Planning first road trip

[irvineboy]

Hi everyone

I’m planning first trip and have never charged outside of my home before. I’m planning a so cal to nor cal trip. I probably need to charge twice from LA to SF.

It appears that I have to download charpoint app, electrify America app, evgo app and create account for every single one. Electrify America requires a minimum $10 charge on the credit card which I think is dumb. Do you need any other app or credit card to charge at the Rivian networks?

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[COdogman]

You do need to have a payment card entered in your Rivian app to use RAN. Try to use RAN if possible, but if you can't then be sure to check the charger you are looking at on Plugshare to make sure it's working. Also use ABRP when planning - it helps.

 

[irvineboy]

Are the plugs at other places compatible with Rivian? I know Tesla we need a converter (different plug)
Do most other places like EVGo and ChargePoint charge about the same $ per kW?

Thanks for the ABRP. Doesn’t seem like there are much charging options past San Francisco to Fort Bragg area.

 

[VSG]

Try out the chargers close to your house just you make sure you have the apps set up and you know how to use everything. This will also test your Rivian's DCFC hardware. Last thing you want in a road trip is to find out for the first time that something doesn't work - get that all squared away before you leave home.

 

[irvineboy]

Good point. I just checked EVGo and they are charging 68 cents / kWh. So to charge a full 135 kWh battery will cost 135 * 0.68 = $91 ? No way.

 

[DeanB1452]

I've travelled from SF Bay Area to Anaheim a few months ago. If you are using Rivian Adventure Network chargers in Buttonwillow and Santa Nella, your information is probably in your Rivan app already. Just plug in and go. If you want to use any other charger such as Electrify America or EVGo, they have the same CCS1 connector so you won't need an adapter. Prices vary but are higher than the RANs. EA will give a 25% discount if you sign up for their monthly fee of $7. It's not worth it if you are charging a few times. I'll be heading to TX next month so I'll add on the membership price but cancel once I'm done with my trip.

 

[irvineboy]

How do you check to see how much RAN charges per kWh?

 

[mkg3]

Hi everyone

I’m planning first trip and have never charged outside of my home before. I’m planning a so cal to nor cal trip. I probably need to charge twice from LA to SF.

It appears that I have to download charpoint app, electrify America app, evgo app and create account for every single one. Electrify America requires a minimum $10 charge on the credit card which I think is dumb. Do you need any other app or credit card to charge at the Rivian networks?

I am driving up from Laguna to Santa Clara next week. I am going on 5 leaving the house at 100%, driving on Conserve mode and the Rivian trip planner tells me that I only need to stop ONCE at Kettleman City EA station. From there, I continue on 5 to 152 to Gilroy, then onto 101. Arrive in Santa Clara with over 70miles remaining - according to the planner.

I will do a sanity check at the Grapevine to see my state of charge and may elect to use Button Willow RAN. Since Firebaugh is not open yet, I'll heed to goto Santa Niella, and back down to 152, if I don't make it to KC.

RAN is mostly $0.35/kWh

 

[COdogman]

Are the plugs at other places compatible with Rivian? I know Tesla we need a converter (different plug)
Do most other places like EVGo and ChargePoint charge about the same $ per kW?

Thanks for the ABRP. Doesn’t seem like there are much charging options past San Francisco to Fort Bragg area.

Remember you can’t use any Tesla superchargers yet. You can use a Tesla station with the “magic dock”, which should show up when searching for chargers that work with your Rivian. You would also need to have the Tesla app and payment saved if you don’t already.

You are looking for CCS chargers, also known as J1772

 

[BigSkies]

I recommend testing out EA, ChargePoint, EVGO, etc close to home before your trip. It’s a lot easier to sort out any app issues when you’re not 250 miles from home.

One idea for a first road trip is to make shorter and more frequent stops than you would otherwise. It gives you a chance to scope out different chargers and amenities to prioritize for future trips.

 

[foxerson]

Thanks for the ABRP. Doesn’t seem like there are much charging options past San Francisco to Fort Bragg area.

There is a RAN in Corte Madeira, just north of SF. Beyond that there is a series of DCFC stations stretching north along US 101. If you are planning to drive up highway 1 along the coast then yes, you will be limited to L2 until Ft. Bragg.

