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Can the Rivian with Max Pack tow this trailer 167 miles in the cold?

StormyKnight

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My wife's passion is her horses. She eats, sleeps, dreams and spends most of our money on them. I'm comfortable transitioning to an EV with most of the trailering that we do. It is in the summer months and under 150 miles one way. There is usually a several day stop where the horses and trailer could be unloaded and the truck charged at the show grounds for the return trip. No problem.

My one worry is the veterinary hospital that is 167 miles one way. We rarely need to go there but when we do it's an emergency. We live in Northern Michigan so this trip could be when it is potentially very cold and there is no possibility with the horses and trailer in tow to stop for charging. It would be very dangerous to disconnect a trailer with horses in it or unload the horses at a station. I've got to be able to go from the house to the hospital. The hospital is in Lansing so there will be plenty of DCFC options for the return trip.

Our trailer is the standard box: 7'3" tall, 6'9" wide and 14'3" long. Fully loaded with both horses it weighs 5020lbs. Anyone with more experience EV towing have some thoughts/insight on if it will make it with the Max pack?

Rivian R1T R1S Can the Rivian with Max Pack tow this trailer 167 miles in the cold? tempImagetMnS9l
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COdogman

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No one has done a test with a max pack yet, but the general rule of thumb with EVs and towing seems to be that you will get around 50% of the range you would without the trailer. 5000 lbs isn’t too bad on weight, but add the cold factor and I think that using the 50% estimate is probably as good a guess as any until someone can review a max pack.

My opinion is you would be fine, but there are some very smart people here who do more towing than me and have more EV experience. I’m basing my opinion on the towing tests I’ve seen so far using the large battery pack.

Edit: I’m also assuming you would be able to charge on the return trip if necessary.
 
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crashmtb

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Don’t know where you are coming from, or which wheels/tires, or how fast(or slow) you drive. Wind and cold will be greater factors than trailer weight.

but have a play on ABRP.

Should probably be fine, and worst case if you have to charge(I don’t see why it’s an outright impossibility) you’re maybe parking across a couple spots with the trailer, if there are no pull through ones. If anyone is blocking your use the 800+ ft lbs of torque to nudge them out of the way.
 

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No
 

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If the projected range is 400 miles at 100%, no trailer, and about 50% of that with trailer, you are looking at a range of 200 miles, with the trailer. Cold would reduce range further. And now you also have to assume you are charged up, all the way up to 100%, when these emergencies pop up. Could it do it most of the time, probably. But if I was worried about driving 200 miles in a moments notice for a medical emergency (animal or otherwise), I would probably have another vehicle.

Edit: I have no EV experience, so someone else may have a better guess than me, what I wrote is my thought process.
 
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I will explain.

You don't ever plan to drain the battery to 0 just like you don't ever plan to drive a gas truck until the gas runs out and the engine dies. Unless you want to get stuck on the side of the road I guess. Too many variables can impact your range by a few % to ever plan to run the battery super low. I would never plan to arrive with less than 15% remaining.

And since you will not know ahead of time when an emergency will come up, you will not be starting at 100%. So you are likely starting at 70% or 85% unless you had a few hours of advanced notice to do a max charge.

After you subtract out the top 15% and the bottom 15%, 400 miles of range is actually only 280 usable miles. If you assume 50% loss for the trailer, that brings you down to 140 miles.

And that does not account for:
  • Cold / wind / snow, which could easily knock off another 20%
  • Battery degradation - expect to lose 10% after a year or two
Plus, there probably isn't a fast charger at the vet's parking lot - so your trip is actually further than 167 miles.
 

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I will explain.

You don't ever plan to drain the battery to 0 just like you don't ever plan to drive a gas truck until the gas runs out and the engine dies. Unless you want to get stuck on the side of the road I guess. Too many variables can impact your range by a few % to ever plan to run the battery super low. I would never plan to arrive with less than 15% remaining.

And since you will not know ahead of time when an emergency will come up, you will not be starting at 100%. So you are likely starting at 70% or 85% unless you had a few hours of advanced notice to do a max charge.

