End of my dream

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I am still at a loss as to how a truck with 315 miles of range needed two charging stops to go 250 miles after being able to go approximately 230 miles on the trip out.

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[jjswan33]

What does mentioning CCS network have to do with Electrify America's failure rate?

Electrify America has a poor record of their charging stations working when EV owners attempt to use them.

Electrify America didn't choose to be in the EV charging station business. Volkswagen was forced to create the Electrify America network because VW had committed fraud. No company will provide great service (see Tesla's charging network, and some of the other EV charging station companies available to the public) if they are forced by a court to perform a service.

I hope if 2-3 years there are a lot of great competitors (I have no idea if the ROI for installing EV charging stations makes sense) to Electrify America. And I hope, hope by then Rivian has built out a decent charging network as well. I am not counting on Joe Biden's BBB plan to provide a lot of stations, but we can hope.

Again get some real world experience using EA and I will listen. Just cause you watched a few youtube videos and seen few horror stories posted doesn't mean you know anything about anything. Thanks

 

[Dark-Fx]

Again get some real world experience using EA and I will listen. Just cause you watched a few youtube videos and seen few horror stories posted doesn't mean you know anything about anything. Thanks

It's part of the reason I can't really argue with Tesla Stans about how the supercharger network is superior. I have no experience with it, and I try not to argue in bad faith.

 

[KeithPleas]

Coming back from Oregon yesterday, I stopped to charge at the 350kW EA station in Ellensburg. 10/10 on PlugShare...

Dang - don't have my Rivian R1S yet but I was counting on that (in the Taco Bell parking lot) when heading East.

 

[MNLightning]

???????????

Would the charging experience been any better with a Ford Lightning?

I assume not, since they both have similar range.

Our Department of Electric Car Advancement in Washington DC needs to work on building out a RELIABLE Charging network. Oh, we don't have such a department you say? Hmmm. Let's get rid of the Department of Energy then, and reuse the office space for this new DECA.

I should not have used “we” as I was referring to my wife and myself planning ahead.

And I don’t recall making a comparative reference to the Lightning? As I believe the R1T is more efficient.

 

[MNLightning]

really? come on....

Yea really, it wasn’t serious in the overall context of being dramatic. Apologies if my comment melted some snow flakes lol.

 

[intimidator]

???????????

I should not have used “we” as I was referring to my wife and myself planning ahead.

And I don’t recall making a comparative reference to the Lightning? As I believe the R1T is more efficient.

From 10,000 feet, the Rivian and the Lightning have similar range.
300 miles, 314 miles, 295 miles. That is about the same to me.

"Efficiency" is a slightly different parameter, and I wouldn't make a purchase based on efficiency unless (it was a significant difference). Range is important. Features are important. Reliability is important.

I think both the Rivian and the Lightning are great vehicles, while acknowledging they are distinct in what they provide to the buyer.

 

[Jarico75]

I had a Tesla and the process was seamless on Tesla Chargers. 3rd party chargers (with my adapter) were just as bad as they now are with Rivian. In my experience and from what annecdotal evidence I have read from other Rivian owners, the problem is not the handshake in most instances. It's chargers being down, payment systems being down or other charger errors.

The fact is Rivian is not going to build a supercharger network like Tesla has. And Ford isn't either. So what we all need to do is push for better standards and regulations in the industry to help make the process as consistent as going to different gas stations.

I completely agree with you. My issues have been with initiating the charge and have experienced moving from one charger to another at the same station only to see another brand vehicle pull up and charge with no issues. The main point of my post is without a proprietary network there are two sides to hold accountable to build out a reliable network.

 

[Scoiatael]

So here we go on our first trip on our new R1T. Loading went well with lots of space and room for three adults, a big dog, bikes, and lots of luggage to support the rest of the family. OK first planned charging station after 150 miles using electrify america went great.

Then we tried to drive off only to be told the front hatch was open. Multiple, multiple attempts to open and close the hatch did not solve the problem. Called support and while on the phone the problem seemed to resolve itself.

We have 250 miles until our destination so we figured that our 95% charge, in trip mode, would get us there. We drove carefully in conserve selection, but ended up needing to recharge at 200 miles with only 30 miles left. Several of the charging stations we tried were broken or at least non-functional.

The fun really started on our return a week later. On reaching our planned recharge stop we filled up to 70% or nearly 200 miles as we only had a 100 to go. Again we get the hood open alert. We call support and do everything they say …..push down hard on hood…..no response…..open hood…won’t open…soft reset…..hard reset…All no change. So here we are in a small crossroad 50 miles from any town.

