Sponsored

ceedy

Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Threads
2
Messages
10
Reaction score
48
Location
Austin, Texas
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Porsche 911, Land Rover Defender 110
Occupation
Software
Over the weekend, I used my R1T to tow a car hauler with my Land Rover 110 on it from Austin to San Antonio. I used about 53% of the battery pack on the way there and about 38% of the battery on the way back with an empty trailer. Overall, it towed like a dream.

Since this was my first time towing with the truck I charged the battery to 100% overnight. As you probably know, battery regen turns off when they battery is in a high state of charge which made for an interesting start. The first part of my trip was hilly and I used a lot of battery dragging the trailer up these hills and got zero regen back down. From memory, I think I averaged .73 miles/KWH for the first 15 minutes. It was enough where I was doing the math to see if I needed to stop mid-trip to charge. Thankfully, the trip leveled out and the regen turned back on as the state of charge came down.

The other thing to note is that I hit a fair bit of traffic both ways on this trip. Saturday on I-35 between Austin and San Antonio isn't a fun drive.

Trip there
Distance: 82.8 Miles
Average speed: 43 MPH
Efficiency: 1.18 mi/KWH
Total Energy: 70 kWh
Total weight: ~6700 pounds - (Trailer weight: 2200 pounds, Land Rover weight: ~4500 pounds)

Fast Charge in San Antonio
Energy added (according to EA): 66 kWh
Time: 37 minutes
Max charging speed: 157.6 kW
Cost: $9.63
State of charge: 39% to 86%
Note: I didn't need to charge to 86%. We stopped for lunch and wrapped up our charging session when we finished. The session went great but it was a little annoying that I had to block part of the parking lot with the trailer. Thankfully, the last charger on the end was available so I was only blocking empty parking spaces. I probably would have had to disconnect the trailer if I had to use a charger in the middle.

Return trip
Distance: 84.6 Miles
Average speed: 45 MPH
Efficiency: 1.73 mi/KWH
Total Energy: 49 kWh
Total weight: 2200 pounds - (Trailer weight: 2200 pounds)
Sponsored

 

TheIglu

Well-Known Member
First Name
Clayton
Joined
Apr 6, 2022
Threads
23
Messages
299
Reaction score
417
Location
North Central MA
Vehicles
2022 Rivian R1T, 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata
Occupation
IT
Thank you for this. I'm a little surprised at how few people tow here, or are willing to share their experiences.

My first big tow is this weekend. Having data like this to factor in makes me have much more confidence.
 

AdamUCF

Well-Known Member
First Name
Adam
Joined
Apr 3, 2022
Threads
13
Messages
299
Reaction score
434
Location
Orlando, FL
Vehicles
June 2022 R1T
Thank you for this. I'm a little surprised at how few people tow here, or are willing to share their experiences.

My first big tow is this weekend. Having data like this to factor in makes me have much more confidence.
Towing my boat is one of the main reasons I'm buying the R1T.
 

zefram47

Well-Known Member
First Name
Aaron
Joined
Feb 6, 2022
Threads
13
Messages
2,019
Reaction score
3,159
Location
Denver, CO
Vehicles
R1T, C6 Corvette GS
Occupation
Software Engineer
Clubs
 
The first part of my trip was hilly and I used a lot of battery dragging the trailer up these hills and got zero regen back down.
This is something Rivian is going to have to deal with in an update to the Tow/Haul mode. TFL recently did a video towing with their Lightning and on the Ike they regen'd around 6% or 8 kWh on the way down the pass. On the same test, I seem to recall only around 1-2% with a similar sized battery pack. What they found was that the Rivian was activating the trailer brakes a lot more than the LIghtning was which limited the effectiveness of regen, notable via brake light activation or lack thereof. You obviously don't want to drop trailer brake gain as that would be dangerous. Ford just seems to have a better system in place for trailer range estimation and their tow/haul mode for the Lightning than Rivian does at the moment.
 

mikehmb

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Jan 12, 2022
Threads
92
Messages
1,301
Reaction score
2,674
Location
SF Bay Area
Vehicles
eGolf, i3, R1T
Thank you for this. I'm a little surprised at how few people tow here, or are willing to share their experiences.

My first big tow is this weekend. Having data like this to factor in makes me have much more confidence.
In defense of all other non-towers, I’m a near-lifelong truck owner and use my trucks for very truck-y things, with the glaring exception of rarely towing anything long distances.

Very glad the Rivian is pushing the boundaries on EV towing. Bound to do good things for others out there.
 

Sponsored

s12dxer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Threads
6
Messages
176
Reaction score
362
Location
Oregon
Vehicles
R1T LE - LA Silver
Clubs
 
Heading out to the lake this afternoon (60 miles round trip) with the boat and will post some stats.

