Trading in our 2022 Lariat ER for a Rivian R1S Dual Motor Max Pack

[Lightning Rod]

Good luck with that.

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[ackatack]

The other added benefit of the Rivian is that we can get about 3 kW from the 30A 120V RV plug at the camp vs the Lightning that could only draw 1.5kW. In cold weather, 1.5 kW isn't even enough to condition the battery.

What do you think is the source of the limitation on the Lightning side which the Rivian overcomes?

 

[lightspeed]

We were among the first people to have the privilege to purchase a Lightning when we took delivery of a Lariat ER in June 2022. We traded in a Ram 1500 Platinum and the Lightning outperformed the Ram on almost every metric and the Lightning is the best truck we've ever owned, except.....

My partner leases hunting land about 120 miles from our home and we need tow a travel trailer (1.1 mi/kWh, documented here) and side-by-side (1.3 mi/kWh) there on a regular basis. We also were not able to make it there and back without charging in cold weather. We could make the range limitations work if the charging situation along that route was better, but it's effectively gotten worse since we bought the Lightning due to congestion and unreliability and there's no hope for improvement in the near future. We decided that we were going to sell the Lightning for that reason during the summer. We're also sick of dealing with a full-size truck in the city and were planning on trading it in for a smaller SUV or truck if we got rid of the Lightning. We initially looked into a Grand Cherokee PHEV, but the payload capacity was too limited for our trailer's tongue weight. We then looked into an Expedition, but decided to delay plans when we heard that the Rivian Max Packs would go on sale this fall.

We've carried a price-protected preorder for the R1T Max Pack since 1/2022, but switched to an R1S Performance Dual Motor Max Pack in early October. An R1S became available on Wednesday and should be ready for pickup this week.

I'm starting this this thread to share my experience trading in the Lightning and towing with the R1S. One thing I can tell you already is that the trade-in values of the Lightning are pretty terrible. We put 17,000 miles on it and are going to be lucky to get $55,000 unless we decide to list it on the private market.

I'm not sure if anyone cares, but I'll update the thread to share our experience (and hopefully not disappointment) when we move over to the R1S from the Lightning.

Understandable. But just pointing out that in 2 to 5 months, we'll all have access to the Tesla supercharger network which makes a huge difference in charging availability.

 

[vandy1981]

I'm curious too. Am I correct is assuming you cannot charge while at the hunting property? So you need 240 miles of range towing a trailer?

Lightning: 240 miles÷131 kWh=1.8 kWh/m. Not happening.

Rivian Max Pack: 240÷180=1.3 kWh/m. Maybe? That's zero reserve.

There's a 120V 30A plug at the camp. One advantage of the R1S is that it can be set to charge at 24 amps at 120v vs the Ford which is limited to 12A at 120V.

The Max Pack battery is 149 kWh. I'm speculating that the Max Pack is more efficient than the standard pack so more of those kWh will make it to the wheels instead of being lost to heat.

 

[vandy1981]

Understandable. But just pointing out that in 2 to 5 months, we'll all have access to the Tesla supercharger network which makes a huge difference in charging availability.

Yes, we were hopeful when the announcement was made because there is a Supercharger exactly where we would need it. Unfortunately, it's a V2 which will not be available to CCS vehicles so it won't solve our problem.

 

[vandy1981]

What do you think is the source of the limitation on the Lightning side which the Rivian overcomes?

I'm guessing Ford is more risk averse and decided to limit charging to 12 Amps to avoid any possibility of overloading a 120v circuit by setting amperage too high. I'm not sure if it's a hardware limitation or just a software limitation.

 

[vandy1981]

Good luck with that.

Thank you!

 

[sd25]

@vandy1981 , looking forward to hearing how it goes with the R1S. I think you're going to enjoy the Rivian given that you're looking for something slightly smaller.

The Rivian drives like a smaller vehicle than it is - the Lightning definitely drives like a big truck. But it all depends on your needs, our family enjoys the extra interior room and quieter ride of the Lightning for longer trips.

