New Guy Range Issues - need some help

[Hereforthesnacks]

Just making sure I understand the feedback from folks here. If he does three 50 mile trips at those temps and not on the highway, and he gets about 150 miles out of a large pack for those three trips, that’s to be expected?

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[gordonrands]

Also, the battery loses capacity when it gets cold. It can lose 10% or more depending on how cold it is. Rivian does try to keep the battery warm, but doing so requires energy and drains the battery.

Interesting thread for someone with no STEM background. My question is whether for light use (~ 6-10 miles/day unless I go out of town) in 15-30 degree weather, parked outside, it would be better (either in terms of energy cost or long term battery maintenance) to keep the vehicle plugged into the charger or just accept the big initial range hit. I generally warm the seats, steering wheel and the windshield and leave everything else off around town, and only use cabin heating vents when traveling out of town.

Also, to reduce drain when charging or parked unplugged does it make a difference what my cabin temperature is set at? I didn't think it did so I tend to leave it at 75 in the winter but as noted above rarely try to heat the cabin.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Also, make sure your tire pressure is up at the recommended level.

Edited to add: May be helpful if OP reported results in terms of efficiency as well.

 

[André]

No. Unfortunately, it only works on a schedule. You can set the schedule an hour before you leave, which would still work. This only matters if you need the range, which isn't the case for most people driving daily. It has been a requested feature for a more direct preconditioning button for a while. I'm sure we will get one eventually.

It will work on a schedule ONLY if the conditioning brings the range below the set range and start to charge back the battery pack. If range stays over the range set it will not warm the pack to 50F. This is not a conditioning option for the battery but for the cabin. It doesn’t make sense for anyone who need the full range of his car In winter time. The requested feature for an option to manually set a conditioning for DC fast charging will warm the pack to 85F and is not the right solution. The system should warm the pack at 50F whenever you heat or defrost the cabin with the car plugged in as Tesla does.

 

[Mathme]

As others have said, cold weather will zap battery range if the truck has to warm up the pack all of the time

I have a Quad with AT 20 Pirelli tires and if I charge to 80%, the driver display (guess-o-meter) will say about 235 miles. This number is a Fallacy and definitely wishful thinking. For a daily drive however, that's way more than enough range so I don't worry about it.

For Road trips however, in over 22k miles and roadtripping over 800 miles in a day I've learned:

First, on an 85-20ish % charge, my truck will average about 150-190 miles if driving about 70 on the freeway. This distance equals out to about 2.5-3 hours of driving which is about a good bladder distance. If driving from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe (sea level to over 7500 feet elevation) that range will drop to the 100 miles between the two spaces. Elevation, wind, cold will greatly affect range.

Second, the best way to plan these trips is to use the Navigation function and program it from one stop to the next - these stops can either be your actual destination, or the next charge stop. The nav is pretty good a estimating the miles you'll have left at that charge (it usually has more miles than the original estimate).

I also try to think ahead of the truck a little bit. For example, I was driving from Seattle back to the SF Bay Area in November when there were predictions of bad snow storms along the route in Southern OR, and Northern CA. The typical stops are a RAN in Roseburg, OR, and then another RAN in Mt Shasta in CA which is about 180 miles and includes a 4000 foot pass. Since the weather was iffy and could turn snotty, I chose to stop about 1/2 way between the two at an EA station and topped it back up to 70% SoC. The truck wasn't asking for it and I ended up not needing it however, while traveling alone though a bit of a DCFC desert, it was worth the peace of mind.

third, if going on a long road trip , or to a new area, I also spend some time on ABRP and map out the trip and do a little research on stops and so forth as I find this generally time well spent.

 

[HaveBlue]

Here's some practical advice if you aren't getting enough range. Don't fret, just set the charge level higher. Level 2 charging is much less degrading than DC to higher levels. It's more important that you don't have range anxiety and can just enjoy your new car. Also, using the seat and steering heater is more efficient than setting the cabin heat so high. Consider a bit more conservative cabin temp and direct it to the feet.

 

[carsly]

What I can add is that during a Fall (really August) dropoff to college, having done it in a Cybertruck, is efficiency at that time of year can be 20-30% higher than what you're experiencing now, and even more if you precondition - warm up or cool down while plugged in to the wall - AND make sure your tire pressures are set properly at all times.

Unlike ICE, slight variations in tire pressures, even 2-3 PSI low, can cause a range hit of 10% in my experience. This probably won't set off a TPMS warning, so it's something you need to check. So when it's cold in NJ, and I"m also in NJ, it pays to check your tire pressures every couple weeks or especially before a planned trip instead of once per season on ICE vehicles.

 

[Kidentist]

Average "efficiency" since delivery inJune 2024 2.3 Mi/KwH
Cold weather (last 400 miles/2 months) "efficiency" 1.4 Mi/KwH
You do the math.
Central WA
Dual Motor Std. +

 

[mkhuffman]

Interesting thread for someone with no STEM background. My question is whether for light use (~ 6-10 miles/day unless I go out of town) in 15-30 degree weather, parked outside, it would be better (either in terms of energy cost or long term battery maintenance) to keep the vehicle plugged into the charger or just accept the big initial range hit. I generally warm the seats, steering wheel and the windshield and leave everything else off around town, and only use cabin heating vents when traveling out of town.

Also, to reduce drain when charging or parked unplugged does it make a difference what my cabin temperature is set at? I didn't think it did so I tend to leave it at 75 in the winter but as noted above rarely try to heat the cabin.

IMO it is always best to keep the truck plugged in when it is that cold. Yes, it will use energy from your EVSE to warm the battery, but cold temperatures are not good for the life of the battery. So keeping it warmer and in the healthy range is a good practice for longer battery life. IMO.

Set the target charge at 80% and leave it plugged in even after it reaches the target.

Keeping the cabin at 75 will significantly impact efficiency when driving, but since you don't drive far, I would not be concerned about that. It may take more energy if you remote start and want to condition the cabin before driving, but off and charging (or unplugged) I don't think the cabin temperature matters.

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