I put my R1S into "winter mode"—and you won't believe what happened next!

[NineElectrics]

In preparation for winter, I:

• added Rivian crossbars to the roof (no ski rack, yet)
• swapped the 21" OEM rims and tires for 20" R600 rims and Nokian LT3 winter tires

Not concidentally, temperatures began to drop around the same time. Here's the overall impact on efficiency, so far, as measured by electrafi.com:

Note, the Rivian computer still thinks I have 21" wheels, so the hit to efficiency is overstated. The rims might flare out a bit more than the OEM versions, too. On the other hand, there's no ski rack yet, and temperatures are still relatively warm, so I think this is a rough measure of what you can expect going into "winter mode" in a fairly mild winter climate. ~70 miles of range lost.

In my experience, temperature makes the biggest impact, by far. That huge glass roof leaks a ton of heat, and there's no heat pump. I hope Rivian eventually adds a heat pump and increases the insulative capacity of the roof glass.

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[adam_g]

Where did you get the Nokians? They seem to be out of stock everywhere...

 

[NineElectrics]

Where did you get the Nokians? They seem to be out of stock everywhere...

I bought them as a set with the rims: https://evsportline.com/collections...l-and-tire-package-set?variant=41222075187340

Not cheap by any means (even at 10% off from their Halloween sale) but the rims are great, and they threw in a free set of TPMS sensors. The R1S is heavy and there's no differential, so I felt it was money well spent to be safe in the mountains.

 

[adam_g]

I saw them but I strongly prefer the dark 20" rims from Rivian. I asked EV sport line if they sold only the tires and they said no just a package. Think I'll just wind up using Blizzak LT. Wonder if anyone has used both and could compare?

 

[adam_g]

I just found some BTW! Walmart has em in stock. Gonna go with those. Will report on my efficiency (pick up R1S w max battery on Wednesday - got the 21s gonna get a second set of wheels).

 

[NineElectrics]

To spell it out, 70% efficiency in the winter means that one is limited to skiing not more than 100 miles away from your starting point, assuming you want to round trip without requiring an intervening charge, and maintain a small safety buffer of 20 miles. Which is pretty limiting for an outdoor adventure vehicle; sometimes there are no DC fast chargers on your route into the middle of nowhere. The marginal +50 miles of round-trip range you get from 100% efficiency is actually pretty valuable.

 

[Franksmartin]

I drove 190 miles Vermont to Boston, average temp around 32 F and got 1.98 m/kwh efficiency on 20” ATs. Not much different than I get in the summer. I did draft behind a rig for about 30 miles as a test though and got 2.5 mi/kwh for that stretch. The key is to charge for at least an hour before leaving which gets the battery to 70 degrees.

 

[NineElectrics]

I drove 190 miles Vermont to Boston, average temp around 32 F and got 1.98 m/kwh efficiency on 20” ATs. Not much different than I get in the summer. I did draft behind a rig for about 30 miles as a test though and got 2.5 mi/kwh for that stretch. The key is to charge for at least an hour before leaving which gets the battery to 70 degrees.

Was that round trip, or one way? I ask because downhill drives tend to do very well, efficiency wise. To get 190 miles from Boston, one could easily be up in the mountains. Stowe is 900 feet above sea level, for example. That's not a lot, but it's not nothing.

Thank you for the tip, though--I will charge right before leaving to warm the battery. Unfortunately after a day of skiing the battery might be cold for the return trip. Maybe I can park the car in the sun on sunny days.

 

[Golfer04]

I drove 190 miles Vermont to Boston, average temp around 32 F and got 1.98 m/kwh efficiency on 20” ATs. Not much different than I get in the summer. I did draft behind a rig for about 30 miles as a test though and got 2.5 mi/kwh for that stretch. The key is to charge for at least an hour before leaving which gets the battery to 70 degrees.

I wish Rivian would give some guidelines on how to achieve the best cold weather efficiency. I've been doing random very unscientific testing the last 3 weeks or so as Central Illinois weather has cooled. I've about wore out trip B?. I expected battery temp to be the key number, but so far it hasn't mattered at all. Lowest battery temp I tested was 63 and highest right after unplugging from my L2 charger was 93. What has shown to matter is motor temp. Much more than whether I use the heater, just seat warmer, low fan, no heat, etc. Using conserve (which I normally don't use) and getting the front motors to 150 degrees has been the key to getting close to normal efficiency. I tried switching back to AP after getting to 150 degrees and motor temps drop to 120 and efficiency drops. Some of the drop would be just switching to AP though. I go on the same roads every day and change in elevation is 75 ft. Just my two cents.

 

[Franksmartin]

Was that round trip, or one way? I ask because downhill drives tend to do very well, efficiency wise. To get 190 miles from Boston, one could easily be up in the mountains. Stowe is 900 feet above sea level, for example. That's not a lot, but it's not nothing.

Thank you for the tip, though--I will charge right before leaving to warm the battery. Unfortunately after a day of skiing the battery might be cold for the return trip. Maybe I can park the car in the sun on sunny days.

One way with about 1500 ft elevation drop. On the way from MA to VT I think I got 1.79 m/kwh.

If you are really doing 200 miles round trip in one day and can’t warm the battery before leaving the ski area yea you might need to charge for 10 minutes on the way home.

 

[Franksmartin]

I wish Rivian would give some guidelines on how to achieve the best cold weather efficiency. I've been doing random very unscientific testing the last 3 weeks or so as Central Illinois weather has cooled. I've about wore out trip B?. I expected battery temp to be the key number, but so far it hasn't mattered at all. Lowest battery temp I tested was 63 and highest right after unplugging from my L2 charger was 93. What has shown to matter is motor temp. Much more than whether I use the heater, just seat warmer, low fan, no heat, etc. Using conserve (which I normally don't use) and getting the front motors to 150 degrees has been the key to getting close to normal efficiency. I tried switching back to AP after getting to 150 degrees and motor temps drop to 120 and efficiency drops. Some of the drop would be just switching to AP though. I go on the same roads every day and change in elevation is 75 ft. Just my two cents.

Yea but 63 isn’t a cold battery, 70 is ideal so it actually close to ideal temp.

Are you saying using Conserve generates heat in the motors that is used to warm the cabin?

 

[Golfer04]

Yea but 63 isn’t a cold battery, 70 is ideal so it actually close to ideal temp.

Are you saying using Conserve generates heat in the motors that is used to warm the cabin?

I don't think the cabin heat comes from the motors; it is a separate unit that does use kw. I'm just saying in my testing it wasn't material to the efficiency I was seeing. I used to think 70 on the battery temp was ideal, but now I think a wide range of battery temps are fine (meaning won't adversely effect efficiency). I'm also not saying a colder battery couldn't make efficiency worse, but am saying a 63 degree battery (or 93 and everything in between) gets greatly reduced cold weather efficiency until the motors warm up. "Normal" efficiency in conserve returns when front motors reach 150 degrees. In AP the motors don't get much above 120 degrees and I still get reduced efficiency at that temp. At least in my vehicle.

 

[NineElectrics]

We’re now 3,000 miles post-wheel calibration and real world max range is about 210 miles. On winter road trips in cold temperatures, with a Thule Motion XT Alpine roof box, real world max range is around 185 miles. It turns out that’s really putting the hurt on winter mountain adventuring (92.5 miles one way!), so I’ll be looking to change it up ASAP. Dual motor max pack is an option, but only if a heat pump is available. I’ll look into the Kia EV9 and EX90.

 

[lilbuj]

What PSI are you running in the Nokians?

 

[NY_Rob]

Op you need to add "Game Changer!!" and or "Game Over!" in the title.

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