clownsmashd
Active Member
- First Name
- Mark
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2023
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- 2
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- 38
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- 77
- Location
- Northern Illinois
- Vehicles
- R1T - LE Green/20" AT/BM -- Chevy BOLT EUV -- Tesla M3 RWD
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- Data Scientist/Engineer Referral Code: MARK1014952
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- #1
Completed a long trip through the East Coast mountains to see the Fall Leaves and visited a lot of family along the way. Overall drove 2435 miles over 9 days. Used 1,142 kWh of energy at 2.14 mi/kWh averaging 46 miles per hour. We left on Friday the 20th and took the update on the 18th with the gauges which worked out perfect for this trip especially with tracking elevation. Experienced no issues charging at all. The RAN chargers from Front Royal down to Whittier worked out perfect. I logged all our charging stops for anyone planning a similar trip. The weather was perfect expect the first day of driving and last day when it rained. We had stops in Pittsburgh, Charlottesville, Troutville (outside Roanoke), Brevard, and Nashville. The only place we had some anxiety about charging was in Brevard but we used a free local Level 2 at Brevard College for about 7 hours while we shopped in town and went back for dinner at the house we stayed at. Only encountered 13 other Rivians while on this trip and only one while charging (at Breezewood RAN). We drove the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah Forest on a Saturday from Front Royal down to Waynesboro. It was very crowded and took 30m to get through the entrance. Comparatively the Blue Ridge Parkway was almost empty on the three different days we drove sections of it but we did these all on weekdays and often starting around 8am. After the Blue Ridge Parkway we stopped at Expedition BigFoot Museum in Georgia (because why not) and from there we did about 30 to 40 miles of single track off roading of the Frog Loop which is part of the Georgia Traverse. This gave us a shortcut to Chattanooga and then on to Nashville and eventually back to Northern Illinois. Overall a fantastic trip.
Charging breakdown
Overall charging costs
RAN charging - only came across one charger that was out of order and only one had to be reconnected a second time. I believe every single one maxed out at 210 kW even if it was for only a few minutes. Each RAN charger we went to had stores or restaurants or fast food or somewhere with a bathroom near by. The only one that might be an issue could be Blowing Rock as the restroom may only be open when the strip mall it was attached to was open. The best RAN location we used was at Meadows of Dan. It was only about .5 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway and had some small stores and restaurants. The next best one was in Breezewood, PA because it was at a Travel Center and had easily accessible bathrooms that was probably open 24 hours. This was a timely trip to get in before the charging stopped being free.
Approximate route and RAN chargers used.
Navigation - Beyond the typical rerouting issues there were a few issues we encountered. Whenever we started our trip the projected mileage at destination was always way too low usually by 50 miles or more. This caused the navigation to add in extra charging stops we didn't need and often would start conditioning the batteries with no way to bypass that. Sometimes this had us stopping to charge within 40 miles of starting our daily drive so batteries would start preconditioning almost right away and then after we skipped the charging stop they would not start preconditioning again for the actual stop even though it was over 100 miles later. On two occasions we cancelled the route then picked the charger again when we were close to it and preconditioning started immediately. On one occasion it decided we wouldn't make it to our destination charger even though we arrived with 70 miles to spare and it added in another charging stop at the charger we just left and then continued to route us back to it until we were about 20 miles away. We always navigate to HOME when driving home just to track the projected arrival battery level and it kept trying to get us to stop on the way even at one point redirecting us backwards 20 miles to a charger when we were only 22 miles from home with a projected 50 miles when we arrived home. There is no way to cancel a suggested charging stop.
Off Roading - This was our first real experience with the R1T off roading and we are over 12K miles in. Unfortunately, Northern Illinois is very flat and there aren't many places to off road. We initially changed to off-roading mode to go through a gravel area which was extremely bouncy at max height. After only one mile it went back to pavement. We switched back to all-purpose and when we did reach the actual remote part single track on the Frog Loop we just stayed in all-purpose at max height and did not air down the tires. This portion of the Georgia Traverse is a little bit rocky but mostly gravel. Truck handled it fine.
Breezewood RAN
Shenandoah Forest
Troutville Farm we stayed at
Typical Overlook view from Blue Ridge Parkway
Blowing Rock RAN
Triple Falls in DuPont Forest near Brevard, NC
Following the Bear hunters (not BigFoot) from Brevard to Whittier on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Early morning fog and low clouds cleared up once we got to the highest point on the parkway.
Obligatory pic from Operation Bigfoot in Georgia.
Southern section of Frog Loop in Georgia.
