Towing my Airstream w/ R1T from Bend to Port Angeles -- efficiency numbers & experience vs Ram 1500

[rhumbliner]

We just finished the 1st half of our trip towing our 28' Airstream to Vancouver Island. Leaving from Bend I admit to some range anxiety traveling from Madras OR (2200 ft) and crossing over Mt Hood (3900 ft) for a climb of 1700 ft. Actually the climb was probably closer to 2500 ft as there is an 800 ft drop into the canyon just north of Madras.

At Madras we charged to 100% and arrived in Clackamas with 34% (86 mi) for a total efficiency of 1.25 mi/kWh. I was very cautious driving up Mt Hood, going no faster than 55 mph and due to construction often quite slower.

The nav system predicted an arrival SoC of 103 mi so the 86 mi actual may seem a little disappointing but after we summited at Government Camp I ignored the speed limit and just cruised with traffic which was about +10 mph.

From Clackamas we drove to a campground just north of Castle Rock with an efficiency of 0.85 mi/kWh. This can be explained by my exuberance at having made it over Mt Hood and we drove I5 at 70-75 mph with a 25-30 mph headwind.

The next morning we stopped in Olympia for breakfast, charged up to 98% at the EA station in Capital Mall and then drove the very curvy, slow 101 up to Port Angeles. We attained an efficiency of 1.1 mi/kWh on this leg which was a little surprising because of our slow speed but this stretch of 101 has a lot of ups and down.

A few thoughts thus far:

1) Towing with the R1T is much more enjoyable than with my Ram 1500. The acceleration is great, as expected, but the ride is soooo much more stable. With the truck weighing more than the trailer there is no more "tail wagging the dog" whenever we met a semi or got hit by a crosswind. Sounds odd, but I had to keep reminding myself that I was actually pulling a trailer -- even in Portland traffic.

2) The usable range of 150 miles is all I needed for this stretch because there are just enough fast chargers to make the trip worry free. There are 2 sides to the range coin: a large battery or a lot of chargers; and this trip proved I really don't need the MaxPack.

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[ksujeff99]

What does a 28' airstream weigh? And what was it like charging to 98% at a DCFC? Did you have lunch and dinner there?

Thank you for your detailed towing trip report. Seeing your results, I'm feeling more confident about towing later this summer. I'm renting a 32' travel trailer and pulling it about 400 miles. It's longer and a little heavier than what I wanted to rent but I had to take what was available. I pulled a 26' with my EcoBoost F150 for several years so I'm really interested to see how the Rivian compares. Moving from the 5.4 V8 in my old F150 to the 3.5 EB was a huge leap in terms of towing. I'm betting the move to the Rivian will make both look seem like I had been towing with a Prius!

 

[monzarottie]

We just finished the 1st half of our trip towing our 28' Airstream to Vancouver Island. Leaving from Bend I admit to some range anxiety traveling from Madras OR (2200 ft) and crossing over Mt Hood (3900 ft) for a climb of 1700 ft. Actually the climb was probably closer to 2500 ft as there is an 800 ft drop into the canyon just north of Madras.

At Madras we charged to 100% and arrived in Clackamas with 34% (86 mi) for a total efficiency of 1.25 mi/kWh. I was very cautious driving up Mt Hood, going no faster than 55 mph and due to construction often quite slower.

The nav system predicted an arrival SoC of 103 mi so the 86 mi actual may seem a little disappointing but after we summited at Government Camp I ignored the speed limit and just cruised with traffic which was about +10 mph.

From Clackamas we drove to a campground just north of Castle Rock with an efficiency of 0.85 mi/kWh. This can be explained by my exuberance at having made it over Mt Hood and we drove I5 at 70-75 mph with a 25-30 mph headwind.

The next morning we stopped in Olympia for breakfast, charged up to 98% at the EA station in Capital Mall and then drove the very curvy, slow 101 up to Port Angeles. We attained an efficiency of 0.92 mi/kWh on this leg which was a little surprising because of our slow speed but this stretch of 101 has a lot of ups and down.
View attachment 55389

A few thoughts thus far:

1) Towing with the R1T is much more enjoyable than with my Ram 1500. The acceleration is great, as expected, but the ride is soooo much more stable. With the truck weighing more than the trailer there is no more "tail wagging the dog" whenever we met a semi or got hit by a crosswind. Sounds odd, but I had to keep reminding myself that I was actually pulling a trailer -- even in Portland traffic.

