2500 Miles with Trailer in Tow with R1T...Concluded!

[tyfly867]

Time for an update!

We made it to our first long stop, and our half way point. We will be relaxing here until Thursday, just using the truck as a daily and charging off the dryer plug. Thursday we start up our journey, traveling 200 miles for camping in through the Upper Peninsula.

We just installed the new update with camp mode, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect as we will be making use of it this weekend!

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[wreighven]

Did you tow the Basecamp with the Model X, or exclusively with the Taco? If the former, would you mind sharing some of your efficiency/range numbers?

Anywhere between 595-800 wh/mile. So I’d get about 110-140 miles of range. It was “fine” for my needs. Figure I will get that it slightly better in the R1S. Kind of worried about the two EA stops I’ll have to make between my house in Frisco and my property in Comfort. Seems like an unreliable charging experience along I-35…

 

[tyfly867]

Great thread! How is the towing experience overall? Like the actual experience of towing in comparison to other things you have towed with? Hitching up, feel on the road, etc.

Mind you the trailer we have is super light, but the truck is as smooth as ever. The hookup was a breeze and the lighting works perfectly.

We did have to buy a longer than normal hitch pin, as the trailer hitch is quite thick and our original hitch pin was too short.

We have taken a efficacy hit vs not towing, which you have to mindful of when taking a trip because the of the sporadic charging infrastructure.

 

[jakef801]

We made it to our first long stop, and our half way point. We will be relaxing here until Thursday, just using the truck as a daily and charging off the dryer plug. Thursday we start up our journey, traveling 200 miles for camping in through the Upper Peninsula.

We just installed the new update with camp mode, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect as we will be making use of it this weekend!

Right on! Sweet on the Camp Mode timing as well. Door Peninsula? My friend and I drove there from SLC in late 2000s and had an insane fishing trip. Slayed the Kings and brought a ton home to smoke.

 

[tyfly867]

Door Peninsula?

Nailed it.

 

[Yossarian]

Pretty impressive efficiency and range figures while towing @tyfly867. Thanks for posting and look forward to more photos, narrative and data.

The efficiency and range numbers you posted, as well as the good results @wreighven got towing his Airstream behind a Model X are very encouraging for folks like me. I thought that towing my T@B would result in something in the area just north of 1.0 mi/kWh, and that there was no alternative to the waiting for the Max. That may not be the case however.

If the towing I plan to do results in consumption figures close to what you two report, the 135 kWh Large pack could work. So if we're talking something around 650w/mi, If I've done the math right, for the Large pack, that would mean nearly 90 kWh's of effective capacity (using 80/15 charge/
reharge percentages). That in turn would mean stopping to recharge at about 135 - 145 miles, and weaken the argument for waiting for the Max (something that may turn out to be similar to the wait of Vladimir and Estragon).

 

[wreighven]

Pretty impressive efficiency and range figures while towing @tyfly867. Thanks for posting and look forward to more photos, narrative and data.

The efficiency and range numbers you posted, as well as the good results @wreighven got towing his Airstream behind a Model X are very encouraging for folks like me. I thought that towing my T@B would result in something in the area just north of 1.0 mi/kWh, and that there was no alternative to the waiting for the Max. That may not be the case however.

If the towing I plan to do results in consumption figures close to what you two report, the 135 kWh Large pack could work. So if we're talking something around 650w/mi, If I've done the math right, for the Large pack, that would mean nearly 90 kWh's of effective capacity (using 80/15 charge/
reharge percentages). That in turn would mean stopping to recharge at about 135 - 145 miles, and weaken the argument for waiting for the Max (something that may turn out to be similar to the wait of Vladimir and Estragon).

I absolutely think I will get between 130-150 miles of towing range with my R1S based on what I had with my X. Unless you really need 200ish miles of towing, I wouldn’t bother with the Max Pack.

That being said, I am still weighing R1S vs. T with Max Pack. The only argument I have for the Max Pack at the moment is it will make the next 5 years of shitty charging infrastructure less so (and I guess a much higher max towing weight limit). The R1S has the shorter length for garaging, 7 seats, ability to sleep in it, etc. Tough decision.

 

[tyfly867]

That in turn would mean stopping to recharge at about 135 - 145 miles, and weaken the argument for waiting for the Max (something that may turn out to be similar to the wait of Vladimir and Estragon).

As @wreighven said, I think the biggest variable for me is the charging infrastructure. Presently, going on this long trip with a trailer has been working pretty well, but not without small issues and not without a lot of prior planning. Not to mention the lack of pull through charging stalls.

 

[Tahoe Man]

I absolutely think I will get between 130-150 miles of towing range with my R1S based on what I had with my X. Unless you really need 200ish miles of towing, I wouldn’t bother with the Max Pack.

That being said, I am still weighing R1S vs. T with Max Pack. The only argument I have for the Max Pack at the moment is it will make the next 5 years of shitty charging infrastructure less so (and I guess a much higher max towing weight limit). The R1S has the shorter length for garaging, 7 seats, ability to sleep in it, etc. Tough decision.

While driving through town this holiday weekend, I saw four Rivians at a local EA charging spot. I thought that was pretty rare so we (wife and I) turned around. I spoke to one of the owners, he said he was waiting to charge, because the 350 charger he was going to use was broken. The irony is EA just installed this location less than a year ago and it already has a broken charger. To add salt to injury, it was a very hot day too, so having to fumbling around with the chargers didn't seem appealing.