Good point. I just checked EVGo and they are charging 68 cents / kWh. So to charge a full 135 kWh battery will cost 135 * 0.68 = $91 ? No way.

Don’t plan on going from 0% to 100%. Realistically it will be more like 10% to 80%. Pricing does vary by network and, sometimes by time of day. RAN pricing is pretty good. I have also found EA to be on the more competitive end. Look for L2 availability at your planned overnight stops. Usually they are less expensive than DCFC.

 

[irvineboy]

The hotel doesn’t offer any charging unfortunately. Good point on the L2 chargers. Leave it overnight but would just have to Uber it back to hotel and Uber back to vehicle the next day.

 

[DeanB1452]

How do you check to see how much RAN charges per kWh?

In the Rivian app, select the navigation icon at the bottom middle of your screen. Tap on any of the RAN locations, then the right arrow for more information. Select See Details and it will show you the price. Currently, all RANs are $0.36/kWh and a $0.50/min idle fee. You should be able to make it from Orange County to Buttonwillow without any problems. Hit up Santa Nella before heading to the Bay Area. If you're heading north towards Sacramento, Fill up in Santa Nella and then Manteca. There's also another one in Sacramento too.

 

[zfischer]

I just finished a loop through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and back to New Mexico, including going pretty much all the way down the West Coast.

I had owned my R1S for almost two weeks when I left on this trip. Extended road trips are really no problem, but you 100% cut out some potential frustration by using ABRP and Plugshare along with having apps for a few charging networks.

I believe you need a chargepoint account to pay for Rivian charging anyway, so definitely set that up. Outside of that, you can probably get by with EA and a subscription for one month is easily worth it if you're going to charge even a couple times at an EA. The Fort Bragg fast charger is an EV Connect unit.

Don't sweat using the 150kwh chargers, as they are usually also pretty fast. 350 is almost always faster but don't feel like you need to hold out for 350. Even the 65s, etc, were pretty decent if you grab a cup of coffee or go for a nice walk while charging.

You can easily get from San Francisco to Fort Bragg on a single charge with plenty of room to spare. There are L2 chargers along the way if you run into serious trouble. There's also a sweet motel in Point Arena with several brand new L2 chargers. I think it's called the Wildflower. It also happens to be right next to a pretty bomber Izakaya joint if you're into, like, fried chicken and sake.

EVGo does suck, both in price and user interface. I only had to use them maybe twice in 4500 miles or so, but even though I didn't enjoy it, they didn't let me down and using EVgo sucked less than using a gas station. ;p

Get out there and enjoy.

 

[Riviaenz]

Are the plugs at other places compatible with Rivian? I know Tesla we need a converter (different plug)
Do most other places like EVGo and ChargePoint charge about the same $ per kW?

Thanks for the ABRP. Doesn’t seem like there are much charging options past San Francisco to Fort Bragg area.

The rates vary. I avoid EVgo following my one experience trying them out. They’re by far the most expensive and in addition to having high $/kW they also have charging fees. Including fees I averaged $1.22/kW using them one time and the worse part of their fees is if their unit hiccups and interrupts your session, and then you restart they double dip on those fees.

Given your trip you may be able to get away with mostly using Rivian Adventure Network (RAN). They’re amazing - fast - and easy to use. Just save a CC in your Rivian app and when you get to a RAN plug in and that’s it; plus it’s $0.36/kW. EA as far as cost can be as well priced as Rivian if you sign up for their Pass+. We‘ve had good experiences charging at EA. Rivian will get you sustained faster charge rate (reasonable to go from about 25% to 80% in about 30-35min with RAN) while EA may take a bit longer at just over 40min.

ChargePoint is also good although they typically have slow DCFC (at least the ones we’ve encountered tend to be in the 63-75kW range). BUT they have also been reasonably priced.

There’s lots of other options. I’ve also come across BP Pulse on the EV Connect. If it’s a new deployment they tend to offer great rates - $0.35/kW but then they tend to jack them up to $0.48/kW.

As far as needing apps, many you can use/activate simply by tapping either with Apple Pay or your CC (or chip/swipe) but often like for EA it’s best for a trip to sign up for their monthly Pass+ to get 25% discount for charging. With EA about 60kWhr and your $7/mo Pass+ fee is recouped.

Only EVgo is a risk, they have variable time of use rates and like my experience you could end up regretting it badly.

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