Bigfoot Research Team logo prominently displayed on the truck. Did not find him on this trip. I even looked in all the rest areas we stopped at and all the Walmarts where we used EA chargers.
Charging breakdown
| charger | location | amount charged (kWh) | cost |
| EA | University Park Mall, Mishawaka, IN | 52.9 | $20.42 |
| EA | Tiffin River Service Plaza West Unity, OH | 41.8 | $14.76 |
| RAN | Strongville, OH | 82.8 | $0.00 |
| EVGO | Harmarville,PA | 75 | $43.05 |
| RAN | Breezewood, PA | 38.6 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Front Royal, VA | 57.6 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Waynesboro, VA (on the way to Charlottesville) | 53.5 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Waynesboro, VA (after staying in Charlottesville) | 52.4 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Roanoke, VA | 64.7 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Meadows of DAN, VA | 47.2 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Blowing Rock, NC | 68.6 | $0.00 |
| Public Free LVL 2 | Brevard College Brevard, NC | 54.5 | $0.00 |
| RAN | Whittier, NC | 64.2 | $0.00 |
| EA | Ooltewah, TN | 75.2 | $14.56 |
| EVGO | Nashville, TN | 63.6 | $20.27 |
| EA | Paducah, KY | 95.5 | $12.59 |
| EA | Mt. Vernon, IL | 51.6 | $18.72 |
| EA | Champaign, IL | 85.7 | $30.59 |
| Grand Total | 1125.4 | $174.96 |
Overall charging costs
| amount charged (kWh) | cost | |
| RAN total | 529.6 | $0.00 |
| EA total | 402.7 | $111.64 |
| EVGO total (essentially free since we have an almost full $500 credit from Bolt EUV purchase) | 138.6 | $63.32 |
| Nissan Pathfinder (previous car for comparison) @22 mpg @$3.15/gallon | 110.7 gallons | $348.71 |
RAN charging - only came across one charger that was out of order and only one had to be reconnected a second time. I believe every single one maxed out at 210 kW even if it was for only a few minutes. Each RAN charger we went to had stores or restaurants or fast food or somewhere with a bathroom near by. The only one that might be an issue could be Blowing Rock as the restroom may only be open when the strip mall it was attached to was open. The best RAN location we used was at Meadows of Dan. It was only about .5 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway and had some small stores and restaurants. The next best one was in Breezewood, PA because it was at a Travel Center and had easily accessible bathrooms that was probably open 24 hours. This was a timely trip to get in before the charging stopped being free.
Approximate route and RAN chargers used.
Navigation - Beyond the typical rerouting issues there were a few issues we encountered. Whenever we started our trip the projected mileage at destination was always way too low usually by 50 miles or more. This caused the navigation to add in extra charging stops we didn't need and often would start conditioning the batteries with no way to bypass that. Sometimes this had us stopping to charge within 40 miles of starting our daily drive so batteries would start preconditioning almost right away and then after we skipped the charging stop they would not start preconditioning again for the actual stop even though it was over 100 miles later. On two occasions we cancelled the route then picked the charger again when we were close to it and preconditioning started immediately. On one occasion it decided we wouldn't make it to our destination charger even though we arrived with 70 miles to spare and it added in another charging stop at the charger we just left and then continued to route us back to it until we were about 20 miles away. We always navigate to HOME when driving home just to track the projected arrival battery level and it kept trying to get us to stop on the way even at one point redirecting us backwards 20 miles to a charger when we were only 22 miles from home with a projected 50 miles when we arrived home. There is no way to cancel a suggested charging stop.
Off Roading - This was our first real experience with the R1T off roading and we are over 12K miles in. Unfortunately, Northern Illinois is very flat and there aren't many places to off road. We initially changed to off-roading mode to go through a gravel area which was extremely bouncy at max height. After only one mile it went back to pavement. We switched back to all-purpose and when we did reach the actual remote part single track on the Frog Loop we just stayed in all-purpose at max height and did not air down the tires. This portion of the Georgia Traverse is a little bit rocky but mostly gravel. Truck handled it fine.
Breezewood RAN
Shenandoah Forest
Troutville Farm we stayed at
Typical Overlook view from Blue Ridge Parkway
Blowing Rock RAN
Triple Falls in DuPont Forest near Brevard, NC
Following the Bear hunters (not BigFoot) from Brevard to Whittier on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Early morning fog and low clouds cleared up once we got to the highest point on the parkway.
Obligatory pic from Operation Bigfoot in Georgia.
Southern section of Frog Loop in Georgia.
Bigfoot Research Team logo prominently displayed on the truck. Did not find him on this trip. I even looked in all the rest areas we stopped at and all the Walmarts where we used EA chargers.
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