So I just completed a road trip from the Milwaukee area to Washington DC and back and I'm happy to report it was awesome. Just a few tidbits I learned:
A few things on Raymond the Rivian:
- 2023 R1S with a March 2023 born date per VIN
- Quad, 20's with about 19k miles on them, so far fairly normal to slightly more wear, but even
- Trip was run on All Purpose (other than the initial drive from Milwaukee as I wanted to clear Chicago and put as much distance as possible to start)
- Cross bars were off
- I typically drive in standard, but I drove in Auto height adjustment so it lowered on interstate
- On the interstate I usually drove 73-75, typically with cruise. I did not typically drive with the autonomous capabilities
1. The charging infrastructure along I80 in IN and OH is actually very nice with chargers immediately off the interstate like a rest stop. I will say though that most of them are Tesla. I did use an Electrify America when I plugged into the Tesla stall and was only getting 40 kWh for some reason. The EA stop worked perfectly and might have been the fastest charging rate I had the whole trip. I charged at Tesla, Rivian, and EA networks. EA was the fastest rate, Tesla easily the most consistent and convenient, Rivian kind of middle of the pack.
2. While the charging infrastructure is there they really are like rest stops / gas stations. In many cases they didn't have great or any food options, so that took a little bit of planning. On the way back with timing we stopped at a Culver's in IN and then went to the stop, so it added a bit of time.
3. I charged at a Rivian location I believe 3 times during the trip and all worked well, but at one location me and two others were charging and my charge rate was capped at 150 kWH even when low on battery which I just assume was due to all three of us charging. I charged at multiple Tesla stops with several charging and never experienced that capping, just the usual Tesla capped rate. The Rivian locations were less convenient along I80 usually off the road a little bit but not horrible. I also found it incredibly odd that in PA the navigation routed us to a Tesla stop even though a Rivian one was literally 0.1 miles away on the same road and not at all out of the way. The Rivian one was much more nice of a location and worked well (we used it on the way back which is when I learned it was even there).
4. If you ever go to DC the Tesla charger I used was in the lower level of a parking garage which caused me some confusion and extra time as I drove around the block again while trying to look at Google Maps to understand its location.
5. I used Rivian's navigation and planning both ways and it was great. It only got a little confused when I tried to throw in the Culver's stop at which point it started adding the existing charging stop and Rivian's for some reason. In that scenario I just dropped the whole thing and started over and it worked again. I found that its accuracy on the estimated miles left upon arrival was always conservative. On the last charge I charged to 73% because of what it said I would have left upon arrival (just a little more cushion) and in the end I arrived with 20+ more miles than its original estimate meaning I could have spent LESS time at the charger than more.
6. I was typically never going lower than 20% and never higher than 70% battery during all stops. It meant stopping every 2-ish hours, which added overall time as expected. That said, I actually appreciated this. I drove my 70 year-old mother (it was a birthday trip for her) and stopping was nice to get out and stretch. I usually always used the restroom and stretched my legs outside the vehicle every stop. In the past I have done many hours straight driving with little stopping only for gas in prior vehicles and while I could do it now, I preferred taking a bit longer and getting out. It realistically made the trip feel SHORTER than it actually was. I think sitting in a car for 5 hours straight ends up making the whole thing feel longer.
7. When arriving in DC I stopped to charge up to 70% and then was just going to leave the Rivian outside of our VRBO near Howard University using available street parking. By the time I made it from the charger to the location it was going to stay, it had ticked down to 69%. It then sat Wed - Saturday with no usage of it at all during that time and gear guard on. It moved down to 65% by the time we left early Sunday morning. Considering I left gear guard on and had dozens of videos recorded I consider that reasonable battery drain.
8. I found the seat and vehicle in general incredibly comfortable. I drove the entire trip both ways and never felt any discomfort. Apple music worked well with our playlist although once during our drive in PA the vehicle did a soft reset while driving on its own. I had that happen once before to me, so I just kept driving like nothing happened but it definitely threw my mother off as I could hear the panic "what just happened" coming from my right. It rebooted and threw no errors or anything. There was nothing unusual going on when it reset either.
Bottom line: my experience was excellent. In the end my mom was raving about how it all worked and stopping. I was admittedly a little nervous with all the stops, but they ended up making it a better experience. I would absolutely road trip with it again. I don't think you really need to use conserve on road trips and you are probably better off saving your tire wear and driving normal all-purpose. You won't really drop much below 20% and while planning it out most of the stops would have been the same either way because of how they are situated. So my advice is plan out with all-purpose and conserve and see if it even matters. I would also play a bit with starting battery % as you might find charging to 100% to start doesn't really help at all anyway in terms of stops.
EDIT: To clarify this is by far the longest trip I've taken. It was ~15-16 hours. My prior trips were ~5 hours max with maybe 1 or 2 stops. I believe I did 6 stops both directions to DC.
