R1S tow test at max capacity (weights and efficiency numbers)

[RustyLid Offroad]

TL;DR - R1S LE 20"AT towed 7,880lbs well and got 1.08mi/kWh - I think an R1T would do much better

I've had my R1S for about 1 month. I plan to use it as my daily driver/lifestyle car (trips to the cabin, canoeing, skiing, roadtrips, etc). The part of my life I didn't think it could replace was towing my rock crawler, especially on long hauls. I typically tow my 1981 Jeep CJ7 on Dana 60s all over CA and the Sierras. I usually tow with my 2001 Ford Excursion 7.3L diesel truck that weighs right at 9,000lbs. The truck has a 44gal fuel tank, and I can tow 7+hrs straight without stopping for fuel. That said, a local 4x4 park (Hollister Hills SVRA) is only ~60miles away and I have a trip there next month for my 4x4 club's safety class as well as a Rivian meetup. So... can the R1S tow my heavy trailer and jeep?

Yes, but...
Last weekend I decided to load everything up and do a tow test to see how comfortable the R1S towed the big trailer and what kind of range I could expect.
Maneuvering and loading the trailer went super smooth.
The 360 camera was awesome for hitching up and the short wheelbase and tight turning radius of the R1S made short work of maneuvering the trailer.
The R1S weighed enough to not have an issue loading the jeep via ramps without assist jacks.

The setup:
-20ft flat deck, 102" wide, 4.5' tongue PJ B5 "buggy hauler" car trailer (~3000lbs)
-Anderson weight distribution hitch for 2" receiver (14k lbs rating, 1,400lb tongue)
-1981 Jeep CJ7 37" tires, Dana 60 axles, NV4500 trans 300lbs of spare parts/tools (~4,800lbs)
-2023 R1S LE 20"AT with 40lbs of charge cables and tools (~7000lbs)

Step 1: Go to the scales
-Combined total weight - 14,920lbs
-Rivian weight - 7,040lbs (I had about 40lbs of gear in there). Factory it weighs probably 7k exactly
-Trailer with Jeep - 7,880lbs (over the 7,700lbs tow rating)
-Trailer weight when hooked up 7,360lbs (~520lbs of tongue weight - not enough)

Step 2: Move the jeep forward on the trailer to get more tongue weight (it helped quite a bit and the air suspension handled it fine)

Step 3: road test at 60mph manual cruise control-loop style test up and down Hwy 101-mostly flat, with elevation changes.-74.2 miles

Results:
-R1S did well, air suspension managed the weight and seems solid
-Cameras are awesome for checking on things and maneuvering in tight spots
-Averaged 1.08mi/kWh (not surprising, but quite low)

Findings:
-Hitch height is same as Ford Excursion with custom BuckStop bumper with integrated 20k lbs rated hitch (21.25" to top of the receiver.)
-Needs more tongue weight, slightly squirrely experience compared to the weight and wheelbase of the Excursion. (I usually have more weight on the front of the trailer (10gals of jeep fuel, spare parts, etc. I removed this for the test because I was concerned about total trailer weight, this adjusted the tongue weight to be less than I normally have)
-Seating position is low compared to Excursion, the perspective of the road and out the rear view is lower, harder to see trailer tires and cars, etc. Just less overall visibility.
-R1S needs add-on tow mirrors for towing such a wide long trailer. I found myself adjusting the mirrors a lot and not finding the perfect position (to be fair, I'm spoiled with the massive excursion mirrors that extend out.)
-Plenty of power and brakes (WAY more power than my Excursion and the R1S brakes are awesome!!!)
-brake controller works fine, but I need more time to adjust to it, it seems (rightfully so) slow to engage/ramp up. This is by design I'm sure, but I'm used to my old-school Prodigy controller.

Next steps:
-I'll be putting the trailer and jeep on a diet to get their combined weight down to 7,700lbs so that I am legal.
-I'll put the jeep more forward on the trailer
-I'll use the R1S to tow my jeep to Hollister in May for the events I am attending. (But will probably stick with my purpose-built Excursion for all but local towing needs)

Hope some folks find this data interesting.

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[Dark-Fx]

Thank you for the detailed posting. We have done a fair bit of towing now with our R1S. This week we made a couple of trips towing a 16 foot stock trailer loaded with about 8000 pounds of cargo (barrels of wine). Total loaded trailer weight was a little over 10000 pounds on the scale for both trips. I realize that is far in excess of the rating, but the Rivian handled it fine. This is basically a one time tow operation for us as we are moving our farm and winery. Normally we haul livestock, hay and feed and are towing more in the range of 5000 pounds loaded. I didn't get the trip data as I haven't even looked at that feature of the Rivian, too busy working/loading/driving. We have one final trip to complete with a similar sized load, I will try to capture better trip data. The travel was mostly on I-5 in Washington. Trip distance is 165 miles each way. We left with about 80% battery each time and charged once each way about midpoint. I don't think we could have made it the full distance without charging, but almost. Didn't want to risk it as the final 40 mile leg is far from any services or cell coverage. I will try to post more in depth trip details later. We LOVE the vehicle. Rivian rocks! Oh yeah, we also got stuck in the mud towing the trailer out into the field with a load of hay last week. I will add a post about that later. Cheers!

Even the trailer itself was overloaded. Glad I share the road with you people.

 

[neverstill]

Even the trailer itself was overloaded. Glad I share the road with you people.

Hmm. I mistakenly took this for a friendly place to share information, rather than a forum for shaming others. Interesting. I will politely bow out.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Hmm. I mistakenly took this for a friendly place to share information, rather than a forum for shaming others. Interesting. I will politely bow out.

Cheers! Perhaps try the Tesla forums the next time you're pulling a near infinite mass.

 

[Rexbo]

I usually tow with my 2001 Ford Excursion 7.3L diesel

I mean... you're setting the baseline pretty high here! Those things are absolute beasts.

 

[TheIglu]

I appreciate you posting that here.

 

[MNLanger]

Great info. I have a wakeboard to tow around locally. We have a Tahoe that normally does the towing but my R1S should be able to easily handle the tow, as well.

Your post gave me more confidence to give it a try. Thanks for posting.

 

[RustyLid Offroad]

Thanks folks for the kudos. My trip is this coming weekend. It should be good to see how it goes. I'll be towing and camping in the Rivian all weekend.

 

[JeremyP]

Thanks for sharing; this is what I might be doing eventually with my 4runner. My question is what are your favorite trails in California? I keep intending to get out to the Rubicon trail but haven't yet.

 

[RustyLid Offroad]

Hey! Rubicon is great, Fordyce is awesome, much harder than Rubicon. Slick Rock & Deer Valley off Hwy 4. Barrett Lake (near Rubicon, only open a few weeks a year). Those are the main decent rock trails. Looking to do a lot more down south this summer. Hammers are always great, but super knarly. Hope you can get out west an enjoy our trails. Need to do them while they are still open.

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