780 Mile R2 Road Trip - Comfortable Ride, Problematic Software, Frustrating Data

[TroubledF88]

Thanks @TroubledF88... I'm sure it was at first exciting then disappointing regarding the glitchy software. Can you report that to Rivian? They need feedback like that for future bug fixes.

Have you by any chance had occasion to measure vampire/parasitic drain yet? Not much data on that metric here yet...

Hello!

I haven't noticed any issue with this. I have free charging from 11p-6a but on the weekends when I get in to go out around 10a-11a it's where I expect it to be 4-5 hours after charging would have stopped, if not more.

At work from the time I park it until I get back in to go home is around 10 hours and I've never noticed anything that I'd consider excessive.

I'll pay more attention over the next few days though.

For example when I parked it last night it had 90 miles of range left, just now on the app it shows 90 miles of range. Rivian Roamer shows it has been "resting" for 3.5 hours and 0.0% phantom drain.

Sponsored

 

[SANZC02]

Thanks @TroubledF88... I'm sure it was at first exciting then disappointing regarding the glitchy software. Can you report that to Rivian? They need feedback like that for future bug fixes.

Have you by any chance had occasion to measure vampire/parasitic drain yet? Not much data on that metric here yet...

I charged the R2 to 80%, finished charging at 2am on Friday morning. It has been sitting in the garage in the mid 80s. 31.5 hours later the UI is reporting 79%, RivianRoamer goes to 1 decimal point, it is reporting 79.8%

Have not moved it from the garage but have gone an out few times to look at some settings on the screen as I’m still getting up to speed on the difference between the R1 and R2 UI.

Edit: I have gear guard set to off when at home

 

[DuoRivian]

the efficiency seems right on par with EPA estimate of 2.8mi/kwh, which has a 48mph average speed, so absolutely no surprises there. the variance of the 15 minute efficiency is unsurprising as well. nothing unexpected on the efficiency side of things overall IMHO.

the software woes are disheartening though. given ABRP supposedly backs Rivian's in-car nav, the lack of route customization is a huge miss to me. can you do it on the app on your phone with customizations and send it to the car instead? or do you lose SoC estimations and the like?

I look forward to the software updates to strengthen features and fix some of these bugs. thank you for being an early adopter and testing this stuff out!

I thought highway range was 303 miles so this is substantially below that.

 

[DuoRivian]

Thanks for the write up, OP says he has a 2026 Model Y. I wonder how it compares for noise, ride (we know efficiency) and just general impressions. Would appreciate that as I decide between the two.

 

[TroubledF88]

Thanks for the write up, OP says he has a 2026 Model Y. I wonder how it compares for noise, ride (we know efficiency) and just general impressions. Would appreciate that as I decide between the two.

To be fair, all of my Teslas were AWD, except for the Y. The Y was the Premium RWD. I didn't like the way the RWD drove. So that could contribute to my feelings.

I actually only had the Y for about 6 months before I sold it.

I think the R2 has a better fit/finish than the Y, and I think the overall space of the R2 feels much more spacious than the Y, even though they are relatively close in size.

The R2 doors feel sturdier than the Y, I personally find the seats more comfortable in the R2 than the Y, and I'm certain the ventilated seats are better in the R2.

The front AC vents are better in the Y, there's a bit more control for the air flow and there's not a screen obstructing it.

The R2 doesn't have Rivian Assistant yet, so it's missing the AI Grok features.

It also doesn't have the Internet browser or streaming apps yet. These don't matter to me as I never used them, but if you're someone that does you may miss it.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot, if there's anything specific please feel free to ask.

The R2 in my opinion is an awesome car with a lot of potential to get even better.

 

[asellus]

I thought highway range was 303 miles so this is substantially below that.

The average and peak speeds the OP is reporting are both substantially higher than the speeds the highway test is actually performed at. EPA's test is 48mph average with a 60mph peak versus OP's 59mph avg and at least 75mph peak.

 

[TroubledF88]

The average and peak speeds the OP is reporting are both substantially higher than the speeds the highway test is actually performed at. EPA's test is 48mph average with a 60mph peak versus OP's 59mph avg and at least 75mph peak.

That's correct, over the full trip of ~780 miles I averaged 66 mph and 2.69 m/kWh. I think the peak speed was 83.4 according to Rivian Roamer.

