Road Trip Fail - Orange County, CA to Lake Tahoe

[Mcdubjr]

Hi all, just wanted to share my experience on my recent road trip. I ran into issues because of road closures and bad chargers and ended up having to spend the night in a small town on a level 2 charger. Not the worst fate, but would not have happened in an ice car which I really hate to admit.

Full Story:
Headed out on News Years day at about 6am. Checked and made sure there were no closures as a big storm had hit Tahoe. With charging I was due to arrive at about 4pm. First part of trip was great as there are RAN chargers. Charged up in Inyokern and then in Bishop while I ate lunch.

When I got back to truck I noticed it had rerouted me through Nevada as the 395 had a closure. I was a bit nervous about the route as it seemed very remote and it only had EV Connect 50kw chargers. EV connect app said they were working and my only other option was a very long backtrack. This route will still get us to our destination by 6 but we’d have to charge for like 90 minutes. Decided to go that way and charged up to 95% at the RAN before leaving.

As it was very cold my range dropped pretty quickly, but still had plenty to get to the charger. As I’m sure you can all guess by now the charger would not start. To make matters worse it’s in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t even any cell reception to call for help. I’ve only got about 68 miles of range left and cannot make it to any other fast charger. I also have my wife and 3 kids with me, so yeah I’m feeling stressed. My only option is to make it to the level 2 charger which is only 20 miles or so away, but over a small mountain range. I put the R1T in to conserve and head out.

We make it to the small town of Yerington and plug in at the ChargePoint in front of City Hall. It’s cold, snow is every where and are hungry. We walk over to the nearby McDonalds and get some fries.

At this point I have to decide what to do… charge up a little and try to get to an EA? This seems unwise at this point as it’s already getting dark and I’m currently at 12% battery. I calculate 25% would be a safe number to make it to the EA. This is going to take several hours and just does not feel safe given the conditions to try and make it all they way at this point. I decide to just stay at the local inn.

Happily, the level 2 ChargePoint kept going all night and we got to 77% by the time we were ready to head out the next morning. The R1T did perform like a champ on the snow covered roads for the final portion of the drive and we arrived safely at about 11am.

So, I think a lot about how I could have avoided this situation.

1. I could have realized the 395 was closed earlier and gone a different route
2. Out of Bishop I did pass by one EV connect charger much earlier in the route. I could have played it extra safe and tried to charge there.
3. It‘s possible if I had 21s instead of 20s that I could have made it to and EA
4. Where is my Max Pack, Rivian?

But really I know the biggest issue is the crappy charging infrastructure. It’s the biggest problem EV adoption is facing. So frustrating!

To be clear, I’m not angry as I roll with things pretty well. It’s an Adventure, right? Anyways just thought I’d share my story and remind people to be careful out there! Also, wish me luck! I leave on Friday and another storm is headed in today (Weds)

My detoured route.

Road out of Yerington towards Carson… brrrrrrr.

Road into South Lake Tahoe.

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[mkg3]

The next time, recommend taking the 5->99->50 going and use 395->15->91->55.

The range going up is poor on 395 compared to using 99 then onto 50. While this route is longer than 395, its along multiple communities with DCFC. You can easily make from S. Tahoe to Bishop, then to Innyokern then to home.

Did this exact trip in October from Laguna to S. Tahoe on my Model 3.

 

[trez63]

My decision to buy the RIVIAN never even took into account long distance trips. I do road trips very seldom so for those rare occasions I'm always going to just take an ICE car like my wife's suv or even a rental. It beats the hell out of getting stranded in the snow somewhere. But good for you for taking ownership over your troubles. More planning would definitely help, but in the end, nothing fixes the poor infrastructure like better charging networks.

 

[Craigins]

Just wondering if you checked plugshare before heading to the broken charger.

Plugshare has been more reliable for outages/issues than company specific apps.

 

[COdogman]

That’s a rough one. Could happen to anyone braving it on a trip like that. Glad you at least ended up somewhere with a charger and a motel.

When this happens in CO it’s like musical chairs trying to get a hotel room. I’ve spent multiple nights over the years in small towns with closed roads and full hotels, sleeping in my truck idling all night just to stay warm. Not fun.

 

[mini2nut]

Your trip is exactly why many so many R1T reservation holders are holding firm for the Max Pack. They simply want to avoid range anxiety during long road trips. IMO 400 miles of range is the sweet spot for a BEV.

I am entertaining placing a 2nd reservation for a Dual Motor (Enduro motors) with the Max Pack which is a steep $16k option. I am also curious about battery pack offerings on the upcoming Cybertruck (11/19 reservation).

 

[dp351]

Great story. Thanks for sharing it.

