Officially Unofficial 22" Wheel Efficiency & Range Reports

[C.R. Rivian]

Thanks, C.R. Is that what your guessometer is telling you, what you are extrapolating from your driving to a certain percentage, or are you taking your R1T to close to 0% charge and getting 320?

Either way, very impressive.

In prep for an out of town trip, which ended up being canceled, I charged to 100% and got the 320. Those miles were in town.

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[SASSquatch]

In prep for an out of town trip, which ended up being canceled, I charged to 100% and got the 320. Those miles were in town.

Thank you for the additional context. The in-town numbers are relevant for me, personally, since I will be using the R1T as a daily driver.

I've been driving an electrified vehicle for the better part of a decade now but it still takes getting used to realizing your in-town mileage with an EV is always better then highway because of the regen (+) and lower wind resistance vs highway (-).

For those of us who spent the majority of their lives driving ICE vehicles, in-town always gave you terrible mileage.

 

[DJG]

Thank you for the additional context. The in-town numbers are relevant for me, personally, since I will be using the R1T as a daily driver.

I've been driving an electrified vehicle for the better part of a decade now but it still takes getting used to realizing your in-town mileage with an EV is always better then highway because of the regen (+) and lower wind resistance vs highway (-).

For those of us who spent the majority of their lives driving ICE vehicles, in-town always gave you terrible mileage.

While a common belief, this actually isn't always true, and perhaps not even true for most people in actual use, unless the battery is preconditioned prior to driving. Just like ICE vehicles, short trips from a cold start are the most inefficient driving you can do (more so than even highway driving at 75mph). You are correct that once the battery is conditioned, the EV is more efficient in city driving at 30-50mph speeds with stop and go than it is on the highway. So it depends on if we're talking actual daily use city driving which is often short trips from cold starts, or if we're talking about a range test driving around the city all day vs. on a highway loop. They are two different outcomes.

It was the same with my Audi, and is the same with the Rivian, I get better efficiency (relative to my overall average) on long road trips than I do in daily driving because of this fact. Case in point, my overall average efficiency is about 2.15mi/kwh over 3,000+ miles, yet I averaged nearly 2.4mi/kwh on a round trip in a day to Houston and back yesterday (175mi each way). I've achieved similarly higher numbers on longer trips on the highway than my overall average. A typical efficiency number for a <10 mi trip from a cold start will be lucky to crack 2 mi/kwh and is often less. Part of this, especially right now, is the energy required to initially condition the cabin in addition to the battery.

This is why it's so important for Rivian to implement a charge timer with battery preconditioning for a set departure time. It makes a huge difference in the daily efficiency and operating cost.

 

[SASSquatch]

While a common belief, this actually isn't always true, and perhaps not even true for most people in actual use, unless the battery is preconditioned prior to driving. Just like ICE vehicles, short trips from a cold start are the most inefficient driving you can do (more so than even highway driving at 75mph). You are correct that once the battery is conditioned, the EV is more efficient in city driving at 30-50mph speeds with stop and go than it is on the highway. So it depends on if we're talking actual daily use city driving which is often short trips from cold starts, or if we're talking about a range test driving around the city all day vs. on a highway loop. They are two different outcomes.

It was the same with my Audi, and is the same with the Rivian, I get better efficiency (relative to my overall average) on long road trips than I do in daily driving because of this fact. Case in point, my overall average efficiency is about 2.15mi/kwh over 3,000+ miles, yet I averaged nearly 2.4mi/kwh on a round trip in a day to Houston and back yesterday (175mi each way). I've achieved similarly higher numbers on longer trips on the highway than my overall average. A typical efficiency number for a <10 mi trip from a cold start will be lucky to crack 2 mi/kwh and is often less. Part of this, especially right now, is the energy required to initially condition the cabin in addition to the battery.

This is why it's so important for Rivian to implement a charge timer with battery preconditioning for a set departure time. It makes a huge difference in the daily efficiency and operating cost.

Valid points. I am factoring in the energy return from regen in short distance trips which you will benefit from irrespective of battery temperature (but will be impacted by state of charge).

In my BMW i3s I regularly get over 5 mi/kWh on my commute which is 13 miles in heavy DC traffic one way.

When I take an all highway route, which is 26 miles with much less stop and go, that is reduced to 3.1 mi/kWh.

The i3 also has blended brake pedal regen which the R1T doesn't.

 

[DJG]

Valid points. I am factoring in the energy return from regen in short distance trips which you will benefit from irrespective of battery temperature (but will be impacted by state of charge).

In my BMW i3s I regularly get over 5 mi/kWh on my commute which is 13 miles in heavy DC traffic one way.

When I take an all highway route, which is 26 miles with much less stop and go, that is reduced to 3.1 mi/kWh.

The i3 also has blended brake pedal regen which the R1T doesn't.

Also, just to be technical, you benefit from regen relative to an ICE vehicle doing the same thing (braking), but you do NOT benefit from regen relative to the alternative of just driving at a constant speed. It's not really possible in the real world, but driving a constant 30mph around the city would be way more efficient than what actually happens, which is stopping and starting. Regen is not 100% efficient, and with every regen event, there is an opposite event of getting back up to speed. The net result of that entire event is still a loss of energy.

The better efficiency you get in city driving vs. highway is due to lower speeds, not regen. Regen partially offsets the reduction in efficiency from stopping and starting.

 

[SASSquatch]

Also, just to be technical, you benefit from regen relative to an ICE vehicle doing the same thing (braking), but you do NOT benefit from regen relative to the alternative of just driving at a constant speed. It's not really possible in the real world, but driving a constant 30mph around the city would be way more efficient than what actually happens, which is stopping and starting. Regen is not 100% efficient, and with every regen event, there is an opposite event of getting back up to speed. The net result of that entire event is still a loss of energy.

The better efficiency you get in city driving vs. highway is due to lower speeds, not regen. Regen partially offsets the reduction in efficiency from stopping and starting.

You are assuming that regen is happening at e

Also, just to be technical, you benefit from regen relative to an ICE vehicle doing the same thing (braking), but you do NOT benefit from regen relative to the alternative of just driving at a constant speed. It's not really possible in the real world, but driving a constant 30mph around the city would be way more efficient than what actually happens, which is stopping and starting. Regen is not 100% efficient, and with every regen event, there is an opposite event of getting back up to speed. The net result of that entire event is still a loss of energy.

The better efficiency you get in city driving vs. highway is due to lower speeds, not regen. Regen partially offsets the reduction in efficiency from stopping and starting.

Not going to challenge you on the lower speeds vs regen but in a vehicle that has regen vs a vehicle that doesn't you will get better efficiency with regen and the regen is making up for some of the lost efficiency by having to stop and go in traffic. Agreed that lower driving speed (constant) is what would provide the better efficiency in a vacuum.

 

[DJG]

You are assuming that regen is happening at e


Not going to challenge you on the lower speeds vs regen but in a vehicle that has regen vs a vehicle that doesn't you will get better efficiency with regen and the regen is making up for some of the lost efficiency by having to stop and go in traffic. Agreed that lower driving speed (constant) is what would provide the better efficiency in a vacuum.

Yes, definitely regen is better than the alternative (energy turned into heat and worn brakes). Just saying that a full cycle of regen and reaccelerating back to speed is not as efficient as just going a constant speed to get from A to B.

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