RivianTrackr: "Stop Buying EVs for the Trip You Take Twice a Year"

[Mos Eisley]

Doing something a lot in "testing" does not equate to it being realistic...

Exactly - nothing about freeway speed limits and driver's habits changes physics or the laws of science.

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[Dennisis]

It's enough of a real-world issue that nearly every EV YouTube channel is running almost identical nonstop highway range tests.

It's also why these threads keep appearing. We make these drives every month.

Think getting the clicks has anything to do with it? If bleeds it leads, very popular strategy….

 

[narmstrong79]

Compared to a Model Y... yes. But if they're coming from an ICE, the efficiency/fuel cost benefit is still going to swing heavily towards the R2.

Assuming they home charge, If you can't charge at home - you should not buy an EV. But also States, like mine (NH), that have high electrical rates kill much of that fuel saving cost

 

[Dennisis]

Assuming they home charge, If you can't charge at home - you should not buy an EV. But also States, like mine (NH), that have high electrical rates kill much of that fuel saving cost

Cost savings is one part, maintenance is another. All I’ve done is add washer fluid and change tires for the last 8 years and never had a breakdown. Lots less to go wrong on an EV.

 

[Utah-Jay]

ICE owners don't look at range at all during road trips. They don't plan trips around range and recharging at all. If you decide you need to add gas, you get it within the next 5 minutes after your decision and spend a few minutes doing so.

That is not the case in much of the mountain west

It's enough of a real-world issue that nearly every EV YouTube channel is running almost identical nonstop highway range tests.

It's also why these threads keep appearing. We make these drives every month.

I do YouTube featuring backcountry flying… TRUST me… They are playing to the anxiety crowd. YouTube pays on subscribers and hours watched. Why do you think Kyle drags out a 15 minute video into 90 minutes? It is all about the $$$$

 

[Dark-Fx]

Correct, I thought in 2026 I won't need to figure out range and charging

Last time I was stranged because of energy reasons in a car, it was in 2019 in my Camaro, after also owning an EV. I forgot that gas stations where I was travelling were shut down at night because the laws in my state require someone to be present at them. Could you imagine how much of a shit show EV charging would be if that were the law?

I would have made it in my EV, the station I planned at stopping had I drove my EV was still open.

Those laws haven't changed here, by the way.

 

[justinkitswa]

I've read a couple different iterations of this and the conclusions I draw from them reflect the selection bias that is inherent in the EV marketplace today.

We're told we should learn to accept less range/longer charging wait times because it doesn't affect that many of us, or it isn't that big of a deal.

I read once where someone suggested we all get a 200ish mile range EV and rent an ICE vehicle for longer trips... Except, it doesn't really work that way. I have three dogs, I can't rent anything and haul dogs in there. If you tow anything, good luck - most rental outfits prohibit towing anything with a rental. Also, as was mentioned, good luck getting a rental around holidays/events.

Rivian themselves pointed out that only a few percent of people actually use fast charging. They took that data point and decided it meant it wasn't worth much effort to improve the fast charging experience because so few people actually use it... Classic selection bias "If so few people use it, why invest in improving it"

The angle of that they chose to ignore is that perhaps so few people use it because it generally sucks. It's improving, but taking up two Tesla spots in the middle-of-nowhere I-5 to charge sucks.

Think back to early days of the interstate highway system - there we're limited fuel stations initially, to support growth of the auto industry investment had to be made in infrastructure - fuel stops, amenities, rest stops, etc. If the businesses supporting that infrastructure followed the EV industry logic today, and said "why invest, so few people use this stuff?" think how different our society would be.

 

[maba2366]

When charging to 80% and in winter climates range starts to matter more. Also, efficiency matters to some people. The EPA range numbers that Rivian released, and some of the statements from Rivian execs suggested that they had made a leap forward in efficiency, but it is obvious now that this was not really true. I am waiting until next year to see how things pan out on the autonomy front, I can live with the range/efficiency differences, but I find Rivians' projections of how quickly they will reach autonomy milestones to be wildly optimistic,

 

[ksurfier]

Editorial



Interesting read, thanks Jose! @RivianTrackr

Maybe this thread should be - “Stop Buying EVs if you want to drive them faster than 48 MPH”?

 

[lefkonj]

I 100% agree with this sentiment. I didn't buy a Rivian and BMW i4 because of range, I bought them because I like them. My needs are more than met by these vehicles. Driven them on trips and just deal with it since that is a 1 or 2 times a year thing. Like most people we aren't putting 100s of miles a week on a vehicle. The average person isn't doing this either.

There are charging deserts out there but not in my path and most likely won't ever be.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Maybe this thread should be - “Stop Buying EVs if you want to drive them faster than 48 MPH”?

Better still - "Stop buying EV's until you get over your silly obsession with range and efficiency to 12 decimal places while expecting them to defy physics and meet illogical expectations."

 

[windshieldfarmer]

Would you have paid $2-3K more for a 800V R2 with the same battery capacity?

That a great question…it’s also my understanding that having an 800V capacity doesn’t mean it will necessarily charge any faster than a 400V. As chargers improve this will change.

 

[windshieldfarmer]

I am confused how anyone thinks they need to calculate


Non-stop 75MPH doesn't really sound like real world to me...

You obviously don’t live in fly over country….or any western state. It’s extremely common…usually 80 mph for hours at a time.

 

[forestwalker]

You obviously don’t live in fly over country….or any western state. It’s extremely common…usually 80 mph for hours at a time.

Pretty simple to see that I live in Washington, which I believe is considered a "western state"...

 

[iamnid]

Correct, I thought in 2026 I won't need to figure out range and charging

You don't. The in-vehicle trip planner will do all of that and the arrival estimates are very accurate. People just like to optimize their routes or hand-wring. In reality, just put in your destination and go.

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