Planning first road trip

[s0ysauce]

Out of curiosity were you in conserve, all-purpose or a mix during that trip? And was Santa Nella and Buttonwillow your only 2 charging stops?

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.

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[irvineboy]

Does conserve mode really help during these trips? I remember the Rivian guide telling me it makes the tires uneven over time but for one trip I doubt it matters.

 

[DeanB1452]

Does conserve mode really help during these trips? I remember the Rivian guide telling me it makes the tires uneven over time but for one trip I doubt it matters.

Conserve mode eats up your tires in stop and go traffic. If you're cruising down the free way, use conserve mode on those long runs like I-5.

 

[DeanB1452]

Out of curiosity were you in conserve, all-purpose or a mix during that trip? And was Santa Nella and Buttonwillow your only 2 charging stops?

On the way down, I was in conserve mode until it started raining. Then I was in AP the rest of the way.

I left Milpitas, CA with 100%. Wanted to stop in Santa Nella but it had been down for days. Stopped in Firebaugh at EA. Went from 51% to 75% and cost me $15.95 for 38.25kWh. Next charge was at Buttonwillow RAN. 26% to 90%, $32.82 for 91.181kWh. Visited Griffith Observatory and filled up for the evening at EA Pavillions. 23% to 85%, $30.59 for 85.088kWh. The next day we went to the Getty Museum and got a free charge in their parking garage and went from 74% to 88%, 17.1 kWh. Afterwards, we made our way to Anaheim and I charged up at Gardenwalk for free using Volta network. 70% to 81%, 15kWh. After a couple of days at Disneyland, we topped off at Downtown Disney from 76% to 83% with their Chargepointe chargers. It cost me $4.65 for 13.295kWh. Next stop, Buttonwillow RAN, 17% to 90%, $36.92, 102.56kWh. Santa Nella RAN was next, 18% to 50%, $18.70, 51.94kWh. Arrived home in Milpitas with 18% SoC. I was in conserve mode the whole day, coming back from Disneyland. So essentially, if you had a full charge you can make it from Orange County to the South Bay Area with only 2 charge ups at the RANs.

 

[s0ysauce]

Wow this is great data. Appreciate the time you put into the response.

On the way down, I was in conserve mode until it started raining. Then I was in AP the rest of the way.

I left Milpitas, CA with 100%. Wanted to stop in Santa Nella but it had been down for days. Stopped in Firebaugh at EA. Went from 51% to 75% and cost me $15.95 for 38.25kWh. Next charge was at Buttonwillow RAN. 26% to 90%, $32.82 for 91.181kWh. Visited Griffith Observatory and filled up for the evening at EA Pavillions. 23% to 85%, $30.59 for 85.088kWh. The next day we went to the Getty Museum and got a free charge in their parking garage and went from 74% to 88%, 17.1 kWh. Afterwards, we made our way to Anaheim and I charged up at Gardenwalk for free using Volta network. 70% to 81%, 15kWh. After a couple of days at Disneyland, we topped off at Downtown Disney from 76% to 83% with their Chargepointe chargers. It cost me $4.65 for 13.295kWh. Next stop, Buttonwillow RAN, 17% to 90%, $36.92, 102.56kWh. Santa Nella RAN was next, 18% to 50%, $18.70, 51.94kWh. Arrived home in Milpitas with 18% SoC. I was in conserve mode the whole day, coming back from Disneyland. So essentially, if you had a full charge you can make it from Orange County to the South Bay Area with only 2 charge ups at the RANs.

 

[DeanB1452]

Wow this is great data. Appreciate the time you put into the response.

I use electrafi.com, which gives a lot of data on your drives and charges. You can try it out for free for 2 months. Use my referral code here: https://www.electrafi.com/signupRivian.php?referred=deanb1452

 

[Mtbaddict]

Does conserve mode really help during these trips? I remember the Rivian guide telling me it makes the tires uneven over time but for one trip I doubt it matters.

Freeway driving in conserve mode doesn’t do the same damage to the tires as it would around town. Once I’m up to freeway speed I switch to conserve for longer trips and it definitely helps with range.

 

[stynes]

Shameless plug:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/road-trip-planning.16838/

 

[irvineboy]

EA for their free plan really makes you auto refills a minimum of $10 and auto charges credit card when it dips below $5? So you will always have a balance on it? What if I only use EA one time for this trip; can you get the unused $10 back on your cc? All the other companies charge credit card as you use it.

 

[defcon888]

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?

We did the opposite direction back in September (NorCal to SoCal). You will have ZERO issues.

