dleewla
Well-Known Member
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Recently took a round trip in my R1T from Seattle to LA/SD and wanted to share my observations with efficiency, charging, and overall driving experience.
Driving Dynamics
i use my R1T for daily driving and its great for that but i think its an even better long trip vehicle. amazingly comfortable, smooth, composed, and of course fast. it inspires confidence no matter the elements, time of day or driving situation. i couldnt find a negative about it during our trip.
Tech
Driver+ worked well about 95% of the time on 95% of the freeways/highways. where it doesnt work well is curvy roads. it is not smooth, id go as far to say its jerky. it also tends to hug the right side of the lane and there are times i've felt it get too close to other vehicles. and it might be my imagination but id swear it gets closer to the right as i get closer to the vehicles. doesnt inspire confidence and i had to disable it on multiple occasions. lane change assist works great 95% of the time as well but also sometimes jerks when its getting set in the new lane. adaptive CC works well enough but its a bit slow to accelerate/adjust after slowing down. i find myself being tailgated because of this.
the sound system (Meridian) is amazing - one thing i realized on this trip is the system sounds really good at any volume.
navigation worked well to get me from point A to point B but planned charging was frustrating. id map a route/plan using the app but when i sent it to the truck it would change. not all charging stations show up in the app or nav, so i used ABRP and/or Plugshare. I also learned the hard way that you can’t rely on the Rivian nav, ABRP or Plugshare to determine if a charger is online or not. You should double check with the 3rd party app as that will be most accurate. id often find myself using both the nav and waze so id have the best route and account for traffic, road hazards and police checkpoints. in other words, i couldn't rely on just the built in nav to do our trip. some room for improvement.
Comfort/Convenience
the seats are insanely comfortable. but i will say i was using Driver+ a lot so that allowed me to "relax" more on the drive. definitely its the combination of the two that enhances the overall experience. the amount and flexibility of exterior storage is awesome for gear, luggage, etc. however, not enough cup holders and interior storage for knick-knacks. when road tripping, you'll often have multiple drinks and its just inconvenient to have two. and there's no real convenient place for sunglasses, wallet, snack bags, etc.
one poor design, i might even say design flaw, are the doors. A) the door handles are too low. i've known this of course since day one but highlighted by this trip and leads me to my other critique. B) the door storage pockets are difficult to access at best while the door is closed. as mentioned before, only two cup holders and no knick-knack storage so you end up placing things in the door storage but because of the design you cant easily reach it.
wind noise is there at 70+ mph but its there for all vehicles. i've done tests with a sound meter and its no louder in my R1T than my Lexus. road noise however is a bit louder in my R1T, probably due to the 20 AT tires. id be curious to know what AS 20s would be for road noise (and efficiency)
Charging
charging can be frustrating and mentally tiring. as i noted earlier, it wasnt easy/simple to plan out our charging route, partly due to the mapping, partly due to chargers being occupied or offline, and partly due to the efficiency of the vehicle. so its partly a infrastructure issue and partly a range/efficiency issue.
im not new to charging and know it'll take anywhere from 10 min to an hour depending on my state of charge, charger speed, next charger stop but having to stop 10-11 times can be exhausting. of course its great to take a break, stretch the legs, even eat but its just a lot. when you add in chargers being occupied, not working or slower than stated/expected, it compounds the frustration. my hybrid gets between 500-550 miles per fill up and i could have done the one-way trip with 2 stops.
most folks at chargers were friendly and had good charging etiquette but a couple of times chargers were blocked or they hadn't returned to their vehicle even though they were done charging. guess they dont mind the idle fees but its annoying.
charging locations don't have any covering and are usually located "around back". it could make it uncomfortable/unsafe for those traveling alone. in most cases, shops/restaurants were nearby but its usually never as convenient as gas stations.
