Tractor Hauling

[the_mace]

So the tractor was finally ready and I got a chance today to go pick it up. Here's some stats:

Weather was about 65F. Roads were wet with rain on and off, sometimes heavy but mostly just drizzly.

I charged to 100%, said 284 miles in all purpose. I drove no faster than 65mph on the highways, often slower with traffic.

As soon as I connected the trailer it said 142 in towing mode.

Drove 62.6 miles with empty trailer (3,000 lbs) and used 36.6kWh or ~27% of the pack. So that was 1.71 mi/kWh or 584 Wh/mile.

Truck claimed 72% charge left, 104 miles in towing mode.

Drove home with the full load (7,280 lbs) 61.6 miles (Rivian routing took me a slightly different route) and used 51.2 kWh or 38% of the pack. So that was 1.2 mi/kWh or 831 Wh/mile.

Ended up home with 30% range left, 82 miles in towing mode.

Charging fully plus managing the speed gave me a much more comfortable margin. I had a couple charging spots picked out but with the trailer i'd rather avoid them if possible.

Thanks for the tips people provided above.

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[ironpig]

I'm pulling a 2 horse trailer and have taken to estimating that I get 50% range with both horses on board when planning any trip. I don't take them very far most of the time so it's not really an issue, but I'm always interested in hearing other towing experiences.

one question - did you notice any issues backing up with the regenerative braking? I have a slight decline on my property which always made it easy to back a trailer in to its parking spot and let gravity help a bit but with the Rivian I felt like the Regen braking makes it slightly harder because I need to use the accelerator to make sure there isn't any resistance while I back up. It's not a huge deal, but just something I noticed in my particular anecdotal experience.

 

[the_mace]

I'm pulling a 2 horse trailer and have taken to estimating that I get 50% range with both horses on board when planning any trip. I don't take them very far most of the time so it's not really an issue, but I'm always interested in hearing other towing experiences.

one question - did you notice any issues backing up with the regenerative braking? I have a slight decline on my property which always made it easy to back a trailer in to its parking spot and let gravity help a bit but with the Rivian I felt like the Regen braking makes it slightly harder because I need to use the accelerator to make sure there isn't any resistance while I back up. It's not a huge deal, but just something I noticed in my particular anecdotal experience.

I have a 2 horse (plus dressing room) kingston I tow too. So far just made sure it worked and drove it empty.

Yeah the regen on the Rivian at slow speeds when trailering/connecting a trailer/positioning it seems a handicap but it could just be re-training. Also connecting up solo is always a pain and I was used to jumping in and out of my F350 and leaving the door open the whole time. The Rivian wont move if the door is open. Also if you rise up in the seat to get a better look it shifts to park on you. I feel Rivian could make a few tweaks in this area for better quality of life when towing.

I didnt mention it but a couple times during the trip I got the notices one the screen like I had just connected a trailer though the trailer connected mode etc was always on. Not sure why those flashed up randomly but it was only a couple times.

 

[ironpig]

I have a 2 horse (plus dressing room) kingston I tow too. So far just made sure it worked and drove it empty.

Yeah the regen on the Rivian at slow speeds when trailering/connecting a trailer/positioning it seems a handicap but it could just be re-training. Also connecting up solo is always a pain and I was used to jumping in and out of my F350 and leaving the door open the whole time. The Rivian wont move if the door is open. Also if you rise up in the seat to get a better look it shifts to park on you. I feel Rivian could make a few tweaks in this area for better quality of life when towing.

I didnt mention it but a couple times during the trip I got the notices one the screen like I had just connected a trailer though the trailer connected mode etc was always on. Not sure why those flashed up randomly but it was only a couple times.

Glad to hear that you also noticed the Regen issue. I kind of wish it disabled Regen completely when reversing in Tow mode.

Hooking up using the camera has been fine for me so far, but I know others don't like the camera angle because they feel it's not wide enough (there is another thread about that). For me it's ok.

The first few times I plugged the trailer in I had issues getting it to immediately recognize the trailer. I think the warnings you get while driving could just be the harness being not fully connected? But I don't know. I just know I had to plug it in and pull it out a couple times before I got a full tow mode connection the first time I used it. I think it may be better now that it's broken in a little.

 

[the_mace]

Glad to hear that you also noticed the Regen issue. I kind of wish it disabled Regen completely when reversing in Tow mode.

Hooking up using the camera has been fine for me so far, but I know others don't like the camera angle because they feel it's not wide enough (there is another thread about that). For me it's ok.

The first few times I plugged the trailer in I had issues getting it to immediately recognize the trailer. I think the warnings you get while driving could just be the harness being not fully connected? But I don't know. I just know I had to plug it in and pull it out a couple times before I got a full tow mode connection the first time I used it. I think it may be better now that it's broken in a little.

After the first leg I checked all the connections and reseated things. Still got those temp popups on the way back. It was wet today vs last time when it was dry. I've seen others complaining about wet and the wiring harness connector. Maybe something going on there on more than one truck.

