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Do I really need the Max Pack?

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Wanderer

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Also keep in mind, that on long trips you'll be charging up to around 80% at each stop and not 100%. So you're looking at more like 240mi and not 300+. With a max pack your looking at around 320mi at 80%.

If you can wait, the max pack is the way to go, especially if you plan to keep the truck forever and do a lot of long distance travel.
That’s not necessarily the case. If you’re saying that because of battery health reasons, infrequent long trips and charging to 100% is not a problem.

If you’re saying that because of charging curve and it being slower to charge the last 20%, well that’s just a matter of preference and may or may not change your planning.

Also, I wouldn’t worry about degradation being a meaningful impact for at least ten years.

Ultimately, this is a personal question and everyone has a different answer depending on their circumstances. My rule of thumb is to take the total range and multiply by 60%. That’s your everyday range to stay in the healthy band of 20-80%. If you need more miles than that in a day on a fairly regular basis, you need more range.

Then, plan out any other less regular trips you think you’ll take, perhaps 3-4 times or less per year. For that, use the full range (or perhaps 90% to leave breathing room) and then incorporate fast charging infrastructure.

For the “what if I want to” trips, ignore those completely, they shouldn’t be the basis of spending $10k. You can but a hell of a lot of rental days in a gas car for that.

If you live where it gets cold (below 40), then factor in a 20% loss for those months.

For me, I live in Austin and never plan to drive more than 200 miles from home (Dallas) and don’t have to worry about cold and snow (recent events aside). I have 200mi of range now and have only charged away from home once in a year on a trip to Houston. I’m not sure that increasing range 50% to 300 would have materially changed that experience or total travel time.

However, if I lived in CO, I could easily see the need for 400mi range because of all the places that I’d go.
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SANZC02

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I look at it a little different than most people I have read here. I use the 90/10 rule, what do I need 90% of the time. If the large pack satisfies that then why spend the money on the larger pack and haul all of that weight around the rest of the time. There are always other ways around those outliers where the infrastructure may not be where it needs to be.

I used to drive to Phoenix from SoCal once or twice a year. When I first got my Tesla with 239 mile range I thought it would be an issue as I used to always drive this straight through non-stop. First couple of times I drove it, was surprised that the couple of stops I needed to charge was more of a pleasant distraction than a chore.

Battery degradation is a valid point. My Model S is 5 years old and I have lost about 7% of my range. Right now estimates for a battery replacement is 12-15K. Looks like I will easily get many more years out of the battery. When that time comes, who knows what the price will be at that point and what options for newer technology may be available.
 

Jay

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infrastructure for fast charging will become more and more prevalent.

I stop every few hours for coffee/bio breaks so charging will go hand and hand especially at 200kw+, 300kw+
I agree. Infrastructure is only getting better and me personally, I would stop every ~200 miles(taking a break after 3 hours of drive, stretch legs and grab coffee). If the 300+ gives atleast 240 on interstate, I think that should be good
 

ajdelange

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Got to the only DFDC in Blythe and guess what? It was inoperative.
I should point out that my experience on the road is with Tesla and that Tesla is way ahead of the pack when it comes to charging infrastructure. The SC network is dense and reliable. For most travel you can just jump in the car and go as you would with ICE - at least that seems to be the case in the Northeast corridor. Will you ever find a busted Terminal? Certainly but if you do it is likely to be one of 8 or 12. You won't find reports of 3 out of 4 terminals inop as you do with the EA network.

The typical MO would involve driving 2 - 3 hrs covering 120 - 220 miles equivant to 40 - 75% of the battery in a 300 mile vehicle. You would stop and replace that used mileage and it would take 24 - 45 minutes to do so. These times are based on a crude rule of thumb that works with Tesla's and will probably work with Rivian's too but we will have to see about that.

In a 400 mile car the consumption will be 30 - 55% and charge times, according to that same rule, 18 - 33 minutes. Basically the rule indicates that charging rate is proportional to battery capacity. This is, in general, entirely reasonable and should it prove to be the case with Rivian as well as Tesla then the guy with the longer range battery saves some charging time simply because his legs represent a smaller fraction of the battery capacity.

Then there is the insurance aspect of longer range which I have already mentioned through the runway analogy.
 

gorwell

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Everyone should use A Better Rout Planner: https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

You can select a lot of factors and it'll take it into account, all Rivian battery sizes and even compute the battery degradation (along with max charge states and speed of drive).

This will give you the best bet on your range for any long trips and how much of an annoyance it would be to use the shorter range.

For me, I may take a 400 mile trip down to Los Angeles from Sacramento once a year. That would be my longest drive... Everything else isn't a key concern for the shortest range (getting to SF or Tahoe) could be done without having to charge during that trip.

So using the R1T w/ 300 range, for my 400 mile drive, I would have to charge for twice for a total of 40 minutes to comfortably do 400 miles.... In 10 years with 10% battery degradation, that doesn't change at all.

If I use the R1T w/ 400 range, my 400 mile trip is just cut down by ~15 minutes. I still have to charge twice but just for less time.

In my case, not worth it. Realistically, unless you live in a place with poor charging infrastructure, or drive a lot with fast charging, or you're towing.. The extra range isn't really worth it. The first issue would resolve itself over the next couple of years.
 

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Everyone should use A Better Rout Planner: https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

You can select a lot of factors and it'll take it into account, all Rivian battery sizes and even compute the battery degradation (along with max charge states and speed of drive).

This will give you the best bet on your range for any long trips and how much of an annoyance it would be to use the shorter range.

