Rivian SUB-ZERO Drive! How does EXTREME COLD affect range? | Rivian Dad 

Extra points for anyone who can spot the typo!

I live in Castle Rock, just south of Denver, and left my house at 7:45am yesterday, in -17F weather. I had the advantage of having my R1T in my garage, and the temperature was about 40F. So my battery was more than 50 degrees warmer, plus it had charged overnight, and I pre-heated the truck cabin before pulling out of the garage, while it was on the charger. I wasn't watching the efficiency graphs, but I went about 70 miles that day, and didn't notice much of a range drop. I think having a warmer battery made all the difference. I think the first hour of your trip the truck was putting a lot of energy into heating your battery up to a more reasonable temperature. I also didn't have any issue going into snow mode or with the adaptive cruise control. The HVAC also worked like a champ, I love the heated steering wheel as well!

Scott, thanks for another great video. I have driven about 150 miles here in Iowa with temps around -5 to -10F and have been averaging around 1.0 to 1.25 m/kWh. All of my driving has been on short trips, 20 miles or less, so nice to know that the efficiency will go up some as the battery warms up. My trips start from an unheated garage. I have also notice some range increase if I begin the trips after having the vehicle plugged in to my home charger for a couple hours to warm the battery before departing. So far, so good, but like you, a little disappointed in the cold weather range. Overall, still love the vehicle over the first 6,000 miles!

Really interesting to see the impact of the cold quantified. I've had our Model S for 7 years now, and knew there was a big drop in the snow but it just doesn't have data to et you see the full impact.

Great video! Would really like to see the same with preconditioning to see how good it could be.

Good video. Seems to have been a good learning experience. What you experienced is likely applicable to all EV’s. The battery needs to be warm before starting on a trip. Unfortunately, there are lots of people living in dense population areas that have to park on the street at night and likely may not be able to keep the car plugged-in overnight or even throughout the day for longer stop periods.

Great video Scott. I feel like electric is like diesel trucks and plug them in 110v to keep them warm. The cold only really worries for road trips, but still good to know.

Happy holiday, interesting issues regarding the suspension, but considering electronics have a lower working limit normally around where the temp was in this video, I'm not surprised. With the news report I've just read regarding the artic storms that have hit the US, stay safe.

I have assumed that having the truck plugged in keeps the battery warm(er), but on cold days I still get the cold icon in the lower right and occasional pop up notices that Regen is reduced while the battery is cold. Also, Snow Mode simply reduces regenerative braking. Low Standard and High are options in Snow Mode, it’s 4WD so basically All Purpose with less regenerative breaking to avoid skids / slides that I’ve seen mentioned in forums. Finally, with the recent software update the App allows heating the cabin, I assume this wakes up the battery and prepares it for travel, but “preconditioning” is not mentioned.

Hey Scott! Bummed you didn’t get to test out Snow Mode! It’s solid. My R1T is parked outside, I had to get around in -10, so I pre-conditioned the battery by having it plugged in (it charged overnight to 70%), and 30 min before I had to leave I biked charging limit to 85% and I turned on some HVAC. Besides being comfy when I hopped in, I was at about 1.4 efficiency right out of the gate. That may be my trick going forward on super cold days when I’ve got a good amount of miles ahead of me. Fwiw and hi from the fam!

@3:54 nice drifting!! :P

Great video! even 1mile per kwh is pretty good considering the heavy temps. Yeah figure the air compressors dont want to turn on since its so cold outside. maybe compressing air that cold would break the compressors so it stops itself. but you would think that youd get a more details error msg lol. maybe its a case of "keep it simple stupid" to not confuse the typical consumer. also please dont hang out of the left lane if youre not passing someone. no point especially when youre driving slower due to snow. stick to the right and chill since youre going slow.

Just a note about the mechanical issues: There were no issues the day before, which was much warmer (and before the software update). Also, you'll notice there were sensor issues as well. I chalked that up to the snow around the vehicle, and the cold. I'll let you know if it resets itself. Edit: the mechanical issues resolved themselves once the temp warmed up for a day or so.

Would love to see a rehash of this video this weekend, but using the preconditioning feature that was just released. Seeing if you can reach the better range numbers earlier in the drive

Air suspension means somewhere is a compressor. Most likely have a bit of water in a line somewhere in the lines which is frozen.

B-, tough grader!! Applied to electricity- those atmospheric issues impact everything like a natural gas power plant produces less electricity at higher altitude (less oxygen).

Note to self, turn off kneel mode if temps are going down by that much and leave height in standard.

What was up with that bus flap haha? I experience about the same in mine. Unfortunately I have to keep my R1T outside but try to warm it up while it's still plugged in. The efficiency is right around 1 for the first 20-30 minutes of driving then levels out around 1.5 in temps below freezing. This is with the HVAC on BTW. Thanks for the video Scott!

How did the hvac work at those temps? We were in Denver today as well, flying out this evening. Happy Holidays! Keep the content coming! We pickup our R1S tomorrow!!!

Thanks, Scott! Excellent video. Performance of ICE cars improves if you warm them up (let them idle) in cold weather. Why isn’t the same principle applicable to BEVs, I wonder?

