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Flat towing a Rivian

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CappyJax

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Apologize for my fat fingers and bad eyesight! Really destroyed your name!
I think several members of this group have different views on regen beyond just braking.
Like I said previously, I just want the ability to configure it to off when it’s a Toad.
But frankly, I don’t buy that regen braking would safely stop BOTH my 50k RV and the R1T. Trust me, I’ve seen RV drivers accidentally pull their TOADS without knowing that theTOAD’s wheels were locked.
I would think if it was all that easy, why put mechanical brakes on the R1T in the first place? What are the impacts to ABS features?
I’ll love using the R1T’s regen braking when I’m in it driving.
I didn't say regen would stop your rig, but it would slow it down, or maintain speed, even on the steepest hills. The motors can produce a significant force at speed and could easily slow or maintain the speed of your rig down a slope while throwing a lot of energy into the batteries. As you slow down, that force diminishes and you need the mechanical brakes to maintain a similar force. You could have an EV without mechanical brakes. But as the regen braking force is diminished, you would need to apply a reverse field to the motors which would use energy where the mechanical brakes would not. Also, the mechanical brakes are a fail safe.
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StevieD

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FYI: Episode 5 of “The Long Way Up” shows R1T VIN#1 with depleted battery in South America being towed by a semi-truck to regen. It took a fairly short amount of time give it enough power.

Rivian R1T R1S Flat towing  a Rivian D38BF0B6-9C8E-4473-985B-9F5D9ECB5C9B
 

Babbuino

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FYI: Episode 5 of “The Long Way Up” shows R1T VIN#1 with depleted battery in South America being towed by a semi-truck to regen. It took a fairly short amount of time give it enough power.

D38BF0B6-9C8E-4473-985B-9F5D9ECB5C9B.jpeg
I saw that, they claimed half the range in 1 hour of towing... Not sure what pack they were using though since in the begining they mentioned ~200miles range, but I also saw that they got ~315 later on the trip.
 

StevieD

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https://fitmaster.roadmasterinc.com/fitmaster-results/?years=2021&make=RIVIAN&model=R1T


“Good news! We are currently searching for this vehicle to pattern for a new design.

“If you happen to have it, and can travel to our Vancouver, WA facility, we will provide you with a free ROADMASTER baseplate, including free installation, for the use of your vehicle in patterning a new bracket.

“We will need the vehicle for five days to design the bracket. If you are interested in this offer please email our baseplate coordinator, Glenda Apple at [email protected]
 

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CappyJax

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ERguy

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The official word from Rivian is that it will be towable. I would go with that over a rumor on a forum.
Yeah, the flat towing was announced in a tweet 5/17/2019, but I certainly couldn't find any verification on the Rivian website.

I don't know why somebody would make something like that up and post it on the forum. Perhaps the more recent official word from Rivian is that the R1t and R1s cannot be flat towed, and old information stemming from that tweet years ago keeps getting passed along despite it no longer being correct.

I certainly hope you are correct though. I'm not always as optimistic as I'd like to me. I should work on that.

I'll see if I can get clarification from Rivian by email or chat. If I do, I'll post a screenshot.
 

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It's official. Rivians can NOT be flat towed... straight from Rivian.

Rivian R1T R1S Flat towing  a Rivian Capture.JPG
 

Trandall

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Doesn't this info directly contradict statement from the Rebelle Rally where the driver in an interview stated that the R1T used was tow charged? I guess it could be something they tried in prototype but decided against for production.
 

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Doesn't this info directly contradict statement from the Rebelle Rally where the driver in an interview stated that the R1T used was tow charged? I guess it could be something they tried in prototype but decided against for production.
I think you are mixing 2 different scenarios.

1) You can tow charge to add range to the battery in an emergency
2) You cannot flat tow behind another vehicle for extended periods of time
 

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ERguy

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Doesn't this info directly contradict statement from the Rebelle Rally where the driver in an interview stated that the R1T used was tow charged? I guess it could be something they tried in prototype but decided against for production.
Perhaps the scenario described in the interview can technically be done, but Rivian will not permit owners to do it. They are going to do a lot of things while testing the preproduction vehicles they don't want customers doing in order to push the vehicles to their limits. Rivian wants to find out what their trucks can do before failing, but they probably doing want customers pushing vehicles to the limits resulting in equipment failures.

So although you may be able to tow the vehicle to charge it... Getting Rivian to replace anything that breaks under warranty is a different story.
 

