Conquering the Coquihalla, Towing 6000# Trailer & Boat, Elevation gain: 3950' 2nd leg, 2780' 3rd leg, No issues - range surprisingly good.

[Ripped]

No one has really posted this route before, so I didn't really know what to expect, especially on the big hills. Honestly before the trip, I used AI to simulate range and charging locations. The big test was the first hill out of Hope BC, which climbs 1203 metres in 57 kilometers. A pretty steady and steep climb. I had a potential charge location at Britton Creek at the top of the hill, if I needed it.
But the homework paid off. I didn't need to stop there.

Both big hill climbs (leg 2 & 3) consumed about 30%+ of the battery, each time.

Both Tesla charge station stops didn't require unhooking the trailer. (The ones at the lake did, but the boat was in the water for the week so it didn't matter)
,
Both stop locations are normal pit stops, so the trip duration hit added 15-20 minutes to charge fully, at each stop.

I went in knowing that wind resistance was something to be aware of, as well as potentially being lead-footed going up the steep hills. So we took it easy.

About to start the downhill leg return home tomorrow - so expect the efficiency will improve dramatically, though there are still some significant climbs.

Full data to follow at the conclusion of the trip. Uphill portion efficiency was as follows for each leg: 2.6, 2.0, 2.55 Kilometres/kWh (1.6, 1.24, 1.55 miles/kWh)

Dual motor (Perf) Max pack. Thermals were good the whole trip, though the battery was warm post charging and on the hill climbs.

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[robd]

Did you encounter limited regen after sustained downhill driving?

 

[MountainBikeDude]

No one has really posted this route before, so I didn't really know what to expect, especially on the big hills. Honestly before the trip, I used AI to simulate range and charging locations. The big test was the first hill out of Hope BC, which climbs 1203 metres in 57 kilometers. A pretty steady and steep climb. I had a potential charge location at Britton Creek at the top of the hill, if I needed it.
But the homework paid off. I didn't need to stop there.

Both big hill climbs (leg 2 & 3) consumed about 30%+ of the battery, each time.

Both Tesla charge station stops didn't require unhooking the trailer. (The ones at the lake did, but the boat was in the water for the week so it didn't matter)
,
Both stop locations are normal pit stops, so the trip duration hit added 15-20 minutes to charge fully, at each stop.

I went in knowing that wind resistance was something to be aware of, as well as potentially being lead-footed going up the steep hills. So we took it easy.

About to start the downhill leg return home tomorrow - so expect the efficiency will improve dramatically, though there are still some significant climbs.

Full data to follow at the conclusion of the trip. Uphill portion efficiency was as follows for each leg: 2.6, 2.0, 2.55 Kilometres/kWh (1.6, 1.24, 1.55 miles/kWh)

Dual motor (Perf) Max pack. Thermals were good the whole trip, though the battery was warm post charging and on the hill climbs.

Yeah, the Coquihalla has two big efficiency threats, high speed limits, and lots of climbing. Not too shabby considering.

For reference, similar trip in a Gen 1 Quad without trailer, but with a paddle board on the roof
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...tions-and-rivians-response.62226/post-1065727

 

[Ripped]

Yeah, the Coquihalla has two big efficiency threats, high speed limits, and lots of climbing. Not too shabby considering.

For reference, similar trip in a Gen 1 Quad without trailer, but with a paddle board on the roof
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...tions-and-rivians-response.62226/post-1065727

That's good data

Did you encounter limited regen after sustained downhill driving?

I did not encounter limited regen, on sustained downhill driving. But I did not really see any numbers dramatically go up. The best I got was +4% on the outgoing third leg.

 

[Ripped]

Leg Approx. efficiency, Regen
Vancouver → Hope ~2.6 km/kWh +0%
Hope → Merritt ~2.0 km/kWh +1%
Merritt → Eagle Bay ~2.5 km/kWh +4%
Eagle Bay → Merritt ~2.1 km/kWh +2%
Merritt → Hope ~2.5 km/kWh +3%
Hope → Vancouver ~2.5 km/kWh +0%

Total charging cost (not including the starting SOC)
outgoing = $24.00 + $24.28
Return leg = $31.85 + $12.79

Pet Peeves
People Charging their EVs in the trailer pull throughs
I hate backing up the trailer with that stupid auto-doorlock thing. It's a royal PITA
When trailer towing, I'd like to be able to select the Tesla charging stations, and begin preconditioning the battery. When towing the software decides and defaults to other charging stations, or doesn't do it at all.
Tesla charging stations don't really show up on the Rivian nav screen as an option, so maybe I have to configure that.
The radio bluetooth kept stalling at almost every stop, quite annoying since the upgraded software won't play amazon music anymore

The good- I've had a number of trucks in front of this trailer over the years including a couple of rental diesels (Ram, and Ford) and the R1T handles the trailer among the best of them. Suspension was well matched to the trailer.
Predicted range on the R1T while towing was a tad conservative, but pretty much exact upon arrival.
Thermal performance was very good as far as the battery went, for both outgoing and return legs.

When we pulled into Tesla Merritt, two vehicles were in the trailer pull through, and when we departed this guy was in the trailer pull through, even though there were plenty of other stalls available.

I didn't think people were working on Sunday, so the trailer was across the construction access. They were working, and it was a PITA backing up the trailer from there.
Gotta love entitled people (EV owners are no different apparently)

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