Rivian doesn't cost less to drive on long trips

[rohitgarewal]

Now that I've observed the vehicle on longer trips I'm realizing that there isn't much difference in cost per mile vs our V8 powered 2007 Lexus GX470 here in CA.

GX: $5 per gal / 20mpg= .25 per mile
R1S: $.50 per kw dcfc / 2 mi per kwh = .25 per mile

What's everyone else seeing? Home charging costs about half as much so it's like a 40mpg SUV in that case. Although it's classified as 75mpge, you have to fill it with $8-$16 per gal "gas."

Yep I live in the bay area and see the same. The only difference is I don't pay .50 on long distance charging. At rivian chargers I pay .36c, and at electrify america I pay .42. So I'm more on the equivalent of 25-30mpg; I'm ok with it because there's isn't a pickup truck in the world that has the capabilities of the rivian that gets such good efficiency.

When you factor in home charging and solar, I quickly approach 75-100 mpg.

Of course, if efficiency was my goal, the rivian would be a bad choice for road trips, but does just fine in other areas.

Sponsored

 

[ebarke]

I'm glad I don't live in CA! Our off peak rates are .062/kw. We can set up a meter for our vehicles (I actually have 2, one for each vehicle) and we can charge whenever, but we pay based on the time of day. Off peak rates are .062/kw, Normal is .12/kw and peak is .30/kw. We set our chargers (Tesla) to only allow during off peak, as well as set the vehicles to only charge at off peak times. I haven't run any numbers on the R1T yet, as I've only had it a couple of months, but I did a calculation when we first got our Model X, and it only cost us about $300 to put 13k+ miles on it....would have probably been $1500 in a comparable SUV.

 

[DaveA]

…and it takes longer. Significantly.

Yep. Its painful...an EV is definitely not for road warriors....but love it for 99% of my use case.

 

[WorldComposting]

It is also worth pointing out that this car is far more fuel efficient than any other vehicle with over 800 HP by a large margin. This truck has supercar performance yet gets reasonable fuel economy. See how much a TRX, which is slower, costs on a road trip.

This is the answer right here. I really wanted a lot of power but really didn't want to pay the fuel price. I was looking at RR and LR Discoveries, and even Dodge Durango RT/SRTs. Those vehicles all get terrible MPG. The Dodge Durango at those levels aren't able to go offroad (something I need).

I also own a Subaru Ascent and by my calculations the R1S being double the cost will pay for itself at around 175K miles based on just fuel savings not including any maintenance which is more expensive on the Ascent. The Ascent is also very underpowered when loaded for a long trip.

I am responding to your comment that the R1T is so much more comfortable than your Subaru. We have an R1T reservation and are thinking of ordering. We currently have a Tesla Model 3, which I love but it is getting harder to get in and out of--I am 77. And we want the heated and ventilated seats.

As mentioned I went from a Subaru Ascent Touring model to the R1S. I really like the seats of the R1S and the adjustments you can make. My wife can't stand them as her head hits the stitching on the front of the headrest. As far as getting in and out I'm going to say the R1S is more difficult for my parents who are closer to your age. Even my Dad or his brother had no issues when I drove them around all day. But I also know everyone has different abilities so I really recommend test driving or renting one before you purchase!

 

[Florida Panhandler]

just bear in mind that we’re at any point one day away from the next world crisis that sends gasoline to $5/$6 per gallon . It’s going to happen again, and the crush to buy EVs will be real.

 

[Riviot]

I'm just trying to point out the hype of 75mpge vs 20mpg. It's not a very good comparison metric. Sometimes it's a deal. Sometimes you get screwed. Arguably I can also get 2.5 m/kWh on the highway so being loose with math can vary.

I'm all about Citizen Science and DIY taxes but ... You need to understand basic data science. You're taking different stats for different purposes and saying EV BAD, GAS GUZZLER GOOD.

OP is essentially getting the most expensive gas from the most expensive station (Shell, always) and comparing it to home charging. Flip the script, Numbers look terrible. You gotta go apples to apples, OP.

 

[md2023]

I am responding to your comment that the R1T is so much more comfortable than your Subaru. We have an R1T reservation and are thinking of ordering. We currently have a Tesla Model 3, which I love but it is getting harder to get in and out of--I am 77. And we want the heated and ventilated seats.

I switched from a model 3 to the T. I assumed it would not be as comfortable but was wrong. I find it more comfortable. It is a little more difficult for my kids (on the shorter side) to get into, but otherwise happy with the change (and I loved my m3).
But is quite a bit less efficient.

 

[Craigins]

For the road trip I take about 10 times a year, i went from a $60 fill up mid trip for my Ram 1500 to about $20 for the R1T. Add in that I can fill up at the cabin and home for cheap, and it is much less expensive for me.

I'm lucky because WI charges by minute not kWh so it is much cheaper to dcfc.

So no need to take your personal experience and make a general statement claiming it applies to everyone.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

I've looked around in LA and many level 2 chargers are over 40 cents. On the weekend I found a charge point L2 that was $1 per hour which sounds good for 6kwh at .16 but they charged a $10 connection fee! You'd have to be there all day to make it

I'm just trying to point out the hype of 75mpge vs 20mpg. It's not a very good comparison metric. Sometimes it's a deal. Sometimes you get screwed. Arguably I can also get 2.5 m/kWh on the highway so being loose with math can vary.

