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Zybane

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Towing is the NEMESIS of electric vehicles. Not only does the vehicles range get HAMMERED, but virtually all current charging infrastructure/spots doesn't physically allow to charge with a trailer attached.

Disconnect a trailer half a dozen times to charge and you'll never tow again.
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1civilengr

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This is why we are planning on keeping our VW Touareg diesel for long distance towing. The Rivian would replace our small Honda Fit, and would be used for local commutes and short trip camping.
Still need the Max Pack though!
 

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I’ve towed extensively with our F150 Ecoboost. These numbers aren’t shocking (they actually seem about right, maybe a bit low), and they’ll most likely translate to any EV towing at speed. Drag is the big killer, as people have already stated keeping the speed down can help quite a bit.

News like this may shatter some dreams, but as has been eloquently stated before - the R1T is a kickass vehicle, but it can’t bust physics. Even more aerodynamic designs such as the CT will suffer the same fate towing heavy draggy trailers. It’s just the reality of towing .
 

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numbers are spot on. it's cold so higher air resistance, likely using HVAC, and he's going fast (73mph in the pic). i wouldn't expect any better in those conditions. come summer time i'm sure we will see people getting much better range while towing, especially if they keep it around 60mph, which everyone should be doing anyway, for safety reasons. if you are towing heavy, you shouldn't be going faster than 65mph just as a reasonable safety measure, IMO.
 

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It's a point in time snapshot, at night, in the cold, with AT tires, at a high speed and a large trailer. Additionally, we are all basing this on a guess-o-meter, and assumptions it's linear and accurate. The FAQ says half range at full towing load and I do not see anything here not in line with these assumptions.
AH crap we loose range at night too!
Sorry you lost me with the "at night" part
 

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Towing is the NEMESIS of electric vehicles. Not only does the vehicles range get HAMMERED, but virtually all current charging infrastructure/spots doesn't physically allow to charge with a trailer attached.

Disconnect a trailer half a dozen times to charge and you'll never tow again.
I really enjoyed spending a couple thousand miles with an Airstream on my Model Y, and have had no issues on repeated state crossings with a cargo trailer. I look forward to occasional towing on the Rivian as well.

Information is good. FUD is not.
 

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Gideon the Rivian is towing a mustang on an open trailer. They posted this screenshot of the night time view. You can see 44 miles of predicted range with 37% battery remaining! They are going 73 mph in this pic. Their set up is 14,260 lbs in total (includes the truck).It will take a patient person to tow anything substantial over long distances.
Another reason Ford's sales of F250 and F350 with large GAS tanks will continue for many years to come.

I think the Rivian, the Ford Lightning, and Cybertruck will all have challenges towing any distance greater than 150 miles.

PS Also a good reason to go for the Max Pack. Starting with a range of 400 miles you may end up with closer to 200 miles of towing range.
 

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PS Also a good reason to go for the Max Pack. Starting with a range of 400 miles you may end up with closer to 200 miles of towing range.
Potentially, but you'd have to do your own homework on whether 50 extra miles is worth $10k.
 

ja_kub_sz

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Potentially, but you'd have to do your own homework on whether 50 extra miles is worth $10k.
That's 50+ miles on a tow and 100+ miles day to day. Not worth it for some absolutely, but a must have for others (myself).

Just the thought of looking at the screen of my R1T Max Pack as I slide into the drivers seat seeing 415 miles of range gets me excited!

Hopefully good news coming for Christmas.
 

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Another data point for people who care. They shared thst they stop in Pecos Texas Sunday night, and then shared that they were drivng about 80 before ending up in El paso. They mentioned its a bit downhill (about 1,000 feet). I suspect they stopped for the night in van horn and charged up at EA. They ended up at 17% in El Paso, so assuming they pushed it to a full charged overnight abrp would calculate a reference mi/kwh @ 65 mph of ~1.5. So roughly 200 miles of range vs the 265ish they probably get at 65 without the trailer.

They've also said they're averaging charging from 30% to 90% at DCFC. Following their route from say... Sweetwater to El Paso you can hit that with about 1.4 mi/kwh reference @65 and then driving 70 or below those first legs.

Obviously some assumptions built in there, mostly due to where they stayed overnight, but just a datapoint suggestion they aren't having 50%+ reductions in range.
 
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Gator42

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Another data point for people who care. They shared thst they stop in Pecos Texas Sunday night, and then shared that they were drivng about 80 before ending up in El paso. They mentioned its a bit downhill (about 1,000 feet). I suspect they stopped for the night in van horn and charged up at EA. They ended up at 17% in El Paso, so assuming they pushed it to a full charged overnight abrp would calculate a reference mi/kwh @ 65 mph of ~1.5. So roughly 200 miles of range vs the 265ish they probably get at 65 without the trailer.

They've also said they're averaging charging from 30% to 90% at DCFC. Following their route from say... Sweetwater to El Paso you can hit that with about 1.4 mi/kwh reference @65 and then driving 70 or below those first legs.

Obviously some assumptions built in there, mostly due to where they stayed overnight, but just a datapoint suggestion they aren't having 50%+ reductions in range.
A 1k elevation change? Gravity is a big range booster apparently:D
 

Hemiman

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118 total miles while towing? That's actually not too bad. My 2018 Ram 3500 will go nearly 600 miles on a fill up (6.7L Diesel). But when towing my 2019 5th Wheel RV, I get only 200 - 230 miles of range. That's far more than a 50% drop in range while towing. So with some improvements Rivian could easily duplicate this range while towing and that would put it on par with it's ICE truck brethren.

Now having to disconnect from your trailer to charge is a major negative. I guess up till this point the only vehicle at these charge stations have been cars. But trucks need to charge while connected to their loads. Something these charging points need to be thinking about and quickly as more EV trucks come for sale!
 
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I have an R1T with Max Pack reserved. My big concern isn't the range, but the reduction in payload capacity with the extra batteries. As with many trucks (F150, 1500, etc), people tend to run out of payload before reaching the towing weight limit (11,000 lbs. for the R1T). My Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited has a payload capacity of a little over 1000 lbs. I've been to the CAT scales and I'm good with my current travel trailer setup, but I'd like more margin and a longer wheelbase. I've considered getting a half ton gasser + a Tesla Model Y, but I'd rather get one vehicle that can tow and be an EV, thus the R1T. If the payload drops below 1000 lbs with the Max Pack, I think a lot of people in my situation will be out of luck for towing.
 

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Forgive the shitty photo, but towing a 2000 lbs trailer in my Bolt is comparable in the amount of energy expended per mile at highway speeds.
Rivian R1T R1S R1T Towing Range Sneak Peek — 44 Miles of Predicted Range with 37% Battery Remaining 1638290652238

Keeping it 55 or under halves the power consumed.
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