If you own a 2012 Nissan Leaf alongside a regular gasoline car, the chances are you’ve already taken to driving your electric car as much as possible, using it for everything from the daily commute to weekend trips to the dump. 

But while Nissan’s mass production electric car beats a gasoline car hands down when it comes to running costs, you might have noticed you can’t get a tow hitch for the $35,200 hatchback.  

Now you can, thanks to Washington-based Torklift Central

Available with either a 1.25 inch or 2 inch receiver, the $250 aftermarket accessory requires no drilling in order to fit, and gives a 2012 Nissan Leaf towing capability. 

The only modification required? A small cut to the plastic underbody cover fitted underneath the Leaf’s rear to enable the tow hitch to pass through.  

Part of the its ECO Series-Stealth range, Torklift Central also offer towing hitches for the 2012 Toyota Prius and will soon offer a towing hitch for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt and 2012 Mitsubishi i. 

Officially, Toyota, Mitsubishi and GM don’t condone towing with their plug-in cars. However, as Toyota Prius fans have known for many years, cars which aren’t designed to tow can still be used for light towing duties without damaging the car.  

But that doesn’t change the fact that Nissan never designed the Leaf for towing, and anyone deciding to fit a tow-hitch for towing duties does so at their own risk. While fitting a tow-hitch won’t automatically invalidate your car’s warranty, any faults directly caused by towing could cause a headache at your local Nissan dealer. 

For those looking to carry bicycles or additional luggage however, the availability of tow-hitches for electric cars can offer up all kinds of clever products designed to carry additional load on a tow hitch receiver socket, although we’d have to strongly advise against buying your electric car a set of genitals.

We’d also advise against trying to tow large items, like a 50 foot Christmas tree, with your electric car.  

Interested Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi and Chevrolet Volt owners are invited to pre-order the tow hitches, which are due to enter production by the end of January.  

+++++++++++

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.