Need advice for family road trip IL to FL

[ILRIVIAN]

I have to admit I’m having some anxiety about an upcoming 950 mile family road trip in my R1S in late March. I’ve heard mixed opinions about taking road trips in an EV. Some say it took hours longer due to frequent stops, out of order chargers, slower than expected charging speeds, etc.
I’ll be traveling with my wife and 3 young kids, from northern Chicago Illinois area to the Destin Florida area for spring break. Google has the trip taking around 15 hours, not including stops. The Rivian app has it at 19.5 hrs with 8 charging stops (conserve mode, min. 10% battery arrival, total of 3 hrs of charge time). Most likely we’ll stay overnight in the Nashville or Birmingham to break up the trip.

Any recommendations for chargers to use or avoid?

Should I use the Rivian app for trip planning/ charger stops, or is there a better way to plan?

What other charging apps/ accounts should be setup ahead of time?

I assume the R1S will work with all chargers on the Rivian app, but will I need adapters other than what came with the R1S originally?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

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[iansriv]

There were several posts here earlier about Rivian getting access to Tesla Superchargers in March. If you could get your hands on an adapter and the access was up around when you travel, then bob's your uncle!

 

[McMoo]

We were considering St Louis to Destin last summer with my wife and 3 young kids (5 and under) but took my parents minivan instead and glad we did. Nashville specifically had terrible reviews for CCS chargers. Also there are stretches where you’ll be able to drive 80+ mph and that will kill range in the R1S. Destin doesn’t have any CCS fast chargers either. Yes you can do it, we decided not to. Not to mention charging cost wouldn’t have been any cheaper than gas.

 

[ERI]

We live in South Florida and my wife had to drive to Orlando today on the Turnpike. Each rest station has fast chargers now (both Tesla and CCS) and she was able to charge without any problems. There are a few fast chargers in the state that do not show up on the Rivian app (ChargeUP is one). Also we've noticed the Rivian app tries to route us to broken chargers from time to time. I recommend Plugshare for route planning as it has been dead on for which fast chargers are working and available (at least in our case). Rivian did just open a RAN in Daytona, so if your coming down 95, that's a good one to aim for.

 

[IHScout]

For me, the main consideration would be if the kids are good road travelers. We drove from PHX to st.louis in our R1S and it was a great trip with only minor hiccups. The trip was only marginally longer than the time we did the same drive in our expedition. I say, be adventurous and go for it.

 

[Ingo B]

Plugshare is your friend. It's like the Yelp of the EV charger world. Read through others' road trips. You'll learn from their experiences.

 

[tculpepp]

I'm in Destin and previous posters are correct that CCS is a bit of a desert out here. The closest fast chargers are around 1-1.5 hours away. There are level 2s around at some rentals, hotels, and shopping areas.
I did my first two weeks with the R1T relying on public charging, so it can be done. It will take more work/planning.

 

[mkuluz]

I took a 300 mile trip, used RAN chargers that were a breeze. had one hiccup with EVgo. because of that one charging experience I vowed that I would never take another road trip with the Rivian. It's a major PIA. Love the vehicle, love the RANs...don't love the charging infrastructure. It's going to get better....but man what a slog.

 

[Taco Corp]

Can't speak to Florida but I just got back from my 800 odd mile each way trip from Seattle down to our orchard property in CA. Having done this RT 4 or 5 times now over the last 18 months it's getting more routine but I was right where you're at wondering and worrying the first time through.

I would run the route plan through the Rivian App (it's pretty decent) and maybe cross-check that with ABRP. Check PlugShare and see if you can get current intel on any of the charging stops that are suggested. I normally take a look at the EA app as well just to see if they're reporting anything that isn't on Plugshare.

Make sure you have the charging network apps you might need all installed, logged in, etc.. before you go. If you're stopping along the way, look for hotels that have charging. I've found a couple on I-5 that have free L2 (more like L1.5) charging but if I'm there overnight I get a full battery to start the day at no additional cost. A TeslaTap or other brand adaptor is helpful to have on hand, I've found a lot of motels only have Tesla chargers.

Time-wise, its probably 60-90 minutes per day of charging time in my case, I usually walk the dog or plan lunch around charging so the times are not a big deal. Luckily there are plenty of options on I-5 between RAN, EA, and others every 100 miles or less. My kid is 11 and spends the whole time buried in an iPad hardly acknowledging me for hours at a time so that also helps.

 

[hazelhill]

I live in Minneapolis and have about 36,000 miles on an R1T, including 4 road trips totaling about 16,000 miles.

