Out of Spec Highway Range Test of Gen2 R1T dual Max - Nowhere near EPA

[endintears]

Shocking to me that the EPA estimate is nowhere near real life testing. Now I feel bad I'm waiting on delivery of a new Tri MAX R1T and trading my Quad. I sold it to my wife on the basis the range was a lot better (371mi) and in reality looks like I'll be getting a similar 266 miles like I am with my Quad

EPA Rating:
R1T - 420 miles
CT - 325 miles
Difference - 95 miles

Actual Range:
R1T - 266 miles
CT - 252 miles
Difference - 14 miles

Total kW Used:
R1T - 141kWh
CT - 121kWh
Difference - 20 kWh

Efficiency: R1T - 1.89 miles/kWh
CT - 2.08 miles/kWh

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[Dave Cundiff]

Depends on whether you drive the way Kyle drives, doesn't it?

My speeds are way lower and my range is quite a bit better. At 55 mph in summer, I think I get right about the Rivians' EPA range.

IDK about Cybertruck, but I am satisfied with our Rivians.

Best wishes!

 

[DayTripping]

Shocking to me that the EPA estimate is nowhere near real life testing. Now I feel bad I'm waiting on delivery of a new Tri MAX R1T and trading my Quad. I sold it to my wife on the basis the range was a lot better (371mi) and in reality looks like I'll be getting a similar 266 miles like I am with my Quad

The faster you go, the less the "improvements" of the G2 are going to matter. Now if they had made significant aerodynamic improvements, then you could see better gains at high speeds. I personally felt all the supposed efficiency gains with the G2 trucks weren't going to matter much for the average person who was driving 70+ mph.

Aerodynamic drag is the biggest force at work once you get up to speed. So unless the Bosch motors and drivetrain was the worst in the world (which it wasn't), there wasn't much to be gained with the Enduro motors. So I never bought into all the supposed gains as they were on the EPA cycle, which favors lower speeds, not real world which in many states is higher speeds.

Then shrinking the large pack to upsell you to a max, which was less than 10% more than the G1 large pack, was sort of bogus.

 

[endintears]

Depends on whether you drive the way Kyle drives, doesn't it?

My speeds are way lower and my range is quite a bit better. At 55 mph in summer, I think I get right about the Rivians' EPA range.

IDK about Cybertruck, but I am satisfied with our Rivians.

Best wishes!

Very valid point....I noticed you have a Quad Large and DM Max R1S...am aware not apples to apples but are you seeing a real difference the way you drive in range between the Large and Max battery? Appreciate your feedback.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I've only driven a bit in my tri-motor, and I can already tell it has a more extensive range. The savings are much more realized in conserve mode as that brings it to the same efficiency as the dual on the highway.

 

[DayTripping]

Very valid point....I noticed you have a Quad Large and DM Max R1S...am aware not apples to apples but are you seeing a real difference the way you drive in range between the Large and Max battery? Appreciate your feedback.

If you drive like a turtle, you can get incredible range. If I believe my energy gauge in my G1 R1T quad, I could go almost 500 miles with my large pack at 45 mph.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

Very valid point....I noticed you have a Quad Large and DM Max R1S...am aware not apples to apples but are you seeing a real difference the way you drive in range between the Large and Max battery? Appreciate your feedback.

Not very systematic, @endintears, but here's what I think I know:

The effective energy content of the Gen 1 2023 Max is about 141-143 kWh, depending on conditions, compared to 130-131 kWh in the Gen 1 2023 Large.

I haven't compared the lifetime efficiencies of the two drivetrains and body configurations. I'm guessing the two drive trains perform similarly, perhaps more so than the EPA ranges would suggest, but an exact comparison wouldn't change any of our decisions so I haven't done it.

In Generation 1 batteries that have been handled similarly, the Max has about 11% more energy than the Large. When that boost matters to us, we usually take the Max. (The difference between a no-charging round trip and a one-charge round trip can be significant, but even that doesn't matter if we had to stop anyway.)

My understanding is that the ratio between "Max" and "Large" in Gen 2 is very different, but I'll let others comment about Gen 2.

I hope this helps!

 

[HaveBlue]

I seem to get pretty close to rated range on my max pack but I'm going to set a trip for the holiday. It's a surprising result from Kyle.

 

[R1Tom]

I've only driven a bit in my tri-motor, and I can already tell it has a more extensive range. The savings are much more realized in conserve mode as that brings it to the same efficiency as the dual on the highway.

What efficiency have you been seeing so far?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

What efficiency have you been seeing so far?

around 2 mi/kWh at 75. A little better than my quad.

 

[R1Tom]

around 2 mi/kWh at 75. A little better than my quad.

Does it work like QM where All Purpose stays 3 motor drive all the time or does it auto disconnect the rear 2 motors and reconnect when throttle input dictates?

 

[DuoRivian]

around 2 mi/kWh at 75. A little better than my quad.

So similar efficiency to the quad and a less than 10% increase in battery size - other than being tri motor the max pack doesn’t give much benefit. Shame they reduced the lathe down to what a Gen 1 standard battery was.

 

[SANZC02]

around 2 mi/kWh at 75. A little better than my quad.

That is why I think something is not right with this test. The Enduro motors are supposed to be more efficient than the Bosch motors. I would just caution people about making a decision based on this one test.

1.89 just sounds really low, I use driver + in conserve/low on the highway, drive posted speed limits up to 75 and 78 for anything over 75. This was the trip readout from my summer trip. It is not like I was babying the vehicle trying to stretch the range, just driving normal. When not on the highway I use all-purpose/standard.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

So similar efficiency to the quad and a less than 10% increase in battery size - other than being tri motor the max pack doesn’t give much benefit. Shame they reduced the lathe down to what a Gen 1 standard battery was.

I was getting well under 2 at 75 on the same conditions with the quad. More like 1.75 in conserve

 

[DayTripping]

I seem to get pretty close to rated range on my max pack but I'm going to set a trip for the holiday. It's a surprising result from Kyle.

Its all about speed for the most part. EPA rating is for mix of city/hwy. The average speed on the highway portion is about 48 mph with a top speed of 60. EVs almost always do better in the city than why. So the only way a Rivian is going to meet the EPA rating, when on the highway, is by doing about 55 mph. The faster you go, the narrower the actual mileage difference (not percentage) will be between the std, large and max packs.

https://www.epa.gov/vehicle-and-fuel-emissions-testing/dynamometer-drive-schedules

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