Zac Quinn 
Electric pickup trucks have arrived with a substantial amount of hype surrounding them, and as far as range goes, they’re great. Still, there are a few tradeoffs, especially when planning a road trip. Which, you absolutely have to plan. Mapping out calculated stops to charge the vehicle is a must, which is easy enough thanks to various apps that help you locate the type of charger you’d need to get the job done. And you’ll have to consider the 30 minutes or so of time you’ll spend at each one. And that’s all without adding in the factor of towing. Which is what one Rivian employee recently did with an R1T electric pickup truck, trailering an S197 Ford Mustang GT. Total weight? 14,260 pounds.
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Rivian employee and Instagram user gideontherivian has plotted out a trip in an R1T to travel from Detroit to Los Angeles and posted about the journey along the way. As one would expect, a trip like this would rely heavily on charging stations, namely DC fast-chargers and often Electrifying America stations at Walmart and Sam’s Club. The vehicle they’ve decided to tow is their Ford Mustang GT, which is placed onto a twin-axle trailer. Once connected to the truck, the Rivian’s vehicle weight is increased to 14,250 pounds which certainly seems like it would drag down the range of the Rivian. However, the owner reports that the truck’s performance has remained quiet, comfortable, and resistant to trailer sway, and there’s still plenty of power to get up and go if needed.
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Rivian R1T Range While Towing A Ford Mustang GT
The owner stated they haven’t been charging the Rivian R1T much past 80 percent to ensure that charges are quicker and to help preserve the battery. But, in turn, the owner is also not letting the charge drop lower than 16 percent, meaning they’re using no more than 64 percent of charge at any given stint. With a bit of math calculated by The Drive, it means the R1T seems to sustain 121 to 161 miles per 64-percent charge. So for the maximum range with that particular trailer set up, the R1T appears to top out between 188 and 251 miles.
It seems that there is still a major flaw with the turn towards electrification. As the owner has undergone the road trip, they’ve discovered that not all chargers work as intended; some don’t produce peak wattage, while others are entirely out of order. Meaning, it would be pretty horrible to almost drain an EV battery only to arrive at a charging station and discover that it’s out of order. And that’s to say nothing of the extra time one has to spend waiting for one to charge.
Overall, the owner reported averaging 350 miles a day on their trip and, with frequent stops at charging ports, managed to increase their miles per charging time by 20 percent.
