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Anyone in the forums have access to engineers at Rivian to pass on an idea?

Interferon

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A super useful feature that could be added for little cost to Rivians would be an auxiliary charging plug in the back that can operate while the vehicle is moving. Here are a few use cases:

1. Pulling a trailer that has solar panels on the roof could help extend time between chargings by constantly adding some power from the solar panels to the truck battery.
2. If you are going somewhere very remote that doesn't have charging infrastructure, you can throw a small generator in the pickup bed and have it running while traveling to extend the time before having to stop for a full charge.
3. You could throw a single solar panel and small inverter (400 watts or so) in the pickup bed and have it charge continuously when parked at work or home, plus while driving. It won't completely eliminate the need for charging, but it will reduce the amount of charging needed.

It wouldn't have to be a full-sized CSS plug like the front, since it won't be carrying nearly as much power. It could be a smaller proprietary plug hidden behind a pull-out panel in the back.

The key is that is would have to work both while moving and while parked.
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CommodoreAmiga

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You’re not going to get any meaningful range from a small solar panel. Estimates seem to be ~450Whr/mi consumption, so a 400W panel would give you 0.8 miles of range, per hour, at 100% efficiency… which isn’t even possible. Realistically, you’re looking at less than 0.5 miles of range, per hour.

not worth it.
 
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Interferon

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You’re not going to get any meaningful range from a small solar panel. Estimates seem to be ~450Whr/mi consumption, so a 400W panel would give you 0.8 miles of range, per hour, at 100% efficiency… which isn’t even possible. Realistically, you’re looking at less than 0.5 miles of range, per hour.

not worth it.
So my cargo trailer has 10 250W panels (2.5kw) on the roof. That would be 5 miles/hour additional. Plus charging while parked most of the time.
And I also mentioned a generator use case as well. A 7,200 Watt generator would add around 15 Miles/Hour while running in the back.
As far as the single 400W panel, most vehicles are parked most of the day. With 10 hours of sunlight in the summer, that would be 5 miles a day for free. If you live within 2 miles of work, it would keep your battery topped off most of the time.
 
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Autolycus

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As far as the single 400W panel, most vehicles are parked most of the day. With 10 hours of sunlight in the summer, that would be 5 miles a day for free. If you live within 2 miles of work, it would keep your battery topped off most of the time.
“Free”... except for the cost of the panel and whatever additional electronics are needed. For the cost of the panels, you’d be better off having a larger battery pack in the vehicle.
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