Does overlanding with kids in an EV work?

[electruck4x4]

We’ve seen a few families making it work, but we’re curious to dig deeper.
What kinds of trips are you taking with kids in your R1T or R1S? Weekend camping? Multi-day overland loops?

What has been your biggest challenge? Range planning, gear space, sleep setup, food?

We’re always looking to better support family-ready adventures and would love to hear what works (or doesn’t) for you.

Tips, fails, hacks, all welcome

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[natcc99]

My suggestion is to always sync the HVAC or lock the rear screen. Why do you ask?

We were out in the woods and I was trying to cool the car off while we were cooking lunch.
Little did I know that one of the kids turned the rear temperature to max heat (aka "HI"). Front vents were cool, but was fighting against the rear vents. I'm not a meteorologist, but isn't that how hurricanes form?

 

[iansriv]

Based on the experience my father had with his two sons-it's a bad idea. I was about 10 and my brother 3. At one point in the journey my mother said, "I hope you have sons and know what we went through."

 

[sub]

I have taken my kids camping many times. I have run into 3 problems camping with the Rivian.

Range and the CCS charge port. Campgrounds are often not super close to urban centers. Initially all of my favorite campgrounds were more than a 50% charge away from the nearest CCS charger. I could have gotten there, but I wouldn't have made it home.

There were plenty of Tesla chargers between my house and the campgrounds so I ended up just using my Tesla for the first year and then once Rivian got access to use Tesla chargers I could finally take it camping.

Depending on where you live and where you want to go this could be a non-issue or it could still be a deal breaker. It would also be less of a problem if you are staying at an RV campground with electricity.

Cargo space. Rivian has a huge trunk - until you want put people back there. If your kids are using the 3rd row the trunk is tiny. There is nowhere close to room for 3 rows of people and the gear that all of those people will need. People or gear. Not both.

We resolved this by transporting the overflow gear on a hitch mounted basket. We have found the range hit to be negligible. (The canoe also has a surprisingly small impact on range)

Parking. If you use off-road mode for your drive in be careful where you park. After sitting overnight it will automatically reset into all-purpose mode and drop down to a much lower height the instant you put it in gear. If you had parked on top of an obstacle you could hit it on the way down. The screen warns you that it is about to drop, but doesn't provide an option to say no please don't. I think this is objectively a bug since there has never been an instance where someone parked not on a road and then was magicly transported onto a road overnight while the car was sleeping but I don't think Rivian has fixed it yet.

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