Rivian 1/2 ton high temp, grade test. Good read/video

Reisender wrote:

rjstractor wrote:

lbrjet wrote:
I just read that article earlier this morning and was shocked they did not say how much battery power the climbs used. Without that information it is all fluff. Guess they didn't want to say.

Watching the video I was able to glean some data that gave me an idea of how much power that thing was using- at one point in the video the engineers were mentioning that they might be pulling 1200 amps for a minute or two at at time. At another point it was mentioned that they were charging to a max voltage of 440. That works out to 528 kw. Assuming they were running 60 mph, that's 8.8 kwh per mile. The maximum range Rivian truck has a 180 kwh battery. So at the flat out maximum towing power draw you are depleting your battery in just 20 miles. By comparison, take a Ford Ecoboost powered F150. Say running flat out in a hard loaded climb it gets 3 mpg. So, it's fuel lasts about 100 miles at the fuel consumption rate. Disclaimer- I'm not an engineer, so if anyone sees an obvious flaw in my math, call it out and my feelings won't be hurt.

Also not a engineer. How would regeneration fit into this. A model 3 see’s regen rates north of 70 KW and that’s a two motor system. I can see regen rates north of 200 KW for 4 motor trucks. I have read some speculative numbers on the Tesla semi of 800 KW regen rates. This would also play into brake life. One pedal driving is an interesting experience. I go days at a time without ever touching the brake pedal. I can see this being the same in bigger applications.

Cheers.

In normal driving, especially stop and go, regenerative braking would be a huge factor. Going up hill or even on the flat while towing a high profile trailer at highway speeds, there's no regenerative braking at all. Towing tests with EVs on Eisenhower Pass show some battery capacity regained on the way down, but not nearly as much energy as was consumed on the way up.