ajdelange
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- A. J.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2019
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 2,883
- Reaction score
- 2,317
- Location
- Virginia/Quebec
- Vehicles
- Tesla XLR+2019, Lexus, Landcruiser, R1T
- Occupation
- EE Retired
Well yes that's true. Roof, frame on the ground...Like I said I am living off grid for quite some time and your calculations seem as theoretical as some of the range figures of EVs. A 10 KW array is 33 300 W panels. You gotta have the space to install them.
When it comes to how much the Rivian will consume then, naturally, I have to be theoretical. Were I to do the calculations based on my experiences driving an X for a couple of years then my calcs would be based on experience. My calculations on solar are based on a couple of years living with solar.
I'd look into that. Twenty-four kWh from a 4.8 kW system implies only 5 hr FSE. In the summer time in your location I'd expect more like 7 or at least 6. I get 6.7 in Northern Virginia on a clear, cloudless day (which is rare). Heat does reduce performance but not by that much. About 0.46%/K. One hundred thirteen °F is 20K above the rating temperature so you should only lose 9.2% so that assuming FSE is in fact 7 hr in your area you should be getting 6.356 if heat is the only loss factor. Dust/pollen (what I get) just doesn't seem to do that much to production. Rain washes it off sufficiently. But of course one of the advantages of having the panels on the ground is that it is easy to clean them off. What does have an appreciable effect is haze. Perhaps you have that.I have a 4.8 KW array on my garage and on a hot Socal day I can produce 24 KW. Heat drastically reduces the output of solar panels! Dust too.
If you drive the average 10,000 mi/yr and if the Rivian does indeed use 0.5 kWh/mi then clearly the Rivian will consume 5,000 kWh/yr. But that's 5000/365.25/24 = 0.570386 kW average which is 13.7 kWh/da. The 12 kWh you have over is almost enough, on an average basis.I need 12 KW[h] to run my house and recharge my batteries (that is without AC), which leaves 12 KW[h] max for charging the vehicle.
If I go 80 miles in a RIVIAN (with 21" wheels without off-road tires, because KO2s will most likely cut the range ) I will use 37 KW min and it will take more than 3 days to recharge the battery, or to put it in a different perspective I can charge app 25 miles per day, which for me is barely the distance to the next reasonable charger.
The reason I go on at length here is because I see situations like yours as a challenge. No, the challenge is not to try to convince you to change your mind but to see if I can come up with solutions that might solve your problem if only to my satisfaction. If anything I post is informative or helps you in any way that's great. I'll also note that I am very interested in hearing other people's particulars so thanks for responding.
Twelve kWh/da is going to be about 24 miles worth. Less if you have to drive in loose sand and you have to allow a little for phantom drain. That would be enough for me as is because I don't drive every day (retired). But I would definitely want more. I think it goes almost without saying that if you add an appliance that doubles your electrical consumption that you need to increase your service. Which, as you are off grid means you will have to do it. Bringing an appliance that requires, on average 13 kWh/da, into a household that produces 24 kWh a day is very marginal. I added 45 panels (13 kw) to cover my Rivian (and X). With my nominal 5 hr FSE per day that gives me 13*5 = 65 kWh which is enough for about 130 miles for the Rivian and about 230 for the X. Now that ain't cheap. At a bit over $2/W that's $26K. But it does you no good to have panels that produce 65kWh/da if you can't capture it so you really need about 65 kWh worth of storage. That's 5 Powerwalls and they are now $7500 a piece. This is definitely not in the spirit of Henry David Thoreau!
I did and the first thing I see is a 150 kW EA station in Palm Springs only about 30 mi from Pioneertown. And a couple of Level 2 J1772's in Yucca Valley and TNP.Check the the charging station map for the California desert or Utah (not even mentioning Baja California ), unless Rivian puts in quite a few chargers, and I made some suggestions in another thread, It will be very easy to run out of power in the boondocks.
Well as I said I'm not agreeing or disagreeing. It's your decision after all but I would say that operating a 500 Wh/mi BEV in your circumstances would present some challenges. These could be covered with an expediture of a couple of hundred K but you don't seem inclined to do that.I really like the outside of the R1S as well as the off-road capability and I actually tried to talk myself into buying it but for where I live and what I am doing it seems totally impractical.
I'll note again that this angst is quite normal and I think to be expected. Once you experience BEV operation it tends to go away. There are those who just don't "get it" and BEV aren't for them. Now that's true within the Tesla SC system. The CCS network isn't up to the Tesla system yet.In regard to the range, there have been countless posts in this forum dealing with this Subject and a lot of them reflect the "angst" I was referring to.
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