How you save the $10k from not buying the Max Pack if you camp/overland and need range..

[sizotty]

Sharing my findings and solution for when using the onboard inverter to power your fridge while camping. Beware, it will severely eat into your range. I explain in detail in the video what I have noticed including a test in ideal conditions.







My solution? An EcoFlow power bank that can be efficiently topped up with Solar or the trucks inverter. This is the battery I went with: https://amzn.to/3sHC0cx

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[Sam1212]

Do you ever use it to charge truck?

 

[NY_Rob]

Do you ever use it to charge truck?

This unit can only supply 800watts continuous which is only 6.7amps.. that's not even enough to run the 120V EVSE. Even if it was somehow able to run the EVSE, it would drain this little unit in a few min with no increase in range.

 

[vandy1981]

I took a 6 kwh/5 kw Bluetti system on a recent trip to a cabin that only has a 20 amp 120v circuit. 6 kW is insignificant for long trips but I was able to keep the R1S battery pack at a steady SOC during the week by charging the Bluetti from the 20 amp circuit while I was out on jaunts during the day and plugging it into the Bluetti overnight.

Prices for refurbished Ecoflow and Bluetti systems on ebay have come down a lot over the last year.

 

[NY_Rob]

Kind of crazy how inefficient the Rivian 120V inverter system is... you lost 4.5% (your 5% total observed loss - 0.5% standard range loss over 12hrs for a sitting Rivian vehicle with nothing running at all) of your SOC just running the inverter with NO LOAD on it for 12hrs!

 

[sizotty]

Kind of crazy how inefficient the Rivian 120V inverter system is... you lost 4.5% (your 5% total observed loss - 0.5% standard range loss over 12hrs for a sitting Rivian vehicle with nothing running at all) of your SOC just running the inverter with NO LOAD on it for 12hrs!

Yeah pretty wild huh? I wonder if the 2024 update where they are removing 60% of the R1 ECUs will help address this.

I remember a thread on here where someone upgraded the onboard inverter and found it to get extremely hot while running (its under the passenger seat). Maybe most of the power loss is just waste heat and this could be improved by Rivian getting a better inverter?

 

[NY_Rob]

Yeah pretty wild huh? I wonder if the 2024 update where they are removing 60% of the R1 ECUs will help address this.

I remember a thread on here where someone upgraded the onboard inverter and found it to get extremely hot while running (its under the passenger seat). Maybe most of the power loss is just waste heat and this could be improved by Rivian getting a better inverter?

I have several good quality full sine wave 12VDC-120VAC inverters at home, they draw almost no current when just on with no load. Makes me wonder what else Rivian is powering up just to run the 120VAC inverter?

The good news is that there seems to be lots of low-hanging fruit for Rivian to pick in regards to addressing vampire drain in a meaningful manner where we see some real reduction in drain to the point where no one discusses it any longer.

 

[sizotty]

I have several good quality full sine wave 12VDC-120VAC inverters at home, they draw almost no current when just on with no load. Makes me wonder what else Rivian is powering up just to run the 120VAC inverter?

The good news is that there seems to be lots of low-hanging fruit for Rivian to pick in regards to addressing vampire drain in a meaningful manner where we see some real reduction in drain to the point where no one discusses it any longer.

Totally agree. It would be interesting to test a lightning and cybertruck to see if they are more efficient in shutting down other systems or having their inverters 'idle'.

 

[NY_Rob]

Totally agree. It would be interesting to test a lightning and cybertruck to see if they are more efficient in shutting down other systems or having their inverters 'idle'.

I can't address the inverter drain.. but regarding vampire drain.. our Model 3 has almost no drain and our i3 has no measurable drain over a 24hr period just like our (previous) Bolt. In both those vehicles you have to let them sit for several days if not a week to see any loss in range.

 

[Yossarian]

I just pre-ordered the new EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra to use a home back up. It's a modular unit with great specs: 7.2kW, 120V & 240V and a 6kWh capacity. You can add five more battery packs to bring total capacity to 30kWh. It also can be recharged with household current, at an EV charge point or with either low/hi voltage solar panels. It's heavy, but since it's modular, can be fairly easily transported.

Unexpanded, it won't be able to recharge a Rivian but should easily be able to maintain your SOC. I'm not savvy enough to know if an expanded unit could provide a meaningful recharge, but it would be quite a bit to haul around. Pricing hasn't yet been released (suspect it will be about $4k), but it solves my home back-up situation and I plan to add a few PV panels to power things during a prolonged outage. I will also consider taking it along when we tow our teardrop so that I can run a/c while camping.

 

[grass man]

Thanks for sharing!
In a few hours, I'll take delivery of the Anker Solix F3800 (Kickstarter early-bird pricing) https://www.anker.com/products/a1790?ref=naviMenu_pps&variant=43011257827478
I hope it might provide 5'ish miles in order to get somewhere easier to recover, or at least to maintain SOC while boondocking (while using 200-400watt panels).
I'll be watching this product too.

 

[sizotty]

Great video ! nice rig

Thanks, appreciate it

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