EV Driving in Summer? The R1S Makes It a Breeze

[narmstrong79]

Okay folks, time to put your “EV range anxiety” in the glovebox , If we had one! so maybe put in that strange cubby under the seat? .

Yesterday. I loaded up my 2024 Generation 1 Rivian R1S Dual Motor Performance (Standard+ battery pack, EPA-rated 300 miles range which is .~ 2.48 mi/kWh) and went on a little adventure, me plus 4 tween girls (ugh!) — from Southern NH to Six Flags New England. That’s right: 5 passengers, A/C set to 65°F or lower the entire trip. and not a single ounce of worry about range. Just vibes, highway and a few pee breaks.

TL;DR
Efficiency Stats That’ll Make You Smile

• Trip down (124 miles):
  → Avg: 2.57 mi/kWh
  → Used ~40% of battery
  → Avg speed: 56 mph
• Trip back (131 miles):
  → Avg: 2.24 mi/kWh
  → Used ~45% of battery
  → Avg speed: 49 mph (thanks, Mass Pike overnight roadwork )

Total: Over 3 hours of driving, with dance music, and zero stress about finding a charger. There was plenty of options along the way had we needed them, plus six flags has (expensive $0.44/Kwh) level 2 charging in the parking lot. If we didn’t need a bathroom break or 2 (and trust me, when the car is full of tweens and one middle-aged bladder, stopping is not optional).


Summer Range Is Glorious

Summer driving efficiency in the R1S is on point.....The fact that I got better-than-EPA numbers on the way down—with a full cabin and max A/C—is great. Especially after a long day in the sun, tired stopping on the way back would have been fine, but not optimal they slept most the ride back which made me happy, tweens never stop talking.

Stop Overthinking Range: Seriously, people: EV range worries are mostly nonsense, maybe if you live in state with no infrastructure and really do 250+ daily, and cant charge at home... but that's a small segment of the population. This Rivian is built to cruise—and it does it with style, comfort, and enough cargo room to to at least drown out the kids in the 3rd row.

I didn’t need a charger. I needed coffee and a bathroom.

So If you're still obsessing over having the largest range possible, I hope this helps —The R1S is not the most efficient options due to its size, shape and weight but they’re workhorses.

Here's the closest (Gen 2 ) equivalent to my Gen 1 build, which is slightly more efficient, I'd suggest NOT spend the extra $ on the performance upgrade, Like I did https://tinyurl.com/4mjtbhsz

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[ukyank]

While I agree that range anxiety is often overblown, I’m not sure detailing a short 3hr trip is a going to change anyone’s mind

 

[mrodriguez]

I was very worried about range before I took my first big trip. Milwaukee, WI area to Washington DC and back. I was very impressed with the charging and never ran into anything of concern. Kept running 70% - 20% and back up. Plenty of convenient stops right off the interstate. I used Tesla, Rivian, and EA without an issue. It definitely adds time to a trip, but I found the extra time nice to get out and stretch, bathroom, etc. Long gone are the days of going 5 hours straight without a stop. Previously I had done maybe 5 hour trips, but this was 3x that. I'm far less concerned now and have another trip planned to the GSMNP in October.

 

[Glembi2]

Nice write-up. Always good to hear about experiences on long trips. I’m starting to see 5 stages to range anxiety (YMMV):

1. Fear of driving at less than 70, then 50, then 30% charge - resulting in way too many stops to charge back to 80%

2. Anger that 15-20% of a trip will be consumed by waiting for charging (30 minutes charging after 3 hours of driving).

3. Acceptance of the extra time spent charging and looking for something to do while waiting

4. Bliss knowing that you don’t need to avoid drinking water or coffee as you know you’re destined to stop sooner rather than later

 

[strykerwsu]

Similar good range out of Gen 1 R1T Quad last night. 100% from home, drove 275 miles / 4 hours 10 min. Average speed was 68 mph on 2 lane highways. Got to hotel with 8% / 28 miles left. Free EV charging, so unless terrible headwinds the 550 miles will cost me $14.50. However, we never see such stories on the click bait articles.

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