I bricked my R1S in the Oregon Outback - Learn from my mistake!

[Scottm]

Great comment! So helpful! Is this our best alternative to AI?

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[EVtowing]

In this situation, though, it was SO emphatic about the campground being there, I didn't have a reason to doubt it until I did.

I’m glad your situation safely resolved itself and that you could carry on with your trip. Definitely get a proper EV TT-30 adapter.

The fact that you were ”persuaded” by ChatGPT to trust its information based on its apparent understanding of your situation is my biggest concern about all the LLMs; they are designed to “converse” with users in a human way and are tuned to mimic humans to encourage user engagement. That’s very dangerous. Of course they are just software trained on human-generated text. They have no internal representation of the real world, no consciousness, no understanding of human experience.

However, LLMs are very powerful tools (particularly the paid versions compared to the free ones) when properly used and with an understanding of their limitations. I know many programmers, data analysts, and physicians (using a medical LLM like Open Evidence which is not available to the general public) who find that they can supercharge their professional work, making them much more productive and efficient. And entry level programming positions are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Yes, the paid versions are better than the free versions, which is no surprise to me; to a point, the more compute applied to the query the more accurate the answer. And compute costs money.

 

[Vik]

Wow. You received a lot of kindness on this trip that I would not expect. I recommend watching at least a few Youtube videos on how to road trip an EV and the tools needed. If you are going rural, it requires extra planning and preparation.

 

[AARivian48]

wow. I would have to say the people at the lodge were world class jerks. insurance issue for charging on 110?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Wow, I didn't know my Starlink could charge my Rivian.

Is this a snarky retort? Having apps that show additional charging opportunities does no good if you don’t have cell/data service, or that it’s very slow (which is often the case in remote areas). Starlink fills that gap. Though I wish there was an alternative, like Amazon’s Kuiper.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I'm not sure you meant the snarky tone I read into your comment, @malditofman. We all make errors in new situations. Kindness gets us through, at least as much as expertise does.

I applaud @TractorJackie's willingness to learn from error and to help others in the community to learn as well. That disclosure took character, courage, and humility. I don't take any of those attributes lightly.

Welcome to the Rivian community, @TractorJackie! Best to all!

 

[eleanor22]

On the edge of my seat type of stuff. So glad to hear how you navigated it , Incase I am ever in that situation.
happy travels

 

[Southern R1S]

Love your attitude and approach to this! Glad everything worked out for you, and sound like you made a few friends along the way which is invaluable.

 

[IronM5]

This is the story of how my R1S behaved when I didn't plan far enough ahead, and what I learned from it.

For context: I’m a 65-year-old woman road tripping alone with my dog in my 2026 R1S.

I was staying at The Lodge at Summer Lake when I realized I had a charging problem. I asked to use an exterior 110 outlet overnight and was refused due to “insurance issues.” (Oh, whatever.) An employee told me that Santa’s Hardware in Christmas Valley had an EV charger. Great!

At the time, I had about 60 miles of range. Mind you, this is the Oregon Outback. Middle of NOWHERE. Christmas Valley required backtracking roughly 30 miles—so 60 miles round trip. Tight, but theoretically possible. I called the hardware store before leaving and confirmed the charger existed and worked. That part was true.

I drove there, plugged in, and quickly realized the charger was effectively no better than a standard 110 outlet. Painfully slow. After waiting long enough to gain just enough charge to return, I unplugged and drove back to the lodge—now with about 15 miles of range left. Worse than when I started. Overnight temps were forecast in the 20s, which made everything more precarious.

Across the highway from the lodge is an Oregon Fish & Wildlife station. I walked over, explained my situation, and the rangers generously allowed me to plug into a 110 outlet in their barn overnight. It technically charged, but in those temperatures it was barely effective. After another night at the lodge, I looked at my Rivian app and saw I still had only 15 miles of range, and declining before my eyes, due to the frigid temps. I had to get out of there.

Warning: Do not rely solely on ChatGPT for navigation, especially in remote areas.

Good news was Chat told me that if I could get to the RV campground at Summer Lake Hot Springs "just up the road," my portable charging cable would work on their RV hookup. I did not know this, so that was great to learn. It said the campground was about 3 miles away.

Bad news: It’s closer to 17.

I started driving toward the RV spot and after just six miles realized I wasn’t going to make it. I turned around and crept into Playa, an artists’ retreat just before the hot springs. They kindly let me use a standard 110 outlet, for which I gratefully repaid them with drone footage of their property.

After about two hours, I had a whopping 14 miles of range—actually much better than expected. I was optimistic because I believed I only needed 10 miles to get to the RV hookup.

My optimism evaporated quickly. As soon as I was back on the road, my range suddenly dropped from 14 to 9 to 6 to 0, in just a few minutes. I crawled, watching for downhills to regen. The display read zero for maybe a mile. Then the car told me—very firmly—to pull over. "You're done." The vehicle rolled to a stop on the side of the road. The worst part? I could see the hot springs ahead of me, no more than 1,000 feet.

I called a tow operator out of Paisley and told him not to bother with a flatbed—just a rope. I was that close. He pulled me the short distance (I was able to put the vehicle in neutral), and all interior electronics were still functioning, which lulled me into thinking I was in the clear.