Only thing I might disagree with is that 21” wheels would’ve helped. Those tires on snow might not be worth it.

 

[0=====0]

Happened to me on the same~ish trip from San Diego to lake tahoe.

But I do not have my R1S yet!
Driving my jeep wrangler back from lake tahoe on Saturday after Thanksgiving!

We took a quick pit stop at the mono lake state park 7 miles north of Lee vining.
Stopped at noon and jeep never started again!
Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving and everything was closed. Long story short, it took hours for the tow company to come, and they could not tow, so they just gave us a ride down to lee vining, spent the night there, next morning took a cab to mammoth airport and rented a car. Drove back up from San Diego to lee vining next weekend to return rental and bring jeep back!

Sitting in freezing cold in broken down ice vehicle! I was soooo mad I didn't have my Rivian!

But shit happens! That is life, lessons learned and move on!

 

[Mcdubjr]

The next time, recommend taking the 5->99->50 going and use 395->15->91->55.

The range going up is poor on 395 compared to using 99 then onto 50. While this route is longer than 395, its along multiple communities with DCFC. You can easily make from S. Tahoe to Bishop, then to Innyokern then to home.

Did this exact trip in October from Laguna to S. Tahoe on my Model 3.

I’ve done this trip before on a model 3 as well, range really isn’t an issue if the road is open. The two free RAN stations in Inyokern and Bishop are perfect, I might have not even needed to charge again if road was open. I also just prefer the 395 for scenery. However in the future if weather is iffy, 5-99-50 does make sense!

My decision to buy the RIVIAN never even took into account long distance trips. I do road trips very seldom so for those rare occasions I'm always going to just take an ICE car like my wife's suv or even a rental. It beats the hell out of getting stranded in the snow somewhere. But good for you for taking ownership over your troubles. More planning would definitely help, but in the end, nothing fixes the poor infrastructure like better charging networks.

The Rivian is such a nice car to road trip in though… I’ve probably got 6000 miles in road trips at this point and despite the extra planning and trouble still adore using it for this.

Just wondering if you checked plugshare before heading to the broken charger.

Plugshare has been more reliable for outages/issues than company specific apps.

Nope, I checked several but not PlugShare. I gotta remember next time!

Your trip is exactly why many so many R1T reservation holders are holding firm for the Max Pack. They simply want to avoid range anxiety during long road trips. IMO 400 miles of range is the sweet spot for a BEV.

I am entertaining placing a 2nd reservation for a Dual Motor (Enduro motors) with the Max Pack which is a steep $16k option. I am also curious about battery pack offerings on the upcoming Cybertruck (11/19 reservation).

I agree and am very bummed about the quad max being axed… I don’t want to give up my quad and powered tonneau!

Great story. Thanks for sharing it.

Only thing I might disagree with is that 21” wheels would’ve helped. Those tires on snow might not be worth it.

Yeah, and I don’t really want the 21s anyways… just things my head thinks about as “what if” ?

 

[s4wrxttcs]

This post makes me want to put the RTT back onto my Rivian.

But, yeah closed roads are the biggest nightmare with EV's. Sure its somewhat of a nightmare even with an ICE car, but the lack of charging makes an EV a bit tricky.

I didn't hold out for the Max pack because that's even more weight, less efficiency, and longer charging times.

I don't really feel like a larger battery is the solution. Instead I think things like a heat pump, and improved batteries is the way to go.

I'm curious about how much additional range having a heat pump, 21's, and using only conserve mode would have given you.

 

[prasadtakkar]

I can't even imagine the stress especially with the family around. Glad you weren't stranded and were able to get around the situation.

 

[opnwide]

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[Boudro]

Did you see the 50 kwh charger in Luning? I have successfully used it. You did embrace the Rivian adventure motto so I applaud that.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Our ad hoc CSS charging network is replete with these points of no return. I wish that routing software was better at pointing this out. as in “hey you can get to this charger with 20% SOC, but if it’s broken, not only can you not continue the designated route, you will not be able to leave period”. My dream is that one day there will be competing charging stations across the street from each other so redundancy increases.

thanks for the report, and I’m glad you’re all safe.

 

[NorCalRivianFan]

Reason I decided to keep our Tacoma.... outside of our youngest now learning to drive in fantastic small truck. I probably chose the Tacoma for vacation trip to Moab and cross country up North. Even though summer usually are less stressful.... anxiety being stranded with broken chargers and lines at charge stations is real. Just did 1500 mile road trip in our ID4 (didnt want to break in my R1T quite yet) and was fine with 4 people family, but that was along I5 with OK infrastructure. Bottom line is we need more reliable charging infrastructure... not necessarily more range.

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