Rivian Hot Weather Towing

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Rivian Hot Weather Towing

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Questions asked by some of the commentors that I would also ask.

-"I am very curious to know the range when pulling 11,000 pounds. Is it a 50% reduction in range as some have estimated?"

-"Alright now take it to Colorado and spend some days in the snow and cold. I'm more interested in how well it will do in those conditions."

-"The average winter temperature in Colorado is not even freezing temperature. Something like 40F. A reliable winter test drive would be in places like Edmonton, Whitehorse or Anchorage."

-"Less cinematography and more towing/stat/speedometer shots please. I feel like this vid could have been a minute or two long. Great product tho."

-"I'm excited about all the new EVs and battery tech coming out and love them all as long as we're not trying to deceive.

-"However, this video makes me go, hmm. Seems made for TV...no stats provided to make you come to your own conclusions. Can't be good."

-"I wanna to know what we can expect the range to look like after towing like this"

-"Very pretty video, but has no actual outcomes or performance specs. We met our goals." "Seems to be performing really well." What were your goals? I can only think if you could brag you would."

-"Now bring it to some place cold and snowy. Test the cold weather range and thermal system. Test the cabin heat. Make sure that snow and ice don't unduly jam the door handles or windows and that opening a door or front hood/trunk doesn't dump a slug of melt water inside. Also, have some tire/wheel options that aren't low-profile doughnuts that are useless on country roads and off-road."

"

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I'm not sure I understand the tire concerns that guy mentioned as the test truck seemed to have decent off road suitable tires on it.
I posted this question to Rivian on Facebook:

Hello. I'm really excited about the Rivian however I do have a question. I live on Prince Edward Island Canada- a place with very cold winters and a lot of salt and gravel placed on the roads during winter. Has the Rivian been extensively tested in such a climate? I'm concerned about corrosion and range during the winter. Have you determined the range of the pickup when loaded at say -10F? Thanks.

They replied:

Hey Todd, thanks for reaching out! Our teams have definitely put our Electric Adventure Vehicles to the test in a multitude of climates including the bitter cold. The R1S and R1T are being designed to handle hard temperatures. We can't wait to release more information in the near future!

I then asked:
What about road salt? Will you be incorporating this in your testing as well?

They replied:
Certainly! We can't wait to share more details soon!

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Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

How about the question of the range the Rivian got when towing in the video?

That seemed to be the biggest concern from the comments.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I found this information about Rivian regarding towing on another website. Towing capacity is 11000lb :

Rivian says the range of the R1T will drop by about 50 per cent if towing at full capacity, which would give it only 200 miles (321 km) of travel instead of its maximum 400 (643 km).

To combat the reduced range, Rivian plans to offer add-on battery packs that sit below a false floor in the bed, and to compensate by building DC fast-charging stations.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

About the same range as my 2002 Tacoma v6 5 speed when loaded with 1000 lbs.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I'd say that'd drop another 30% if it were -10c out.

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
I found this information about Rivian regarding towing on another website. Towing capacity is 11000lb :

Rivian says the range of the R1T will drop by about 50 per cent if towing at full capacity, which would give it only 200 miles (321 km) of travel instead of its maximum 400 (643 km).

To combat the reduced range, Rivian plans to offer add-on battery packs that sit below a false floor in the bed, and to compensate by building DC fast-charging stations.

Can't see there being much use at the commercial side for this small truck with it's towing capacity.

Wouldn't make it from Toronto to Windsor. and barely make it from Calgary to Edmonton.

I also can't see towing a RV into the woods without having a reliable charging station at the other end.

More batteries (more cost) and time spent charging...and for us Canadians, cold weather effect on the batteries, and the salt.

And then issues like this will begin to take hold everywhere with electric vehicles because you'll be at the mercy of the power companies.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/electric-cars/353209/energy-firms-want-right-switch-electric-cars-charging-home

ABC123 · Uber Guru

Canadian Poncho wrote:
I'd say that'd drop another 30% if it were -10c out.

It's the cold weather that we should be concerned with.

All these vehicles are being developed to please California but they still don't make sense in Canada.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Yet the funny thing is Quebec is the largest consumer of EV's in Canada and they have some of the worst winters.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I suspect that since the company's headquarters are located in Michigan, they are quite familiar with the effects of cold temperatures and road salt. It's weird that people are worried about door locks freezing up or snow falling into the cabin when the door is opened. When Chevrolet introduces a new truck, are people concerned about this stuff? If you look at the effort Rivian has put into these vehicles, one would expect that they've done the research and testing, and more than likely have hired employees from mainstream automotive companies with broad knowledge as to the requirements of a vehicle driven in the US and Canada (as is usual with the entire auto industry).

Regarding the video and testing information, no company is going to reveal their test details to 'the internet'... companies invest millions of dollars in their testing, and they are not going to just give away that information to their competitors. The videos posted here appear to be typical promotional videos, just like Chevrolet would show a video of a forklift dropping a pallet of cinderblocks into the bed of a truck from 10 feet up (not as if anybody would actually do that) to show how 'tough' their trucks are - usually those videos are light on the specs and heavy on the drama and machismo. Don't know why anybody would expect a new truck company to be any different - especially now, since the vehicle hasn't been formally released yet.

Here's how I see it:

- We are smack dab in the middle of a climate/environmental problem, and something has to be done about it. Denying it is the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand (or some other dark place) - so many companies in the world are working hard to create new technologies and products to reduce their effect on the environment. EVs are part of that movement.

- Like it or not, technology is changing and advancing, you can either embrace it or try to hide from it - but it's gonna happen either way.

- Products will be introduced to the market - the good ones will survive, the bad ones will go bankrupt or be swallowed up by the larger successful companies. If Rivian doesn't sweat the details, they will not survive, however this doesn't mean that electric vehicles will go away.

- All that said, in today's crazy political climate, nothing is guaranteed, so who knows what the future will hold regarding EVs, HFCVs, ICE vehicles, etc... or our planet and its inhabitants, for that matter...

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Some of the new evs now have heated storage for their batteries, also VWs new ev has a heat pump for heat and ac, very efficient systems.

One thing government can do is legislate a common spec for charging connectors so any ev can be charged at any station. They wont forget a road tax of some sort to replace gas taxes Im sure.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Greaser wrote:
I also can't see towing a RV into the woods without having a reliable charging station at the other end.

These vehicles are still in their infancy (think Model T) - there will be lots of solutions to issues like this as the vehicles evolve, not to mention aftermarket solutions, like this: https://www.carscoops.com/2020/08/charging-electric-pickups-could-be-as-easy-as-parking-in-the-sun-thanks-to-a-solar-tonneau-cover/

As Don mentioned in his post, they are already improving on heating systems, and you will quickly see technological improvements as the vehicles start to become viable options for mainstream buyers.

Just remember, when the early cars first started hitting the roads, they received a lot of opposition - and rightly so in some cases, as they were noisy, unreliable, etc. Many people thought they would never replace the horse - but all that changed within a few decades - cars of the 1930s were head and shoulders above the cars of the 1910s, and cars of the 1950s were a huge improvement over the 1930s... and so it goes.