That's nuts.

In BC home rates are around $0.09/kWh cdn. Electrify Canada recently increased it's rates from $0.50/min (without Pass+) to $0.70/kWh (without Pass+)

135kWh at home costs me $12.15cdn
135kWh on the road costs $94.50cdn

These are best/worst case scenarios. With Pass+ the cost comes down to a more "reasonable" $67.00cdn. While cheaper for the same range compared to my old V6 Xterra, depending on gas prices in Vancouver, was between $135-$170cdn to fill. However... it's 10000% more convenient to road trip with a gas vehicle, but way more fun to trip in a Rivian!

There's no RAN in Canada yet, and my wife and I had planned to do a road trip through the states when we got married, life got in the way, but when we began planning it out last year for April/May '24, RAN was free and we were stoked... but alas, that window has come and gone, but still relatively cheap.

 

[zefram47]

Totally depends on where you're charging. State laws in some states prevent reselling electricity so those states see DCFC charged per minute rather than per kWh. On a recent road trip through Kansas and Nebraska I saw as cheap as $0.26/min, IIRC, and the Rivian is capable of onboarding energy as fast as 3.5 kWh/min which was just under $0.08/kWh or cheaper than my home charging. Averaged over a deeper charge it'll still fall off, but I had a few sessions that were sill under my $0.13/kWh home rate.

That said, over a 2200 mile road trip with temps in the teens and speed limits of up to 75 mph with head winds (sort of worst case) I was about even on cost with my previous 4Runner that got 17-20 mpg on the highway. Sounds bad, until you remember than 90+% of your charging is still done at home and for non-Californians costs far less than operating an ICE. My average was about 1.65 mi/kWh and the total DCFC cost was $440 yielding $0.20/mi. I expect that to improve in the summer to probably closer to $0.15/mi, but again will depend on where I'm going and how it's billed.

 

[runwithscissors]

just bear in mind that we’re at any point one day away from the next world crisis that sends gasoline to $5/$6 per gallon . It’s going to happen again, and the crush to buy EVs will be real.

It's only that way because we depend on importing oil instead of doing it all here. We could easily be energy independent and never depend on OPEC and South America ever again. If gas prices were solely based on the evil oil companies demands, why didn't they just raise prices to $4-5 gal under the previous administration? Burdensome regulations and importation of oil are why gas prices are high, even after depleting our strategic petroleum reserve.

 

[Joel]

Here's a good site for calculating cost of ownership (via fuels). I used it when trying to justify buying my R1T and ditching my F-150. Tool told me that after 3 years I would be saving money.

You are also confusing how MPGe is calculated. One gallon of gasoline contains roughly 34kWh of energy so forgive me here as I know I'm close with the values but 135kWh pack / 34kWh is equal to about 4.05 gallons of gas. If max range the EPA got during testing was 300 miles then it is 74 MPGe (300 / 4.05).

If you're trying to compare MPG by cost, which I think is the goal of your post, you're going to have to do some extra math. Divide your $/gal and $/kWh, 5/0.5 = 10 kWh/gal. Now divide this rate by the capacity of the battery, 10 kWh/gal / 135 kWh = 0.074 units/gal. Finally, multiply this by the range of the vehicle, 300 miles * 0.074 units/gal = 22.22 mpg.

So by your numbers, you got better gas mileage than your 2007 Lexus GX470 with the R1S but you are correct that there isn't a lot of difference. If I were to do the same for where I'm at, I get 15.7 MPG by using DCFC but 38.2 MPG charging at home.

All in all, there are a lot of different ways to look at this and where you live has a heavy impact - both good and bad.

Don’t forget the winter range loss. I consistently do a trip that is 350 miles away with 3500 feet of elevation gain. When temps are about 70 it’s one 45 minutes charge. When it’s below 50 degrees it’s 75-80 minutes of charging.

 

[Hayseed_MS]

Yep. Its painful...an EV is definitely not for road warriors....but love it for 99% of my use case.

I have over 100k miles in the last 2.5 years that says otherwise. I do have a Tesla Model S so the charging infrastructure is much better and probably pays a large role in my satisfaction. Most of my charging is at home and free destination chargers. Only have used the Tesla Superchargers approx. 30-40% of the 100k+ miles.

Did an $1800 mile road trip one summer and including home charging, the total cost was approx. $120. This was thanks to home and destination chargers. Woke up every morning with a free full charge.

 

[DaveA]

I have over 100k miles in the last 2.5 years that says otherwise. I do have a Tesla Model S so the charging infrastructure is much better and probably pays a large role in my satisfaction. Most of my charging is at home and free destination chargers. Only have used the Tesla Superchargers approx. 30-40% of the 100k+ miles.

Yes, but I'm in Texas where the fast charging through the panhandle and to New Mexico and Colorado is just ok and due to high winds in the panhandle make some stretches very dicey. So for my 1% of long distance travel, its not fun. 99% of the time I enjoy driving an EV.

 

[Redline]

I pay $.028 to charge my car from 12am-6am. The rest of the time it averages out to be about $.088.

I feel bad for you Cali guys.

Sponsored