A few things on Raymond the Rivian:
- 2023 R1S with a March 2023 born date per VIN
- Quad, 20's with about 19k miles on them, so far fairly normal to slightly more wear, but even
- Trip was run on All Purpose (other than the initial drive from Milwaukee as I wanted to clear Chicago and put as much distance as possible to start)
- Cross bars were off
- I typically drive in standard, but I drove in Auto height adjustment so it lowered on interstate
- On the interstate I usually drove 73-75, typically with cruise. I did not typically drive with the autonomous capabilities
1. The charging infrastructure along I80 in IN and OH is actually very nice with chargers immediately off the interstate like a rest stop. I will say though that most of them are Tesla. I did use an Electrify America when I plugged into the Tesla stall and was only getting 40 kWh for some reason. The EA stop worked perfectly and might have been the fastest charging rate I had the whole trip. I charged at Tesla, Rivian, and EA networks. EA was the fastest rate, Tesla easily the most consistent and convenient, Rivian kind of middle of the pack.
2. While the charging infrastructure is there they really are like rest stops / gas stations. In many cases they didn't have great or any food options, so that took a little bit of planning. On the way back with timing we stopped at a Culver's in IN and then went to the stop, so it added a bit of time.
3. I charged at a Rivian location I believe 3 times during the trip and all worked well, but at one location me and two others were charging and my charge rate was capped at 150 kWH even when low on battery which I just assume was due to all three of us charging. I charged at multiple Tesla stops with several charging and never experienced that capping, just the usual Tesla capped rate. The Rivian locations were less convenient along I80 usually off the road a little bit but not horrible. I also found it incredibly odd that in PA the navigation routed us to a Tesla stop even though a Rivian one was literally 0.1 miles away on the same road and not at all out of the way. The Rivian one was much more nice of a location and worked well (we used it on the way back which is when I learned it was even there).
4. If you ever go to DC the Tesla charger I used was in the lower level of a parking garage which caused me some confusion and extra time as I drove around the block again while trying to look at Google Maps to understand its location.
5. I used Rivian's navigation and planning both ways and it was great. It only got a little confused when I tried to throw in the Culver's stop at which point it started adding the existing charging stop and Rivian's for some reason. In that scenario I just dropped the whole thing and started over and it worked again. I found that its accuracy on the estimated miles left upon arrival was always conservative. On the last charge I charged to 73% because of what it said I would have left upon arrival (just a little more cushion) and in the end I arrived with 20+ more miles than its original estimate meaning I could have spent LESS time at the charger than more.
6. I was typically never going lower than 20% and never higher than 70% battery during all stops. It meant stopping every 2-ish hours, which added overall time as expected. That said, I actually appreciated this. I drove my 70 year-old mother (it was a birthday trip for her) and stopping was nice to get out and stretch. I usually always used the restroom and stretched my legs outside the vehicle every stop. In the past I have done many hours straight driving with little stopping only for gas in prior vehicles and while I could do it now, I preferred taking a bit longer and getting out. It realistically made the trip feel SHORTER than it actually was. I think sitting in a car for 5 hours straight ends up making the whole thing feel longer.
7. When arriving in DC I stopped to charge up to 70% and then was just going to leave the Rivian outside of our VRBO near Howard University using available street parking. By the time I made it from the charger to the location it was going to stay, it had ticked down to 69%. It then sat Wed - Saturday with no usage of it at all during that time and gear guard on. It moved down to 65% by the time we left early Sunday morning. Considering I left gear guard on and had dozens of videos recorded I consider that reasonable battery drain.
8. I found the seat and vehicle in general incredibly comfortable. I drove the entire trip both ways and never felt any discomfort. Apple music worked well with our playlist although once during our drive in PA the vehicle did a soft reset while driving on its own. I had that happen once before to me, so I just kept driving like nothing happened but it definitely threw my mother off as I could hear the panic "what just happened" coming from my right. It rebooted and threw no errors or anything. There was nothing unusual going on when it reset either.
Bottom line: my experience was excellent. In the end my mom was raving about how it all worked and stopping. I was admittedly a little nervous with all the stops, but they ended up making it a better experience. I would absolutely road trip with it again. I don't think you really need to use conserve on road trips and you are probably better off saving your tire wear and driving normal all-purpose. You won't really drop much below 20% and while planning it out most of the stops would have been the same either way because of how they are situated. So my advice is plan out with all-purpose and conserve and see if it even matters. I would also play a bit with starting battery % as you might find charging to 100% to start doesn't really help at all anyway in terms of stops.
EDIT: To clarify this is by far the longest trip I've taken. It was ~15-16 hours. My prior trips were ~5 hours max with maybe 1 or 2 stops. I believe I did 6 stops both directions to DC.
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