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All those unusable/broken charging stations...

WSea

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What everyone has already said. Use Plug Share. Look at the overall score and confirm a few recent charges. Look at people's charging speed to avoid getting 50kw at a 350kw station. I've done a 1700 and 2800 mile road trip with no issues. Just a little pre planning and you'll be fine.
IMO, ignore the score. It means practically nothing. Read the most recent reviews
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COdogman

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I get it, but I'm not referring to the click-bait ones that focus on the 'nightmare' experiences. More common are ones where they love the Rivan R1T/S and everything about it, but most of those mention at least some hardship with road charging. Rarely enough to ruin their trip, of course, even when comparing to the Tesla network experience.
Sure, but in a way they are accomplishing the same thing by convincing people that EV ownership is not practical right now because charging makes it harder to go on a road trip. So even when someone really wants a Rivian (or any EV) they might not pull the trigger because they think every charging station is broken down. By nature there will be more videos talking about issues with the vehicles and charging than those saying it’s fine.

Obviously there is a kernel of truth there - charging in the US does need improvement, but it’s not the dumpster fire many of these videos make it out to be. That being said, if people aren’t prepared to do a bit of extra work on a road trip (Plugshare), going full EV might not be for them (yet).

Unless one is road tripping the majority of their days, they will do most of their charging at home anyway and this won’t really be an issue. Colorado is a big state with lots of open spaces between chargers, but I would say that most Rivian owners here are still able to go wherever they want without much extra effort, even when far from the major highways.
 

jjswan33

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Sure, but in a way they are accomplishing the same thing by convincing people that EV ownership is not practical right now because charging makes it harder to go on a road trip. So even when someone really wants a Rivian (or any EV) they might not pull the trigger because they think every charging station is broken down. By nature there will be more videos talking about issues with the vehicles and charging than those saying it’s fine.

Obviously there is a kernel of truth there - charging in the US does need improvement, but it’s not the dumpster fire many of these videos make it out to be. That being said, if people aren’t prepared to do a bit of extra work on a road trip (Plugshare), going full EV might not be for them (yet).

Unless one is road tripping the majority of their days, they will do most of their charging at home anyway and this won’t really be an issue. Colorado is a big state with lots of open spaces between chargers, but I would say that most Rivian owners here are still able to go wherever they want without much extra effort, even when far from the major highways.
As an example check two videos from @OutofSpecKyle. Much respect to him for showing both sides but it’s clear how they can get more views.

1. Highlighting an issue with new EA charging stations not working in the cold. 1M+ views:

Rivian R1T R1S All those unusable/broken charging stations... C1523324-DD5F-4FE5-97F5-85EB2511C75B


2. The follow up video showing they likely fixed the problem 43k views:

Rivian R1T R1S All those unusable/broken charging stations... 7E003A3F-6572-40AA-B0F2-22DDF82E151F
 

Milermore

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The charging infrastructure is fine if you are ok doing a little background before your trip. 99% of trips will go great as long as you check Plug Share etc to confirm the stations you need work.

If you are traveling during a busy holiday weekend you may encounter busy charging stations and have to wait for an open one. It's the old glass half full or half empty argument, so sure some stations may have 2 of 4 stalls working at full speed tip/top shape, this is manageable.

If you have expectations that you can just drive wherever you want and there will be a station you can just pull up, plug in, charge up and leave in 20 min 100% of the time then you will be disappointed. But again my opinion is that while not great it is just fine and getting better every day.
Taking Central Oregon as an example, for some time there was only one EA charger in Bend. With the RAN chargers put in Madras it is a bit better. But go North, South, or East from there it is an EV charging desert (yes, I realize the irony). Burns has one CCS charger that shows as currently out of service. I see that there's a plan for a LaPine station, but that's a government project so it may take a while.

