20in wheel worse range even with all season tires?

[mferring]

From what I understand, generally, a smaller diameter wheel will provide better EV range than a larger diameter wheel assuming the same tire. This is why I assumed that many on this forum were going to go with the 20in wheel on the launch edition and then swap out the all terrain tire at some point for an all season (as well as the well discussed reason that there are many more tires available at the 20in wheel size). I would generally assume that the 20 in wheel would then match or exceed the 330 mi EPA range of the 21 in wheel.

However, a Rivian Service center rep told me that the 20 in wheel is also a heavier duty and heavier wheel than the 21 in wheel and will get worse range than the 21 in wheel, even if you put an all season on it. They said it was because the 20 in wheel was designed for more rigorous off road situation loading and the 21 in wheel was not.

Can anyone corroborate this as being a true situation? I really do not like the lack of tire selection for the 21 in wheel but also don't want reduced range if I pick the 20 in.

As many have said, it seems silly to choose a wheel size with no tire choice availability.

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[LevelHeaded]

You’d need the weights of the 2 wheels to answer this question.

But the 20” on the premium trim gets 330, so those are always an option

 

[usulio]

Even if it's a couple pounds heavier and a little less aerodynamic, it's hard to believe the range difference is more than a couple miles on equivalent tires.

 

[Rivian Owner]

Check out Rivian Roamer and Rivian Trackr for wheel tire comparisons on actual vehicles in the real world.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Yeah I’m not buying any of that. With the same tires on the 20” and 21” rims, the 20” will provide better range. It’s not a lot more though.

 

[rfkxyz]

Yeah I’m not buying any of that. With the same tires on the 20” and 21” rims, the 20” will provide better range. It’s not a lot more though.

Well AS tires on AT wheels might only shoot the gap between AS tires & wheels vs. AT tires & wheels. Seems not-unreasonable.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Well AS tires on AT wheels might only shoot the gap between AS tires & wheels vs. AT tires & wheels. Seems not-unreasonable.

I’m confused by this wording? There’s no such thing as “AT wheels”. Any tire can go on any rim. So yeah put AS tires on the 20” rims no problem. Would be better for range, that’s been discussed at length if that’s what you were referring to

 

[mferring]

I understand the confusion Jeremy. I agree any tire can go on any wheel. But the Rivian rep merely said that the 20in wheels they show for the launch addition are heavier duty wheels and therefore heavier than the 21 in wheels. I assume he means that there is more inertia and force required to accelerate these wheels than the 21in wheels, assuming you have the same tire type on both. I guess as an engineer this kind of makes sense.

I had not really realized until Levelhead pointed out that the Premium 20in wheel is not the same as the Launch edition 20in wheel. So my guess is the Premium wheel is a lighter duty wheel focused on regular all season tire mostly regular road duty and hence lighter in weight than the Launch edition 20in wheel which was more directed to all terrain duty.

But we will have to wait I guess before we even have the option of getting the Premium.......

It will be interesting when people start getting their vehicles and start doing real world range testing.

 

[kanundrum]

I have 20" light weight Wheels with all-season tires and can confirm the range is worse compared to 22 or 21

It's about revs/rotations per mile

 

[Jeremy3292]

I have 20" light weight Wheels with all-season tires and can confirm the range is worse compared to 22 or 21

It's about revs/rotations per mile

This goes against physics. A smaller rim will give better range with all other things being equal.

 

[ksurfier]

Several key observations for 20” vs 21”:

1 - Rivian really did their homework to find the most efficient tire options available (it appears)

2 - these hyper efficient tires come with extremely limited tread depths, some about half the usable tread of typical R1 options.

3 - this means there could be +10% range penalties for non-OEM 20” tire options.

4 - Since 21” only option is a Pirelli (~$450 ea), I would pick 20” based on that alone… China’s state-owned Sinochem is also the largest Pirelli shareholder at about 34%

5 - It’s not clear that there is a 20” option to compete with the 21” tire which is only 32#, with one exception:
U.S.A. Made:
MICHELIN PRIMACY A/S
LR Land Rover
Style: Blackwall
Eco Focus: N/A
Load Range: XL Load Range
Serv. Desc: 113Y
UTQG: 540 A A
Weight 32#

Take home:

An upgrade to the 20” wheels is relatively straightforward, pays for itself almost immediately since 1-2 damaged 21” tires would cost nearly $1,000 to replace, lots of other reasons not to get 21” tires.

Last point:
R2 driving 65 mph with 20” will get same efficiency as R2 driving 70 mph with 21” tires…so buy the 20”s and slow down a little bit if/when needed…

 

[kanundrum]

This goes against physics. A smaller rim will give better range with all other things being equal.

Nope. For. 20" changing a tire won't increase overall range it'll definitely increase efficiency in the city but if the overall diameter of the tire is shorter/less tall compared to an off road tire you are loosing distanced traveled.

 

[kanundrum]

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-oem-wheels-tires-and-range-considered.35687/


Great thread

 

[mferring]

Thanks Ken. Good thoughts. But even the 20in wheel has very limited options.....which kind of drives me crazy......

I guess I am in the camp that does not understand the love affair of manufacturers with huge diameter wheels. Seems like they are penalizing their customers for future costs for no reason other than fashion. It is certainly not about performance.

My wife and I are really interested in supporting and getting a Rivian as our first EV. But this wheel size thing just rubs me the wrong way.......I know, there are bigger things in life to worry about! Ha!

 

[mferring]

Thanks Mark for the recommendations on the Rivian Roamer and trakr. Will check them out.

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