Towing with a Rivian electric truck
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Lonesome Dove
A man of vision but with no mission.
I won't even ride shotgun in an EV.
So, if your car broke down, you wouldn't accept a ride in one?
Lonesome Dove
A man of vision but with no mission.
Absolutely not I can walk just fine.
I don't do Cruise ships either.
Me either...
Having to stop often to recharge isn't even the worst part. Since you have 20-30min to kill while the batteries top off, you end up wandering around the gas station or shops where the chargers are and buying crap you don't need 
That happens at Bucees, too, with ICE vehicles, though.Having to stop often to recharge isn't even the worst part. Since you have 20-30min to kill while the batteries top off, you end up wandering around the gas station or shops where the chargers are and buying crap you don't need
citizen_zero
Member
Saw my first Rivian out in the wild last weekend. They are definitely nice. I am reserved to the fact that since I'm 42 now that my next vehicle I buy will probably be a hybrid and the one after that all electric. That's just the way the world is headed and I won't put it past politicians to enforce some sort of fossil fuel tax bassed on miles driven in a gasoline fueled car or something. I guess it depends on which lobbyists win the pockets on the politicians at the time.
A friend of a friend got a Rivian truck and their plan is to sell their house, sell their land they no longer want to build on, and live in an airstream trailer while traveling the country and working remotely. I told them it was the stupidest plan possible. They kept saying they were aware of the shortened range and the charging time, but it'd be cheap living and they could see the country in comfort. I asked if they had ever lived in an RV or lived as a nomad. The answer was no but they liked traveling, camping, and seeing the country. Keep in mind these are people my age who have a trust fund and made a cool 2-400k because of the CA housing market.
I'm going to try sending these TFL videos to them knowing they won't watch them but the 2000lb trailer towing is so damning for electric vehicles. If you wanted to go from Dallas to Austin it could probably do the trip without a trailer. If you wanted to bring a small popup camper like that, you'd have to be looking for a halfway point to charge for 30-60mins. Gag me with a spoon if I can drive 2 hours, then have to stop for 45 minutes if I'm driving any distance. I know there have been coast to coast time trials with Teslas for speed, and they did it in 42 hours. For the last team that did it the fastest in an ICE car that record is 25 hours. I've seen the videos and that time difference is because a tesla can't do 150mph+ for long periods and they had to stop for extended periods to charge at pre-planned stops. Granted, the ICE car had 100 gallons of fuel or something absurd, but the example still stands
For an electric vehicle towing, I think it could make sense if you're doing business or fun like how those TFL tests did: 150 miles towing a little family trailer? Kinda makes sense as you're doing a short jaunt to the camp site, maybe spending an extra 30 minutes at a charging station could be a family time waster on vacation (not my idea of fun but whatever). Towing a car across town to get fixed, whatever. But doing business like hauling a trailer of lawn equipment, moving cars across state for profit, or hot shotting supplies to a jobsite probably won't be happening with electric trucks.
I'm going to try sending these TFL videos to them knowing they won't watch them but the 2000lb trailer towing is so damning for electric vehicles. If you wanted to go from Dallas to Austin it could probably do the trip without a trailer. If you wanted to bring a small popup camper like that, you'd have to be looking for a halfway point to charge for 30-60mins. Gag me with a spoon if I can drive 2 hours, then have to stop for 45 minutes if I'm driving any distance. I know there have been coast to coast time trials with Teslas for speed, and they did it in 42 hours. For the last team that did it the fastest in an ICE car that record is 25 hours. I've seen the videos and that time difference is because a tesla can't do 150mph+ for long periods and they had to stop for extended periods to charge at pre-planned stops. Granted, the ICE car had 100 gallons of fuel or something absurd, but the example still stands
For an electric vehicle towing, I think it could make sense if you're doing business or fun like how those TFL tests did: 150 miles towing a little family trailer? Kinda makes sense as you're doing a short jaunt to the camp site, maybe spending an extra 30 minutes at a charging station could be a family time waster on vacation (not my idea of fun but whatever). Towing a car across town to get fixed, whatever. But doing business like hauling a trailer of lawn equipment, moving cars across state for profit, or hot shotting supplies to a jobsite probably won't be happening with electric trucks.
