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All those unusable/broken charging stations...

Rivianation

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As my delivery day approaches, I am spending too much time on YouTube. I'm noticing a lot of reviews of people loving Rivian ownership except hating the travel charging situation with tons of anecdotal examples to prove it.

It's not limited to Electrify America, either. Maybe vandalism, underfunded maintenance (or shortage of tech labor), a difficult software technology to implement across the numerous EV brands, so something more inherently unreliable in the charging hardware itself? Maybe it's an illusion due to negative clickbait, but it seems like the infrastructure is a bit disappointing to Rivian owners who were expecting more after their 1-2 year wait.
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Dark-Fx

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As my delivery day approaches, I am spending too much time on YouTube. I'm noticing a lot of reviews of people loving Rivian ownership except hating the travel charging situation with tons of anecdotal examples to prove it.

It's not limited to Electrify America, either. Maybe vandalism, underfunded maintenance (or shortage of tech labor), a difficult software technology to implement across the numerous EV brands, so something more inherently unreliable in the charging hardware itself? Maybe it's an illusion due to negative clickbait, but it seems like the infrastructure is a bit disappointing to Rivian owners who were expecting more after their 1-2 year wait.
If I'm a youtuber looking to make content that gets engagement, it's trivial to go onto plugshare and find locations that people have reported issues at and intentionally put myself into a situation where it looks like the station has caused me to become stranded.

Since I'm not a youtuber it's easy to do the reverse and avoid stations where people have recently reported major issues.
 

NashvilleR1S

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My quick 2 cents. Drove Nashville to St Louis, 2 EA chargers and 1 EVGo charger, all worked great. Hotel we stayed at even had a slow 4kw charger which was great for overnight.
 

jjswan33

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The charging infrastructure is fine if you are ok doing a little background before your trip. 99% of trips will go great as long as you check Plug Share etc to confirm the stations you need work.

If you are traveling during a busy holiday weekend you may encounter busy charging stations and have to wait for an open one. It's the old glass half full or half empty argument, so sure some stations may have 2 of 4 stalls working at full speed tip/top shape, this is manageable.

If you have expectations that you can just drive wherever you want and there will be a station you can just pull up, plug in, charge up and leave in 20 min 100% of the time then you will be disappointed. But again my opinion is that while not great it is just fine and getting better every day.
 
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Dark-Fx

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If you are traveling during a busy holiday weekend you may encounter busy charging stations and have to wait for an open one. It's the old glass half full or half empty argument, so sure some stations may have 2 of 4 stalls working at full speed tip/top shape, this is manageable.
We generally avoid trips during the busy holiday periods intentionally. A) I'd rather not deal with the extra traffic and B) Our choice means it's one family fewer trying to compete for the limited charging infrastructure.
 

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virgnia_rivian

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Don't trust the alarmists on YouTube.

Use PlugShare (thousands of real EV owners reporting experiences in real time). Also use the EA, EVGO, and PlugShare apps. Have an alternate charing plan if needed.

We've road tripped thousands of miles in our R1T since delivery in December and haven't had a single issue that kept us from charging.
 

tgo10000

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Charging infrastructure issues are known. That being said we’ve done several problem free road trips; everyone above has given great advice.
 
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Rivianation

Rivianation

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Don't trust the alarmists on YouTube.

Use PlugShare (thousands of real EV owners reporting experiences in real time). Also use the EA, EVGO, and PlugShare apps. Have an alternate charing plan if needed.

We've road tripped thousands of miles in our R1T since delivery in December and haven't had a single issue that kept us from charging.
Ok, so in your experience, there always is an alternate charging plan, so no anxiety?

I'll check out plugshare, but of course these apps will have limited usefulness the more people use them. ... as more people use it in their decision-making, more people will end up making the same decision, leading to lineups. Then again, competing apps will work on better algorithms to avoid the crowds....
 

NineElectrics

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All of the four or five terrible Electrify America stations in my area have been repaired/replaced recently. I’m not worried about them anymore.
 

ads75

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Use Plugshare. Look up the stations you want to use before leaving. Look at the EA/EvGo websites also, to see what those stations availability. Plan your route around those. I've used EA 4 times, at three stations, each station had 4 chargers, and of the times I used them, never noticed a broken/reduced capability charger. I did want to use one station, but when I looked it up before hand, it was broken, so I adjusted my route ahead of time. Doom and gloom videos do get more clicks on youtube, but maybe some of those videos are just trying to emphasize using the apps before hand to plan your trip.
 

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COdogman

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YouTube is the absolute worst place to go for objective or accurate information about pretty much anything. Posting a boring video of a successful charging session doesn’t get them the views or warm fuzzy feelings that posting a hot take about being left stranded at a broken charger does.

There are a few YouTubers who manage to create fair and accurate videos without behaving like carnies, but it’s probably 1 out of 100.
 
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Rivianation

Rivianation

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YouTube is the absolute worst place to go for objective or accurate information about pretty much anything. Posting a boring video of a successful charging session doesn’t get them the views or warm fuzzy feelings that posting a hot take about being left stranded at a broken charger does.

There are a few YouTubers who manage to create fair and accurate videos without behaving like carnies, but it’s probably 1 out of 100.
I get it, but I'm not referring to the click-bait ones that focus on the 'nightmare' experiences. More common are ones where they love the Rivan R1T/S and everything about it, but most of those mention at least some hardship with road charging. Rarely enough to ruin their trip, of course, even when comparing to the Tesla network experience.
 

stynes

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What everyone has already said. Use Plug Share. Look at the overall score and confirm a few recent charges. Look at people's charging speed to avoid getting 50kw at a 350kw station. I've done a 1700 and 2800 mile road trip with no issues. Just a little pre planning and you'll be fine.
 

Big_Ike

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I've been driving EV's for 6 or so years now and everything mentioned above is spot on. I would also add that time of day matters as well.

The only other thing I'd recommend is to have flexibility and enjoy the ride as much as your destination. It took me a couple of trips to get that mindset and now I can't wait to get on the road.
 

WSea

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Ok, so in your experience, there always is an alternate charging plan, so no anxiety?

I'll check out plugshare, but of course these apps will have limited usefulness the more people use them. ... as more people use it in their decision-making, more people will end up making the same decision, leading to lineups. Then again, competing apps will work on better algorithms to avoid the crowds....
For us, range anxiety went away after first day trip (that required charging). You get to know the vehicle and learn to trust the GOM. Checking plugshare ahead of time only takes a couple of minutes. Not an issue to be worried about
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