docwyte
PowerDork
11/12/21 8:54 a.m.
I'm sure it can be done, with plenty of stops to recharge. I read an article in C&D where they sent off a bunch of writers on a 1000 mile multi day road trip in a variety of electric cars. At the end of the article all of them said they'd chose an ICE car for a road trip like that again.
Bottom line, until there are far more high voltage battery chargers and batteries that can charge up fully in ten minutes or less, long road trips or towing anything isn't going to be all that awesome in an electric vehicle.
Really wouldn't think it would be that hard. We've already seen a rather substantial number of EV cross country trips, even here on this forum. Adding towing to the mix changes things, but for how many charging stations I passed in Amish country alone, it really shouldn't be that difficult or add that much time to the trip.
The deserts are going to be the biggest issue really, and for the most part you can probably route around them.
Yeah, the reduced range while towing will exacerbate the negatives, though the Rivian has a really long range compared to most EVs. The location and quantity of the chargers, and the length of time required to charge the large battery in the truck are only part of the challenge. The typical layout for charging stations is really unfriendly to vehicles with trailers.
It'll be interesting to see how this goes.
I am sure they are going to do it and be successful. It would be interesting if they did the same trip at the same time with an ICE truck too. They could detail the differences in the trip from a driver standpoint, an economy standpoint and environmental impact.
That would be a good read (it may or may not sell Rivian's though).
In reply to New York Nick :
That should be an article or even a YouTube series.
Ford would probably be the best bet for that though because they have a gas and ev version of the same truck, get a real apples to apples comparison.
First stop could be at HF to buy the biggest Predator generator they have and put it in the trunk.
220 volts at 10,000 watts surely would extend the range decently.
docwyte said:
I'm sure it can be done, with plenty of stops to recharge. I read an article in C&D where they sent off a bunch of writers on a 1000 mile multi day road trip in a variety of electric cars. At the end of the article all of them said they'd chose an ICE car for a road trip like that again.
Bottom line, until there are far more high voltage battery chargers and batteries that can charge up fully in ten minutes or less, long road trips or towing anything isn't going to be all that awesome in an electric vehicle.
The supercharger Teslas use will give you 150 more miles in 15 minutes. There are already millions of those around. With the Government committed to installing millions more. Soon there will be more chargers than gas stations or gas stations with chargers. If you own a Tesla there is an ap for that right on the dash. There are a lot of them around. Just stop at any Target store for example.
in England it's rare to have to go 15 miles before another charging station appears. In fact they tested all the top brands to see which went the furthest and the route they used had them every 3-4 miles.
pkingham (Forum Supporter) said:
Yeah, the reduced range while towing will exacerbate the negatives, though the Rivian has a really long range compared to most EVs. The location and quantity of the chargers, and the length of time required to charge the large battery in the truck are only part of the challenge. The typical layout for charging stations is really unfriendly to vehicles with trailers.
It'll be interesting to see how this goes.
Oh you mean you have to know how to back a trailer? My local Target store has enough of them that most of the time they are all empty. I've heard Fleet Farm is next to get them.
New York Nick said:
I am sure they are going to do it and be successful. It would be interesting if they did the same trip at the same time with an ICE truck too. They could detail the differences in the trip from a driver standpoint, an economy standpoint and environmental impact.
That would be a good read (it may or may not sell Rivian's though).
My bladder needs to be emptied before I'd run out of range on a Ford F-150 EV. Combine that with a meal and I'd be back to 300 miles again.
One question I have is how much would the regeneration gain you driving through a city during rush hour?
KyAllroad said:
First stop could be at HF to buy the biggest Predator generator they have and put it in the trunk.
220 volts at 10,000 watts surely would extend the range decently.
I wonder if it has pass-through charge capability to handle this...I've thought an EV with a range-extender trailer could be a good setup for a mixed street & track EV, you could show up to the track fully charged and leaving with a low battery would be no problem.