Efficiency
at speeds between 70-80 mph, the efficiency is not great but its hard to drive at 60-65 mph when you know you've got 1200 miles to cover. i averaged 1.79 mi/kwh for the whole trip. that adds up to only 241 miles range per full charge but as you know you dont charge up to 100% or go down to near 0% when traveling, so really i was getting at most ~180-190 miles per charge. up till now i'd been averaging 2.28 mi/kwh so nowhere near that at constant highway speeds.
i decided to do a little experiment and do the trip there in All-Purpose Standard height and the trip back in All-Purpose Low height. hard to say if that had the biggest improvement on efficiency because we had rain about 75% of the time on the way there but very little rain on the way back. my gut tells me it does impact efficiency, small but still better. i wish i could go to Lowest height in AP mode but can only do that in Sport and Conserve. i went for a bit in Sport but that drops efficiency (during my 50 mile test) and i didnt want to use Conserve on this trip.
Chargers
i used the Rivian Adventure Network (RAN), Electrify America (EA) and EVgo. i used battery preconditioning for each charge. sometimes the vehicle started that 1 hour before, sometimes 30 min, sometimes 15 min. sometimes it'd do it twice. seemed like it was trying to get the battery to the low 70s temp.
i had the best charging with the Rivian Adventure Network. plug and charge, best rates, high charge speeds and almost always working and available. there was one time the entire station was down but a week later when i returned it was up and running. second best was EVgo. consistently got good charge speeds as stated on the charger/app. also never ran into an issue with the charger not working when the app stated it was. connected each time and simple to start the charge. EA comes in third. i did get good charge speeds but a few times it didnt go as high as expected and a few times even though the app said it was working when i got there it wasn't. it wouldn't always connect properly and a few times it stopped the charge and i had to restart or move chargers.
RAN peaked at about 200-215 kW
EVgo peaked at about 175-200 kW
EA peaked at about 165-190 kW
the charging curve pretty consistently looked like this, regardless of charger. peak speeds sometimes lasted a bit longer, sometimes a bit shorter. definite step down over time, as expected.
Summary
the R1T is an incredible vehicle to road trip in but charging is brutal. its amazingly comfortable, smooth and just a joy to drive. its capable and confident no matter the conditions. the tech is mostly good, but definitely needs improvement in some areas and thankfully those are areas they can address in software. a few design issues but nothing they can do for this gen vehicle, hopefully they make improvements in the next gen. one big negative about road tripping in the R1T is you can't dictate all the terms of your trip, you're beholden to charging infrastructure and efficiency/range of your vehicle. fine if your trip is about the journey not the destination but for most trips its about the destination. hopefully as Tesla opens up is SC network, this will become less of an issue. of course this doesnt change they efficiency/range of the vehicle so expect to stop a lot.
would i road trip in the R1T again? i dont know. its 50-50 at this point. hope this helps anyone thinking about taking a long trip with your R1T/R1S.
anyway, a few details and pics below. i had a chance to stop by the new Rivian Space in Laguna Beach and they have the Limestone Legends R1T that was used to win the Rebelle Rally this year. that was pretty cool to see the mods and gear. (pics below)
OVERALL
R1T, Quad, 20 AT
Total distance: ~2500 miles
Number of charges: 21 (EA - 10 times, RAN - 8 times, EVgo - 3 times)
Total kWh: ~1396
Efficiency: 1.79 mi/kWh
Avg Temps: ~35-55 Fahrenheit
Avg Speed: ~70-80 mph
SEATTLE -> LA
Total distance: ~1250 miles
Number of charges: 11
Avg miles per stop: 113
Total kWh: 705
Efficiency: 1.77 mi/kWh
Weather: rain on and off
Drive mode: All-Purpose Standard height
Climate control: used heater about 50% of the time
LA -> SEATTLE
Total distance: ~1250 miles
Number of charges: 10
Avg miles per stop: 125
Total kWh: 691
Efficiency: 1.81 mi/kWh
Weather: no rain
Drive mode: All-purpose Low height
Climate control: used heater about 50% of the time
RAN - Roseburg
RAN - Mt Shasta
RAN - Buttonwillow
RAN - Santa Nella
EA - Willows
EVgo - Carlsbad
EA - Anderson
Rivian Space - Laguna Beach
Driving Dynamics
i use my R1T for daily driving and its great for that but i think its an even better long trip vehicle. amazingly comfortable, smooth, composed, and of course fast. it inspires confidence no matter the elements, time of day or driving situation. i couldnt find a negative about it during our trip.
