Rivian towing efficiency
Long Rivian towing test Bottom line, the Rivian range was reduced by 62% when towing a Mustang on a car hauler. The route was from Detroit to LA so it was plenty long but other than that not a w...
Forum Discussion
pianotuna wrote:Groover wrote:pianotuna wrote:
Grover,
I think it may be the square of the voltage--not "power".
Example
120 x 120 = 14,400
100 x 100 = 10,000
10,000 / 14,400 = 69%
So a 31% drop in wattage.
.
The voltage of a lithium ion battery is essentially fixed for any given vehicle. Since power is volts times amps and voltage is fixed the amps vary with power. So the I squared R losses do apply.
Afraid not. There may be less voltage drop--but there is still some.
And what about voltage drop in the wiring? If the motor is pulling twice the power for towing, the amperage in the wiring will roughly double (more with a bit of voltage drop). Double the amperage and you increase voltage drop in the cables which in turn increases the amperage.
I realize they are short thick cables but it's also a lot of power they are putting thru them (one of the reasons they generally use high voltage battery banks vs old fashioned 12v).
But 100miles between charging seems like a deal breaker for 99% of RV buyers.
I think something like Ford's plug-in-hybrid makes far more sense. Normal commuting, you can run almost exclusively on battery power (charging overnight in the garage) but when you need to make a longer run, the engine kicks in and you don't see the limitations.
