StanleySoManly
Active Member
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I recently finished a 2 month long, 10,000 mile road trip across the states and back in the truck (El Cap/Forest Edge, 20" AT tires, 13xxx VIN) and thought I would catalog my experience here as well as answer any questions the community might have (if any). Overall the trip was amazing and I'm looking forward to the next adventure in this amazing vehicle. This ended up being longer than I was expecting so as a warning up front - this is part a re-telling of my journey as well as part commentary on road tripping in a Rivian. I tried my best to format and compartmentalize the journey but it's somewhat scattered.
My plan was to live out of my truck for at least 2 months so I outfitted it with an iKamper over the bed as well as a 50 quart ARB fridge in the back seats. After installing the tent I found myself really missing the rear view visibility, so I started looking for a bed rack as well. I also purchased a 1800W induction stove as well as various camping kitchen related items. I used this forum for a lot of inspiration for the truck so thanks to this community for existing and being awesome. I also got all the windows tinted with the exception of the roof and this helped a lot with heat, if you need a shop recommendation in SoCal send me a DM, I've been very happy with the job (although it has only been 2 months)
I had a general idea of the route I was going to take to go east as well as a goal to be in Ontario, Canada for Canadian thanksgiving on October 6/7. I rarely planned more than 1 day in advance and was able to find a lot of campsites day of, mostly KOAs as I find them quite consistent and usually quite nice. I also stayed at some RV parks because they always have showers as well as the ability to charge overnight (sometimes). KOAs have a policy against charging, but if the price made sense I booked a 30 or 50 amp site and then charged anyway unless someone told me explicitly not to (one KOA near Zion National Park explicitly told me I was allowed to charge).
Heading East:
Utah:
I left Los Angeles on September 19th 2023 and headed towards Utah with my first stop being Zion National Park. I spent a few days here, went on a bunch of hikes as well as drove through the park, truly beautiful place. Unfortunately I didn't win the permit lottery so angels landing will have to wait. Next up was Bryce National Park and this was the first time that I was worried about charging since there are no fast chargers close to the park and the closest one was over a mountain. I charged up to ~100% at the EA station in Beaver and then drove in conserve mode the whole way there. It turns out I didn't need to be worried at all and I made it there and back just fine. I always tried to leave myself a 30-50 mile buffer on this trip just in case a fast charger was broken. After Bryce I starting reading north towards Moab and stayed the night in Richfield where I learned there are numerous off-road trials, i'll definitely be back!
I had never been to Moab and this place was amazing! Beautiful scenery, hiking, climbing, and so many off road trials to ride! I went to Arches National Park (reservation required) and then the following day did some off-roading in Canyonlands. I went down Shafer Canyon, did part of White Rim Trail, and then turned around and left the park through Potash Road. I also heard that Long Canyon Road is great so that's on my list to do next time. I'm very new to off-roading in a truck and also scared about scratching the truck (I know I know wear the pinstripes with pride but I don't think I'll ever get there). I don't have any baseline for off-road performance, but the truck made the entire experience very easy even for a newbie like me. A quick note on charging in Moab - Tesla Magic docks were added to the super charger in Moab ~5 days before I arrived and this saved me so much time. I stayed at the KOA in Moab and I only booked a basic tent site so I didn't have overnight charging. Without the supercharger I would have hard to drive to the closest EA station which is north west of Moab and I would have lost a lot of time.
Colorado:
After Canyonlands I left Utah and headed to Grand Junction, Colorado and took a scenic drive through Grand Mesa National Forest. The colors were beginning to change and It was great to finally see some fall colors again after 4 years in LA. I was here a month earlier on a motorcycle trip and I wanted to drive the million dollar highway again all the way to Durango, but only managed to get as far as Ouray this time. Highway 550 is amazing and I can't wait to go back and explore the numerous off road trails here as well. After Ouray, I headed back north and continues east towards Frisco where I visited some family for a few days and then into Colorado Springs to see some friends. Overall Colorado was a breeze for charging between RAN stations, as well as state sponsored chargers littered throughout the state - points to Colorado!
Illinois:
From Colorado Springs it was all interstates for a few days taking I-80 all the way to Normal where I was able to arrange a tour of the Rivian Factory (Thanks to Zita for organizing as well as Ben for conducting the tour). If you're ever in the area I highly recommend taking a tour. Funny enough (or not), charging was difficult at this point of the trip and there is no reliable fast charger near the Rivian factory - If anyone at Rivian is reading this you guys should have a RAN at the factory!