Tech
Driver+ worked well about 95% of the time on 95% of the freeways/highways. where it doesnt work well is curvy roads. it is not smooth, id go as far to say its jerky. it also tends to hug the right side of the lane and there are times i've felt it get too close to other vehicles. and it might be my imagination but id swear it gets closer to the right as i get closer to the vehicles. doesnt inspire confidence and i had to disable it on multiple occasions. lane change assist works great 95% of the time as well but also sometimes jerks when its getting set in the new lane. adaptive CC works well enough but its a bit slow to accelerate/adjust after slowing down. i find myself being tailgated because of this.
the sound system (Meridian) is amazing - one thing i realized on this trip is the system sounds really good at any volume.
navigation worked well to get me from point A to point B but planned charging was frustrating. id map a route/plan using the app but when i sent it to the truck it would change. not all charging stations show up in the app or nav, so i used ABRP and/or Plugshare. I also learned the hard way that you can’t rely on the Rivian nav, ABRP or Plugshare to determine if a charger is online or not. You should double check with the 3rd party app as that will be most accurate. id often find myself using both the nav and waze so id have the best route and account for traffic, road hazards and police checkpoints. in other words, i couldn't rely on just the built in nav to do our trip. some room for improvement.
Comfort/Convenience
the seats are insanely comfortable. but i will say i was using Driver+ a lot so that allowed me to "relax" more on the drive. definitely its the combination of the two that enhances the overall experience. the amount and flexibility of exterior storage is awesome for gear, luggage, etc. however, not enough cup holders and interior storage for knick-knacks. when road tripping, you'll often have multiple drinks and its just inconvenient to have two. and there's no real convenient place for sunglasses, wallet, snack bags, etc.
one poor design, i might even say design flaw, are the doors. A) the door handles are too low. i've known this of course since day one but highlighted by this trip and leads me to my other critique. B) the door storage pockets are difficult to access at best while the door is closed. as mentioned before, only two cup holders and no knick-knack storage so you end up placing things in the door storage but because of the design you cant easily reach it.
wind noise is there at 70+ mph but its there for all vehicles. i've done tests with a sound meter and its no louder in my R1T than my Lexus. road noise however is a bit louder in my R1T, probably due to the 20 AT tires. id be curious to know what AS 20s would be for road noise (and efficiency)
Charging
charging can be frustrating and mentally tiring. as i noted earlier, it wasnt easy/simple to plan out our charging route, partly due to the mapping, partly due to chargers being occupied or offline, and partly due to the efficiency of the vehicle. so its partly a infrastructure issue and partly a range/efficiency issue.
im not new to charging and know it'll take anywhere from 10 min to an hour depending on my state of charge, charger speed, next charger stop but having to stop 10-11 times can be exhausting. of course its great to take a break, stretch the legs, even eat but its just a lot. when you add in chargers being occupied, not working or slower than stated/expected, it compounds the frustration. my hybrid gets between 500-550 miles per fill up and i could have done the one-way trip with 2 stops.
most folks at chargers were friendly and had good charging etiquette but a couple of times chargers were blocked or they hadn't returned to their vehicle even though they were done charging. guess they dont mind the idle fees but its annoying.
charging locations don't have any covering and are usually located "around back". it could make it uncomfortable/unsafe for those traveling alone. in most cases, shops/restaurants were nearby but its usually never as convenient as gas stations.
Efficiency
at speeds between 70-80 mph, the efficiency is not great but its hard to drive at 60-65 mph when you know you've got 1200 miles to cover. i averaged 1.79 mi/kwh for the whole trip. that adds up to only 241 miles range per full charge but as you know you dont charge up to 100% or go down to near 0% when traveling, so really i was getting at most ~180-190 miles per charge. up till now i'd been averaging 2.28 mi/kwh so nowhere near that at constant highway speeds.
i decided to do a little experiment and do the trip there in All-Purpose Standard height and the trip back in All-Purpose Low height. hard to say if that had the biggest improvement on efficiency because we had rain about 75% of the time on the way there but very little rain on the way back. my gut tells me it does impact efficiency, small but still better. i wish i could go to Lowest height in AP mode but can only do that in Sport and Conserve. i went for a bit in Sport but that drops efficiency (during my 50 mile test) and i didnt want to use Conserve on this trip.
