End of my dream

[Denver_Paulie]

Why? Everything there is true. I know plenty about the CCS network, and I plan to avoid it as much as I can. Its nowhere near built out like Tesla's network and everyone knows it. I know of no one who is absolutely enamored of the CCS network. Half the time the stations dont work, plug and charge fails to initiate, they have to call the charging network customer care and have them do some voodoo to make the charger work, whatever. Never in my time as a Tesla owner have I ever had to talk to a person. Your mileage may vary, but every single time I ever used a Tesla supercharger it worked flawlessly and without hassle. Anyway, most people who charge an electric car do it in their garage not at a DC station so the network only matters for road trips.

Why would you buy a Rivian and not road trip in it????

Once again, seems like you are not ready for a non-Tesla vehicle. You should cancel your Rivian reservation. It would save you lots of frustration in the future.

Read your comments again since they seem like the perfect recipe for not buying a CCS compatible vehicle. Cancel your reservation!

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[TexasBob]

This very sad story underscores something I've been thinking about for awhile: Federal Grants for charging stations should be divided into 50% upon completion and 10% per year for each year they achieve a 99% up time. No uptime no grant.

Also grants need to require real-time availability reporting on a publicly available app and database that can be easily integrated into vehicle software. People need to be able to know from inside their vehicles which stations are working, how many stalls are available, and the speeds. (This is Supercharger basics but it really helps.)

 

[ERguy]

The fun really started on our return a week later. On reaching our planned recharge stop we filled up to 70% or nearly 200 miles as we only had a 100 to go.

we start for home. We see we are going to need a further charge and begin planning for that.

Wait... I think most people, including myself skimmed over this math the first time.

Are you saying that with 100 miles to drive, and nearly 200 miles estimated range on the dash, you couldn't make it home without charging?

Either something is wrong with your truck, or Rivian has the least accurate range estimated on the market, because you should have had nearly 100 miles to spare upon reaching your destination based on the numbers you provided.

 

[ironpig]

This is really 2 issues. First, the early adopter not being comfortable with early adopter issues. That's just unfortunate. Most of us have either been through it with other cars (2014 Tesla) or were prepared for it having done a lot of research and planning.

The 3rd party charging issue is not Rivian's fault. It sucks for all non-Tesla EV owners. We all have to keep pushing for better EV charging infrastructure. Luckily it's going to be a critical mass issue over the next few years as more EVs hit the road from all the car manufacturers.

 

[yizzung]

Wait... I think most people, including myself skimmed over this math the first time.

Are you saying that with 100 miles to drive, and nearly 200 miles estimated range on the dash, you couldn't make it home without charging?

Either something is wrong with your truck, or Rivian has the least accurate range estimated on the market, because you should have had nearly 100 miles to spare upon reaching your destination based on the numbers you provided.

It’s weird that you charged to 200 miles just 100 miles from home, then ran out of juice 50 miles from home… if accurate, that’s a lot more concerning than a latch hiccup.

 

[Craigins]

Wait... I think most people, including myself skimmed over this math the first time.

Are you saying that with 100 miles to drive, and nearly 200 miles estimated range on the dash, you couldn't make it home without charging?

I saw it and assumed he was driving 90mph up hill both ways into a 40mph wind with torrential downpour.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

I agree this is unacceptable and selling the truck seems like a very logical option. You're obviously in a place in life where you can make a decision like this....who wants all the anxiety and it simply isn't worth it....I agree 110%

Fortunately, I have a solution. Easy cash transaction and you won't even have to take it to the SC........get yourself a Tundra and be done with it............I can pick it up this week......

 

[mgc0216]

Wait... I think most people, including myself skimmed over this math the first time.

Are you saying that with 100 miles to drive, and nearly 200 miles estimated range on the dash, you couldn't make it home without charging?

Either something is wrong with your truck, or Rivian has the least accurate range estimated on the market, because you should have had nearly 100 miles to spare upon reaching your destination based on the numbers you provided.

or they weren't using the gps to help estimate the consumption. not all 100 miles are created equally.

today i had to drive 40 miles home and had 60 miles of range. I got home with 40 miles of range remaining because I was coming home from the highest point on mt. hood to about sea level.

Rivian's range remaining estimate on the GPS was very close (within 5%) and has been for the 5,000 miles I have driven in the truck.

reading op's post it really sounded like they were just winging it vs using the tools available to them to help guide their trip.

 

[ajdelange]

Read your comments again since they seem like the perfect recipe for not buying a CCS compatible vehicle. Cancel your reservation!