 

[ironpig]

After the first leg I checked all the connections and reseated things. Still got those temp popups on the way back. It was wet today vs last time when it was dry. I've seen others complaining about wet and the wiring harness connector. Maybe something going on there on more than one truck.

Yeah I haven't towed in wet conditions yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are issues with the wiring harness connectors in general.

 

[the_mace]

Yeah I haven't towed in wet conditions yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are issues with the wiring harness connectors in general.

Never an issue with my F350 but perhaps something they need to work out here. Anyway it worked and the truck pulled the load well.

 

[ironpig]

Never an issue with my F350 but perhaps something they need to work out here. Anyway it worked and the truck pulled the load well.

yeah I've never had an issue with any truck or suv pulling everything from small U-hual trailers to horse trailers. I suspect it's the over engineering of the tow mode software with the lower tech of the wiring harness.

Agree - It tows really well once you are going. No complaints from me.

 

[VSG]

I have a slight decline on my property which always made it easy to back a trailer in to its parking spot and let gravity help a bit but with the Rivian I felt like the Regen braking makes it slightly harder because I need to use the accelerator to make sure there isn't any resistance while I back up. It's not a huge deal, but just something I noticed in my particular anecdotal experience.

While backing up, if you keep your left foot on the brake pedal just enough for the truck to know you're braking, the regen won't kick in like that and you can back up more normally. I find this method helps when you need fine control.

 

[ironpig]

While backing up, if you keep your left foot on the brake pedal just enough for the truck to know you're braking, the regen won't kick in like that and you can back up more normally. I find this method helps when you need fine control.

yeah I think I kind of subconsciously started doing that. It's only been an issue in this one situation I have with a bit of a downhill but it did make me wonder about people launching boats on a decline etc.

 

[Count Orlok]

@the_mace you need to cross post this on https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/

 

[TheIglu]

My trailer shows the same warning messages constantly while I'm driving in the wet.

 

[Riviaenz]

I'll try backing off the speed next time too. Makes sense and at those speeds every mph makes a difference. I was surprised how much the empty (and relatively light) trailer still mattered for range. That was probably my biggest surprise in this.

Drag equation is a function of the speed squared (v^2). It explains how the faster you go, the more energy (squared) is required to offset drag.

We recently completed a nice mini vacation towing our R-Pod over 1200 miles. This was our first trip and towing experience with our R1T (I have over 40k miles of towing experience between a 2010 XC90 and 2017 XC90 T8; Rivian replaced the 2017 sadly, would have been ideal if it replaced the 2010).

Mileage and range varied dramatically from as low as 90mi with an ending 12% SoC and as good as 160mi with quite a bit more buffer left. Throughout the trip we charged to 85%. Only our first leg leaving home was to 100% as I was trying to get us as far into the trip the first night to only need one DCFC charge stop before getting to our first camping site. On this trip I didn’t get a chance to properly weigh our totals. I estimate the R-Pod came in around 4000lbs for most of the trip as we traveled with full fresh water tank and enough gear for 3 of us plus pup. On another trip a 2 years ago with our XC90 T8 it was about 4300lbs for 5 of us plus pup - on that trip total weight was 10680lbs (Volvo was properly loaded too - 2 month 7100mile trip).

On the one leg half way through our first Rivian roadtrip where we got down to 12% SoC from 85% covering 89.8miles, was over mountain roads with mostly gentle elevation gain and also higher speed limit (70+). Both killers of range regardless of fuel. As I saw our range tanking from the originally expected 200mi (it creeped up at the start of the leg, easy going, slower speed and flat) I started slowing down to at first ~5mph below the speed limit and then ~10mph below. It helped and we arrived at our campsite where I quickly unhitched and drove 6 miles back into town to get a head start (fast charge) on the next day’s worth of exploring from our new base camp. That campsite only had 120v 30A outlets which would have been inadequate to the task of getting back up to 85% in one night.

Since that first towing trip a couple of weeks ago I’ve logged quite a bit more towing miles with our Rivian. It’s quite good, in fact, it feels even smoother and more at home towing than without the load.

Estimated trailer weight+load about 4000lbs.

BTW, @the_mace, nice choice on R1T ?, and love your CX2510. I wanted one so badly but in the end settled on the slightly smaller green flavored option which has turned out to be the perfect size and capability to get all tasks done at home.

I’ve not weighed this setup, however, I’d estimate it at about 3700lbs.

 

[the_mace]

Nice, I have 3 tractors i'm towing:
1) Kioti CX2510 HST
2) Kubota B3350HSDC
3) Kubota B2710HSD

The 2710 is >20 years old and by far the favorite. 3350 has great power but the emissions crap on it has been a nightmare. CX2510 is new and nice but not nearly as powerful as the 3350 and its much more sensitive on maintenance intervals. I'm terrible at the ICE maintenance stuff myself hence the towing to service to get them serviced.

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