Rivian R1T in World’s Toughest Towing Test on Ike Gauntlet [by TFL]

[Canthoney]

One thing I learned while watching it is they definitely need to build out those charging stations to accommodate trailering. Seems like a pain to partially block lanes, or have to unhitch just to charge. The range and expectations I had were essentially spot on for this video, I’m impressed that they managed to do it with only one stop.

I don’t think any EV on the market would’ve been able to do that with this weight so let’s keep things in perspective there. We’ll see how the F150 lightning and Silverado EV do in the future, but this is just the beginning!

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[branden]

What was the round trip mileage? 83 miles each way?

InsideEVs summed up the distances well: https://insideevs.com/news/564068/rivian-r1t-toughest-towing-test/

 

[stickyfingers]

Great video - usually would never do 8,000 lbs in my usage. My main towing trailer is usually around 1,500lbs fully loaded going back and forth from the cottage. My pontoon trailer is used 2 time per season to take the boat in and out of the water (Spring/Fall). Things I learnt:

1. Still minor software bugs that should easily be fixed through OTA. The 336 mile range on 16% charge was pretty funny. I wonder if they had turned the truck off (reboot) to see if that would have corrected itself.

2. The charging locations need to accommodate for trailers.

3. Slightly concerned with how long it takes to go from 20% to 80% charge (w/o trailer and likely over an hour w/trailer) - adds about 40 minutes to my trips. Which will require a change in my habits. Hate stopping on my trips if I can avoid it since most of my trips are a round trip of 550km.

4. Additional info is required as some mentioned on the screens ie: battery temp, trip meter, etc...

5. The battery run down may have been worst if you are towing a large load plus carrying your family in the truck.

Otherwise, I was impressed. We don't have elevations like that here in Southern Ontario but nevertheless it was nice to see the truck function quite well in those harsh elements.

Thanks @TFLtommy - as always it was a great video.

 

[Grabs10]

ya. They don’t cover the mileage from TFL shop to the Walmart EA charger. I’m thinking/ guessing 83 miles…. Round trip 166 miles. Just doing math for the max pack in my head is why I was wondering. They took on 46 kwh at the EA charger so that basically the difference between the large pack Rivian and max pack capacity. So the Max pack in my mind would have done the entire trip with the same amount of reserve pulling back into their shop. With 8100 lbs in tow.

 

[COdogman]

One thing I would be concerned about if I were doing this in real life is if you got stuck in one of those ski season traffic jams that happen regularly between Golden and the tunnel when headed West. If you need to recharge before you get to the tunnel it looks pretty limited. A couple level 2 chargers and a supercharger in Idaho Springs. A level 2 charger in Georgetown, and another in Silver Plume. It’s better than having no chargers, but still not great.

 

[Craigins]

3. Slightly concerned with how long it takes to go from 20% to 80% charge (w/o trailer and likely over an hour w/trailer) - adds about 40 minutes to my trips. Which will require a change in my habits. Hate stopping on my trips if I can avoid it since most of my trips are a round trip of 550km.

Remember you only need to charge enough to get to your next stop with 10-20% left in the battery. You don't always "fill up" at the DCFC stations.

 

[branden]

One thing I would be concerned about if I were doing this in real life is if you got stuck in one of those ski season traffic jams that happen regularly between Golden and the tunnel when headed West. If you need to recharge before you get to the tunnel it looks pretty limited. A couple level 2 chargers and a supercharger in Idaho Springs. A level 2 charger in Georgetown, and another in Silver Plume. It’s better than having no chargers, but still not great.

Traffic / lower speeds is actually more efficient than higher speeds in an EV.

 

[Taycanfrank]

EA will most certainly not be altering locations to accommodate trailers. I'm assuming that hope is from people that haven't experienced the joy that is Electrify America.. their entire network is a complete & utter shitshow. Most stations don't even have enough room or long enough cords to hook up if the charger is on the wrong side of your car, which they have no intention of fixing.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Sounds like your wife wants something to trailer. Let us know if you are getting a camper or a boat!

She wants me to eventually get something like an Airstream.

Edit: But even then, I don't see us towing it cross country. I think Its much more likely we'll be towing it to our property in Fairplay, which is a bit south of Breckinridge. There are some ChargePoint DC Fast Chargers in Fairplay.

 

[COdogman]

Traffic / lower speeds is actually more efficient than higher speeds in an EV.

Good to know, thanks. So that would even apply to stop and go traffic on a steep uphill grade towing 8100 lbs? Or is there a certain speed that needs to be maintained to keep that efficiency?

 

[branden]

Good to know, thanks. So that would even apply to stop and go traffic on a steep uphill grade towing 8100 lbs? Or is there a certain speed that needs to be maintained to keep that efficiency?

Most of the efficiency impact when towing is due to aero drag, but some is due to getting the weight moving - you'd want to keep rolling even at very low speed if possible for best efficiency.

 

[stickyfingers]

Remember you only need to charge enough to get to your next stop with 10-20% left in the battery. You don't always "fill up" at the DCFC stations.

I agree - in my case I'll have to install a 240v charger in 2 locations. Need to upgrade my cabin's electrical panel - lol - it's still using the old edison fuses and a 60-amp service. While we are up there typically for 2 days we will need to get a good charge there to be able to get home. First world problems.

 

[Craigins]

I agree - in my case I'll have to install a 240v charger in 2 locations. Need to upgrade my cabin's electrical panel - lol - it's still using the old edison fuses and a 60-amp service. While we are up there typically for 2 days we will need to get a good charge there to be able to get home. First world problems.

I'm in the same situation. 360mi trip, have to upgrade the cabin to charge the R1T. My main issue is there are no DCFC within 220 mi, aside from 1 plug that is 50kW.

Need that RAN built out!

 

[moosetags]

I just watched the TFL Rivian vs. Ike Video. I was impressed with the Rivian's towing performance. The range performance is about what I expected.

We have an Airstream Travel Trailer that weighs 7,400# ready to camp. We are somewhat experienced with over 200,000 miles of Airstream towing over sixteen years. We have been towing with Silverado Duramax pick-ups. We now feel confident that the R1T will be up to the task of towing our Airstream.

On our cross -country Airstream trips, we don't often tow over 300 miles in a day. When we get our R1T, we plan to use it to tow the Airstream. We hope that we will be able to get 100 miles per charge on average. We believe that we could handle two charging sessions per day. This would allow us to continue our Airstream travels using the R1T as our primary tow vehicle.

We are hopeful that the EV charging options will continue to improve over the next couple of years.

SuEllyn and Brian

 

[Doublemfarms]

6 to 8 mpg on a Ford 150 ecoboost and V8 Ram Hemi, respectively.

You’ll notice I said the diesel HD trucks.

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