All that to agree with your post that the overall network is not where it needs to be, but is improving.
 

jjswan33

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Taking Central Oregon as an example, for some time there was only one EA charger in Bend. With the RAN chargers put in Madras it is a bit better. But go North, South, or East from there it is an EV charging desert (yes, I realize the irony). Burns has one CCS charger that shows as currently out of service. I see that there's a plan for a LaPine station, but that's a government project so it may take a while.

All that to agree with your post that the overall network is not where it needs to be, but is improving.
I've used that station in Burns, even if working it is useless. If I recall I was getting <30kW. That said with a little creativity I visited the Steens Mountains and did an overlanding route across part of that region.
 

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Milermore

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Taking Central Oregon as an example, for some time there was only one EA charger in Bend. With the RAN chargers put in Madras it is a bit better. But go North, South, or East from there it is an EV charging desert (yes, I realize the irony). Burns has one CCS charger that shows as currently out of service. I see that there's a plan for a LaPine station, but that's a government project so it may take a while.

All that to agree with your post that the overall network is not where it needs to be, but is improving.
I looked at plugshare again and saw that RAN chargers are in Crescent now also, south of LaPine. That is more good news of growth.
 

jjswan33

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I looked at plugshare again and saw that RAN chargers are in Crescent now also, south of LaPine. That is more good news of growth.
Klamath Falls RAN is live too.

Edit: To add I noticed yesterday that EA has stations coming soon in Kennewick, WA at the Fred Meyer (FM) and a second in Spokane at a FM. Also further east Bozeman, Billings just opened, another in eastern MT coming soon, central SD and ND.
 

Joe schmoe

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As my delivery day approaches, I am spending too much time on YouTube. I'm noticing a lot of reviews of people loving Rivian ownership except hating the travel charging situation with tons of anecdotal examples to prove it.

It's not limited to Electrify America, either. Maybe vandalism, underfunded maintenance (or shortage of tech labor), a difficult software technology to implement across the numerous EV brands, so something more inherently unreliable in the charging hardware itself? Maybe it's an illusion due to negative clickbait, but it seems like the infrastructure is a bit disappointing to Rivian owners who were expecting more after their 1-2 year wait.
I think it’s largely dependent on where you live, but I think the infrastructure is disappointing.

I’ve had my R1S for two weeks, and have road tripped about 1200 miles so far. Out of 6 EA sites I’ve visited so far, two have worked as expected and advertised.

I’ve always been able to charge, yet more often than not I have to try more than one cabinet, or wait for someone to finish on the only working cabinet. Once I could charge, but every cabinet at the site was charging so slowly we unplugged because we had enough to get to the next charger (which we’d planned to skip)

There are not enough chargers, they are too far apart, and they are not at all reliable.

I’m hoping and expecting that this will improve over time.

I bought a Tesla in early 2015, and for more than a year there wasn’t a DC fast charger within 300 miles of my house. After the supercharge network got built out, though, I could go anywhere I wanted without any range anxiety at all. In eight years (seven with superchargers available) I never once encountered a supercharger station that didn’t just work.
 

COdogman

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As an example check two videos from @OutofSpecKyle. Much respect to him for showing both sides but it’s clear how they can get more views.

1. Highlighting an issue with new EA charging stations not working in the cold. 1M+ views:

C1523324-DD5F-4FE5-97F5-85EB2511C75B.jpeg


2. The follow up video showing they likely fixed the problem 43k views:

7E003A3F-6572-40AA-B0F2-22DDF82E151F.jpeg
Exactly. And anyone who uses Plugshare here in Colorado has seen Kyle’s name in plenty of charger reviews as he travels around in his various EVs. 99% of those are not YT worthy. Just routine charging as he drives around living his life along the front range. Much respect to him for doing that. Only someone who cares about EV adoption would actually leave that many Plugshare reviews.
 

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OP, ignore everyone that says CCS DCFC isn't a problem and YouTube people are looking for drama.

