2400 Miles Road Trip

[good2go]

Just took a road trip. Everything was great.

One comment. The trip planner took me to a closed charger. Small town. Less than 100 in range left (which I could never get) and the next charger is 100 miles away. Called Rivian to get advice. They said stop and tow before running out of power. That was their only suggestion.

Do to road construction I used Google Maps to find the shortest route, added EV chargers to the route and found my solution. There was a Blink EV charger at the Chevrolet dealer. 60kw. Solved my problem.

why didn’t Rivian support tell me to look for EV chargers in this small town using google maps?

It appears a lot of Chevrolet have Blink chargers. They are in a lot of small towns.

now I know. You won’t find all chargers on the Rivian app. If you need power on a trip, map in google maps and add EV chargers on the route to see other charger options.

HTH

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[iansriv]

Dean-glad you made it. I always plan a back up to the intended charging destination. Rivian should give better advice but that's the state of customer service in the US. Every time I go to Japan, it just makes me wish we had something half as good. They are the best as CX.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

With almost 100 mi of range the best answer is very unlikely to ever be tow it. I guess they’re just being conservative, but that’s a bit much. The chances of there not being a level 2 somewhere in range have to be about zero.

 

[zefram47]

You should download the PlugShare app...best resource for finding chargers of all kinds, DC and AC. You should also grab ABRP. The interface is pretty complicated and its tech actually backs Rivian's route planner now, but you can still do a lot of pre-planning on your own using the app or website just to see what a decent route looks like and how many bailouts you have if you're in an area with few chargers.

 

[good2go]

Dean-glad you made it. I always plan a back up to the intended charging destination. Rivian should give better advice but that's the state of customer service in the US. Every time I go to Japan, it just makes me wish we had something half as good. They are the best as CX.

I have done so many long trips I just got too comfortable with Rivian's plan.

 

[good2go]

With almost 100 mi of range the best answer is very unlikely to ever be tow it. I guess they’re just being conservative, but that’s a bit much. The chances of there not being a level 2 somewhere in range have to be about zero.

That is not what Rivian said, they said tow it before letting it run out of power. Rivian's app said the closest charger was 100+ miles away.

My point is Rivian did not tell me to search google for other chargers. Blink chargers appear to be at a lot of Chevrolet dealers.

 

[lumilux]

its tech actually backs Rivian's route planner now

Has that been confirmed?

 

[waitingonanr1s]

That is not what Rivian said, they said tow it before letting it run out of power. Rivian's app said the closest charger was 100+ miles away.

My point is Rivian did not tell me to search google for other chargers. Blink chargers appear to be at a lot of Chevrolet dealers.

That was my point. It was bad advice. There’s lots of chargers lots of places that aren’t in the app (I.e. hotels). Lots of options with almost 100 mi of range other than tow. Not sure how short you were but level 1 might have even been a better option to close the gap than tow.

Road tripping an ev is a bit of a learning curve for sure. I love it though.

 

[zefram47]

Has that been confirmed?

Absolutely. Can't recall the exact update that added ABRP functionality to the built-in nav, but it's been over a year now for sure and the acquisition was announced two years ago.

https://rivian.com/newsroom/article/rivian-acquires-a-better-routeplanner

 

[iansriv]

That is not what Rivian said, they said tow it before letting it run out of power. Rivian's app said the closest charger was 100+ miles away.

My point is Rivian did not tell me to search google for other chargers. Blink chargers appear to be at a lot of Chevrolet dealers.

Great CX would be Rivian doing a quick online search for you and text you the nearest locations.

 

[Budman]

One word: Plugshare!

 

[cusetownusa]

Glad you made it. This makes me nervous though coming from a Tesla and now own a R1S. Road tripping with Tesla was a breeze and I never had any issues with Supercharging.

 

[good2go]

Glad you made it. This makes me nervous though coming from a Tesla and now own a R1S. Road tripping with Tesla was a breeze and I never had any issues with Supercharging.

I have about 8,000 miles on long road trips. Easy. This was an issue with power line down and Tesla Supercharger out of order. The new electrify America was new and not on line yet.

plug share is the ticket. It was easy to find power, just needed to search. The disappointing part is Rivian did not give me that advice. Or simply tell me you can get juice at X location.

all good. There are so many chargers, it’s easy to cross the country.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

There are so many chargers, it’s easy to cross the country.

As of June 2024, an exception was I-90 through Wyoming. We had a good trip, but we didn't have a backup plan for the single DCFC charger in Sheridan. We could have been seriously delayed if that charger had been occupied or broken.

One of PlugShare's advantages is that it allows us to figure out a "Plan B" for almost every contingency. Unfortunately, having a backup plan for DCFC charging still appears to be very important.

Best wishes!

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