Let's share your Road trip experience!

[3Wliners]

We’d like to hear from the community about road trip experiences.


If you were planning a road trip and could choose two U.S. states, which would you recommend and why?
We’re especially interested in routes that stand out for driving experience, scenery, or overall practicality.


We’d also appreciate any vehicle preparation or maintenance advice for longer trips, such as:

• Items you always check or service before departure
• Small details that are often overlooked but matter on the road
• Lessons learned from past trips that you’d recommend others keep in mind

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

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[schwartz83]

We’d like to hear from the community about road trip experiences.


If you were planning a road trip and could choose two U.S. states, which would you recommend and why?
We’re especially interested in routes that stand out for driving experience, scenery, or overall practicality.


We’d also appreciate any vehicle preparation or maintenance advice for longer trips, such as:

• Items you always check or service before departure
• Small details that are often overlooked but matter on the road
• Lessons learned from past trips that you’d recommend others keep in mind

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

Things to check. I'm not great at being proactive. I do check tire pressure but that's about it. There's less to it I think than with an ICE vehicle.

Two states... that's tough. I guess I would go with Washington and Oregon. You'll get everything scenery wise. Mountains, temperate rain forests and the ocean. And interesting urban areas.

Small details - can't think of much...normal road trip stuff not EV related. Know your route. Planned stops etc. Charging stops...of course EV related.

Lessons learned

If you will be staying in hotels and want to stay at ones with a level 2 charger... check them out on PlugShare. You may find they are out of order or relatively expensive. I pulled into one last summer that reserved the spots for their loyalty members regardless of if they had an EV. The spots were full so I was out of luck. Fortunately there was a supercharger less than a mile away.

Don't forget your charging adapters. L2 and L3.

Drive in conserve mode when you can maintain a consistent speed. I have a Gen 1 Quad motor. This is may not be as important for other setups.

Give yourself extra time to get to your destination - especially if camping. I consistently was overly optimistic on our last road trip and we arrived late to the campground. Ended up sleeping in the truck or getting a hotel room.

I'm looking forward to read responses from others on this one.

Have a good road trip!

 

[DBL-R]

I thought that conserve mode contributed to premature/excessive tire wear?

 

[emoore]

I thought that conserve mode contributed to premature/excessive tire wear?

Not if you use it only on the highway. I haven't seen any premature wear due to conserve mode on road trips.

 

[Deacon]

We’d like to hear from the community about road trip experiences.


If you were planning a road trip and could choose two U.S. states, which would you recommend and why?
We’re especially interested in routes that stand out for driving experience, scenery, or overall practicality.


We’d also appreciate any vehicle preparation or maintenance advice for longer trips, such as:

• Items you always check or service before departure
• Small details that are often overlooked but matter on the road
• Lessons learned from past trips that you’d recommend others keep in mind

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

I have electric cooler for drinks and lunch food.
I keep a 75 ft extension cord in truck - never know when you may need to plug into something. Even at hotels that don't have chargers you may find 110 outlet accessible from parking lot.
220 adapters for campgrounds, washer outlets, etc.
Jack pucks - most places don't have them - you will need them if you need to replace tires.

 

[carsly]

Always check tire pressure and condition before leaving on a longer trip (usually a couple days in advance in case there are issues). Also top off washer fluid and check to make sure wiper blades aren't streaking/need to be replaced. I also carry a jump starter (top off the charge before departure), a spare, air compressor and, as a last ditch, fix a flat along with some bottled water and snacks in case something does happen and you get stuck for a while. Ponchos and mylar blankets don't take any real space and are great in an emergency along with a first aid kit (not the dealer ones, a real one).

For two states, one has to be California - hard to beat the view down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and the ability to go from sandy beaches, to the redwood forest to mountains in just minutes to hours. Most people don't realize a huge swath of CA is farmland. Truly spectacular once you're away from the cities. Honestly, you probably don't need a second state but if so tripping across to Nevada or Arizona to hit up the Grand Canyon and see the great expanse of rocks, deserts and openness is something different. Hoover Dam is incredible. I doubt today's politicians could get their act together to collectively invest in such an awe-inspiring project.

 

[Luxus]

Lots of states that are worth the drive. Personally I always enjoyed driving west past the Mississippi river. The moniker 'Big Sky Country' is no lie. Seeing you are from NJ, I'd recommend driving through the Appalachians. Can't go wrong driving through the mountains for scenery.

 

[BCondrey]

A full set of adapters, extension cables and a mobile EVSE. Get to know plugshare and abetterrouteplanner apps. If there aren't any EVSE at the hotel, try to find a outlet in the parking lot and discreetly connect your mobile EVSE (depends on the area, whether you think it will be stolen, etc). I've used this technique in parking garages before. Get a Tesla membership, it pays for itself with one decent charge (initiate the charge from the Tesla app, not plug-and-charge from the vehicle). Pre-condition your battery WAY before you get to the DCFC for the best charging curve on a happy battery pack. Plan your recharging stops, but always have a plan B charger location you can reach if you can't charge at the intended location. Don't try to charge to 100% at every stop, just charge to what SOC you need for the next stop (and the plan B). It can take quite a bit of time to get from 80% to 100% at a DCFC. Its really quite easy to roadtrip in a Rivian once you get the basics straight.

 

[Osyras]

Visit Canada instead....

 

[schwartz83]

A full set of adapters, extension cables and a mobile EVSE. Get to know plugshare and abetterrouteplanner apps. If there aren't any EVSE at the hotel, try to find a outlet in the parking lot and discreetly connect your mobile EVSE (depends on the area, whether you think it will be stolen, etc). I've used this technique in parking garages before. Get a Tesla membership, it pays for itself with one decent charge (initiate the charge from the Tesla app, not plug-and-charge from the vehicle). Pre-condition your battery WAY before you get to the DCFC for the best charging curve on a happy battery pack. Plan your recharging stops, but always have a plan B charger location you can reach if you can't charge at the intended location. Don't try to charge to 100% at every stop, just charge to what SOC you need for the next stop (and the plan B). It can take quite a bit of time to get from 80% to 100% at a DCFC. Its really quite easy to roadtrip in a Rivian once you get the basics straight.

+1 for the Tesla membership. I'll add, don't forget to cancel the membership - it's month to month - when you no longer need it. I forgot and this post reminded me. Thanks!

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