This is probably the most important thing I learned...

There are two kinds of “dead” in a Rivian: Brick and Cinder Block

The moment the tow truck rolled me up to the RV hookup, the Rivian threw a warning about sensors going offline and the wheels locked completely. Not “can’t drive” dead—full doornail dead. If that had happened 20 feet earlier, I’d have been in real trouble.

I plugged into the RV’s 240V (NEMA 14-50) outlet using the Rivian portable charger and immediately began charging normally. They put me up in their deluxe cabin and they also gladly took payment in the form of drone footage! Wow.

My dog and I were back on the road the next morning with a full tank and the rest of the road trip went without any further hitches.

What I learned:

• Zero means zero.
• Cold weather dramatically accelerates range loss at low SOC.
• Plan beyond the next charger.
• 110 outlets are not reliable.
• RV campground hookups are your friend.
• Carry 220V adapters.
• Know Brick vs. Cinder Block.
• Always pack the drone.
• Stay calm. You'll figure it out. Enjoy the journey.
• 
  
• 

Great story and I feel your pain. I've driven my R1T across country about a half a dozen times so for. The first year I owned it(23) it was a hellacious(sp?) challenge! I literally coasted into more than one charge station with 1 mile of range and even zero once. Thankfully the range is accurate, or at least errs on the side of caution. II am in SE Texas for work now and there is but one L3 charging station within 20-30 miles of me. The house I am in has a garage and I plug into it nightly(115v) but still need a trip to the L3 spot weekly. Anyway, thanks for sharing. Safe travels

 

[hammick]

They better get this hashed out. The last thing Rivian needs is to be embroiled in endless litigation.

 

[Zoidz]

kk

Thanks for sharing. But I’m confused how you went from 0 to 100% overnight with an L2 charger Maybe full tank meant enough to get to a DCFC

I think you are reading too much into the timeline. OP didn't say overnight. All we know is that they plugged in at some point the first day - could have been 4 PM - and departed the next morning - could have been 10 AM. 18 hours is plenty to fully charge using the portable L2 charger.

 

[Time2Roll]

wow. I would have to say the people at the lodge were world class jerks. insurance issue for charging on 110?

Probably a shared outlet with a trip of the breaker shutting off other needed items.

Could be it has been tried and then a new rule was needed.

The real trick is finding lodging in advance that is EV friendly.

 

[Jeff B.]

We all make mistakes and learning how to explore remote places with an EV is certainly part of the adventure. I'll share my 2 cents worth of charging wisdom and limited charging options.

I've shared this story on this forum before, but the short story is our hunting camp was without power for several days after a major storm and I arrived very low on charge. Closest fast charger was at least two hours away. I was able to get it charging of an old generator that had a 14-30 plug and an adapter to 14-50. After some initial backfiring and bogging down from the generator, I dialed the amperage back on the truck until the generator ran at a steady hum this got me charged up enough to make it though some cold weather until power was restored and I could get charged up.

I was lucky to have prepared myself by packing an assortment of cables, adapters, outlets, etc. Just having options on hand allows me to frankenstein a connection that will be much better than a standard 120v plug. I also have a y-cable that has two 120v male plugs and a 14-30 twist lock on the other end. The two 120v plugs allow me to run extension cords to outlets in different places and on different phases to ensure I get a true 240v split phase circuit. Of course you need to see the breaker arrangement in an electrical panel to ensure your on the correct breakers. Adjust the amperage in the Rivian to about 20 amps. You may need to adjust it lower if there are other loads on the same circuits.

 

[jwanderson88]

Your situation is different from most people. You call it "road tripping". You don't seem to have a destination or a timetable. You seem happy as long as your EV will move from one "adventure" to the next. Most travelers want their EV charged quickly and fully (at least 80 percent). They have somewhere they need to go. 110 volts isn't going to work in any case. It would take days to fully charge your EV, maybe even a week. That is what happens with big battery packs. There are level 1's, like in the campgrounds. They're a little better. It would still take a day or two to fully charge. If you don't want to keep having "adventures" like you're having, then you might have to go somewhere else. Don't go to places without at least accessible level 1 chargers. Level 2 is better. Plan ahead and always have alternates. EV's are unforgiving. "Maybe" you can charge somewhere isn't good enough. You've been very lucky.

 

[TractorJackie]

Your situation is different from most people. You call it "road tripping". You don't seem to have a destination or a timetable. You seem happy as long as your EV will move from one "adventure" to the next. Most travelers want their EV charged quickly and fully (at least 80 percent). They have somewhere they need to go. 110 volts isn't going to work in any case. It would take days to fully charge your EV, maybe even a week. That is what happens with big battery packs. There are level 1's, like in the campgrounds. They're a little better. It would still take a day or two to fully charge. If you don't want to keep having "adventures" like you're having, then you might have to go somewhere else. Don't go to places without at least accessible level 1 chargers. Level 2 is better. Plan ahead and always have alternates. EV's are unforgiving. "Maybe" you can charge somewhere isn't good enough. You've been very lucky.

Thank you for explaining what most people think and do, and that my travels are not really road tripping. Oh, and you forgot to add "little lady."

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