Just as a data point, I towed our 16ft 3000 lb travel trailer with our Lightning and our R1T (quad motor) in pretty ideal conditions (70F, little wind, flat terrain) for a 60 mile loop at 55mph.
R1T: 1.10 miles/kwh
Lightning: 1.24 miles/kwh

Hoping the extra efficiency of the max pack and the dual motor get you what you're looking for.

 

[vandy1981]

@vandy1981
Just as a data point, I towed our 16ft 3000 lb travel trailer with our Lightning and our R1T (quad motor) in pretty ideal conditions (70F, little wind, flat terrain) for a 60 mile loop at 55mph.
R1T: 1.10 miles/kwh
Lightning: 1.24 miles/kwh

Out of curiosity, is trailer brake control and sway control available on the R1 outside of trailer mode?

 

[sd25]

Out of curiosity, is trailer brake control and sway control available on the R1 outside of trailer mode?

If you're thinking Conserve Mode, I haven't tried it when towing. Would guess that it might have some impact on the sway control since you've essentially disengaged the rear motors.

I just got the Halloween update and they changed the drive mode options - now you can be in towing mode in some of the other drive modes. I'm impressed that Rivian has already updated their user manual with regards to this latest update...

 

[fromport]

There's a 120V 30A plug at the camp. One advantage of the R1S is that it can be set to charge at 24 amps at 120v vs the Ford which is limited to 12A at 120V.

In the Lightning scenario you could have done this:
Get a 3kW auto tranformer to step up 120V -> 240 volt AC and limit the AC current input to the lightning to 12 amps @ 240 volt =2880 watts.
Would double your recharge capacity in the lightning.

 

[Jseis]

When I pulled into the Ellensburg EA, a Rivian R1T driver commented “liked the Lightning but lived in the city“ and “was it my first full sized pickup?”. I laughed and said “Well I rowed a 6 spd in a 7.3 F250 Super Duty for a decade & pretty used to driving country and visiting the city occasionally“. I put that truck in a lot of strange place; underground parking garages, typical narrow gov agency lots, narrow Portland & Seattle streets. The Rivian driver commented that “gettin around” the city was a big deal. I find it is usually the S.O. that doesn’t want to deal with driving the larger vehicles.

~$1,000.00 gets you a dual fuel 12 KW gen w/240V NEMA 50 amp outlet. Chances are you’re hauling fuel for your trailer or SxS. So hybridization would work but for city driving. If I was headed into the boonies, the hybrid solution would work. 5 hours of run time might get ~100 miles.

Have fun whatever you do.

 

[vandy1981]

In the Lightning scenario you could have done this:
Get a 3kW auto tranformer to step up 120V -> 240 volt AC and limit the AC current input to the lightning to 12 amps @ 240 volt =2880 watts.
Would double your recharge capacity in the lightning.

I thought about that and would have given it a shot if we were holding onto the Lightning. There's a possibility that the charger would throw an error with a setup like this.

 

[Maquis]

I thought about that and would have given it a shot if we were holding onto the Lightning. There's a possibility that the charger would throw an error with a setup like this.

It works - no error.

 

[ctuan13]

I still have a reservation for R1S quad with price protection and curious, how did that transfer to dual motor? Did they reduce the same amount in dual motor that you had in R1T?

Please come back and tell us what you think about the change after you put a few miles in R1S. What you like and what you don’t about the change. Has the phantom drain on Rivian has improved? Is it noisier than Lightning on the highway? Is it significantly more efficient at 80 mph? …..

I can't speak on other things, but ride, noise and harshness is something I can absolutely comment on having test driven both R1Ts and R1Ss. Both the R1T and R1S are significantly noisier even at moderate speeds. Sound isolation is much worse, road noise bleeds through even when driving around town, wind noise is much worse on the highway and the ride...God. I get that they're more "sporty", but even for a truck they are uncomfortable. Even in the "comfort" suspension setting, they are much much harsher riding than the Lightning.

I'm sure for lots of people they ride fine and the road and wind noise isn't an issue, but considering what you're paying for, overall comfort, noise isolation and ride quality pales in comparison to the Lightning. If all you're concerned about is max range, then maybe you don't care, but these are just some things to consider.

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