DIY bike carrier hitch on Taycan

jasperp

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Maybe interesting for some:
The Taycan is quite annoying for an avid cyclist. It does not have a regular tow bar. Only this clumsy expensive dedicated bike rack that is only available on the CT. The roof rails are not an option if you want to use it every week.

The Taycan is not homologated to allow a regular tow bar, but there are now solutions on the market that provide a tow bar that can only carry bikes. You cannot tow a trailer with it. This makes it legal to attach this to the Taycan without breaking the law or without having to do go to these car checking stations (at least that is the case in Flanders and the Netherlands).
This hitch has two protrusions that make it impossible to use it to tow a trailer. You can only attach a bike rack to it.

I bought it from:
https://brink.eu/en-gb/towbars/towbar-types/bike-carrier-solution/

They do not have one for a Taycan. So there is no off-the-shelve solution. I bought one for a VW ID.3 because it is a vertical detachable one. It plugs in at the bottom of the car, not the rear. It is almost invisible when removed.
The ID.3 is also not homologated for towing trailers. So it is legal to attach this kind of tow bar to the Taycan.

I removed the plastic bumper cover. And I made the system to attach it to the car myself using 4mm steal L-profiles. The vertical weight is attached to the rear aluminium bumper. It is very strongly attached to the car. It can easily carry the weight but not the torque. So I made an extension to the bottom of the trunk. That pushes the trunk floor upwards. And added some extra piece of steal to take horizontal forces. And I made a 5cmx5cm hole in the bottom of the plastic bumper. Not visible from the back of the car.
It can not take much horizontal pulling forces. So pulling a trailer would surely damage the car. (Which is prevented by the design of the hitch). But it can easily take 75kg vertical load.
I am very happy with it. I can use any European bike rack and can easily carry 3 bikes. It makes the Taycan much more practical for me.
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W1NGE

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Nice / innovative idea - electrical retractable is what we'd like for the saloon / CT / ST - out of sight & mind.

I'm paranoid and would worry also about the insurance situation nor do I think the reason for the lack of a factory fit option is the towing weight but more to do with design (deliberate oversight or other).

The CT / ST Taycans have a most odd implementation for the rear cycle carrier - looks over engineered (hence the cost) but again there's a reason for it which isn't abundantly clear.

Adding a roof rack - bars or suckers depending on whether there is a pano roof or not would be a 'safer' option perhaps.
 
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jasperp

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Nice / innovative idea - electrical retractable is what we'd like for the saloon / CT / ST - out of sight & mind.

I'm paranoid and would worry also about the insurance situation nor do I think the reason for the lack of a factory fit option is the towing weight but more to do with design (deliberate oversight or other).

The CT / ST Taycans have a most odd implementation for the rear cycle carrier - looks over engineered (hence the cost) but again there's a reason for it which isn't abundantly clear.

Adding a roof rack - bars or suckers depending on whether there is a pano roof or not would be a 'safer' option perhaps.
I am very confident it is strong enough. I also don't think it is possible to attach a tow bar for a 2 ton trailer on the taycan, but a 60kg bike rack is really nothing. You can also put 100kg of luggage in the trunk.
Maybe a reason for not doing a factory fit option is that if you have air suspension you can lower the car so low that the tow bar could hit a speed bump. That would cause sever damage.
I don't have air suspension, so I do not have that potential problem.

About the roof rack: I don't want to attach and detach the roof bars every single week. Too much work. Or drive around with roof bars all the time. So that is a nice option to go on holiday but not for a regular user.
 

W1NGE

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I am very confident it is strong enough. I also don't think it is possible to attach a tow bar for a 2 ton trailer on the taycan, but a 60kg bike rack is really nothing. You can also put 100kg of luggage in the trunk.
Maybe a reason for not doing a factory fit option is that if you have air suspension you can lower the car so low that the tow bar could hit a speed bump. That would cause sever damage.
I don't have air suspension, so I do not have that potential problem.

About the roof rack: I don't want to attach and detach the roof bars every single week. Too much work. Or drive around with roof bars all the time. So that is a nice option to go on holiday but not for a regular user.
Air suspension wouldn't be an issue. I've always had air suspension and on my Panamera ST had an electric towbar and used the Thule cycle carrier ( which the new Taycan one is a copy apart from the mounting). Clever enough also to prevent the rear hatch from opening when deployed and recalibrated the rear parking sensors.

I just think they couldn't be arsed and more worried about impact on range than let the customer decide.
 

Xav

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Maybe interesting for some:
The Taycan is quite annoying for an avid cyclist. It does not have a regular tow bar. Only this clumsy expensive dedicated bike rack that is only available on the CT. The roof rails are not an option if you want to use it every week.

The Taycan is not homologated to allow a regular tow bar, but there are now solutions on the market that provide a tow bar that can only carry bikes. You cannot tow a trailer with it. This makes it legal to attach this to the Taycan without breaking the law or without having to do go to these car checking stations (at least that is the case in Flanders and the Netherlands).
This hitch has two protrusions that make it impossible to use it to tow a trailer. You can only attach a bike rack to it.

I bought it from:
https://brink.eu/en-gb/towbars/towbar-types/bike-carrier-solution/

They do not have one for a Taycan. So there is no off-the-shelve solution. I bought one for a VW ID.3 because it is a vertical detachable one. It plugs in at the bottom of the car, not the rear. It is almost invisible when removed.
The ID.3 is also not homologated for towing trailers. So it is legal to attach this kind of tow bar to the Taycan.

I removed the plastic bumper cover. And I made the system to attach it to the car myself using 4mm steal L-profiles. The vertical weight is attached to the rear aluminium bumper. It is very strongly attached to the car. It can easily carry the weight but not the torque. So I made an extension to the bottom of the trunk. That pushes the trunk floor upwards. And added some extra piece of steal to take horizontal forces. And I made a 5cmx5cm hole in the bottom of the plastic bumper. Not visible from the back of the car.
It can not take much horizontal pulling forces. So pulling a trailer would surely damage the car. (Which is prevented by the design of the hitch). But it can easily take 75kg vertical load.
I am very happy with it. I can use any European bike rack and can easily carry 3 bikes. It makes the Taycan much more practical for me.
Hello,

Do you have any pics of your build ?
Is it necessary to remove the entire rear bumper ?

Many Thanks,
Xavier
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