Support says try rental car…none open. Try ride share…none around. Then all of a sudden, while parked in the shade the alert goes away and we start for home. We see we are going to need a further charge and begin planning for that. The first two chargers we stop at are non-functional. Now we are panicking as we are down to less than 5 miles. We find a 6 kw charger and charge to 10 miles so we can make it to the next charger.When we get there and plug in ….no connection. Call Electrify America and they reprogram the charger to no avail. Call Rivian support and told to try hard reset as when the battery is critically low it needs to be reset in order to charge. Finally we head home.

i am completely disillusioned and plan to get rid of the truck. Rivian is coming tomorrow to take it to service center. If they won’t take it back I am selling and taking whatever I can get.

I suggest you avoid any non-tesla EVs at this point. Its going to be a few years before 3rd party chargers are reliable, and you really need to use something like ABRP and Plugshare to plan charging stops on your route. I used to get hood latch errors with my Model Y as well, and just started to ignore it. Not worth the time resetting the truck just because of a hood latch error.

 

[kylealden]

Dang - don't have my Rivian R1S yet but I was counting on that (in the Taco Bell parking lot) when heading East.

FWIW the Plugshare rating is pretty good, so hopefully this was just a bad day for the stations. It’s just that EA and “bad days” are a little too comfortable with each other.

 

[yizzung]

If I were to plan a road trip with a Rivian now, I would try to find hotels on the way that have Tesla destination chargers and carry a J1772 adapter like the Lectron or TeslaTap with me.

TIL that I can use Tesla destination chargers... Good to know.

 

[Steve Meister]

So here we go on our first trip on our new R1T. Loading went well with lots of space and room for three adults, a big dog, bikes, and lots of luggage to support the rest of the family. OK first planned charging station after 150 miles using electrify america went great.

Then we tried to drive off only to be told the front hatch was open. Multiple, multiple attempts to open and close the hatch did not solve the problem. Called support and while on the phone the problem seemed to resolve itself.

We have 250 miles until our destination so we figured that our 95% charge, in trip mode, would get us there. We drove carefully in conserve selection, but ended up needing to recharge at 200 miles with only 30 miles left. Several of the charging stations we tried were broken or at least non-functional.

The fun really started on our return a week later. On reaching our planned recharge stop we filled up to 70% or nearly 200 miles as we only had a 100 to go. Again we get the hood open alert. We call support and do everything they say …..push down hard on hood…..no response…..open hood…won’t open…soft reset…..hard reset…All no change. So here we are in a small crossroad 50 miles from any town.

Support says try rental car…none open. Try ride share…none around. Then all of a sudden, while parked in the shade the alert goes away and we start for home. We see we are going to need a further charge and begin planning for that. The first two chargers we stop at are non-functional. Now we are panicking as we are down to less than 5 miles. We find a 6 kw charger and charge to 10 miles so we can make it to the next charger.When we get there and plug in ….no connection. Call Electrify America and they reprogram the charger to no avail. Call Rivian support and told to try hard reset as when the battery is critically low it needs to be reset in order to charge. Finally we head home.

i am completely disillusioned and plan to get rid of the truck. Rivian is coming tomorrow to take it to service center. If they won’t take it back I am selling and taking whatever I can get.

Took a trip 2 weeks ago from my home near Peoria IL to Hershey PA to visit my son and family. Pretty anxious regarding charging stations. the navigator charted my course with charging in Indianapolis, Akron, Pittsburg, etc. Yes, I had plenty of difficulties. charging stations there but not working, sometimes the Nav said I couldn't get there from here, but somehow I made it. Used plugshare sometimes because the nav didn't give me accurate information. Same thing coming back home, used Elect. America and EVgo. same types of problems. For whatever reason the EA charging station in Indianapolis seemed to charge a lot more for the electrons, but in any event, I did enjoy discussing issues with other drivers, who taught me a lot. they are a friendly bunch. Next trip (to Dallas tx this winter, I don't think I will be as anxious because the infrastructure for electric vehicles is growing and my confidence is building. For me, I am pretty forgiving due to being on the leading edge of a new way of doing things. Also, the trip out east ended up being quite affordable. much less per mile that would have been for an equivalent vehicle running on gas or diesel. I am not about to sell mine.

 

[riviancanucknb]

Are you saying that the hood being unlatched prevents you from driving the vehicle? If so that's a major design weakness. There are all kinds of reasons you may want to do that in a utility vehicle. It should just warn you with a confirmation prompt or short chime, not stop driving entirely.

 

[Pbmsmith]

Are you saying that the hood being unmatched prevents you from driving the vehicle? If so that's a major design weakness. There are all kinds of reasons you may want to do that in a utility vehicle. It should just warn you with a confirmation prompt or short chime, not stop driving entirely.

Didn’t keep from driving nut limited speed to 15mph

 

[riviancanucknb]

Didn’t keep from driving nut limited speed to 15mph

That's quite frankly ridiculous.

Imagine if your hood or trunk thinking it was unlatched disengaged or speed goverend your ICE engine. There's a reason there is no regulatory requirement for that. Rivian is trying to be far too smart here.

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