It will go up once the battery warms up. This is something you need to mention more appropriately and explain to people. Once the battery is full warmth, especially on road trips it will be about a 25 percent or less hit. Edit: Nevermind, you kinda did go over it all. Nice video

Air suspension thats not working in cold weather is often due to the compressor freezing up. And that only can happen if atmospheric air gets into the system and displaces the moisture-free nitrogen that it's filled with from the factory. If the system starts working normally again when the weather warms up, it's almost definitely going to be moisture from atmospheric air in the system.

I would be interested in if the Rivian offers a preconditioning of the battery and cabin temperature before driving - for best already being connected to a wallmount charger and a timer used for both. 🤔

it was a good test. I hope you can do another test in similar conditions, but instead have the truck plugged in before the journey starts.

I am watching many different EV videos to see if they get them to where they are practical. When they do, I will purchase one. By practical I mean the following. Range of 400 miles minimum in all weather. Charge times at a commercial charging station empty to full in under 10 minutes. Price in the range the same as a comparable sized gas model before any government incentives. Thanks for exposing the faults of an EV.

Great video! This is the first one I have seen in the well below 0 temp area. It performs how I would expect; large range hit when unconditioned and cold but still good for an EV. From what I read and see elsewhere, a warm garage and preconditioned battery makes a significant difference. Great info. How much heat did you have on? Seat warmers? Heated steering wheel? High heat? Low heat? Auto heat at 70? I have a feeling all the heat features would suck a lot of power. I anticipate myself only using the bare minimum on a longer trip for that reason.

How does the heater work? Does it stay warm in the truck?

Probably battery temperatures if it wasn't preconditioned or plugged in before setting off. Warming the battery and cabin beforehand (while plugged in) will minimize battery demand once on the road. Better said than done for many who cant plug in or garage it overnight. For those without a garage, but can plug it in, remote or scheduled preconditioning (remote start) is usually available for these vehicles. Scheduling charging to end just before a commute or trip will also warm the battery, the simple act of charging generates heat within the pack. For those who cannot plug in so easily, preconditioning (remote start) is usually available, and may warm the battery depending on the vehicle. Unfortunately, this will use a good chunk of energy in the process. Not a necessary step, but a comfortable one for a warm cabin. Otherwise, bumping up tire pressures in these temperatures will help, they no doubt dropped significantly from the warmer days. Reducing cabin heat is a big one, keep those settings below 70F and prioritize seat and steering wheel heat, if equipped. Slowing down helps, that cold air is thick while most likely battling increased rolling resistance from snow and slush on the roads. From experience in Minnesota with a Chev Volt, we usually saw a 35% drop in range (below EPA figures) with temperatures below 15F. Most of that energy went into cabin heating, though we preconditioned while plugged in when possible. The worst was a 45% drop while the vehicle sat (unplugged) in -25F temperatures for two days.... that only happened once. Otherwise, between 15F to about 30F we were living with a 20%-25% drop. And continually improving above 30F.

Scott - we got the Hakka R5 tires on the R1S. Let me know if you want to take it for a spin to see the difference. 👍

Doesn’t the heat affect the efficiency on colder days?hows the heat works in cold days like this?

I want one but we do get -40 below up here lol

my model y lost about 15% in the 30s-40s degrees

What if truck was outside , but was on charger and pre- warmed before leaving ?

Hey what's your cabin temps... Live in ks.. debating on r1s

Did you pre-condition the battery before starting?

Does it do better if it is plugged in for charging or conditioning when parked outside?

You seems like using the Pirelli Scorpion OEM tires, not some snow tires. How did you feel about using those in such condition?

Wondering if you tried other drive modes to see if the suspension would change heights. Probably the cold.

When it's that cold outside, will the charge door open?

Was the heater on? That draws a bunch.

Can you test if your spare tire latch is frozen?

Were you ever able to figure out why Snow Mode didn't work? Was it the extreme cold or was it another malfunction?

Interesting video. Yeah, these things are gonna be much happier when parked in a garage overnight and made toasty before heading out…otherwise efficiency and general range will not be stellar.

At the 52 minute point it says you travelled 31.8 miles and used 12.9KW - that would equal 2.47 miles per KW not 1.28 so what am I missing?

I would've tried a hard reset but unlikely it would've helped.

Is your R1S limestone color?

We seen that u had ice on the windshield, y was that

Do you precondition?

Shouldn't it get a much worst rating since it was build as an off roading adventure truck? This is the second video I've watched the cold weather made a Rivian fail. Seems they need to test cold weather better.

What kind of scarf was that?

-13c is not that cold. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Toys for the rich. Not ready for prime time. Extreme heat. Extreme cold. Towing heavy loads. All greatly reduce range. Not practical to wait an hour or more to charge to only get 120 miles. And imagine getting stuck in a pile up on a highway in extreme cold for hours? Literally life and death! Nope! 10 years from now maybe! Enjoy all your early adopters with endless cash and credit to pay 2-3x the cost for 1/3 to 1/2 the range in extreme conditions! And NOT helping the environment as the materials for the batteries are mined with borderline slave labor and wrecking the earth more than drilling and carbon monoxide in the air right now! Wake up!

Snow mode should not be dependent of air suspension setting. That's a stupid move, Rivian. Make Snow Mode available at any air suspension setting.