Keep in mind that the majority of gasoline pickup owners don't ever do anything with their ICE trucks that the electric ones can't do. Run little Suzy to soccer practice? Check. Make it to the drive thru at Starbucks? Check. Drop the kids off at school? That's what a large percentage of pick ups are used for these days. A lot of the business trucks are 3/4 ton and up. Not the little half tons.
I don't disagree. Ed Wallace (Radio host in Dallas) hasn't bought gasoline for regular work in about a decade. He's had a mitsubishi, leaf, and I think currently a BMW. He's pointed out many many many times that even Exxon Mobil has publicly stated if you can make a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle do about 75 miles on a single charge, you'd eliminate 95% of gasoline consumption in the US (and maybe the world). Statistically, the average round trip in the US is 68 miles. Thats the go to work, get the kids, get a quart of milk, and return home sorta thing. For people demanding they have a 5 ton vehicle to do that because they just feel safer or they just like the way a truck looks, you get 2 crocodile tears from me about the cost of gas.
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
That's all fine and dandy for every day uses, but EV's won't ever have the range that gasoline or diesel vehicles have. What about towing the camper or boat on the weekends? Or going on vacation and getting away from large urban areas and needing to recharge? What about the cost of an EV over the gasoline or diesel counterpart? So far, I'm seeing 25% to about 50% higher initial costs of buying an EV over gasoline or diesel. What about the cost of adding the charging station to your home? It's not an average DIYer project done on the weekend.
Right I understand that, its why if a hybrid EV were built with a gasoline engine to extend range to ~400+ Miles, that'd make a seamless transition because again, statistically the average trip is under 75 miles. Plug in hybrids can charge a smaller battery like that overnight on 110, no need for a 220 outlet even thought thats just a couple hundred dollars. I'd say if you're a homeowner buying a $60,000 vehicle, not sure a couple hundred to "fill" the batteries for $4 is a strong counterpoint.
Yes some people use trucks and vehicles beyond that but last time I was stuck on the toll road, there was at least 50 cars that I could see to 1 truck towing a trailer. Sure, there were work trucks not towing, but I also agree with you, i'm not sure an EV would replace those.
Based on current battery technology that's true. Right now, Lithium-ion batteries are the energy storage equivalent to the horse and buggy.
Super-capacitors are being developed and have a LONG way to go, but when they get that perfected, it will speed up charging time to about how long a ICE takes now to refuel and will have longer range.
I need to tow 9000 lb a few times a year.
The rest of the year, I travel about 50 miles a day and spend 10 hours a day in my truck watching contractors work. I burn a lot of fuel on AC/ heat .
Tell me how I can save money and I'll listen.
The rest of the year, I travel about 50 miles a day and spend 10 hours a day in my truck watching contractors work. I burn a lot of fuel on AC/ heat .
Tell me how I can save money and I'll listen.
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
And the idiots predicting deadlines and projected dates when all this should happen, don't realize the technology doesn't exist for what they want to happen yet.
I can predict that we as a country will be making daily trips to Mars and setting up colonies, in the next five years, but that technology just doesn't exist yet, and probably won't for decades.
Statistical averages don’t really matter, because very few people will only drive the statistical average.
It sounds good and you can put it on paper to say you’d cover 95% or the trips, but if you need something else to cover yourself for the 5% of trips that don’t fit the envelope be it a family vacation or just a weekend camping trip, the consumer cost no longer makes it a viable alternative.
Same thing with the trucks people own. Many have trucks and don’t tow anything day to day. But do you expect them to rent one every time they take their boat out, head to a deer lease, take a few cattle to sell, etc?
A fast charge station is also thousands of dollars, not a couple hundred.
I’ve said it many times, I don’t have any issues with EVs in general and wouldn’t mind one if I just drove to work and back. I have some issues with subsidies and the extra costs being added to ICE vehicles simply due to government agendas. And I think it’s important to be realistic about how people use their vehicles and remember that just because we can do some simple math and find an average doesn’t mean a vehicle that meets those average requirements would actually meet the needs of the average driver, because even the average driver will exceed their average use on many occasions.