Rivian R1T R1S Towing trip report from Austin to San Antonio Texas 53B01EF1-F1C1-45F2-8361-3653AAA88975_1_105_c
 

s12dxer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Threads
6
Messages
176
Reaction score
362
Location
Oregon
Vehicles
R1T LE - LA Silver
Clubs
 
Here are some stats:

  • 42 miles round-trip
  • 5000 lb boat + trailer
  • 400 ft elevation change
  • Mixed city, freeway, highway, backroads
  • 70% SOC start
  • 38% SOC end
Rivian R1T R1S Towing trip report from Austin to San Antonio Texas 5FAEFC52-9F8D-45AB-A70A-D06B830B1AD1_1_105_c

Rivian R1T R1S Towing trip report from Austin to San Antonio Texas 256271D6-E7A4-434B-960F-4FB1087BE665_1_105_c

Rivian R1T R1S Towing trip report from Austin to San Antonio Texas D8D6CF65-DE16-4C9B-BD42-A481BCBC93EF_1_105_c
 

BrayBay

Well-Known Member
First Name
Paul
Joined
Aug 22, 2021
Threads
17
Messages
209
Reaction score
323
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Launch Edition R1S - Forest Green/Forest Edge
Clubs
 
Thanks for sharing. How hot was it and did the A/C keep up? Texas been getting some heat blasts recently!
 

SANZC02

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Threads
29
Messages
5,260
Reaction score
8,863
Location
California
Vehicles
Tesla Model S, LE - R1S
Occupation
Retired
Here are some stats:

  • 42 miles round-trip
  • 5000 lb boat + trailer
  • 400 ft elevation change
  • Mixed city, freeway, highway, backroads
  • 70% SOC start
  • 38% SOC end
5FAEFC52-9F8D-45AB-A70A-D06B830B1AD1_1_105_c.jpeg
Can you clarify your stats and your picture? Looks like you used about 32% of the battery, on a 125 kWh usable that would be about 40 kWh used so just about 1 mile per KWh.

That trip A picture is really messed up, shows 300 kWh used .14 miles per kWh.

I think what you typed seems to be what I would expect but that tells me the trip meters at this point are not trustworthy.
 

s12dxer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Threads
6
Messages
176
Reaction score
362
Location
Oregon
Vehicles
R1T LE - LA Silver
Clubs
 
Thanks for sharing. How hot was it and did the A/C keep up? Texas been getting some heat blasts recently!
Ambient temperature was around 82 degrees or so, ac was on and had no issues.
 

Sponsored

s12dxer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2021
Threads
6
Messages
176
Reaction score
362
Location
Oregon
Vehicles
R1T LE - LA Silver
Clubs
 
Can you clarify your stats and your picture? Looks like you used about 32% of the battery, on a 125 kWh usable that would be about 40 kWh used so just about 1 mile per KWh.

That trip A picture is really messed up, shows 300 kWh used .14 miles per kWh.

I think what you typed seems to be what I would expect but that tells me the trip meters at this point are not trustworthy.
Yeah agree, I think the trip meter is off quite a bit on the 300kwh used and the .14 miles per kWh. When I got home the other meter on the driver display said 1.17 miles per kWh .
 
OP
OP

ceedy

Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Threads
2
Messages
10
Reaction score
48
Location
Austin, Texas
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Porsche 911, Land Rover Defender 110
Occupation
Software
This is something Rivian is going to have to deal with in an update to the Tow/Haul mode. TFL recently did a video towing with their Lightning and on the Ike they regen'd around 6% or 8 kWh on the way down the pass. On the same test, I seem to recall only around 1-2% with a similar sized battery pack. What they found was that the Rivian was activating the trailer brakes a lot more than the LIghtning was which limited the effectiveness of regen, notable via brake light activation or lack thereof. You obviously don't want to drop trailer brake gain as that would be dangerous. Ford just seems to have a better system in place for trailer range estimation and their tow/haul mode for the Lightning than Rivian does at the moment.
Just to clarify, the trailer I used had surge brakes as opposed to electric trailer brakes. The issue TFL ran into would only happen with electric brakes and it does seem like it should be easy for Rivian to adopt the simple solution that Ford uses.

With surge brakes, once the state of charge was less than ~90%, I got a lot of regen with the trailer.
 
OP
OP

ceedy

Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Threads
2
Messages
10
Reaction score
48
Location
Austin, Texas
Vehicles
Rivian R1T, Porsche 911, Land Rover Defender 110
Occupation
Software
Thanks for sharing. How hot was it and did the A/C keep up? Texas been getting some heat blasts recently!
I did my trip last Saturday around noon. The temperature was mid-90s heading towards 100. The A/C worked perfectly and kept up just fine. I really like the cooled seats on those hot Texas days.

I am thinking of tinting the front windows and maybe putting a UV tint on the windshield but that's mainly because I live in Austin and it's too hot here in general.
Sponsored

 
 




Top