We don't care so much about this one individual as we do about the public. The state of the CCS network is sufficiently dicey as to remain one of the major deterrents to BEV adoption in the USA. This has to be fixed or Tesla will own the market for BEV in the US and as much as I like what Tesla does I don't want them to own it. This has got to be fixed. As usual we are assuming the government will step in and fix it. Has the government ever fixed anything? That leaves the job to industry. Rivian has put a couple of stations out there which seem to work so far. It's a long shot but perhaps Rivian will be the one to lead the charge (pun intended). If they can pull off a working CCS network everyone will desert EA and Evgo, Bing etc. for Rivian's system and they will grab the market. I'm just not sure BEV charging can be run as a profitable business.

Interestingly enough I just saw an interview with the founders of Aptera. They are apparently, but I don't know how seriously, considering using Tesla charge ports in their production vehicles.

 

[Mysta]

Fwiw, I took a 140 mi round trip yesterday with 1000ft elevation gain and used less “range”. Had 170 remaining, 21” without aero caps.

 

[NY_Rob]

This is why it's important to call out the Tesla haters and Rivian fan-bois who continue to paint a Pollyanna/rosy picture of the CCS network stating everything is "fine" where it's anything but that. You present a false impression of the charging infrastructure to first time EV buyers and they in turn get in to trouble because of your bad advice leaving a bad taste in their mouth for EV's. It's not good for EV adoption and it's a huge source of stress that no one needs.
Just be honest and call a spade a spade so people know what to expect when trying to use the public CCS network.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

This is why it's important to call out the Tesla haters and Rivian fan-bois who continue to paint a Pollyanna/rosy picture of the CCS network stating everything is "fine" where it's anything but that. You present a false impression of the charging infrastructure to first time EV buyers and they in turn get in to trouble because of your bad advice leaving a bad taste in their mouth for EV's. It's not good for EV adoption and it's a huge source of stress that no one needs.
Just be honest and call a spade a spade so people know what to expect when trying to use the public CCS network.

Tesla hater? No. Owned four - two Model S' and two Model X's. Covered them for work for years. Just not a fan of their management, so done with the company, for now.

Is CCS perfect? Certainly not, but it is no where near as bad as the "Tesla propaganda bullshit" crowd says it is on this board. Certainly gets old when some person with a Model Y or Model 3 thinks they are the authority of all things EV.

Spade a spade? I have been to 14 states and done over 50,000 miles in three different Porsche EV's and an Audi EV. Never been stranded once. I think Mike, who started this thread, is just not experienced, and was not prepared. But, every one pretty much ignores the posts on this board when someone has a successful road trip.

Regardless, if you think the CCS infrastructure sucks, why are you buying a Rivian? Do people who know better a favor and cancel your reservation. Makes a lot more sense then bitch about what you hear 2nd hand on a Rivian message board.

If you don't like it, cancel your reservation. Very simple.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

We don't care so much about this one individual as we do about the public. The state of the CCS network is sufficiently dicey as to remain one of the major deterrents to BEV adoption in the USA. This has to be fixed or Tesla will own the market for BEV in the US and as much as I like what Tesla does I don't want them to own it. This has got to be fixed. As usual we are assuming the government will step in and fix it. Has the government ever fixed anything? That leaves the job to industry. Rivian has put a couple of stations out there which seem to work so far. It's a long shot but perhaps Rivian will be the one to lead the charge (pun intended). If they can pull off a working CCS network everyone will desert EA and Evgo, Bing etc. for Rivian's system and they will grab the market. I'm just not sure BEV charging can be run as a profitable business.

Interestingly enough I just saw an interview with the founders of Aptera. They are apparently, but I don't know how seriously, considering using Tesla charge ports in their production vehicles.

Absolutely agree with your comments. Competition is crucial in creating an expanded, and more reliable CCS charging network. I do have a different opinion on the how government should be involved - I think they should be allocating money for expanding the network, compensating for higher up times, providing tax breaks to companies that manufacture chargers, provide tax breaks to companies that install chargers, and provide tax breaks to companies that service chargers.

 

[yizzung]

I saw it and assumed he was driving 90mph up hill both ways into a 40mph wind with torrential downpour.

Close. It was actually a rare July blizzard.

 

[jjswan33]

This is another one of those stories that I wonder if it was the charging network or the truck.

Was the error "Unplug and Try again" on the Rivian. If so it was an issue with the truck and not the charging infrastructure. OP didn't really elaborate but being that a hard reset fixed the charging issue I wonder.

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