2) The usable range of 150 miles is all I needed for this stretch because there are just enough fast chargers to make the trip worry free. There are 2 sides to the range coin: a large battery or a lot of chargers; and this trip proved I really don't need the MaxPack.

Nice summary Tom! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventure.

 

[Quick]

I towed my 6k lb race car trailer a few weeks ago. Total distance was about 120 miles.

Agreed with the quality of tow vs a Ram 1500, as well as a Ram 2500 diesel. R1T pretends it’s not there, with the Ram 2500 (with air ride) coming in second for comfort.

However, the R1T is not usable in my use case. I typically travel 3-500 miles with my trailer to attend track events. That’s not realistic given the charging infrastructure, limited range, and limited time available to make my trips.

If you’re towing inside 150 miles, however, it’s great.

 

[rhumbliner]

What does a 28' airstream weigh? And what was it like charging to 98% at a DCFC? Did you have lunch and dinner there?

Dry weight is listed at 5868 lbs. We had a nice, leisurely breakfast in Madras and a nice leisurely lunch in Clackamas — about an hour each time. We have the advantage of being retired so even when we drove the Ram we were never in a rush and mealtimes were a good excuse to relax and enjoy the local cuisine.

 

[joelster]

Dry weight is listed at 5868 lbs. We had a nice, leisurely breakfast in Madras and a nice leisurely lunch in Clackamas — about an hour each time. We have the advantage of being retired so even when we drove the Ram we were never in a rush and mealtimes were a good excuse to relax and enjoy the local cuisine.

Not a lot of cuisine choices at that Madras RAN...

 

[ORFynder]

Not a lot of cuisine choices at that Madras RAN...

There is a nice food truck across the street. Friendly folks, good food, and a free charge. Hard to beat that combo for now

 

[pjzabo]

Thanks for the good report. Rather than start a new post I will share my recent first tow experience here. From Westchester County, NY to Danbury, CT to pick up a trailer and my 1980 VW Scirocco project car in storage up there and then to my house on Cape Cod. Started at 100% from my home charger drove 27 miles to get the trailer and the car, they had a combined weight of 4100 lbs (uhaul auto transporter is heavy!). Plan was to drive another 81 miles to EA station in Eastern CT and top up there (no issues thankfully and quick charge on 350kW to 80%). Then another 77 miles to the hotel in Westport MA - Marriott with free 6.6kw charger where the plan was to leave it on for 12 hours and head to the Cape the next day.

Here is where plan broke down - 1.5 hrs into the charge, somebody complained that I was taking multiple spots in the lot. Mind you I carefully located truck/trailer so that no other vehicles would be blocked in any way and without exaggeration there were like 50 empty spots in the lot. The nice young woman at the desk called our room and apologetically told me I need to move the truck to an overflow lot as technically there are not supposed to be trailers in the main lot. I could have taken trailer there and unhitched but I had the gate down since I was bringing a bed and mattress up there, so it was a tight fit for the trailer tongue under the open tailgate and I didn't want to deal with that in the AM with my wife. That and the overflow lot was desolate, two blocks away and anybody could have hitched to the trailer and made off with my car. When I got back from moving the truck she gave me a small bottle of champagne and two plastic flutes as she felt bad about it (said Rivian is her favorite vehicle just loves the R1S). I realized I was taking a risk planning on this overnight charge at the hotel and I paid for it.

Next drama - we needed to be at the Cape 73 miles away the next morning by 9AM sharp for an appointment we could not miss. I saw 105 miles estimated range and rolled dice. I drove 60 mph on cruise control and the estimated range dropped as we went - got to our town in the Cape with 15 miles left. In general my consumption ranged from a low of 1.25 miles/Kwh to a high of 1.50 miles/kwh. Aside from tesla stations, there is only one high speed DC charged on Cape Cod - in Hyannis 19 miles from my location. Ugh - my initial though of having 32 miles range to play with was suddenly too chancy for me so off to a 6.6kw charger at a technical college 4 miles away and a long lunch there to get enough in the tank to make me comfortable to get to Hyannis. All good in the end but yeah not a good long range tow vehicle I would hate to do 300+ miles with current infrastructure. Also I have the 20" ATs which doesn't help, I think the OP had 21s.

