3,880 mile trip across and down the Rockies ⛰️ R1T performed flawlessly

[EVerywhere]

I'm close to 19k miles on the R1T since taking delivery last September, and have just completed the longest trip so far. With a little help from my Rivian guide I managed to get a cracked windshield replaced just before leaving. I also had 70% ceramic tint installed on the roof and new windshield (the side and rear windows were done back in September). I'm delighted with the reduction in IR from both, the sun was never uncomfortable, and the A/C was able to keep the cabin cool even with 100+F days of beating sun.

Started on Sunday in Ann Abor Michigan, stopping at the RAN chargers in Benton Harbor which were easy to use and delivered 200+kW. Next stop was west of Chicago, then on to Omaha for the night. Monday late afternoon I made it to Denver for a week of work. Wednesday, we had a surprise hail storm at night, just pea sized, so I thought nothing of it. The next day this flashes up on my phone, I run back to the truck and get it under cover before the apocalypse commences.

Turns out the apocalypse never happened. A couple of days later I notice a bunch of very subtly indentation on the hood from the first hail storm -- no one else's vehicle suffered damage, and it was limited to the hood. Word of caution: a very thin, very soft aluminum hood, which is essential a flat horizontal panel does not take much to deform (even through ppf). I'm scheduling PDR in.

Next leg was across the Rockies to Fruita (just West of Grand Junction). This is a spectacular road that is a must drive. So far charging has been no issue, although only the RAN charges delivered the rated output. Many of the EA 350 and 150s were capped at 30-40kW, and I had to hop between chargers to find the best of a bad bunch. Its amazing how little energy it takes with a gentle down grade:

We charged at the Grand Junction RAN charges a few times. The original plan was to head to Moab, but the lack of L3 chargers and crowds caused us to rethink it and explore Devils Canyon on the first day and the arches in Rattlesnake Cayon the second. This was a 20 mile off road excursion starting on Black Ridge Road, requiring both ground clearance and four wheel drive.

When we arrived, we were the only people there, and the hiking was spectacular.

Next we headed down the Rockies to just north of Santa Fe, via the Montrose RAN chargers (which seem to be green only).

A few more days of hiking, R&R, and the OTA update with ABRP integration (made be very happy).

We then headed home via Amerillo, Oklahoma City, St Louis and Chicago. Our initial plan was to overnight in Oklahoma City, but a tanker crash and fire shut I-40 for hours, so we stopped in Amerillo.

Overall we completed 3,879.6 miles averaging 2.11 mi/kWh on 20s typically driving 5-8 over on the highways. Charging worked, other than the disaster that is the Francis Energy L3 station at Hutch's Elk City, OK: 4 charges all ICEd, rated at 200kW, one broken, two capped at <30kW, none of the card readers worked...

and the fourth with a crashed UI. Looks like they are running Windows 95 or NT 4.0 so I installed the games for any passing children. Seriously: what could possibly go wrong with an internet connected high voltage/high current device running unsupported software with wide open attack surfaces. Let me know if you hear the bang, or better just give them a wide berth.

Overall the R1T performed flawlessly, and Driver+ makes long highway cruising stress free.

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[COdogman]

Great trip report!

 

[WSea]

We head out tomorrow and your trip report has me pumped!

 

[Calvin2518]

Awesome stuff!!! Great trip report, I can’t wait to get some road trips in this year with my twin-Rivian to yours!

 

[mkhuffman]

When I lay on a hammock, my legs don't look like that. Good thing. My wife might start to wonder.

 

[Charcuturie_Dude]

lol that Win95 operating system on the charger had me rolling with laughter

 

[opnwide]

Thanks for the great photos and trip report. I’m intrigued by the small hail damage to the (soft?) hood only…were there no dents on the roof or top of front quarter panels? Also, that’s a fantastic hat and Bellbottoms OP is wearing…

 

[RealBillNye]

I'm close to 19k miles on the R1T since taking delivery last September, and have just completed the longest trip so far. With a little help from my Rivian guide I managed to get a cracked windshield replaced just before leaving. I also had 70% ceramic tint installed on the roof and new windshield (the side and rear windows were done back in September). I'm delighted with the reduction in IR from both, the sun was never uncomfortable, and the A/C was able to keep the cabin cool even with 100+F days of beating sun.

Started on Sunday in Ann Abor Michigan, stopping at the RAN chargers in Benton Harbor which were easy to use and delivered 200+kW. Next stop was west of Chicago, then on to Omaha for the night. Monday late afternoon I made it to Denver for a week of work. Wednesday, we had a surprise hail storm at night, just pea sized, so I thought nothing of it. The next day this flashes up on my phone, I run back to the truck and get it under cover before the apocalypse commences.

