Back to work today after taking our new Rivian R1T on its first family road trip!
Last weekend we went did Houston > San Antonio > Houston, a route I didn't think I'd be able to do in a non-Tesla vehicle for a while. Good news, though: the ride was a breeze (sorta).
Let me explain.
Charging
For most of the trip, we relied on Tesla Superchargers. A few days prior to our trip, we got an email to opt-in to receive our free NACS to CCS adapter from Rivian. This was after I purchased the Lectron adapter.
My charging stops included:
It took a bit to get out of Houston and we ran into the expected traffic in Sealy and before arriving in San Antonio. Range wise, we could have made it to the hotel without stopping but we were traveling with our 3.5 year old, so stops are guaranteed.
We were lucky enough to make it the 2 hour drive from Spring Branch to the Tesla Supercharging in Luling. We were able to find a stall that prevented us from occupying 2 due to the charging port being on the front driver side and were able to juice up. With a toddler, we don't have any charging expectations. We just plug in, go inside Buc-ee's, grab some snacks, use the facilities and leave when we're ready. Most times, this results in us having more than enough charge to make it to our destination and then some.
San Antonio
We did some driving around the city for meals and the obligatory Target run (happy wife, happy life) and while we were in San Antonio, we enjoyed free Volta charging at La Cantera, free hotel charging and free Chargepoint charging at the Pearl. While there were a few superchargers and an actual Rivian Adventure Network (RAN) station near us, I never felt the need to use them.
San Antonio > Houston (Department SoC 70%)
The way home was a different experience. We planned on driving from San Antonio with a planned stop in Sealy. Our toddler's guts had different plans. We ended up stopping in Columbus at Snappy's and this is where we had the disappointing experience other EV owners have to deal with.
The EA charger had 4 stalls. One of them wasn't working, the other three were occupied and there were 2 vehicles waiting to charge. We wanted to charge since we had already made the stop but made the decision to keep going after our son's failed bathroom attempt.
We arrived at the Tesla Supercharger in Katy at 10% SoC and plugged in flawlessly with the Lectron adapter. We had our usual restroom break and snack break and got enough charge to make it home.
Overall, super excited about this car!
I cannot emphasize how much access to the Tesla Supercharger network made this better. While the I-10 has vastly improved its charging infrastructure with the addition of Shell Recharge, EVGo and other CCS chargers, the reliability and availability makes road trips for our family more predictable and less stressful. I can't wait for this to be the case for other EV owners!
Last weekend we went did Houston > San Antonio > Houston, a route I didn't think I'd be able to do in a non-Tesla vehicle for a while. Good news, though: the ride was a breeze (sorta).
Let me explain.
Charging
For most of the trip, we relied on Tesla Superchargers. A few days prior to our trip, we got an email to opt-in to receive our free NACS to CCS adapter from Rivian. This was after I purchased the Lectron adapter.
My charging stops included:
- HTX > SATX: Tesla Supercharger - Luling (Arrived at 20% SoC)
- SATX: Hotel Charging (free)
- SATX: Volta Charging at La Cantera (free)
- SATX: Chargepoint L2 Pearl Parking Garage (free)
- SATX: Electrify America (failed charging session)
- SATX > HTX: Tesla Supercharger - Katy (Arrived at 10% SoC)
It took a bit to get out of Houston and we ran into the expected traffic in Sealy and before arriving in San Antonio. Range wise, we could have made it to the hotel without stopping but we were traveling with our 3.5 year old, so stops are guaranteed.
We were lucky enough to make it the 2 hour drive from Spring Branch to the Tesla Supercharging in Luling. We were able to find a stall that prevented us from occupying 2 due to the charging port being on the front driver side and were able to juice up. With a toddler, we don't have any charging expectations. We just plug in, go inside Buc-ee's, grab some snacks, use the facilities and leave when we're ready. Most times, this results in us having more than enough charge to make it to our destination and then some.
San Antonio
We did some driving around the city for meals and the obligatory Target run (happy wife, happy life) and while we were in San Antonio, we enjoyed free Volta charging at La Cantera, free hotel charging and free Chargepoint charging at the Pearl. While there were a few superchargers and an actual Rivian Adventure Network (RAN) station near us, I never felt the need to use them.
San Antonio > Houston (Department SoC 70%)
The way home was a different experience. We planned on driving from San Antonio with a planned stop in Sealy. Our toddler's guts had different plans. We ended up stopping in Columbus at Snappy's and this is where we had the disappointing experience other EV owners have to deal with.
The EA charger had 4 stalls. One of them wasn't working, the other three were occupied and there were 2 vehicles waiting to charge. We wanted to charge since we had already made the stop but made the decision to keep going after our son's failed bathroom attempt.
We arrived at the Tesla Supercharger in Katy at 10% SoC and plugged in flawlessly with the Lectron adapter. We had our usual restroom break and snack break and got enough charge to make it home.
Overall, super excited about this car!
I cannot emphasize how much access to the Tesla Supercharger network made this better. While the I-10 has vastly improved its charging infrastructure with the addition of Shell Recharge, EVGo and other CCS chargers, the reliability and availability makes road trips for our family more predictable and less stressful. I can't wait for this to be the case for other EV owners!
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