After you subtract out the top 15% and the bottom 15%, 400 miles of range is actually only 280 usable miles. If you assume 50% loss for the trailer, that brings you down to 140 miles.

And that does not account for:
  • Cold / wind / snow, which could easily knock off another 20%
  • Battery degradation - expect to lose 10% after a year or two
Plus, there probably isn't a fast charger at the vet's parking lot - so your trip is actually further than 167 miles.
I am a part of a Search and Rescue unit and can deploy 24/7 with only a few minutes notice. I will always try to keep my truck at 90%. While most of the time I will never drive more than 100 miles, there will be times that I need to go 200+. In an emergency, I will not have the luxury of "topping off" for a half-hour, or more, before leaving. I apply the same philosophy with my current ICE, get close to a 1/2 tank, fill it up.
 
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StormyKnight

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Thank you for all of the replies. It gives me something to chew on.

I have a December '18 reservation for a Max Pack and have been meaning to keep my old Silverado as the back up for the long hauls but it has become increasingly unreliable over the last 6 months. I've had to have it towed 3 times to the mechanic (twice with the trailer and horses--not fun) and am looking at my second trip in for repairs in the last 4 days for different problems. I'm not sure it has many more long hauls in it. In short, I'm trying to decide if we can wait until early '23 and have the R1T do everything OR should I just buy a new diesel right now and wait for the R2T. My wife told me tonight that if old Silverado breaks down again on the way to a horse show I will be sleeping in the garage for the rest of the year.
 

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Buy a new truck, sell It when it‘s rivian time. If the used car market stays anywhere near what it is you might even make money ?
 
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What I want to know is: We are aware the Max pack got pushed back till later and has yet to be EPA'd or tested in public. Why are you asking a question no one here (because none of us are Rivian employees) will have an answer to when even the employee themselves do not have a response towards?
 

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ironpig

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I have horses too. I will be towing a 2 horse trailer similar to yours. Luckily the animal hospital is only 27 miles away for us and we don't have to tow long distances to get to the trails etc. We don't show them so we don't take them long distances.

The Rivian w/o Max Pack gives you a conservatively about 135 miles of range. Maybe the pax pack gets you to 165-180?

Based on your use case, I would NOT trust the Rivian to get you there even with the MaxPack (which doesn't exist yet so we don't know how it will perform).

You would have to assume that you are always at full charge when there is an emergency AND that you can fully charge your Rivian before you turn around and come back. That's a lot to ask of the current EV tech in the Rivian.

I wouldn't want to find myself in an emergency situation and need several hours to top off the battery before I could even leave for the hospital and know I would make it. (and then have to charge to get back)

If I was in your situation I'd get a diesel truck that's reliable and then when the Rivian with MaxPack comes out - reevaluate.
 

MoreTrout

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Maybe you could try to hunt down one of the lucky ones that already took delivery or will s00n that would be willing to do a test with their vehicle. Load the trailer up with weight to approximate your actual horse and do a range test. While we don't know what the ultimate estimated range and performance of the max pack is, it probably won't be drastically different in the % range hit it gets from the usual variables. In the end, I think the best use of your time would be to dig a little deeper in evaluating the true availability/limitations of any charging stations anywhere near the route. There's probably a good chance that someone, whether it's Rivian or some other network, will be adding more in the next 1-2 years somewhere close enough to the route that even a quick stop could be the difference in getting you there.
 

Rhidan

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My wife told me tonight that if old Silverado breaks down again on the way to a horse show I will be sleeping in the garage for the rest of the year.
Is your garage insulated at least? You could spec the Rivian tent.
 

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What I want to know is: We are aware the Max pack got pushed back till later and has yet to be EPA'd or tested in public.
We really don't know if Rivian has made max packs. It's very possible (or probable) they have some running around doing testing. Possible employees even have them. Max pack doesn't look any different than a large.
 

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Max pack doesn't look any different than a large.
If by looks you mean the same battery nodules' design, you'd be correct. But there is a noticeable size difference as there are more nodules in the Max pack (there's a pic floating about this forum that displays the number of nodules each pack has and how much space they take up. This is probably {mind you, mildly speculating here} one of the reasons the Max pack was removed from the R1S as an option due to that extra space).
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