Ontario, Canada:
After the factory tour I went back north and crossed the border in Detroit and headed to Toronto. I used to live in Toronto so I spent a couple days here visiting friends and family and stayed through Canadian Thanksgiving. Charging in Ontario is brutal and probably the worst experience I had charging on this entire trip. Not only were a lot of chargers slow or broken, they almost all required you to download and setup their app which is extremely frustrating if you're only there for a short period of time. Also Electrify Canada is completely different than Electrify Canada and requires you to download a different app etc.
Rhode Island:
After my time in Canada I crossed the border back into the states in Buffalo and headed east to visit family in Rhode Island. This was the furthest East I went on the entire trip and it was time to start heading back west as the weather was getting pretty chilly for camping.
Heading West:
West Virginia:
After Rhode Island I spent a week visiting a friend in Brooklyn and then continued back in the truck heading south west to Washington DC. After visiting a friend there for a couple days It was time to drive the Blue Ridge Mountains! *insert Jon Denver video*. The recent RAN installation along the Blue Ridge made this part of the trip a breeze for charging and the truck was a ton of fun in sport mode through the mountains, this vehicle really does it all!
Tennessee:
After the Blue Ridge mountains I went north a little bit to drive the "Devil's Triangle" north west of Knoxville and then doubled back and headed into Atlanta.
Georgia/Mississipi/Louisiana:
After leaving Atlanta I headed south for warmer weather and took interstates all the way to Texas.
Texas:
I spent one night in Galveston right on the gulf coast and then the following morning took a short drive on the beach across from the KOA. I haven't drifted this truck much but turning off the traction control and swinging the back end around on the beach was pretty fun, will definitely have to look up more spots to drift in the future. Next up was Austin for a few days to visit family and then I continued west. The plan was to visit Big Bend National and state parks but there are no fast chargers there so I called a few camp sites that will let you charge (look on plugshare to find them) and the owners said that the weather wasn't great (cold & rainy) and there was a chance that I would get stuck. I doubt that would have happened but I figured to save this adventure for another time. Instead I decided to head north into New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park as well as Guadalupe National Park (technically in Texas).
New Mexico:
I found a RV park just outside of Carlsbad and stayed the night there as well as charged. The next morning I drove to Carlsbad Caverns and was greeted by a sign saying that I must have a reservation which I didn't have (Friendly reminder to check all National Parks in the future for any kind of reservation system). I decided to drive up anyway and found out that they do have tickets and that it was free for the day (Veterans Day) so I was able to hike down into the cave systems and walk around - highly recommended.
At this point I wanted to go back North to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon but the weather turned me off of this plan. I could have visited those places and been ok during the day but I didn't want to pay for hotel rooms so I opted to save these places for another time.
After Carlsbad I went south a bit to Guadalupe National park and did a hike that was at its peak for fall colors. I can see myself coming back to this park as there were a bunch of other hikes that looked fun but I didn't have to time to do. I spent the night at a KOA in Las Cruces and charged up there overnight in preparation for White Sands National Park the next day. White Sands was beautiful and it was fun to hike in the sand without shoes. I'm not sure if it was the time of year or what but there weren't that many people at the park and if you hike a bit father out you can essentially be alone with the dunes and the mountains. After staying for sunset and having a BBQ with a couple I met on the hike it was time to call it a day.
Next up was Gila National Forest. I heard about this place from a map of 'scenic drives throughout the US' and since I was going right past I figured I would check it out. The road up the mountain is a lot of fun and at the very end you can take a short hike to an ancient settler cave that has petroglyphs.
Arizona:
At this point I was ready to be off the road and back home so the rest of my days were mostly just driving with the exception of Tucson where I took the road up Mt. Lemmon. Nice drive with a beautiful view at the top as well as a bunch of off road trails and dispersed camping.
I've included some photos below of the truck at various points in the journey (didn't take enough) as well as some efficiency numbers and a map of the roads.
Truck highs and lows:
Highs:
Lows:
Charging:
Overall charging was more or less a non-issue for me. I wasn't ever able to not go somewhere although every place I went took planning. I do with the truck had more range and had a better charging curve but I'd say there were only ~10 times where I was literally sitting in the truck waiting for it to charge. I almost exclusively used EA for fast charging (cheapest option with the monthly plan), as well as 30/50 amp campsites where possible, and the occasional hotel that had a charger.