I agree that range issues aside, the R1T is a fantastic tow platform - I did not notice 4100 lbs back there at all. Felt like I could still drag race pickups without a trailer if I wanted to make a statement. Looking at EA fast charge rates of $0.30/kwh and current reg gas price here around $3.50 if I take the highest efficiency I averaged, it's like 17.5 mpg equivalent

 

[av8or]

Excellent write up and results! I love hearing of others towing experience. Traveling in silence while towing Is wonderful.

 

[WSea]

Not a lot of cuisine choices at that Madras RAN...

I think this was the local cuisine across the street
Home - New Basin Distilling Company

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Excellent write-ups! Really enjoy reading people's posts about towing in this forum. As someone who hasn't (yet) towed more than a couple thousand pounds with the Riv, am taking note of your experiences for my own longer trips.

Here's my own biggest load so far - some new toolboxes for the shop, LOL.

 

[Birdowin]

We just finished the 1st half of our trip towing our 28' Airstream to Vancouver Island. Leaving from Bend I admit to some range anxiety traveling from Madras OR (2200 ft) and crossing over Mt Hood (3900 ft) for a climb of 1700 ft. Actually the climb was probably closer to 2500 ft as there is an 800 ft drop into the canyon just north of Madras.

At Madras we charged to 100% and arrived in Clackamas with 34% (86 mi) for a total efficiency of 1.25 mi/kWh. I was very cautious driving up Mt Hood, going no faster than 55 mph and due to construction often quite slower.

The nav system predicted an arrival SoC of 103 mi so the 86 mi actual may seem a little disappointing but after we summited at Government Camp I ignored the speed limit and just cruised with traffic which was about +10 mph.

From Clackamas we drove to a campground just north of Castle Rock with an efficiency of 0.85 mi/kWh. This can be explained by my exuberance at having made it over Mt Hood and we drove I5 at 70-75 mph with a 25-30 mph headwind.

The next morning we stopped in Olympia for breakfast, charged up to 98% at the EA station in Capital Mall and then drove the very curvy, slow 101 up to Port Angeles. We attained an efficiency of 0.92 mi/kWh on this leg which was a little surprising because of our slow speed but this stretch of 101 has a lot of ups and down.
View attachment 55389

A few thoughts thus far:

1) Towing with the R1T is much more enjoyable than with my Ram 1500. The acceleration is great, as expected, but the ride is soooo much more stable. With the truck weighing more than the trailer there is no more "tail wagging the dog" whenever we met a semi or got hit by a crosswind. Sounds odd, but I had to keep reminding myself that I was actually pulling a trailer -- even in Portland traffic.

2) The usable range of 150 miles is all I needed for this stretch because there are just enough fast chargers to make the trip worry free. There are 2 sides to the range coin: a large battery or a lot of chargers; and this trip proved I really don't need the MaxPack.

Thanks for the great report. My question is what do you do with the trailer while charging? Do you leave it hooked up and block the entire traffic lane behind or park the trailer and unhook it each time? Doesn't seem like the pull in spaces leave room for a trailer at most of the charging spaces that I have used.

 

[WSea]

Thanks for the great report. My question is what do you do with the trailer while charging? Do you leave it hooked up and block the entire traffic lane behind or park the trailer and unhook it each time? Doesn't seem like the pull in spaces leave room for a trailer at most of the charging spaces that I have used.

Don't want to speak for the OP but I'm sure he used the trailer pull thru spots at the Madras & Happy Valley RAN chargers

 

[rhumbliner]

somebody complained that I was taking multiple spots in the lot. Mind you I carefully located truck/trailer so that no other vehicles would be blocked in any way and without exaggeration there were like 50 empty spots in the lot.

Haters gonna hate.

 

[Birdowin]

Thanks I haven't seen any of these on my road trips. We need more.

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