Planning a trip with camper

[Blackwater]

I was in my truck planning a trip that would require charging stations along the way.
I’m assuming the trailer needs to be connected to receive more accurate charging stops?
That is not very convenient when you just want to plan a camping trip.
Any ideas other than sitting in the truck planning your trip for charging prior to departure?

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[CharonPDX]

Use PlugShare, A Better Route Planner, or another tool.

From the phone app, you can do route planning assuming specific trailers.

 

[emoore]

You can add a trailer in the app and plan your route from the app.

 

[SadHill]

Or just take your normal range and cut it in half for warm weather or two thirds for cold.
so if you can normally go 300, figure 150 in warm weather and 100 in cold.
That is what I do

 

[hammick]

Or just take your normal range and cut it in half for warm weather or two thirds for cold.
so if you can normally go 300, figure 150 in warm weather and 100 in cold.
That is what I do

Sounds like good advice. Towing a camper with an EV is a learning experience. You will have all kinds of range anxiety until you learn your limits. Best not to be in a hurry. When I pulled a teardrop camper from New Jersey to Kansas City with our Lightning Lariat ER it was exhausting.

 

[SadHill]

Sounds like good advice. Towing a camper with an EV is a learning experience. You will have all kinds of range anxiety until you learn your limits. Best not to be in a hurry. When I pulled a teardrop camper from New Jersey to Kansas City with our Lightning Lariat ER it was exhausting.

and the charging locations sometimes suck. Two days ago I was towing a 4 place snowmobile trailer and I stopped for a charge but I had to unhook it far down in the lot and then go to charge as there wasn’t any room for it. And the chargers maxed out at 155 cause it was 20 degrees out. Made for a long stop but it was the only one around at the time.

 

[VandalSibs]

I was in my truck planning a trip that would require charging stations along the way.
I’m assuming the trailer needs to be connected to receive more accurate charging stops?
That is not very convenient when you just want to plan a camping trip.
Any ideas other than sitting in the truck planning your trip for charging prior to departure?

As @emoore said, you can use the Rivian app to plan a trip using the trailer profile. That being said, my Rivian tends over-estimate the mi/kWh number when towing so I usually use ABRP and plug in the mi/kWh that I know I get in there.

 

[Blackwater]

I’ve looked at the phone app, and don’t see an option for a trailer.
The truck has an option but states no trailer connection, so that doesn’t help plan unless I connect the trailer?

I pulled my trailer a few times, and it usually takes a few miles before it figures out an accurate mileage, but I’ve only had 100 mile trip, so didn’t need to make a station stop.
That trip was about 98 miles and I got there with 12% pulling a 30 foot camper trailer weigh 6500 pounds
Drove the speed limit or five less on that trip

So I’ll use one of the apps mentioned, and just Plan around 100 mile station stops.
I have the max battery and it’s a 2026.
I purchased the CCS 1 adapter.

 

[ljubitel]

I’ve looked at the phone app, and don’t see an option for a trailer.
The truck has an option but states no trailer connection, so that doesn’t help plan unless I connect the trailer?

I pulled my trailer a few times, and it usually takes a few miles before it figures out an accurate mileage, but I’ve only had 100 mile trip, so didn’t need to make a station stop.
That trip was about 98 miles and I got there with 12% pulling a 30 foot camper trailer weigh 6500 pounds
Drove the speed limit or five less on that trip

So I’ll use one of the apps mentioned, and just Plan around 100 mile station stops.
I have the max battery and it’s a 2026.
I purchased the CCS 1 adapter.

There is a convenient way to plan in the app with towing a trailer, see the attached images.
If you never towed that specific trailer, the app will default to a "default trailer 7000lb" (at least for R1T). Once you tow that trailer, you can save it and then the planning will be more accurate next time.

 

[Blackwater]

That’s awesome
Thanks

 

[Redmond Chad]

If you ever think you might not make the next charger...remember you can always drop the trailer somewhere, go charge, and then come back and get the trailer.

That's obviously not Plan A, but it sure is nice to have a Plan B just in case. It can help give you confidence when trying new routes. And as hammick said, not being in a hurry helps a lot.

With my old trailer (a Safari Condo Alto A2124, fairly aerodynamic) I regularly got 200 miles (that is, we were on track for that given our efficiency; we never actually went that far between charges) in decent weather in my Gen1 Quad Large. I think your Max Pack has 10 more kWh.

Off-topic: We sold the trailer last year and bought a Brightdrop camper van. It gets very similar efficiency as the R1S towing the trailer, but it has a bigger battery so I can go farther. And I can squeeze it into charging stalls so I don't have to disconnect a trailer. There are some significant downsides (more money, slower charging, another vehicle to maintain) but it does make me more likely to take longer trips. As well as quick short trips, since there's less overhead to get going.

 

[Time2Roll]

As long as you know about any difficult spots.... just leave an hour early to drop speed a bit more and literally plan as you go. Worst case there will be a few extra stops than necessary.

 

[Blackwater]

Thanks for the input guys.

I’m a bit surprised that my Max battery towing my 6500 lb camper trailer could only do 95 miles on back roads.
Max speed 65, and average speed 55 with 12% at arrival.
So I’ll just plan 100 miles charges, that’s no problem.
We only camp around 6 times a year, so I’m good with the truck.
We’re off grid here in FL out in the country.
Thanks

 

[VandalSibs]

Thanks for the input guys.

I’m a bit surprised that my Max battery towing my 6500 lb camper trailer could only do 95 miles on back rounds.
Max speed 65, and average speed 55 with 12% at arrival.
So I’ll just plan 100 miles charges, that’s no problem.
We only camp around 6 times a year, so I’m good with the truck.
We’re off grid here in FL out in the country.
Thanks

Keep in mind, weight is less of an issue for range than aerodynamics. If you trailer is brick-shaped, it's gonna have to push more air out of the way..... and even more air when traveling faster. I've got a pretty nicely shaped rig (not the most aerodynamic, but it's not a box either), and I've gone 140 miles in one charge doing 60 mph..... while there was a nasty cross wind (about 20mph).

 

[Blackwater]

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