Epic Road Trip From Austin to Florida in the Rivian: 1600 Miles of Fun (and Charging)!

[Rivran]

Just wrapped up an awesome 1600-mile round trip road trip to Florida with the family in our Rivian, and it was an adventure! We had a great experience and wanted to share some highlights for those planning something similar.

Tires:

• We put on new Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 tires the week before the trip. The OEM tires on our 22" wheels lasted about 12k miles, and I think if we pushed them, we could've gotten closer to 15k. But I wanted more rubber and peace of mind for the road trip, so we swapped them out. I was also happy to see that we didn't notice any hit to our range with the new tires, which was a big win given how much driving we did!

Charging:

• Rivian Chargers: We charged at Rivian stations twice—smooth and reliable as you'd expect.
• Tesla Superchargers: The majority of our charging was done at Tesla Superchargers, thanks to the NACS adapter. Seriously, this thing is a game changer for Rivian owners. It made finding charging stations so much easier.
• Magic Dock: We used the Magic Dock once, and it worked flawlessly, giving us even more flexibility on the road.
• Pro Tip: Stick to the charging duration plans. I found that charging only up to 70% saved us a lot of time. The charging curve really slows down in the high 60%s, and on a long trip, charging beyond that point (at 50-80 kW) can add significant time. Better to charge just enough to keep moving and the software tells you!

Routing:

• The stock routing software in the Rivian is decent and gets the job done, but with a bit of effort, I found we could optimize it further. We preferred certain charging stations for breaks with the kids (more space, better restrooms, snacks, etc.), so I often overrode the planned route to hit our favorites. Definitely worth it when traveling with the family!

Overall: The Rivian handled the trip like a champ. We packed it full of gear and kids, and it was a smooth ride the whole way. Charging wasn't an issue at all with the NACS adapter, and the flexibility made it much less stressful than I'd expected.

Would love to hear how others have handled long trips in their Rivians. Any tips or stations you all prefer?

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[Lodans]

That's great to hear. At the beginning of the summer we took a trip from Austin to Gulf Shores Alabama and had a very similar experience. We used Tesla (NACS adapter) and RAN for the 4 charges we had to make and all of them were very painless. I actually enjoyed the trip better than the previous year that we made in a power boost Ford F150. The main reason is the Ford could make it there with one fill-up half way so I was tired and dehydrated when I arrived in Alabama. It's nice to be forced to relax a little on a trip and let your body recover a little.

 

[Rivran]

Exactly! I was surprised my back wasn't too tight from sitting all day. We usually drove 2.5 hours between stops. First go after leaving origin with 100% charge, would go over 3 hours while everyone was sleeping.

 

[R1Sky Business]

Any update in Tesla plug ang charge while getting subscription pricing?

 

[R1TCA]

Agreed on the charge often and for shorter times.
I didn’t have a NACS adapter when I drove San Diego to FL in 3.5 days (12hr days because I was alone and could) and the quick hits of recharging were great to stretch, use the bathroom or just check in with the World Wide Web hah.
EA was fine, but I look forward to using the NACS adapter next time.

Driver+ did so much of the high focus steering and speed control that I was not fatigued like I have been on x-country trips in ICE vehicles.

 

[Rivran]

Any update in Tesla plug ang charge while getting subscription pricing?

I thought about doing the subscription but it looked break-even and didn't activate.

 

[johnj2803]

I thought about doing the subscription but it looked break-even and didn't activate.

Its actually cheaper to get the subscription especially if you are charging multiple times

 

[BigSkies]

I agree on the shorter but more frequent stops.

I typically find charging in the 70-80% band still worth it, but only go past 80% if there’s a good reason to.

I usually optimize more for the kids schedule over minimized charging time. My kids always need to pee about 1 to 1.5 hours into a trip, which usually gives me a quick charging stop while I’m still in the top end of the battery charge.

We’ll also usually do a longer stop for a sit down lunch, or I’ll cook a picnic lunch on the tailgate while charging. The whole lunch process usually gets the battery well into the 90%+ range.

 

[mudito]

Awesome to hear!
I'm planning a DFW to Miami, FL trip for Christmas and I'm interested in a few things:

1) Michelins: How much noise you got from them? more than Pirellis? less? Also, was efficiency the same with the new 'shoes'?
2) Efficiency: What was your average efficiency with a fully loaded vehicle? Do you have an R1T/S? Dual Motor? Quad?
3) I hear you on the route planning: I was playing with ABRP and the Rivian nav myself and I was planning to do the same, preferring certain charging stations over others while prioritizing Tesla SC for reliability. Any further suggestions you want to make here?

thanks!