Chargers
i used the Rivian Adventure Network (RAN), Electrify America (EA) and EVgo. i used battery preconditioning for each charge. sometimes the vehicle started that 1 hour before, sometimes 30 min, sometimes 15 min. sometimes it'd do it twice. seemed like it was trying to get the battery to the low 70s temp.
i had the best charging with the Rivian Adventure Network. plug and charge, best rates, high charge speeds and almost always working and available. there was one time the entire station was down but a week later when i returned it was up and running. second best was EVgo. consistently got good charge speeds as stated on the charger/app. also never ran into an issue with the charger not working when the app stated it was. connected each time and simple to start the charge. EA comes in third. i did get good charge speeds but a few times it didnt go as high as expected and a few times even though the app said it was working when i got there it wasn't. it wouldn't always connect properly and a few times it stopped the charge and i had to restart or move chargers.
RAN peaked at about 200-215 kW
EVgo peaked at about 175-200 kW
EA peaked at about 165-190 kW
the charging curve pretty consistently looked like this, regardless of charger. peak speeds sometimes lasted a bit longer, sometimes a bit shorter. definite step down over time, as expected.
Summary
the R1T is an incredible vehicle to road trip in but charging is brutal. its amazingly comfortable, smooth and just a joy to drive. its capable and confident no matter the conditions. the tech is mostly good, but definitely needs improvement in some areas and thankfully those are areas they can address in software. a few design issues but nothing they can do for this gen vehicle, hopefully they make improvements in the next gen. one big negative about road tripping in the R1T is you can't dictate all the terms of your trip, you're beholden to charging infrastructure and efficiency/range of your vehicle. fine if your trip is about the journey not the destination but for most trips its about the destination. hopefully as Tesla opens up is SC network, this will become less of an issue. of course this doesnt change they efficiency/range of the vehicle so expect to stop a lot.
would i road trip in the R1T again? i dont know. its 50-50 at this point. hope this helps anyone thinking about taking a long trip with your R1T/R1S.
anyway, a few details and pics below. i had a chance to stop by the new Rivian Space in Laguna Beach and they have the Limestone Legends R1T that was used to win the Rebelle Rally this year. that was pretty cool to see the mods and gear. (pics below)
OVERALL
R1T, Quad, 20 AT
Total distance: ~2500 miles
Number of charges: 21 (EA - 10 times, RAN - 8 times, EVgo - 3 times)
Total kWh: ~1396
Efficiency: 1.79 mi/kWh
Avg Temps: ~35-55 Fahrenheit
Avg Speed: ~70-80 mph
SEATTLE -> LA
Total distance: ~1250 miles
Number of charges: 11
Avg miles per stop: 113
Total kWh: 705
Efficiency: 1.77 mi/kWh
Weather: rain on and off
Drive mode: All-Purpose Standard height
Climate control: used heater about 50% of the time
LA -> SEATTLE
Total distance: ~1250 miles
Number of charges: 10
Avg miles per stop: 125
Total kWh: 691
Efficiency: 1.81 mi/kWh
Weather: no rain
Drive mode: All-purpose Low height
Climate control: used heater about 50% of the time
RAN - Roseburg
RAN - Mt Shasta
RAN - Buttonwillow
RAN - Santa Nella
EA - Willows
EVgo - Carlsbad
EA - Anderson
Rivian Space - Laguna Beach
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When I finally got on a charger at that station I actually re-planned the end of my trip to add one more quick charge so folks didn't have to wait as long for me to move on. Sadly, that additional stop was the other one where I had to wait 15+ min for a stall to open up. In contrast, traveling on Xmas day was glorious as I barely saw another car at a charger for over 800 miles.
