First Road Trip in my R2 - Stats & Thoughts

[VegasWeezy]

In a spontaneous decision Saturday afternoon, I decided to drive from Vegas to Anaheim to take my daughter to Disneyland on Sunday. Arrived Saturday evening, went to the park for about 9.5 hours Sunday before driving home that evening. Below are stats & thoughts on each leg of the trip. Data per Rivian Roamer.

Summary (there and back combined)
565.5 miles driven
204.82 kWh used
2.76 mi/kWh efficiency

Leg 1
Home (Las Vegas, NV) to Yermo, CA - 156.0 miles
SOC 82.3% -> 12.9%
Speed limit 70mph
Cruise control set to 75mph
Starting elevation: 3,028 feet
Ending: 1,914
High point: 4,721

The efficiency was definitely disappointing for this leg of the trip. I expected better, as this was worse than my 2022 Mach e has performed on the same drive, despite the R2 supposedly being more efficient. However, there were some minor mitigating factors hurting this trip. Started the drive at 103 degrees and ended in Yermo at 97, so it was quite hot. The HVAC, including the ventilated seats, were heavily utilized for much of this leg. We also faced a consistent headwind, steady 5mph with gusts over 25. This is a drive through mountains, so you get pretty drastic elevation changes.

Charging
This was also my first ever DCFC in the R2.
23 minutes to go from 12.9% to 69.8% SOC.

Unfortunately, I got a "Charging speed reduce. Speed limited by charging station" message as the Tesla Supercharger in Yermo did not allow me to utilize the full capabilities of the vehicle. So the peak charge rate was only 169.9kW but at least it did average over 137.

Leg 2
Yermo, CA to Anaheim, CA - 123.7 miles
SOC 69.8% -> 23.7%
Speed limit 70 (predominantly)
Cruise control set to 73mph (mostly)
Start 1,914 feet
End 136 feet
High point 4,183

Much better efficiency on this leg thanks to the pretty steady downhill after you get past the El Cajon summit, dropping from 4,183 feet to 136 feet in elevation. Still had the headwinds but by this time it was night and we were using less HVAC and benefitting from slightly lower speeds.

After charging at Disneyland using their level 2 ChargePoint station up to 100% SOC, I made the return trip home.

Leg 3
Disneyland to Jean, NV - 238.6 miles
SOC 100% to 10.4%
Speed limit 70mph
Cruise control set to 76mph
Start 128 feet
End 2,881 feet
High point 4,724

When we plugged in the navigation for this leg, I was surprised that the Rivian suggested not stopping until Jean, NV nearly 240 miles away and predicting we would end up there with 9% remaining. I thought for sure, based on the efficiency seen on the way to Anaheim, that I would be stopping in Baker, CA instead. However, as the drive went along, it became clear that I could make it to Jean pretty easily. I was happy with the 2.91mi/kWh efficiency on this leg with a net elevation gain of 2,722 feet.

Charging stop 2
12 minutes to go from 10.4% to 50.8% SOC

I didn't get any reduced speed messages this time, but still didn't see the peak speeds I would have expected. Overall though, solid performance with an average speed of 173.9 kW. Side note: this is a Terrible's branded stop that I had never been to before. It was basically a knock off Buc-ee's as it had 96 gas stalls and 64 superchargers.

Leg 4
Jean, NV to Home - 47.2 miles
SOC 50.8% to 32.3%
Speed limit 70mph
Cruise control set to 76mph
Start 2,881 feet
End 3,028 feet
High point 4,183

FInal thoughts:
Overall, I think it performed largely as expected. I would have loved to see slightly better efficiency but this wasn't bad. It's also worth noting that the R2 and tires were still well within the break-in period as I started this journey with only 619 miles on the odometer. Charging could have been slightly better, especially at that first stop since the charger didn't give me full power, but again overall this was still a pretty good experience.

I utilized UHF for nearly the entire trip and it worked near flawlessly. I was actually quite surprised at how well this performed and surprised at how much I was able to relax and enjoy this feature. I have long been someone who has said I don't care about ADAS and how I wouldn't pay for this upgrade. However, it proved quite useful after a long day at Disney where I was exhausted. Probably wouldn't have paid for this feature, so I'm glad I got it as part of the Launch Edition package. Now I can't wait to see what the point to point looks like when it rolls out.

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[DaveA]

Going the speed limit you would have been over 3.00 easy. Over 70 the boxy shape kills efficiency.

 

[iamnid]

The Yermo station is the older V3 superchargers -- it's likely that the cable and/or handle overheated, causing the slow downs. The new supercharger in Baker is the V4 and I'd be interested to see if you had similar issues there. Come to think of it, the Jean station is V4 as well.