Before leaving I purchased a 30amp adapter for campsites as well as a tesla-tap mini. I ended up returning the Tesla tap mini about halfway through my journey because I never had to use it.
Efficiency:
Overall my efficiency was 1.80 mi/kWh with the tent and bed rack on the truck. I never went over 75 MPH on the freeway (except when passing someone) and for the most part I kept it in All Purpose Mode. I'd say about 20% of my time was in conserve mode when on interstates and maybe 5% spent in off-road mode.
Camping setup thoughts:
The iKamper is a great tent but a bit too short length wise for me, if anyone has a better recommendation for someone who is 6'1" please let me know. Also if anyone wants to purchase my iKamper I will be selling it shortly (SoCal area)
The fridge in the back seats was pretty good as I was able to use the 12v under the dash to power it, but it was definitely a bit frustrating to not be able to open the lid the entire way. Version 2 of this setup might have the fridge in the bed, although the one I have is too tall to have the tonneau close.
My cooking setup worked out quite well although I underestimated how much time it takes to cook and clean when camping vs a kitchen at home. All previous camping trips on the motorcycle I either ate out or had freeze dried meals.
The End:
If you made it this far thanks for reading and if you have any questions or recommendations for places to go please leave a comment.
Camping in ZIon
Scenic drive through Zion
Arches National Park
Sunset at Arches National Park
Bottom of Schafer Trail in Canyonlands National Park
Early into White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park
Somewhere on Potash Road in Canyonlands National Park
Grand Mesa National Forest
Somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Galveston Texas
White Sands National Park
White Sands National Park
Efficiency numbers
Efficiency numbers
Map of the Journey (Pink/Red is the truck trip, green is a motorcycle trip)
My plan was to live out of my truck for at least 2 months so I outfitted it with an iKamper over the bed as well as a 50 quart ARB fridge in the back seats. After installing the tent I found myself really missing the rear view visibility, so I started looking for a bed rack as well. I also purchased a 1800W induction stove as well as various camping kitchen related items. I used this forum for a lot of inspiration for the truck so thanks to this community for existing and being awesome. I also got all the windows tinted with the exception of the roof and this helped a lot with heat, if you need a shop recommendation in SoCal send me a DM, I've been very happy with the job (although it has only been 2 months)
I had a general idea of the route I was going to take to go east as well as a goal to be in Ontario, Canada for Canadian thanksgiving on October 6/7. I rarely planned more than 1 day in advance and was able to find a lot of campsites day of, mostly KOAs as I find them quite consistent and usually quite nice. I also stayed at some RV parks because they always have showers as well as the ability to charge overnight (sometimes). KOAs have a policy against charging, but if the price made sense I booked a 30 or 50 amp site and then charged anyway unless someone told me explicitly not to (one KOA near Zion National Park explicitly told me I was allowed to charge).
Heading East:
Utah:
I left Los Angeles on September 19th 2023 and headed towards Utah with my first stop being Zion National Park. I spent a few days here, went on a bunch of hikes as well as drove through the park, truly beautiful place. Unfortunately I didn't win the permit lottery so angels landing will have to wait. Next up was Bryce National Park and this was the first time that I was worried about charging since there are no fast chargers close to the park and the closest one was over a mountain. I charged up to ~100% at the EA station in Beaver and then drove in conserve mode the whole way there. It turns out I didn't need to be worried at all and I made it there and back just fine. I always tried to leave myself a 30-50 mile buffer on this trip just in case a fast charger was broken. After Bryce I starting reading north towards Moab and stayed the night in Richfield where I learned there are numerous off-road trials, i'll definitely be back!
I had never been to Moab and this place was amazing! Beautiful scenery, hiking, climbing, and so many off road trials to ride! I went to Arches National Park (reservation required) and then the following day did some off-roading in Canyonlands. I went down Shafer Canyon, did part of White Rim Trail, and then turned around and left the park through Potash Road. I also heard that Long Canyon Road is great so that's on my list to do next time. I'm very new to off-roading in a truck and also scared about scratching the truck (I know I know wear the pinstripes with pride but I don't think I'll ever get there). I don't have any baseline for off-road performance, but the truck made the entire experience very easy even for a newbie like me. A quick note on charging in Moab - Tesla Magic docks were added to the super charger in Moab ~5 days before I arrived and this saved me so much time. I stayed at the KOA in Moab and I only booked a basic tent site so I didn't have overnight charging. Without the supercharger I would have hard to drive to the closest EA station which is north west of Moab and I would have lost a lot of time.