 

[Rivran]

Awesome to hear!
I'm planning a DFW to Miami, FL trip for Christmas and I'm interested in a few things:

1) Michelins: How much noise you got from them? more than Pirellis? less? Also, was efficiency the same with the new 'shoes'?
2) Efficiency: What was your average efficiency with a fully loaded vehicle? Do you have an R1T/S? Dual Motor? Quad?
3) I hear you on the route planning: I was playing with ABRP and the Rivian nav myself and I was planning to do the same, preferring certain charging stations over others while prioritizing Tesla SC for reliability. Any further suggestions you want to make here?

thanks!

This was the R1S QM. 3rd row key for the long trip with the kids. Michelins were rock solid. I never noticed any tire noise that annoyed me on the trip, if anything leaves in the roof glass are more annoying .

Efficiency was just as good or better with the new tires inflated to 48. I would need to get in the car to see but often when I checked it was likely avg of 2.15 on the driver screen carousel. I saw it as low as 2, and high as 2.4. Drove in conserve mode. We typically followed flow of traffic, didn't trying to game range, but did keep it at 80 mph or under most of trip.

on Routes, If you are traveling I-10 through Louisiana, charging at the RAN in Baton Rouge was nice but sucked away a ton of time to get in and out of that shopping area. On the way back we avoided stopping in Baton Rouge.

There is also a Tesla charger in D'Iberville, Mississippi that we avoided on return. Not easy bathrooms or great food options for the kids.

Often RAN was much cheaper than Tesla because was pay by the minute.

 

[mudito]

Nice! Thanks for the info ?
My idea is to drive "normally" at Texas speeds when the distance between Fast Chargers is 150mi or less. And be a little cautious when (if) there's a longer distance between chargers (on my fastest possible route, there's one stretch with 170mi with a 50kWh charger in the middle in case of an emergency).

I'll double-check the route when I'm closer to departure but I'll make sure I won't hit that RAN in Baton Rouge My idea is to balance charging detours vs convenience. My kid is 15 y/o so he can take it

 

[dubthedank3st]

Just wrapped up an awesome 1600-mile round trip road trip to Florida with the family in our Rivian, and it was an adventure! We had a great experience and wanted to share some highlights for those planning something similar.

Tires:

• We put on new Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 tires the week before the trip. The OEM tires on our 22" wheels lasted about 12k miles, and I think if we pushed them, we could've gotten closer to 15k. But I wanted more rubber and peace of mind for the road trip, so we swapped them out. I was also happy to see that we didn't notice any hit to our range with the new tires, which was a big win given how much driving we did!

Charging:

• Rivian Chargers: We charged at Rivian stations twice—smooth and reliable as you'd expect.
• Tesla Superchargers: The majority of our charging was done at Tesla Superchargers, thanks to the NACS adapter. Seriously, this thing is a game changer for Rivian owners. It made finding charging stations so much easier.
• Magic Dock: We used the Magic Dock once, and it worked flawlessly, giving us even more flexibility on the road.
• Pro Tip: Stick to the charging duration plans. I found that charging only up to 70% saved us a lot of time. The charging curve really slows down in the high 60%s, and on a long trip, charging beyond that point (at 50-80 kW) can add significant time. Better to charge just enough to keep moving and the software tells you!

Routing:

• The stock routing software in the Rivian is decent and gets the job done, but with a bit of effort, I found we could optimize it further. We preferred certain charging stations for breaks with the kids (more space, better restrooms, snacks, etc.), so I often overrode the planned route to hit our favorites. Definitely worth it when traveling with the family!

Overall: The Rivian handled the trip like a champ. We packed it full of gear and kids, and it was a smooth ride the whole way. Charging wasn't an issue at all with the NACS adapter, and the flexibility made it much less stressful than I'd expected.

Would love to hear how others have handled long trips in their Rivians. Any tips or stations you all prefer?

If you have an NACS adapter can you hit any Tesla Supercharger station or do only certain Tesla Superchargers work with Rivian?

 

[mudito]

If you have an NACS adapter can you hit any Tesla Supercharger station or do only certain Tesla Superchargers work with Rivian?

Only the ones enable to supercharge other EVs. There are some (not many) that still work only on Teslas.

Any station that the Nav system directs you to, should work (make sure to enable the ones that required adapter)

 

[emoore]

Only the ones enable to supercharge other EVs. There are some (not many) that still work only on Teslas.

Any station that the Nav system directs you to, should work (make sure to enable the ones that required adapter)

More than half only work with Teslas.

 

[mudito]

More than half only work with Teslas.

Yeah, no idea of the %... But here in north Texas it's less than 30% the ones that are exclusive

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