I usually aim to drive 300-350 miles per day, but occasionally drive 500. Generally start out at 100% charge and look for 1 DC charger to top up along the way before finding a hotel to spend the night. If I'm lucky, the hotel will have an L2 charger, but I always seek a town that has several L2 options in case the hotel charger is broken.

It's a good idea to bring your charger cable and a handful of plug adapters along. Once in a while I encounter a 30A or 40A receptacle at a city park where you can charge -- but you'll need that adapter...

Another thing we do -- if we do not happen to have our bikes along, we keep an electric scooter (and helmet and safety vest) in the back of the truck. If we need to charge some distance away from the hotel it's no big fuss and bother.

If I'm on an interstate (usually we are not), I set the cruise control on 65. Drive much faster than that, you sacrifice efficiency and you will need to stop and charge more often -- your trip will take just as long -- maybe longer. Remove your roof rack if you aren't using it.

I mostly use apps: PlugShare and ChargeHub for trip planning -- they have a lot of locations not listed on the Rivian map.

Before you leave, plan your route and have at least 1 if not 2 backup options in case of busted chargers.

		Long Trip Summaries
Date(s)	Temperature	Miles	Average	Efficiency	Total	Driving
	Range (F)		Speed	(mi/kWh)	Energy (kWh)	Mode	Notes
3/5-15	20-80	4245	54	2.44	1747	conserve	Minneapolis > FL > AR > Minneapolis
4/1-15	20-90	2898	45	2.31	1259	misc	Home>Houston>Home + trip to Spring Valley + misc
5/20-28	50-85	2355	48	2.27	1042	conserve	Home > Colorado Springs > Home. Bikes loaded. No overhead rack. Max speed 65ish.
8/31-9/26/2023	60-90	6733	45	2.61	2586	conserve+allP	Mpls > Chicago > Toronto > Quebec > NB > Newfoundland > VT > NY > Mpls

 

[ads75]

I’ve taken one longer trip with my R1T. It’s comfortable and can carry a lot, but I find the charging infrastructure difficult. My trip was about 425 miles each way, ended up charging 3 times on the way up and 3 times on the way home. Google Maps says the trip was about 7 hours, it took me about 9.5 hours to get there, and almost 12 hours to get home (to be fair, on the way home my R1T had an error/problem that took an hour to clear). I’m fine waiting for my truck to charge for 30 minutes, but waiting in line for 30 minutes to charge is aggravating to me. Also, some of the charging spots are extremely tight and difficult to fit into for a R1T, especially in a busy Walmart parking lot. Also, unless your destination has a charger, you have to factor in taking time out of your schedule to charge if you are going to be using your vehicle around your destination. I researched chargers the day prior to leaving on Plugshare, all looked good, but when I pulled into one 3 of 6 chargers were broken, which was not

I like my R1T a lot, but in the future, if a trip needs more than one charging stop, I will probably take my 2 door soft top Wrangler, which also sucks as a road trip vehicle. When Tesla chargers open maybe things will be easier.

There are people on this forum that have more patience for EV road trips than I do. You almost have to do a trip to see if you like it or not.

 

[Deacon]

I have to admit I’m having some anxiety about an upcoming 950 mile family road trip in my R1S in late March. I’ve heard mixed opinions about taking road trips in an EV. Some say it took hours longer due to frequent stops, out of order chargers, slower than expected charging speeds, etc.
I’ll be traveling with my wife and 3 young kids, from northern Chicago Illinois area to the Destin Florida area for spring break. Google has the trip taking around 15 hours, not including stops. The Rivian app has it at 19.5 hrs with 8 charging stops (conserve mode, min. 10% battery arrival, total of 3 hrs of charge time). Most likely we’ll stay overnight in the Nashville or Birmingham to break up the trip.

Any recommendations for chargers to use or avoid?

Should I use the Rivian app for trip planning/ charger stops, or is there a better way to plan?

What other charging apps/ accounts should be setup ahead of time?

I assume the R1S will work with all chargers on the Rivian app, but will I need adapters other than what came with the R1S originally?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Plan - plan - plan!
Would make sure you have a place to charge at your destination. If you are not doing much driving in the Destin area you could just plug into a 110 outlet. That's what I did last year at the beach and it was fine. Take a long heavy duty extension cord with you. Maybe the place you are staying has a 220 outlet you could use - make sure you have the correct plug! I use plug share app and Rivian app to plan my routes - and chargers - ahead of time. Also, always have a plan B. I try and plan my charging stops while I eat. Also, look for hotels that have free charging - make sure you have a J-1772 to tesla adapter - that will enable you to use Tesla destination chargers at many hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. Make it an adventure and enjoy the journey. I have had many great conversations with other EV owners while charging. Remember, you have internet in the R1 - kids can watch movies, facebook their friends or whatever.

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