Colorado:
After Canyonlands I left Utah and headed to Grand Junction, Colorado and took a scenic drive through Grand Mesa National Forest. The colors were beginning to change and It was great to finally see some fall colors again after 4 years in LA. I was here a month earlier on a motorcycle trip and I wanted to drive the million dollar highway again all the way to Durango, but only managed to get as far as Ouray this time. Highway 550 is amazing and I can't wait to go back and explore the numerous off road trails here as well. After Ouray, I headed back north and continues east towards Frisco where I visited some family for a few days and then into Colorado Springs to see some friends. Overall Colorado was a breeze for charging between RAN stations, as well as state sponsored chargers littered throughout the state - points to Colorado!
Illinois:
From Colorado Springs it was all interstates for a few days taking I-80 all the way to Normal where I was able to arrange a tour of the Rivian Factory (Thanks to Zita for organizing as well as Ben for conducting the tour). If you're ever in the area I highly recommend taking a tour. Funny enough (or not), charging was difficult at this point of the trip and there is no reliable fast charger near the Rivian factory - If anyone at Rivian is reading this you guys should have a RAN at the factory!
Ontario, Canada:
After the factory tour I went back north and crossed the border in Detroit and headed to Toronto. I used to live in Toronto so I spent a couple days here visiting friends and family and stayed through Canadian Thanksgiving. Charging in Ontario is brutal and probably the worst experience I had charging on this entire trip. Not only were a lot of chargers slow or broken, they almost all required you to download and setup their app which is extremely frustrating if you're only there for a short period of time. Also Electrify Canada is completely different than Electrify Canada and requires you to download a different app etc.
Rhode Island:
After my time in Canada I crossed the border back into the states in Buffalo and headed east to visit family in Rhode Island. This was the furthest East I went on the entire trip and it was time to start heading back west as the weather was getting pretty chilly for camping.
Heading West:
West Virginia:
After Rhode Island I spent a week visiting a friend in Brooklyn and then continued back in the truck heading south west to Washington DC. After visiting a friend there for a couple days It was time to drive the Blue Ridge Mountains! *insert Jon Denver video*. The recent RAN installation along the Blue Ridge made this part of the trip a breeze for charging and the truck was a ton of fun in sport mode through the mountains, this vehicle really does it all!
Tennessee:
After the Blue Ridge mountains I went north a little bit to drive the "Devil's Triangle" north west of Knoxville and then doubled back and headed into Atlanta.
Georgia/Mississipi/Louisiana:
After leaving Atlanta I headed south for warmer weather and took interstates all the way to Texas.
Texas:
I spent one night in Galveston right on the gulf coast and then the following morning took a short drive on the beach across from the KOA. I haven't drifted this truck much but turning off the traction control and swinging the back end around on the beach was pretty fun, will definitely have to look up more spots to drift in the future. Next up was Austin for a few days to visit family and then I continued west. The plan was to visit Big Bend National and state parks but there are no fast chargers there so I called a few camp sites that will let you charge (look on plugshare to find them) and the owners said that the weather wasn't great (cold & rainy) and there was a chance that I would get stuck. I doubt that would have happened but I figured to save this adventure for another time. Instead I decided to head north into New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park as well as Guadalupe National Park (technically in Texas).
New Mexico:
I found a RV park just outside of Carlsbad and stayed the night there as well as charged. The next morning I drove to Carlsbad Caverns and was greeted by a sign saying that I must have a reservation which I didn't have (Friendly reminder to check all National Parks in the future for any kind of reservation system). I decided to drive up anyway and found out that they do have tickets and that it was free for the day (Veterans Day) so I was able to hike down into the cave systems and walk around - highly recommended.
At this point I wanted to go back North to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon but the weather turned me off of this plan. I could have visited those places and been ok during the day but I didn't want to pay for hotel rooms so I opted to save these places for another time.
