TomServo2112
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2024
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 163
- Reaction score
- 214
- Location
- Southern California
- Vehicles
- Gen 2 R1S DPM, Large Pack, R2 res holder
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi folks,
I took my first bigger trip in my now 10-day old 2025 R1S PDM Large+, and I came away from the trip much more impressed than I expected to be.
From Southern California to the mountains of Southern Utah, I went from flat, sub-urban & urban crawl to the wide-open I-15 up to Brian Head, UT.
All data is taken from Electrafi.
Leg 1 - Home to work - 40 miles
99.2% to 91% - 4.00 mi/kWh.
Leg 2 - Work to Barstow RAN - 122 miles
90.8% to 48% - 2.38 mi/kWh.
Because of traffic I re-routed through the Angeles Forest up and over and then down to the Barstow RAN. If I didn’t re-route my nav was telling me I could get all the way to the Vegas RAN, but I did not put that to the test this time. The Barstow RAN was fine - nothing special. There was one other Rivian there and all chargers appeared functional. Charge to 70% - 10 minutes
Leg 3 - Barstow RAN to Vegas RAN - 153 miles
69.5% to 8.8% - 2.11 mi/kWh
The Vegas RAN is great. Nothing special about the chargers themselves, it’s just that it’s a great location. 10 times better than the Electrify America location 1 or 2 blocks over. The mall has everything you’d want for a short or long layover. A Dave & Busters-style place, a bowling alley, mini-golf, several slightly finer dining restaurants, plus Wetzel’s, frozen yogurt, etc., and a couple of playgrounds for kids. I got a pizza from Milano’s Italian Restaurant and it was pretty good. One other Rivian there the whole time I was. Charge to 92% - 56 minutes
Leg 4 - Vegas RAN to Brian Head - 209 miles
91.9% to 1.7% - 1.94 mi/kWh
The efficiency loss is expected and to be honest, I thought it’d be worse. From the 80mph speed limit in Utah, to the ~10,000 ft elevation gain. I averaged 69mph and maxed at 92. There is a charger at my destination so I was not concerned about the low SOC, but the last 13 miles are harrowing because the elevation gain is about 4000 feet over that span so I’m always on edge going up that hill at low SOC in other EVs.
Subtotals:
524 miles - 2.17 mi/kWh
Coming back home was broken into 2 days since I was stopping in Vegas for an overniter.
Leg 1 - Brian Head to Vegas - 226 miles
89.9% to 30.5% - 3.21 mi/kWh
This was the annoying leg of the trip because a pickup truck passed me & kicked up a rock that bounced off the hood and cracked the windshield. The crack is pretty much dead-center of the windshield so I don’t really notice it, but the car is 7 days old. Come on, man. Safelite near my hotel in Vegas did a repair for $75 flat, and now the starburst cracks are barely noticeable at all, but of course you can see the impact point, and the hood now has a barb of paint that looks like it can be buffed out. Rivian told me that they don’t have a set price for replacement of Gen 2 windshields yet, and the earliest appointment I can get is mid-December in the LA region. For now I’ll just stick with the repair. I only charged to 90% in Brian Head because going down the mountain adds 3-6% with regen, so I wanted that headroom plus reduced regen at that SOC would tax the brakes a bit.
Leg 2 - Vegas RAN to Barstow RAN - 154 miles
97% to 43.6% - 2.40mi/kWh
The Vegas RAN was empty except for me, so I decided to try to get from Vegas all the way to home and just let the charge go as long as I could stand or until other Rivians showed up. While waiting I went to Velocity Gaming (Dave & Busters-type place) to watch Sunday football. Pizza was average but it’s a great place for watching sports. Charge to 97% - 63 minutes.
Needless to say it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to make it all the way home on a single charge. There were some pretty strong headwinds and my best math said minus-6-8% SOC all the way to home, so that’s why I pit-stopped at Barstow RAN. However, an entire bank of stalls was down - 1a, b & c. The #2 bank of 3 stalls only ever had 2 Rivians charging - me + one other. It was the best charging experience I had of the entire trip. It maxed at 200kw and averaged 148kw. Charge to 90% - 26 minutes
Leg 3 - Barstow RAN to Marina del Rey - 137 miles
90% to 51.5% - 2.95 mi/kWh
Some family from out of town went to the Chiefs v Chargers game and were staying in Marina del Rey. I got back into town early enough to see them before they left, so detoured out to the west side..
Leg 4 - Marina del Rey to Home - 50 miles
51.3% to 34.7% - 2.52 mi/kWh
Subtotals:
579 miles - 2.82 mi/kWh
Totals:
1103 miles - 2.51 mi/kWh
Rivian reported 2.55mi/Kwh
I’m not sure if I should be satisfied with the efficiency or not but based on this experience and the massive elevation change, I now do expect to average higher than 2.5mi/kwh for our normal daily driving. I have no experience with any of the Gen 1s except for test drives, but this one trip shows my Gen 2 appears to drive more efficient than my wife’s 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron, and that seems pretty impressive to me.
Pics are from my drive out to High Point with Cedar Breaks in the background. The road I took is usually driven by ATVs but Jeeps and trucks get up there too. I set to Off Road on the highest ride height and inched my way up to the top. The R1S did amazing. As a precaution I did deflate the tires some for the drive back down the trail.
