Rivan truck tow vehicle

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
I would have asked their mileage.

I'lll be getting a Cybertruck or F150 Lightning to either pull my RV or a camper truck if mileage will be an issue. Having to stop every 150 to 200 miles to charge will not be an issue for us since this is our normal and one-stop for us anyways between campsites.

100 miles with a relatively low profile 5500lb trailer. Bout the same range as one of the saddle tanks on my 36 year old big block GMC….

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
I would have asked their mileage.

I'lll be getting a Cybertruck or F150 Lightning to either pull my RV or a camper truck if mileage will be an issue. Having to stop every 150 to 200 miles to charge will not be an issue for us since this is our normal and one-stop for us anyways between campsites.

Everybody's needs are different. We're planning a summer trip now and the main outgoing and return travel days will be about 600 miles through some pretty rural areas. Obviously an electric tow vehicle would be a non-starter for that scenario.

MitchF150 wrote:
Even at the quick charge stations, don't you still need a couple of hours to charge the thing?

I don't know if all the ones that are out there now are "free"? I'd think you would have to pay for the electric you use? Or am I wrong on that? I've never looked into it, or cared for that matter..

I did just "borrow" my mom's 2014 Ford Escort "Titanium" to help with my gas bill for my daily commute (about 40 miles round trip). It's got the 2.0 "EcoBoost" in it and only has 44,000 miles on it.

The deal is to try to sell it or I can buy it for a nice 'family discount' if it comes to that..

With gas going to $6/gallon soon, the F150 will just be the tow vehicle for now!

Mitch

Hey Mitch. A typical supercharge stop for us is around 15 to 30 minutes. Non tesla chargers are usually slower but that might just be a regional thing. No idea on the Rivian.

And yep. It’s pay as you go. Free DC fast charging is pretty rare unless it is sponsored by some business or entity. We have been driving electric for 7 years and I can’t remember hitting a free DC fast charger unless it was a new install and it was on a 30 day trial situation.

We have been on the road towing our trailer on a BC to Quebec tour for over a week and about half our charging has been at Tesla Superchargers and the odd BC hydro or FLO station at touristy places. The other half has been campgrounds.

Safe travels all.

Durb wrote:
I give the man credit for being leading edge with his truck, not so much with the trailer. There is one driving around where I live. I presume they would be all over the place if Rivian could get them out the door in sufficient numbers.

First production is going a lot to employees. I see one at least once a week now. Although I live close to the design headquarters.

Charging stations found here: Www.plugsare.com

“Obviously an electric tow vehicle would be a non-starter for that scenario.”

May well be obvious today but not tomorrow IMO.

Reisender wrote:
Just a heads up re charging stations. No one actually has to “look for a charge station”. The truck knows where they are and all the driver does is select the station he wants to go to and it will navigate there. The driver will know things like,

Wether the station is occupied or not,
What the power is
What the vehicles battery level will be when he/she arrives
What amenities are in the area etc etc.
What the reviews are.
What method of payment will be required.

In the case of some manufacturers the driver just selects the final destination of the trip and the vehicle figures out all the stops along the way. It will compensate for wind, temperature, elevation change etc. it’s pretty accurate. It will also compensate for trailer load, but at least with our EV it takes 10 or 15 minutes of travelling with the trailer load to come up with a more accurate estimate.

As well there are about a half dozen apps that will do most of the above.

Hope that was informative.

Safe travels all.

Have you been successful finding charge stations that were accommodating to a vehicle and large trailer? From what I have seen, that is where it would be more challenging.

And, cards on the table, I have concluded I will be a late adopter to electric vehicle technology.

Was everything alright? without adventures?

Bionic Man wrote:

Reisender wrote:
Just a heads up re charging stations. No one actually has to “look for a charge station”. The truck knows where they are and all the driver does is select the station he wants to go to and it will navigate there. The driver will know things like,

Wether the station is occupied or not,
What the power is
What the vehicles battery level will be when he/she arrives
What amenities are in the area etc etc.
What the reviews are.
What method of payment will be required.

In the case of some manufacturers the driver just selects the final destination of the trip and the vehicle figures out all the stops along the way. It will compensate for wind, temperature, elevation change etc. it’s pretty accurate. It will also compensate for trailer load, but at least with our EV it takes 10 or 15 minutes of travelling with the trailer load to come up with a more accurate estimate.

As well there are about a half dozen apps that will do most of the above.

Hope that was informative.

Safe travels all.

Have you been successful finding charge stations that were accommodating to a vehicle and large trailer? From what I have seen, that is where it would be more challenging.

And, cards on the table, I have concluded I will be a late adopter to electric vehicle technology.

Large trailer? Hmmm. I would say the vast majority of the stations we have used would not be accommodating to a large trailer. There have been a few BC Hydro and FLO chargers that were more of a parallel park sceenario that would probably work but certainly none of the Superchargers. Some have trailer stalls that are ok for something like our 18 footer or maybe a little bigger.

I know Tesla is building pull thrus on some of their supercharger sites now. I’m sure that will get common.

We have only had to disconnect once to charge. That was at a mall in Airdrie Alberta. There’s always a way.

Hope that helps.

Cool, thanks for sharing. I am very curious about EV options and I like the idea of something I could tow with. I want to see what kind of mobile solar charging options people come up with. I'm not talking about an unrealistic perpetual energy situation. But more like I'm boondocking for a few nights, can a large array on the trailer/camper recharge my electric vehicle to full during my stay?

ewarnerusa wrote:
Cool, thanks for sharing. I am very curious about EV options and I like the idea of something I could tow with. I want to see what kind of mobile solar charging options people come up with. I'm not talking about an unrealistic perpetual energy situation. But more like I'm boondocking for a few nights, can a large array on the trailer/camper recharge my electric vehicle to full during my stay?

Not yet but maybe coming with the leaps and bounds of the technology in solar panels.