After Carlsbad I went south a bit to Guadalupe National park and did a hike that was at its peak for fall colors. I can see myself coming back to this park as there were a bunch of other hikes that looked fun but I didn't have to time to do. I spent the night at a KOA in Las Cruces and charged up there overnight in preparation for White Sands National Park the next day. White Sands was beautiful and it was fun to hike in the sand without shoes. I'm not sure if it was the time of year or what but there weren't that many people at the park and if you hike a bit father out you can essentially be alone with the dunes and the mountains. After staying for sunset and having a BBQ with a couple I met on the hike it was time to call it a day.
Next up was Gila National Forest. I heard about this place from a map of 'scenic drives throughout the US' and since I was going right past I figured I would check it out. The road up the mountain is a lot of fun and at the very end you can take a short hike to an ancient settler cave that has petroglyphs.
Arizona:
At this point I was ready to be off the road and back home so the rest of my days were mostly just driving with the exception of Tucson where I took the road up Mt. Lemmon. Nice drive with a beautiful view at the top as well as a bunch of off road trails and dispersed camping.
I've included some photos below of the truck at various points in the journey (didn't take enough) as well as some efficiency numbers and a map of the roads.
Truck highs and lows:
Highs:
- No mechanical failures or faults of any kind.
- No issues with charging from the trucks perspective.
- Very comfortable on long drives.
- First off-road truck experience and it was great.
- Fun to be able to use the outlets in the bed to cook food whenever and wherever I wanted.
- More than enough storage space for all my gear.
- Auto-leveling mode for the Roof Top Tent is amazing.
- Almost every interstate I went on was 'mapped' for driver+
- Probably a bunch of other things I can't think of, the vehicle really is awesome.
Lows:
- I took the truck into service right before leaving and they did something to my Driver+ where it will disengage with my hands still on the wheel as well as instantly disengage the second I take my hand off. Quite frustrating at the start of a 10,000 mile trip which is mostly on interstates.
- The driver side overhead speaker started to play static for an hour one day and has since returned to normal operation, but this is still worrying
- So many rattles and squeaks. Some are new and some have returned after being fixed by service.
- Wind noise has increased a bit but I'm planning to get service to fix this.
- Conserve mode clutch connect/disconnect is quite prominent now with a loud thunk, way more noticeable at speed.
- At one point while driving both of my displays turned off and the infotainment re-booted. Planning to have service look into this.
Charging:
Overall charging was more or less a non-issue for me. I wasn't ever able to not go somewhere although every place I went took planning. I do with the truck had more range and had a better charging curve but I'd say there were only ~10 times where I was literally sitting in the truck waiting for it to charge. I almost exclusively used EA for fast charging (cheapest option with the monthly plan), as well as 30/50 amp campsites where possible, and the occasional hotel that had a charger.
Before leaving I purchased a 30amp adapter for campsites as well as a tesla-tap mini. I ended up returning the Tesla tap mini about halfway through my journey because I never had to use it.
Efficiency:
Overall my efficiency was 1.80 mi/kWh with the tent and bed rack on the truck. I never went over 75 MPH on the freeway (except when passing someone) and for the most part I kept it in All Purpose Mode. I'd say about 20% of my time was in conserve mode when on interstates and maybe 5% spent in off-road mode.
Camping setup thoughts:
The iKamper is a great tent but a bit too short length wise for me, if anyone has a better recommendation for someone who is 6'1" please let me know. Also if anyone wants to purchase my iKamper I will be selling it shortly (SoCal area)
The fridge in the back seats was pretty good as I was able to use the 12v under the dash to power it, but it was definitely a bit frustrating to not be able to open the lid the entire way. Version 2 of this setup might have the fridge in the bed, although the one I have is too tall to have the tonneau close.
My cooking setup worked out quite well although I underestimated how much time it takes to cook and clean when camping vs a kitchen at home. All previous camping trips on the motorcycle I either ate out or had freeze dried meals.
The End:
If you made it this far thanks for reading and if you have any questions or recommendations for places to go please leave a comment.
Camping in ZIon
Scenic drive through Zion
Arches National Park
Sunset at Arches National Park
Bottom of Schafer Trail in Canyonlands National Park
Early into White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park
Somewhere on Potash Road in Canyonlands National Park
Grand Mesa National Forest
Somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Galveston Texas
White Sands National Park
White Sands National Park
Efficiency numbers
Efficiency numbers
Map of the Journey (Pink/Red is the truck trip, green is a motorcycle trip)
Sponsored
Haven't seen one of those in years!
