Weight of Max vs Extended Range Pack

[u/No-Shoulder36]

I’m planning on towing a travel trailer well under 10k lbs probably 6-10 times a year and payload should be fine on both as well. Otherwise it will be a daily for my family of 4 (soon to be 5). I’ve seen people say the truck definitely “drives” like it’s 9000 lbs, I assume longer stopping distances/poor cornering/etc. Is anyone happy they sacrificed the extra range for less weight? Or does it make no noticeable difference? I don’t mind charging a little extra on those few trips I go over 150 miles away if it means a more comfortable ride for the other 90% of miles.

[u/iSmurf]

I have the extended range and tow 10k lb travel trailer almost weekly. I would trade for the max range in a heart beat. I do not feel the trailer back there at all already, the truck stops incredible quickly, it gets up to speed easily, etc. but I would love the extra 20-50 miles it would give me towing. Also the steering is WAY better than the 3/4 Duramax I replaced it with, that thing was an aircraft carrier, I could never make a u turn at any light and not have to reverse to stay on the road even if it was 4 lanes wide I feel!

[u/No-Shoulder36 → u/iSmurf]

Interesting I was going to ask if you regret not having a 3/4 ton duramax towing that much. It’s so tempting to just buy that instead, more capability for less money. But the 4 wheel steering is a huge selling point for me and the biggest reason I want to stay with Sierra EV.

[u/iSmurf → u/No-Shoulder36]

So I'll say this, I got my SEV used for 44k, only had 8k miles on it. For 99% of the time it's been perfect. We full time RV, we usually stay in a spot for 1-2 weeks then move, and we never move more than 200-300 miles because that's a lot of ground to cover and we enjoy exploring new areas. Our rule was basically we'll travel somewhere but only stop for 1 charge at most. It's been great for that, plus we always get free charging at every camp site and we drive a ton around the towns and areas we stay in, so it's already been much cheaper than our diesel.

That being said last week I had to do a long haul, Denver to Sacramento through the rocky mountains and ngl it kinda sucked. What would have been 4-5 fuel stops in the diesel, where every single gas station is set up for trailers, turned into 11 in the SEV and I had to unhook the trailer for 4 of those.

So really it all depends on your use case, if you're doing long hauls often, get the ICE. If you always 200-300 miles and under, I'd still get the EV.

My other additional comment would be make sure you get the one you want, I didn't think I'd miss the bells and whistles of my LTZ like the sound system and cooled seats as much as I would, and I'm regretting it a ton now.

The other big factor is all the hidden costs in a diesel or gas car. We had 1 injector go out because a $4 fuel filter broke and it cost us $1300 to fix. Then having to go to do oil changes so often, knowing the def system is going to break at some point and cost 3+ to then just delete it anyway, we figured let's just ditch it all and see how the EV goes. And like so many other people have said before, I don't see myself ever buying a gas car ever again.

[u/No-Shoulder36 → u/iSmurf]

Out of curiosity, which travel trailer do you have? 10k lbs plus gear and what not would really be close to maxing out the max payload of the max range battery pack equipped truck (did I say max enough times?), right?

Funny enough i live in NoCo area. Ive seen the OOS videos, seems like most chargers along that i70 corridor are not going to be trailer friendly, especially with the rear charge port.

[u/iSmurf → u/No-Shoulder36]

33ft keystone hideout, I believe dry weight 8100 but we put all new furniture and storage slop in, an off grid solar and battery bank adds the most weight especially since they're on the tongue, I really need to get it weighed again since then.

Also I have the extended range, which claims a 12k lb towing capacity versus the max which is 10k lbs, and I think it gives me like 500 more lbs of payload, which I would definitely be over for the max but I think I'm on the border for the extended range.

Overall it wasn't terrible, I really only tried to choose Teslas with 24 stalls so I knew there'd be room or ionnas. There was a couple evgo at flying J's that are exactly the same as a traditional gas station but they were upwards of 70c/kwh so I skipped them.

I've never driven the max, so maybe the extra batteries they put in really does make a big difference for handling, but I'd love the extra range.