1,000 miles towing an Airstream with a Rivian R1S: energy use and lessons learned
I took a road trip with our R1S and our Airstream Basecamp 20X across California. Figured I’d share my trip report with some efficiency numbers.
The setup
- R1S Quad, Large (130kwh) pack, AT tires. General efficiency is about 2miles/kwh without trailer.
- Airstream Basecamp 20X. This trailer is about 3500lbs dry, maybe 4000lbs loaded. The shape is nearly perfect for drag, but the X package means AT tires on the trailer and a 3 inch lift.
- This was in October, so weather was generally still quite good at around 60-75F.
- This trip is across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Through Yosemite, over to 395 (the best camping in CA if you ask me).
ROUTE AND EFFICIENCY
- SF-Manteca: 62miles, 1.6mi/kwh, 39kwh total. 75F, going 55mph mostly.
- Manteca to Groveland: 78miles, 1.15mi/kwh, 68.5kwh total, 75F, 55mph where there was still straight highways, but it gets curvy as you get up the hill. So the reduction in speed helps, but you definitely lose range to the 3000ft of elevation.
- Groveland to Wawona Campground: 60miles, 1.39mi/kwh, 43.1kwh, still good weather, up 2300ft in elevation. This is slower than the last leg, and 1k less elevation up.
- Wawona to Visalia: 108miles, 1.69mi/kwh, 64kwh, great weather and lost about 5k ft in elevation. Going downhill is amazing, it looks like the R1S range is well over 200 miles when going downhill that much.
- Visalia to Inyokern (windy mt road 109 to 155): 99 miles 1.29mi kWh (77kwh) to lake Isabella. I reset it there and then 48 miles 1.65mi kWh 29.1kwh to Inyokern. So total was 147miles, 105kwh (1.4miles per kWh).
- This was a long drive and really far uphill. 6k elevation on that first leg and mi/kwh dropped to maybe even as low as 0.65 mi/kw during those few miles.
- Inyokern to Olancha: 48 miles 1.0m kwh 48kw. 1200ft uphill and winds meant high usage.
- Olancha to Bishop: 116 miles, 1.15mi/kwh, 101.4kwh used. 500 feet of elevation gain.
- Bishop to mono lake: 76 miles, 1.2m/kwh, 61kwh. Also quite a bit uphill. And higher speeds.
- Lundy Lake to Bridgeport: 22 miles, 1.84mi/kwh, 11.8kwh used. Short trip, some downhill.
- Bridgeport to Manteca over 108: This is the big one! 152.5 miles, 1.92mi/kwh, 79.2kwh used. Up from 6k ft elevation to nearly 10k ft, all the way down to sea level. In hindsight I could have easily made this trip from Lee Vining.
- Manteca to Fairfield: 69miles, 1.18mi/kwh, 59kwh total. Flat, highway driving.
Efficiency is VERY dependent on elevation changes and speed.
Summary
- This car is so great at towing. I’ve done this trip in a 200 series 5.7L V8 Land Cruiser before and (while also great a great car), you just spend a lot more effort managing being in the right gear, especially going downhill. The Rivian makes going downhill so easy, just let the regen do its magic. And of course when you need to speed up to merge, it’s almost effortless. I sometimes wonder if the Rivian is faster with the trailer, than the Land Cruiser is without it.
- Going up in elevation makes a huge difference for efficiency, but you do gain a lot of that used power back by going downhill with regen. At one point I think we gained 10% on battery just cruising downhill.
- Speed might be the biggest factor when towing. It helps that CA speed limits are 55mph for towing, so it doesn’t feel too bad being the slow one on the highway. But doing this trip at 65mph or even more would have made a massive dent in efficiency.
- The worst performing leg was 1.0mile/kwh of efficiency, which was a combo of uphill, in wind, at highway speeds. The best was 1.92mi/kwh which included a downhill section. Because of this I’m mentally marking 140 miles as the minimum range for my setup. Even in the worst of conditions I can’t imagine having less range (assuming similar temperatures).
- The highway 395 RAN chargers are awesome. Not many people seem to use them so there is always lots of space, and no need to unhitch (except maybe in Bishop where it’s in a strip mall).
- It’s nice to be able to top off the trailer batteries from the Rivian outlet when needed. But I do wish it had 240v plugs (or at least a 30A trailer plug) so I could run AC on the trailer. The F150 Hybrid with Pro Power has this, and so do a few other EV trucks. With the Rivian, turning on the AC or Microwave will just flip the Rivian breaker and I will need to re-enable power on the screen.
No need to drop the trailer if you approach the charger from the back! (Inyokern, CA)
The changes from 2023->2026 in available EV charging have made a huge difference. RAN is great and optimized for remote locations, the Tesla Adapter is very helpful, Electrify America is no longer always broken, and it's easier to find campgrounds and RV parks that allow plugging in overnight.
For anyone attempting a similar trip I'd recommend to spreadsheet it out in advance, just to be safe. Figure out your worst case KWH scenario and make sure there are 2 charging stations for you towards the end of that range.
Also make sure to set aside A LOT OF TIME to talk to other campers who will wonder "how that electric truck tows". Not everyone wants to tow with an EV, but they do all seem curious about it.
u/evpotatoe — 2 days ago