Towing our home with our R1T - trip report

[MarcyB]

We picked up our R1T back in June, drove it from the IL factory to NM, and immediately hooked up our house (a Jayco toy hauler) and set off on a driving tour. Through CO, WY, MT, UT, and back to CO. We had a great experience and learned a lot along the way. Very happy with the truck and its towing ability! Obviously with a 7000+ pound travel trailer in tow, we see a drop in range - it's doable but you kind of have to want to (we're committed to electrifying as much of our life as possible), and we are adapting as we go.

Some photos and stories:
https://marcy-twss.blogspot.com/2022/09/rivian-towing-first-experiences.html

Sponsored

 

[jjswan33]

What kind of efficiency are you seeing with the trailer, prefer mi/kWh?

 

[SANZC02]

What kind of efficiency are you seeing with the trailer, prefer mi/kWh?

There was one section in his blog where he said it was hilly but not windy and they got 1.2 miles per kWh.

 

[MarcyB]

Some of the numbers (miles per kWh) we've seen while towing: 1.49, 1.27, 1.24, 0.95, 1.37, 1.32, 1.06, 0.98, 1.22, 1.35, 1.31, 0.99, 1.2, 1.1 -- I've got additional data to try to correlate to it, but my sense is that wind (including side wind as a negative, and tail wind is definitely helpful) is a stronger factor than expected, while hills (especially if you go up and then back down) aren't quite as bad as we had feared. All the while, speed surely makes a difference. The truck will certainly tow at higher speeds no problem, we just tend to take it easy on the accelerator to extend the range a bit.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Some of the numbers (miles per kWh) we've seen while towing: 1.49, 1.27, 1.24, 0.95, 1.37, 1.32, 1.06, 0.98, 1.22, 1.35, 1.31, 0.99, 1.2, 1.1 -- I've got additional data to try to correlate to it, but my sense is that wind (including side wind as a negative, and tail wind is definitely helpful) is a stronger factor than expected, while hills (especially if you go up and then back down) aren't quite as bad as we had feared. All the while, speed surely makes a difference. The truck will certainly tow at higher speeds no problem, we just tend to take it easy on the accelerator to extend the range a bit.

Wind can still be 50% from the tail and negatively affect your mileage.

 

[jjswan33]

Cool thanks for putting some numbers on it. Seems about half your nominal efficiencies on the 21s which is what has been advertised for a larger trailer.

 

[MarcyB]

Wind can still be 50% from the tail and negatively affect your mileage.

Just based on our admittedly limited data (and a lack of statistical analysis, only a general sense), any vector that is at least partly from the rear helps push us forward, but most of that has been in lighter winds which could more likely be described as "no headwind". We will keep an eye on this question as we go, especially in strong wind situations.

 

[AbhorViolence]

Thank you for this! I love content like this as I plan on doing something similar if/when I ever get my max pack delivery. Also my trailer weighs less than half as much (~3400lbs). The more data points I find on towing the clearer picture I'm getting of what to expect!
Hoping with Max pack towing my 3400lb trailer and keeping it at/under 60mph will give me a realistic useable range of ~175 mi between charges. I have 22" wheels configured bc I want the performance (available) but may switch to 21" if it looks like a big enough difference in range.

 

[SoCal Rob]

We picked up our R1T back in June, drove it from the IL factory to NM, and immediately hooked up our house (a Jayco toy hauler) and set off on a driving tour. Through CO, WY, MT, UT, and back to CO. We had a great experience and learned a lot along the way. Very happy with the truck and its towing ability! Obviously with a 7000+ pound travel trailer in tow, we see a drop in range - it's doable but you kind of have to want to (we're committed to electrifying as much of our life as possible), and we are adapting as we go.

Some photos and stories:
https://marcy-twss.blogspot.com/2022/09/rivian-towing-first-experiences.html

Marcy, thank you for the beautifully-written blog post and the great pictures which add to the story!

 

[dduffey]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I didn't think about using the ride height for unhitching. Now I am looking at this electric one I bought sitting in the garage and wondering if it's worth the effort to install . We did a 600mi trip in our Tesla last year and unhitching/hitching was such a pain in this Texas heat.

 

[MarcyB]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I didn't think about using the ride height for unhitching. Now I am looking at this electric one I bought sitting in the garage and wondering if it's worth the effort to install . We did a 600mi trip in our Tesla last year and unhitching/hitching was such a pain in this Texas heat.

I still cross my fingers when driving out from unhooking, hoping that the truck won't decide right at that moment to self-adjust the ride height. So far so good, and actually I think a recent software update has made it so any ride height selection other than "Auto" will stay put.

John still does some amount of manual lift/lower, just much less than he used to Yes, Texas heat would make all of the charging stops with the trailer more challenging!

 

[Yossarian]

Thanks much for your write-up. The info, particularly the range/efficiency numbers are very helpful as we hope to do some similar long-range towing. Fingers crossed that by the time our Rivian is delivered (late next year or perhaps even 2024), the charging network will have improved. Unhitching at every charging stop can get old!

Sponsored