 

[NY_Rob]

I charged the R2 to 80%, finished charging at 2am on Friday morning. It has been sitting in the garage in the mid 80s. 31.5 hours later the UI is reporting 79%, RivianRoamer goes to 1 decimal point, it is reporting 79.8%

Have not moved it from the garage but have gone an out few times to look at some settings on the screen as I’m still getting up to speed on the difference between the R1 and R2 UI.

Edit: I have gear guard set to off when at home

That's really great news, thanks!

24hr+ tests are the best at revealing parasitic drain. If Rivian has indeed almost completely cured the R1 parasitic drain issue in the R2 line that would be fantastic for individual owners but even better for the environment when you consider how many R2's they hope to build!

 

[tivoboy]

Great data and report:

I think it would be interesting to have captured (and maybe you did) what the miles and kWh used were (these are really the only two objective datapoints that I would expect the R2 SHOULD report accurately.. how many miles has it travelled, either total or per leg, and how many KW did it consumer, again total or leg..

Then we can easily calculate the miles/kw amount accurately and compare It to what the car reported AT THE TIME.. Is the in dash calculation correct or inaccurate. from your reporting, and the RR data points is sounds like the in car is just inaccurate.

And 2nd. I would be interesting to see what the reported amounts from the car were at each stop, but including

How many miles did the car report it could go
What was the % SOC that the car reported
And of course the above numbers: distance travelled, Kw used, (then one can easily calculate from available reported or avlb actual - used, to calculate REMAINING and then verify if reported % SOC or miles remaining is accurate.

Again, i think we’ll find it’s not.

So it sounds like you might have images from more points in time, the 15 min views you made, and possibly you have the drivers dash reported SOC in % remaining or miles remaining reported at each charging stop?

 

[SANZC02]

That's really great news, thanks!

24hr+ tests are the best at revealing parasitic drain. If Rivian has indeed almost completely cured the R1 parasitic drain issue in the R2 line that would be fantastic for individual owners but even better for the environment when you consider how many R2's they hope to build!

I’m going out of town for a couple of days. I’ll try to remember to post what the level is when I get home. It will have sat for probably 85 hours by then.

 

[NY_Rob]

I’m going out of town for a couple of days. I’ll try to remember to post what the level is when I get home. It will have sat for probably 85 hours by then.

Awesome! Thanks

 

[dangros]

This is a great post. Thank you OP for taking the time to give us soon to be owners an idea of what the vehicle is actually capable of. Your experience and opinion of the Teslas as they compare to R2 is very valuable as well. I test drove the R2 but have concerns about range, build, and bugs. Hoping to receive it by end of year but there’s hesitation to spend 61k given the concerns. This at least validates the amazing drive I had at demo.

 

[TroubledF88]

This is a great post. Thank you OP for taking the time to give us soon to be owners an idea of what the vehicle is actually capable of. Your experience and opinion of the Teslas as they compare to R2 is very valuable as well. I test drove the R2 but have concerns about range, build, and bugs. Hoping to receive it by end of year but there’s hesitation to spend 61k given the concerns. This at least validates the amazing drive I had at demo.

It's a great car and a lot of fun to drive! It's a very smooth and quiet ride, even at highway speeds. The actual driving experience I really have nothing negative to say, and that's most important to me since I drive 60-70 miles a day for work.

I fell into the group that believed at highway speeds the range would still be closer to that 330 mile mark. In some ways that's my fault for not trying to understand the science, or at least looking at the EPA tests to see how the test was set up.

So initially the efficiency/range at highway speeds was disappointing.

But there were times throughout the trip that I looked at the energy monitor and over 15 minutes at 73-75 mph average speed I was getting everywhere from 2.70 mi/kWh all the way up to 3.30 mi/kWh.

Obviously this is a short window and likely impacted by traffic, regen, drafting, maybe favorable elevation changes etc.

I'd say a lot of mornings to work I average 70 mph and very often in the 3.0 - 3.3 mi/kWh.

My morning commute is a mix of city driving at 50-55 mph and a majority of highway at 75 mph.

Back to the actual trip, I feel the charging stops actually made the trip more relaxed/enjoyable for me. The mental breaks were a positive. Most of the time by time I went to the bathroom, got a snack or drink, got back to the car I only had 5-10 minutes left to charge before I was back on the road.

Sponsored