SANZC02

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Perhaps the scenario described in the interview can technically be done, but Rivian will not permit owners to do it. They are going to do a lot of things while testing the preproduction vehicles they don't want customers doing in order to push the vehicles to their limits. Rivian wants to find out what their trucks can do before failing, but they probably doing want customers pushing vehicles to the limits resulting in equipment failures.

So although you may be able to tow the vehicle to charge it... Getting Rivian to replace anything that breaks under warranty is a different story.
I recall that being confirmed by RJ Scaringe as a supported feature in an interview, although I do not remember when so I asked customer service to confirm it is going to be a supported feature... While I had them on a chat, had to poke the nest about when more info may be coming, we have a new response now, " on the horizon, so just a matter of time"... ;-)

3/8/2021, 3:50:57 PM - SANZCO2: Hi Caitlin, In the movie Long Way Up, they added range to the trucks by tow charging. I recall an interview where RJ Scaringe said that would be a supported feature. I do not see that on the web page. Can you tell me if it is indeed going to be a supported feature and what kind of range you cold expect by towing the vehicle?
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3/8/2021, 3:52:36 PM - Caitlin: Great question. Yes! Rivians can be tow charged. Essentially, another vehicle can help add range back to your Electric Adventure Vehicle by towing and placing Rivian in 'neutral' We will be sharing more information about tow charging capabilities as we move closer to production!
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3/8/2021, 3:53:50 PM - SANZCO2: OK, thanks for confirming.
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3/8/2021, 3:54:19 PM - Caitlin: My pleasure! Are there any other questions I can help answer?
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3/8/2021, 3:55:03 PM - SANZCO2: Not unless you can tell me when more details will be announced... :)
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3/8/2021, 3:55:37 PM - Caitlin: I wish I had an answer for that! There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon, so just a matter of time.
 

ERguy

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I recall that being confirmed by RJ Scaringe as a supported feature in an interview, although I do not remember when so I asked customer service to confirm it is going to be a supported feature... While I had them on a chat, had to poke the nest about when more info may be coming, we have a new response now, " on the horizon, so just a matter of time"... ;-)

3/8/2021, 3:50:57 PM - SANZCO2: Hi Caitlin, In the movie Long Way Up, they added range to the trucks by tow charging. I recall an interview where RJ Scaringe said that would be a supported feature. I do not see that on the web page. Can you tell me if it is indeed going to be a supported feature and what kind of range you cold expect by towing the vehicle?
------
3/8/2021, 3:52:36 PM - Caitlin: Great question. Yes! Rivians can be tow charged. Essentially, another vehicle can help add range back to your Electric Adventure Vehicle by towing and placing Rivian in 'neutral' We will be sharing more information about tow charging capabilities as we move closer to production!
------
3/8/2021, 3:53:50 PM - SANZCO2: OK, thanks for confirming.
------
3/8/2021, 3:54:19 PM - Caitlin: My pleasure! Are there any other questions I can help answer?
------
3/8/2021, 3:55:03 PM - SANZCO2: Not unless you can tell me when more details will be announced... :)
------
3/8/2021, 3:55:37 PM - Caitlin: I wish I had an answer for that! There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon, so just a matter of time.
Although I think this is great news, it confuses me even more.

Why would we be able to tow charge a Rivian in neutral to add range according to one customer service rep, yet not be able to tow a Rivian with any wheels on the ground according to a 2nd customer service rep, all in the same day?

Weird.

I do know many ICE vehicles have the ability to be flat towed for only short distances and under certain speeds. Maybe the explanation is related to various similar limitations. For instance, the manual for ice cars may say something like "do not tow with all wheels on the ground for more than 5 miles and keep speeds under 30 mph."

There are only a handful of ice vehicles that have allowed flat towing without any restrictions.
 
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DucRider

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Although I think this is great news, it confuses me even more.

Why would we be able to tow charge a Rivian in neutral to add range according to one customer service rep, yet not be able to tow a Rivian with any wheels on the ground according to a 2nd customer service rep, all in the same day?

Weird.
Tow charging implies a driver in the Rivian and the vehicle "on".
Towing (flat or otherwise) implies an unoccupied vehicle with all systems "off".

I can see issues having an EV powered up with the HV battery and drivetrain active with nobody on-board.
 

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So one person hangs out in the Rivian streaming Amazon Prime videos while it is tow charged behind your RV or whatever. Then every once in a while you unhook and drive to deplete the battery. Sure it takes more people and kinda sounds like a PITA, but that's the Adventure™!
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