Unfortunately the wife and I came to the agreement that we will put on hold any Rivian purchase. We recently decided to wait to see if the fast charging situation improves significantly over the next 3-5 years. It's disappointing it has only gone from bad to worse over the past year and half or so.

 

[Yossarian]

I absolutely think I will get between 130-150 miles of towing range with my R1S based on what I had with my X. Unless you really need 200ish miles of towing, I wouldn’t bother with the Max Pack.

That being said, I am still weighing R1S vs. T with Max Pack. The only argument I have for the Max Pack at the moment is it will make the next 5 years of shitty charging infrastructure less so (and I guess a much higher max towing weight limit). The R1S has the shorter length for garaging, 7 seats, ability to sleep in it, etc. Tough decision.

I configured my pre-order as an R1T Max because of what appeared to be the near certainty of a 50% reduction while towing. That level of range reduction is now looking to be overly pessimistic, at least while towing lighter, somewhat more aero trailers. That perhaps takes the R1T Max out of the "mandatory" category for those who plan to tow. Still, as you point out, the extra capacity is likely to come in handy for the next few years given the sorry state of the non-Tesla charging infrastructure. It may also be desirable to have a few extra kW's available in the extremely cold weather we often see when we're in the Mountain West in winter. And even though the R1S is the better vehicle for us, the R1T is a very cool pickup with a lot of great features.

I think that I will let timing be the determining factor about staying with the R1T Max or changing to the R1S. If Rivian still plans to deliver my R1T Max as per their Dec '21 delivery window (1H2023), I'll stay with that. From what I can gather however, Max deliveries are likely to be put off until at least 2024, and Rivian is planning to send notification of that delay before the end of the year. There is also a lot of speculation that the Max may be going the route of the Explore, but I personally think that is unlikely.

If the Max is in fact delayed significantly, I will either change to the R1S, or perhaps order a Kia EV9. Both have the potential to get upwards of 150 miles when towing my limited load, but the Kia charges at 800v and will likely be much easier on the wallet. Not sure what I do with the R1T Max reservation if Kia is the choice though.

 

[emoore]

I configured my pre-order as an R1T Max because of what appeared to be the near certainty of a 50% reduction while towing. That level of range reduction is now looking to be overly pessimistic, at least while towing lighter, somewhat more aero trailers. That perhaps takes the R1T Max out of the "mandatory" category for those who plan to tow. Still, as you point out, the extra capacity is likely to come in handy for the next few years given the sorry state of the non-Tesla charging infrastructure. It may also be desirable to have a few extra kW's available in the extremely cold weather we often see when we're in the Mountain West in winter. And even though the R1S is the better vehicle for us, the R1T is a very cool pickup with a lot of great features.

I think that I will let timing be the determining factor about staying with the R1T Max or changing to the R1S. If Rivian still plans to deliver my R1T Max as per their Dec '21 delivery window (1H2023), I'll stay with that. From what I can gather however, Max deliveries are likely to be put off until at least 2024, and Rivian is planning to send notification of that delay before the end of the year. There is also a lot of speculation that the Max may be going the route of the Explore, but I personally think that is unlikely.

If the Max is in fact delayed significantly, I will either change to the R1S, or perhaps order a Kia EV9. Both have the potential to get upwards of 150 miles when towing my limited load, but the Kia charges at 800v and will likely be much easier on the wallet. Not sure what I do with the R1T Max reservation if Kia is the choice though.

Where did you see that emails about the max pack getting delayed is coming out at the end of this year? Just speculation on this site? Or from Rivian?

 

[Yossarian]

Where did you see that emails about the max pack getting delayed is coming out at the end of this year? Just speculation on this site? Or from Rivian?

While there is a ton of speculation on this and the other Rivian site about both another delay and even the discontinuing of the Max, that's not what I'm basing my expectations on.

At least one poster mentioned that their guide indicated that the Max was going be deferred to 2024. In my case, my guide mentioned only that it seems likely that Rivian will be sending emails with revised delivery windows later this year; no info on whether that meant windows would be moved either to the left or the right however. Given Rivian's history, those emails are likely to be late in the year, but that of course is a guess.

I'm sure that Rivian guides are trying their best to be helpful, but am also sure that their info is somewhat speculative; I'd expect that their knowledge is probably limited to that needed to facilitate deliveries. Still, given the above tidbits from Rivian, and that there has been no official info on the Max from the factory for over a year, a further delay seems not just possible but probably likely. Perhaps RJ or one of the exec leadership will address the Max issue at the next earnings call, but it hasn't been mentioned at either one so far this year.

In case you're curious, the reason for the guide, at least in my case, appears to be to help in the event I choose to change my order to the R1T LR.

 

[tyfly867]

New update to the original post! We are presently at a campground, camping in the bed, with the new camp mode! Bring forth any questions!

 

[tyfly867]

We have reached the conclusion....over 2500 miles when it was all said and done. We had a great time, but are happy to be home. Overall, a great experience thanks in no small part to the fantastic performance of our R1T!

 

[TheIglu]

What's in the cardboard box in the frunk?

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