[mystie3k]

I have seen some discussions and posts about an auxiliary battery pack for the R1T. But scant few posts on here.

• Rivian CEO confirms auxiliary batteries, truck-to-truck charging
• Rivian Patents Removable Bed-Mounted Battery Pack for Extended Range

It makes so much sense to go with a lower capacity battery pack in the R1T, and then drop in an auxiliary pack for your long drives. They tend to be one way and recharge overnight or at the destination, then you can remove it when at home to save on weight.

Has anyone heard anything more about these? It may also open up the market for third party battery packs, driving down costs.

 

[michaellast]

If this is accurate, it will be a huge development. It will solve all my RV towing and off road range problems. Do you think the packs will be modular or one large pack? The auxiliary battery is going to be very heavy. How will an owner load and unload it from the truck bed?
I just asked the Rivian chat line. They had no clue regarding auxiliary battery packs.

 

[O. horridus]

Those pieces of news are almost three years old. And yes there have been quite a few mentions of them here in the forums, especially the V2V charging. The battery packs are just a patent, no reason for customer support to know anything about them because they don't exist yet. None of this stuff is going to be available on actual vehicles for a long time. IMO the V2V and V2H are likely to show up at some point, given that Ford is doing something along those lines, but don't hold your breath for removable batteries.

 

[roaringforest]

I predict someone will do an aftermarket battery pack that slides into the bed like a truck tool box or in the Gear Tunnel since that is also a waterproof space. Conditioning may be tricky though!

 

[mystie3k]

It also makes sense to want to have a larger capacity for the V2H option, and to plug into the wall charger to charge while out. This may also be a good time to do any conditioning.

Weight shouldn't be that big of an issue. So long as it's around 200 lbs, it's not much different than unloading a third row sofa. Or rig up a pully system to the ceiling, like anyone with the Yakima tent is already going to do. (I mean, I am anyway...)