The consensus of the EV community is to download and install Plugshare to plan your route and figure out which chargers actually work, that's because it really is a problem.
 

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jbssfelix

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All good points by everyone here. I do want to add, though, that for us Rivian-nerds where we are well-educated in the space, many of us have had a Tesla or other EV prior, and we follow along closely with everything EV related...there's a much bigger majority of folks who are not.

Anecdotally, my mother and her partner (both near 70) live in Las Vegas, happily retired. We all planned a get-together in LA to meet my cousins, and they decided to take a stab driving a Tesla Model 3 from LV to LA after sitting in our Model 3 for a few days. Even with the Supercharger network, it was still a struggle for them to understand the "ecosystem" that is EV charging (where do I put my credit card, how do I know where the SCs are, the cord doesn't reach (pulled in hood-first), why does it take so long, I don't trust the numbers, other Boomer questions, etc).

And good luck telling them to "install PlugShare", because that means I, the son, have to install PlugShare on their phone, create an account, explain to them how it works, provide IT support indefinitely, and reset their password every 6 months when they inevitably forget it.

The charging infrastructure "works", but it is very very far from "working well" for the masses.
 

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IMO, ignore the score. It means practically nothing. Read the most recent reviews
Agree. A case in point is the RAN charger in Lincoln City, OR. It has a score of 2.1 but all the stalls work flawlessly. The score should be 10 but a couple of clowns reported it as non-operative because they couldn’t charge their Bolt or Lightning at a Rivian-only charger.
 

lefkonj

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There are a few things here to consider:
1. YouTubers are a joke and just want clicks
2. Don't run your battery down to 10% and run around looking for a charge. When you hit 25-30% plan on charging
3. Get a home charger if possible, do it now don't wait
4. Charging is more prevalent than most think.
 

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DC fast charging infrastructure is for sure an issue. Does that mean you aren't going to be able to find a working charger during a road trip? No, probably not. But it does tip the odds that you will run into issues. I've watched many, many videos where EV owners were on road trips and struggled to find a working fast charger and if they did, they were getting slower-than-expected charging speeds.

EA in particular doesn't seem to be very quick to maintain/repair their chargers.
 

virgnia_rivian

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Ok, so in your experience, there always is an alternate charging plan, so no anxiety?

I'll check out plugshare, but of course these apps will have limited usefulness the more people use them. ... as more people use it in their decision-making, more people will end up making the same decision, leading to lineups. Then again, competing apps will work on better algorithms to avoid the crowds....
It's important to understand the different type of charging options. You'll find quite a few Level 2 chargers, but you'll want Level 3 chargers when moving from A to B. Level 2 is great when you stop for a night or a few days. Level 2 will work in a pinch or if it's the only option, it will just take longer.

Two of our road trips have been to Florence, SC. Not a big EV destination. There's 1 EA Level 3 station and a few options for Level 2 charging. Last week we never used the EA station because we were able to plugin and charge at our hotel in a Level 2 charger for free. The level 2 charger was our plan B, we were expecting to use the EA station. In the end, we lucked out and got the free charger at our hotel.

EVGo is pretty big in urban areas, EA is pretty consistent across the interstates. (With some exceptions) Most EA stations are (4) chargers. At times they can get busy. In our experience, so far, we have not had to wait for a charger to open up.

Also, when using Level 3 chargers (Fast Chargers) plan on charging between 20-75%. That's the sweet spot. Shorter charging session, but more of them. The charging curve slows greatly over 75% and if you don't need more charge, it's faster to get back on the road and stop again.

Finally, when you pull into a fast charger, select the highest speed charger you can. Many EA stations are a mix of 350's and 150's. You want the 350. Rivian's can take the higher speed charging.

Note: I will add I think we are getting close to a point where there are nowhere near enough Level 3 fast chargers as the sales of EVs are outpacing infrastructure. I think we'll see this during busy peak times this summer. I'm referring to stations not being large enough, more than just more stations.
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