of the car. It's a stylish solution for your bike rack or roof box.

Roof boxes

Thule roofboxes are some of the most streamlined on the market, to add as little drag as possible. This makes them a great choice if you want to fill your EV with lots of luggage.

Here are some of our recommended solutions for an EV:

Thule Vector Alpine roof box black metallic
Thule Vector Alpine
roof box black metallic
$2,499.95 2499.95 CAD

Plan your trip

When you’re traveling with an EV, there are a range of different ways to equip your vehicle. For outdoor adventures, ski trips, and outings with the kids – there is a solution for you!
A white SUV drived with a bike and kayak on the roof, a towbar cargo box on the trunk.

Outdoor adventures

If you’re packing for an outdoor adventure, why not combine a roof and rear cargo carrier? Or put your bikes on the roof and your gear in the back? There are lots of different configurations that will help you get out there with your electric vehicle.

A white car drives on a highway by a lake with a rooftop tent, bike and rear towbar bike rack.

Outdoor adventures

If you’re packing for an outdoor adventure, why not combine a roof and rear cargo carrier? Or put your bikes on the roof and your gear in the back? There are lots of different configurations that will help you get out there with your electric vehicle.

Cyclists unload a Thule rear cargo carrier from a EV with roof bike rack and bikes on top.
A car with a rooftop tent is parked by a lake wth a rear cargo carrier solution for EVs.

Skiing trips with your EV

Even though rear cargo carriers are not designed to carry skis, they free up space on the roof of your car for a ski rack or ski box. They also provide lots of extra space for your ski boots, helmets, and other ski gear.
*Internal tests at Thule show that our rear cargo boxes have an improved effect on the range of your vehicle. However, many parameters can affect your vehicle’s fuel consumption or battery range. Therefore, you may see results that differ from ours.