Thanks for the write up.

 

[evilyn]

I also switched from Mach-E AWD to R2 two days ago. I didn't make long trips yet, but on short distances on freeway at 75 mph I found R2 efficiency (~2.6) was slightly better than Mach-E (~2.5). What was the real disappointment is going from Ford BlueCruise to Rivian Autonomy+. Rivian needs to significantly improve their autonomy features.

 

[VegasWeezy]

I also switched from Mach-E AWD to R2 two days ago. I didn't make long trips yet, but on short distances on freeway at 75 mph I found R2 efficiency (~2.6) was slightly better than Mach-E (~2.5). What was the real disappointment is going from Ford BlueCruise to Rivian Autonomy+. Rivian needs to significantly improve their autonomy features.

I only ever turned on the Blue Cruise feature a couple of times, and that was fairly early on (2022-2023). I did not find it to be comforting. It would ask me to put my hands on the wheel fairly quickly, and I didn't feel confident in it taking curves at high speeds. I'm sure it got much better over time but I gave up on it. Autonomy+ on the other hand, it never asked me to take back control, the lane centering was flawless, handled curves at high speeds exceptionally well, and the lane changes were near perfect as well. I was quite surprised at how well everything functioned and how much I liked it.

 

[VegasWeezy]

The Yermo station is the older V3 superchargers -- it's likely that the cable and/or handle overheated, causing the slow downs. The new supercharger in Baker is the V4 and I'd be interested to see if you had similar issues there. Come to think of it, the Jean station is V4 as well.

Thanks for the write up.

I didn't realize Yermo was V3 at the time. The charge speed reduction message was almost instantaneous after plugging in, so I wonder if it was preemptively ensuring that there were no overheating problems, or if it had already sensed that it was overheating right at the start.

Normally I would have gone straight through to Barstow and charged at the Tanger Outlets supercharger, but since this was a spur of the moment trip, I started at only 82% instead of 100% SOC, and I would have limped into that station at 0-1% if I had tried to make it there.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Yeah basically anything over 80 degrees outside and you'll want to avoid V3 superchargers if you can. V4 superchargers are much, much better in the heat. All superchargers are limited to 500 amps though, so if you can find an IONNA, Walmart, or MB location that would be best to get 600 amps.

Best to worse for R2:

1. IONNA - Walmart - Mercedes Benz (Alpitronic HYC400 - 600 amps)
2. Rivian (unclear if they're outputting 600 amps yet but most are rated to)
3. Tesla V4 (500 amps but don't derate usually)
4. Tesla V3 (500 amps but derates quickly)
5. Being stranded
6. Electrify America

I kid of course. I hear there's some good EA stations out west.

 

[iamnid]

I didn't realize Yermo was V3 at the time. The charge speed reduction message was almost instantaneous after plugging in, so I wonder if it was preemptively ensuring that there were no overheating problems, or if it had already sensed that it was overheating right at the start.

Normally I would have gone straight through to Barstow and charged at the Tanger Outlets supercharger, but since this was a spur of the moment trip, I started at only 82% instead of 100% SOC, and I would have limped into that station at 0-1% if I had tried to make it there.

You might have made it to the Supercharger on the north end of Barstow. It's only a few miles beyond Yermo. It's a HUGE 120 stall site - all V4 handles (not much there other than a gas station though.)

 

[VegasWeezy]

You might have made it to the Supercharger on the north end of Barstow. It's only a few miles beyond Yermo. It's a HUGE 120 stall site - all V4 handles (not much there other than a gas station though.)

It's funny, I've never been to or even seen that station. I know it's there, just never stopped there. My girls like to go into the shops at the outlets while we charge. I should check out the other Barstow SC location though.

Kinda strange that they have these two massive locations on either end of Barstow.

 

[evilyn]

I only ever turned on the Blue Cruise feature a couple of times, and that was fairly early on (2022-2023). I did not find it to be comforting. It would ask me to put my hands on the wheel fairly quickly, and I didn't feel confident in it taking curves at high speeds. I'm sure it got much better over time but I gave up on it. Autonomy+ on the other hand, it never asked me to take back control, the lane centering was flawless, handled curves at high speeds exceptionally well, and the lane changes were near perfect as well. I was quite surprised at how well everything functioned and how much I liked it.