I took my first bigger trip in my now 10-day old 2025 R1S PDM Large+, and I came away from the trip much more impressed than I expected to be.
From Southern California to the mountains of Southern Utah, I went from flat, sub-urban & urban crawl to the wide-open I-15 up to Brian Head, UT.
All data is taken from Electrafi.
Leg 1 - Home to work - 40 miles
99.2% to 91% - 4.00 mi/kWh.
Leg 2 - Work to Barstow RAN - 122 miles
90.8% to 48% - 2.38 mi/kWh.
Because of traffic I re-routed through the Angeles Forest up and over and then down to the Barstow RAN. If I didn’t re-route my nav was telling me I could get all the way to the Vegas RAN, but I did not put that to the test this time. The Barstow RAN was fine - nothing special. There was one other Rivian there and all chargers appeared functional. Charge to 70% - 10 minutes
Leg 3 - Barstow RAN to Vegas RAN - 153 miles
69.5% to 8.8% - 2.11 mi/kWh
The Vegas RAN is great. Nothing special about the chargers themselves, it’s just that it’s a great location. 10 times better than the Electrify America location 1 or 2 blocks over. The mall has everything you’d want for a short or long layover. A Dave & Busters-style place, a bowling alley, mini-golf, several slightly finer dining restaurants, plus Wetzel’s, frozen yogurt, etc., and a couple of playgrounds for kids. I got a pizza from Milano’s Italian Restaurant and it was pretty good. One other Rivian there the whole time I was. Charge to 92% - 56 minutes
Leg 4 - Vegas RAN to Brian Head - 209 miles
91.9% to 1.7% - 1.94 mi/kWh
The efficiency loss is expected and to be honest, I thought it’d be worse. From the 80mph speed limit in Utah, to the ~10,000 ft elevation gain. I averaged 69mph and maxed at 92. There is a charger at my destination so I was not concerned about the low SOC, but the last 13 miles are harrowing because the elevation gain is about 4000 feet over that span so I’m always on edge going up that hill at low SOC in other EVs.
Subtotals:
524 miles - 2.17 mi/kWh
Coming back home was broken into 2 days since I was stopping in Vegas for an overniter.
Leg 1 - Brian Head to Vegas - 226 miles
89.9% to 30.5% - 3.21 mi/kWh
This was the annoying leg of the trip because a pickup truck passed me & kicked up a rock that bounced off the hood and cracked the windshield. The crack is pretty much dead-center of the windshield so I don’t really notice it, but the car is 7 days old. Come on, man. Safelite near my hotel in Vegas did a repair for $75 flat, and now the starburst cracks are barely noticeable at all, but of course you can see the impact point, and the hood now has a barb of paint that looks like it can be buffed out. Rivian told me that they don’t have a set price for replacement of Gen 2 windshields yet, and the earliest appointment I can get is mid-December in the LA region. For now I’ll just stick with the repair. I only charged to 90% in Brian Head because going down the mountain adds 3-6% with regen, so I wanted that headroom plus reduced regen at that SOC would tax the brakes a bit.
Leg 2 - Vegas RAN to Barstow RAN - 154 miles
97% to 43.6% - 2.40mi/kWh
The Vegas RAN was empty except for me, so I decided to try to get from Vegas all the way to home and just let the charge go as long as I could stand or until other Rivians showed up. While waiting I went to Velocity Gaming (Dave & Busters-type place) to watch Sunday football. Pizza was average but it’s a great place for watching sports. Charge to 97% - 63 minutes.
Needless to say it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to make it all the way home on a single charge. There were some pretty strong headwinds and my best math said minus-6-8% SOC all the way to home, so that’s why I pit-stopped at Barstow RAN. However, an entire bank of stalls was down - 1a, b & c. The #2 bank of 3 stalls only ever had 2 Rivians charging - me + one other. It was the best charging experience I had of the entire trip. It maxed at 200kw and averaged 148kw. Charge to 90% - 26 minutes
Leg 3 - Barstow RAN to Marina del Rey - 137 miles
90% to 51.5% - 2.95 mi/kWh
Some family from out of town went to the Chiefs v Chargers game and were staying in Marina del Rey. I got back into town early enough to see them before they left, so detoured out to the west side..
Leg 4 - Marina del Rey to Home - 50 miles
51.3% to 34.7% - 2.52 mi/kWh
Subtotals:
579 miles - 2.82 mi/kWh
Totals:
1103 miles - 2.51 mi/kWh
Rivian reported 2.55mi/Kwh
I’m not sure if I should be satisfied with the efficiency or not but based on this experience and the massive elevation change, I now do expect to average higher than 2.5mi/kwh for our normal daily driving. I have no experience with any of the Gen 1s except for test drives, but this one trip shows my Gen 2 appears to drive more efficient than my wife’s 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron, and that seems pretty impressive to me.
Pics are from my drive out to High Point with Cedar Breaks in the background. The road I took is usually driven by ATVs but Jeeps and trucks get up there too. I set to Off Road on the highest ride height and inched my way up to the top. The R1S did amazing. As a precaution I did deflate the tires some for the drive back down the trail.
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