Turns out the apocalypse never happened. A couple of days later I notice a bunch of very subtly indentation on the hood from the first hail storm -- no one else's vehicle suffered damage, and it was limited to the hood. Word of caution: a very thin, very soft aluminum hood, which is essential a flat horizontal panel does not take much to deform (even through ppf). I'm scheduling PDR in.

Next leg was across the Rockies to Fruita (just West of Grand Junction). This is a spectacular road that is a must drive. So far charging has been no issue, although only the RAN charges delivered the rated output. Many of the EA 350 and 150s were capped at 30-40kW, and I had to hop between chargers to find the best of a bad bunch. Its amazing how little energy it takes with a gentle down grade:

We charged at the Grand Junction RAN charges a few times. The original plan was to head to Moab, but the lack of L3 chargers and crowds caused us to rethink it and explore Devils Canyon on the first day and the arches in Rattlesnake Cayon the second. This was a 20 mile off road excursion starting on Black Ridge Road, requiring both ground clearance and four wheel drive.

When we arrived, we were the only people there, and the hiking was spectacular.

Next we headed down the Rockies to just north of Santa Fe, via the Montrose RAN chargers (which seem to be green only).

A few more days of hiking, R&R, and the OTA update with ABRP integration (made be very happy).

We then headed home via Amerillo, Oklahoma City, St Louis and Chicago. Our initial plan was to overnight in Oklahoma City, but a tanker crash and fire shut I-40 for hours, so we stopped in Amerillo.

Overall we completed 3,879.6 miles averaging 2.11 mi/kWh on 20s typically driving 5-8 over on the highways. Charging worked, other than the disaster that is the Francis Energy L3 station at Hutch's Elk City, OK: 4 charges all ICEd, rated at 200kW, one broken, two capped at <30kW, none of the card readers worked...

and the fourth with a crashed UI. Looks like they are running Windows 95 or NT 4.0 so I installed the games for any passing children. Seriously: what could possibly go wrong with an internet connected high voltage/high current device running unsupported software with wide open attack surfaces. Let me know if you hear the bang, or better just give them a wide berth.

Overall the R1T performed flawlessly, and Driver+ makes long highway cruising stress free.

Looks like an excellent trip! Where were you staying that had that excellent hammock situation?

 

[Budman]

We are doing a very similar trip next week. Starting in Minneapolis and going to SW Colorado. for 10 days of National Forest room top tent camping. Glad to hear you crossed Nebraska ok!

 

[DetroitRed]

Cool trip! I had a recent trip myself with a similar first leg, going from Canton MI to Kearney NE with my Corvette in tow. Charging along I-80 was pretty easy. I got caught in a small hail storm myself but haven't noticed any dents from it, fortunately.

Were you happy with your window tinter? Who did you use?

 

[EVerywhere]

Thanks for the great photos and trip report. I’m intrigued by the small hail damage to the (soft?) hood only…were there no dents on the roof or top of front quarter panels? Also, that’s a fantastic hat and Bellbottoms OP is wearing…

Thanks, my better half is clearly the good looking one. No dent on the roof: the panels are both stronger and have better support being shorter, and in the case of the roof curved. No other cars were damaged, the Rivian hood is very flat and very soft -- you can see the center panel flexing from wind pressure just driving along.

 

[EVerywhere]

Cool trip! I had a recent trip myself with a similar first leg, going from Canton MI to Kearney NE with my Corvette in tow. Charging along I-80 was pretty easy. I got caught in a small hail storm myself but haven't noticed any dents from it, fortunately.

Were you happy with your window tinter? Who did you use?

I used A2 Customs, for both PPF and tinting. This is the second car they have done for me, and they do a good job. They have worked on quite a few Rivians (the roof requires a special extra wide roll).

 

[EVerywhere]

Looks like an excellent trip! Where were you staying that had that excellent hammock situation?

Here is where we stayed in Dixon Adobe at the Edge of Wilderness, and the place we rented in Fruita Tour de Fruita -- both were fantastic!

 

[DTown3011]

Awesome write up, need to get to Fruita which is now significantly easier and more fun with the RAN charger in Grand Junction! We are taking the truck to Crested Butte twice later this summer, but the Western Slope has some pretty incredible scenery and mountain biking that needs to be explored.

 

[EVerywhere]

When I lay on a hammock, my legs don't look like that. Good thing. My wife might start to wonder.

You got your giraffes, your dachshunds and your tarantulas, I have no wish to swap to the latter two.

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