I used Ford autonomy always and everywhere, every day on every road. It reads the signs, it adjusts the speed, it keeps my usual setting of 10 mph over the speed limit without an issue, it resumes autonomy with a single button push, it automatically slows down on sharp turns, and on approaching ramps, it doesn't annoy you with obnoxious chimes, the buttons and rocker on Mach-E are so much more convenient and quick, it's solid in keeping lanes and taking curves, doesn't hesitate or creeps to the side like Rivian, it's integrated with Android auto, which is so much better than Rivian maps (that can't even show correct speed limit), despite using the same Google API, it has very intuitive UI design, which is easy to navigate and doesn't require reading glasses to see. There is absolutely no comparison, Rivian's implementation is so bad, I'm thinking of selling the car in a year if they at least don't improve their software.
I love Rivian's ride comfort, power, quietness, spaciousness. I don't have any problem with efficiency, that's exactly what I expected, never believed in BS EPA numbers. But Rivian's physical controls and software are very poorly designed indeed.

 

[Jabbahop]

Yeah basically anything over 80 degrees outside and you'll want to avoid V3 superchargers if you can. V4 superchargers are much, much better in the heat. All superchargers are limited to 500 amps though, so if you can find an IONNA, Walmart, or MB location that would be best to get 600 amps.

Best to worse for R2:

1. IONNA - Walmart - Mercedes Benz (Alpitronic HYC400 - 600 amps)
2. Rivian (unclear if they're outputting 600 amps yet but most are rated to)
3. Tesla V4 (500 amps but don't derate usually)
4. Tesla V3 (500 amps but derates quickly)
5. Being stranded
6. Electrify America

I kid of course. I hear there's some good EA stations out west.

I’ve gotten 231 from a Rivian new V1.5 dispenser in Bow new hampshire with NACS connectors. Reached a max charging speed of 231 for a few seconds.

 

[Jeremy3292]

I’ve gotten 231 from a Rivian new V1.5 dispenser in Bow new hampshire with NACS connectors. Reached a max charging speed of 231 for a few seconds.

That is good news!

 

[VegasWeezy]

I used Ford autonomy always and everywhere, every day on every road. It reads the signs, it adjusts the speed, it keeps my usual setting of 10 mph over the speed limit without an issue, it resumes autonomy with a single button push, it automatically slows down on sharp turns, and on approaching ramps, it doesn't annoy you with obnoxious chimes, the buttons and rocker on Mach-E are so much more convenient and quick, it's solid in keeping lanes and taking curves, doesn't hesitate or creeps to the side like Rivian, it's integrated with Android auto, which is so much better than Rivian maps (that can't even show correct speed limit), despite using the same Google API, it has very intuitive UI design, which is easy to navigate and doesn't require reading glasses to see. There is absolutely no comparison, Rivian's implementation is so bad, I'm thinking of selling the car in a year if they at least don't improve their software.
I love Rivian's ride comfort, power, quietness, spaciousness. I don't have any problem with efficiency, that's exactly what I expected, never believed in BS EPA numbers. But Rivian's physical controls and software are very poorly designed indeed.

I will say that the adaptive cruise control functionality and physical controls in the mach e are superior. Very easy to use and intuitive. The one touch resume feature is sorely missing on the R2.

 

[dscoti]

It's funny, I've never been to or even seen that station. I know it's there, just never stopped there. My girls like to go into the shops at the outlets while we charge. I should check out the other Barstow SC location though.

Kinda strange that they have these two massive locations on either end of Barstow.

It’s on Main St, beside the Circle K where Casa Jimenez, used to be. I think it was Jimenez. It was Casa Something. ROFL Across from Taco Hell, Carl’s McDonald’s, Denny’s too, I think.

And I believe you would have made it easily. No worries for sure if you had slowed ever so slightly when you got on the downhill side of the last hill, at Afton Canyon.

I make that trip regularly to see two of my kids and 3 grandkids in my EV6. Looking forward to doing it in the R2.

 

[tivoboy]

I didn't realize Yermo was V3 at the time. The charge speed reduction message was almost instantaneous after plugging in, so I wonder if it was preemptively ensuring that there were no overheating problems, or if it had already sensed that it was overheating right at the start.

Normally I would have gone straight through to Barstow and charged at the Tanger Outlets supercharger, but since this was a spur of the moment trip, I started at only 82% instead of 100% SOC, and I would have limped into that station at 0-1% if I had tried to make it there.

In the heat a lot of superchargers DO Throttle at the station. Depending on how many other drivers are charging, and it can be just 2-3 and the station will throttle quite a bit. I was charging my Tesla in Quartzite last year and there were only three other cars, but when the 4th car showed up charging went from an at the time 150 to 45kw.. and the message popped up that charging was being limited by the station.. it was 105 degrees outside at the time.

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