We went from our town to Manteca and charged at the RAN station by Bass Pro Shop. We then spent the night in Visalia and in the morning drove to Kettleman City and used the EA chargers.....very very nice station. At the time of our trip Santa Nella and Buttonwillow RANs weren't online yet but now they are.
After we charged in Kettleman City, we stopped at the In N Out burger by Magic Mountain and grabbed a burger while charging at the EVGothey had 10 feet from the front door.

On our return trip we just retraced it and had no issues. I would suggest signing up for EA's and EVGo's monthly membership (you can cancel at any time). It will save you about $0.20/kW.

Our total roundtrip cost for electricity was about 120ish dollars.

We could have probably made it to Disneyland on 2 charges, but since we were going to be parking for a few days, we didn't want to risk a low battery when we left. So we arrived at Disneyland with 175 mile range left and when we left to go home I believe it was around 165 miles (we had the motion cam activated and when someone walked by, it would record).

What I recommend doing is use the www.plugshare.com app and webpage. I used this to study all the stops we might stop at and see what the reviews were like. Also, download ABRP (A Better Route Planner....which Rivian owns now). Once you decide on your routes, enter it in the navigation on your RIVIAN app and add stops.....you will be good to go!

 

[irvineboy]

I downloaded the ABRP and plug share. But they seem redundant. The Rivian app already shows me the EA spots near my destination. I also have the EA app in case. I’m going to try to not use EvGo since they charge on the higher side (68 cents per kWh on peak hours) plus 99 cents charging fee. It’ll be close to $91 on a full charge which is ridiculously high. On the EA plus plus for $7/month, can you sign up just to get the 25% discounted price on charging and cancel and then re-sign up on the next trip?

 

[COdogman]

I downloaded the ABRP and plug share. But they seem redundant. The Rivian app already shows me the EA spots near my destination. I also have the EA app in case. I’m going to try to not use EvGo since they charge on the higher side plus charging fee. It’ll be close to $91 on a full charge which is ridiculously high. On the EA plus plus for $7/month, can you sign up just to get the 25% discounted price on charging and cancel and then re-sign up on the next trip?

Yes, you can sign up for the EA discount plan, use it, then cancel the following month. Many people do just that.

The difference with Plugshare is the charger reviews and check ins from people who may have used it recently. The Rivian navigation, ABRP, Google, etc. will not tell you if a charger is inoperable. Checking Plugshare might give you a heads up there are issues if another driver has added input in the last 48 hours or so.

 

[irvineboy]

Also, when I am using CharePoint app, for some reason it’s only showing me EvGo charging stations. Isn’t that their competitor or do they partner with EvGo? I want to filter it to only show ChargePoint DCFC but it’s not showing any. Only shows EvGo which I have no interest using due to their high prices and fees. Does ChargePoint not offer many DCFC in San Diego?

 

[Riviaenz]

Also, when I am using CharePoint app, for some reason it’s only showing me EvGo charging stations. Isn’t that their competitor or do they partner with EvGo? I want to filter it to only show ChargePoint DCFC but it’s not showing any. Only shows EvGo which I have no interest using due to their high prices and fees. Does ChargePoint not offer many DCFC in San Diego?

I sympathize - ever since my one and only EVgo experience I avoid them! Their TOU “price gouging” model is horrible on top of lack of transparency on their units. I started one session, it timed out after about 10 minutes. I didn‘t see the billing screen (flashed by too quickly) so I restarted a second one and at the end of that one I saw the charged me $3 per charging session. And when credit card transaction settled a day later I realized they charged me $65 for 48kWhr of charge between the two.

As for ChargePoint - they’re trying to show all available chargers just as PlugShare does. Have you changed your filters in the CP app? You can customize which networks are shown by selecting the ones you prefer. The downside is they don’t have a filter for EA so if you filter down then EA and any other they don’t have filters for drop off. Checking their app I found they have some mostly south and north of San Diego.

If you have an iPhone you can use Apple Maps. In my experience they seem to have a more comprehensive database of EVSE and DCFC than PlugShare and Google. Plus you can search network too “Electrify America San Diego”.

Or if you search EV Chargers, you can then filter by network. Here it was easier to find some of their DCFC but I don’t now where those are in relation to city center.

 

[emoore]

EA for their free plan really makes you auto refills a minimum of $10 and auto charges credit card when it dips below $5? So you will always have a balance on it? What if I only use EA one time for this trip; can you get the unused $10 back on your cc? All the other companies charge credit card as you use it.

Yep I've had an $8.46 balance on EA for 6 months now. It will be used this summer but I think you will always have a balance.

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