For me, I may take a 400 mile trip down to Los Angeles from Sacramento once a year. That would be my longest drive... Everything else isn't a key concern for the shortest range (getting to SF or Tahoe) could be done without having to charge during that trip.

So using the R1T w/ 300 range, for my 400 mile drive, I would have to charge for twice for a total of 40 minutes to comfortably do 400 miles.... In 10 years with 10% battery degradation, that doesn't change at all.

If I use the R1T w/ 400 range, my 400 mile trip is just cut down by ~15 minutes. I still have to charge twice but just for less time.

In my case, not worth it. Realistically, unless you live in a place with poor charging infrastructure, or drive a lot with fast charging, or you're towing.. The extra range isn't really worth it. The first issue would resolve itself over the next couple of years.
ABRP claims my I-Pace can't make trips that I successfully completed with no issues or close calls. I would not trust ABRP for any brand other than Tesla. Others have shared the same experience.
 

sevengroove

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I look at it a little different than most people I have read here. I use the 90/10 rule, what do I need 90% of the time.
When applied to range, I agree with this rule 100%.

When applied to whether I need a Rivian in the first place, and whether a Model Y would serve my needs 90% of the time, I say to you:
 

CommodoreAmiga

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I look at it a little different than most people I have read here. I use the 90/10 rule, what do I need 90% of the time.
That was the logic I used when I traded my full-size truck for a SUV. I regret that decision all the time.

If you can afford it, buy what you want and what makes you happy.
 

McRat

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Drag strip performance for the 130kWh pack is claimed to be the best out of the configurations.
That pretty much sold me. Then again, I'm on the wait list for the 3 motor CyberTruck, and the 1000HP variant of the Hummer. ;)
 

jimcgov3

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ABRP claims my I-Pace can't make trips that I successfully completed with no issues or close calls. I would not trust ABRP for any brand other than Tesla. Others have shared the same experience.
Have you adjusted your Wh/mile? That is definitely an easy fix...I used ABRP all the time for my Chevy SparkEV, our Model S, and I have mapped plenty of routes for the R1T.
 

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gorwell

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ABRP claims my I-Pace can't make trips that I successfully completed with no issues or close calls. I would not trust ABRP for any brand other than Tesla. Others have shared the same experience.

Would definitely adjust the reference consumption to match what you get, I looked at it and it only has it at 2.46. That seems low but I personally don't know much about the i-pace.

I have no issues with my e-golf estimates.
 

kylealden

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Everyone should use A Better Rout Planner: https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

You can select a lot of factors and it'll take it into account, all Rivian battery sizes and even compute the battery degradation (along with max charge states and speed of drive).
As an added plus, they have a dedicated team of designers and engineers committed to building truly the worst user experience of all time, damn the expense.

(I use and pay for ABRP but holy shit it's obtuse)
 
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Autolycus

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I should point out that my experience on the road is with Tesla and that Tesla is way ahead of the pack when it comes to charging infrastructure. The SC network is dense and reliable. For most travel you can just jump in the car and go as you would with ICE - at least that seems to be the case in the Northeast corridor. Will you ever find a busted Terminal? Certainly but if you do it is likely to be one of 8 or 12. You won't find reports of 3 out of 4 terminals inop as you do with the EA network.
Even with Tesla's SpC network, there are still some pretty major gaps in the Southeast. They're working on them, but the gaps still exist. I'm in the Atlanta area. My dad's in Mobile, AL. That drive can be split pretty well in half with a stop in or near Montgomery or in thirds with stops in Auburn/Opelika and Greenville or Evergreen. Tesla broke it into 3rds, which actually makes the most sense, but... The Greenville supercharger, which is also critical for people going from Birmingham, Huntsville, Nashville, etc. to Mobile, NOLA, or the western FL panhandle, has been having major problems for a few months now. It seems like only 1-2 chargers are working most of the time, and sometimes even those are running slower than they should. Again, this is a months-long problem that is widely reported by Tesla drivers online. Without any other chargers anywhere between Auburn and Mobile right now, the drive could take hours longer than it should because of the lack of redundancy in that area. They are finally building a supercharger in the Montgomery area, which will be great for people going up I-85, but which will be incredibly inconvenient for the I-65 traffic to/from B'ham, Nashville, etc.

There are several EA options along this route, but of course that's not nearly as much use for Teslas because of the lack of CCS capability.

There's also still a huge gap in Tesla's network in the North Georgia-East Tennessee-Western North Carolina region. It's a big diamond-shape wasteland of DC fast charging in general, unfortunately. If you're curious where I'm talking about, pull up Plugshare, filter for >70kw, center the map on Murphy or Robbinsville, NC, and zoom to the level of detail where you can just start to see Atlanta at the bottom.

Edit: There aren't many other options even at 50kw, btw. The good news is that the Rivian Adventure Network map shows 3 locations in this area. If I had to guess, I would say they'll be in or very near Cherokee, NC, Gatlinburg (or Pigeon Forge), and at Nantahala Outdoor Center or somewhere else nearby like Topton or Robbinsville.
 
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Ray R

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Drag strip performance for the 130kWh pack is claimed to be the best out of the configurations.
That pretty much sold me. Then again, I'm on the wait list for the 3 motor CyberTruck, and the 1000HP variant of the Hummer. ;)
I read the 0-60mph time for the R1T is 3.0sec. Is that only for the 130kWh variant? And has anyone read anything confirming 1/4 mile times and trap speeds?
I sold my Challenger Redeye with the plan to replace it with the Rivian. I just could never get that car to hook up from a dead stop. Hell, floor it at 55mph with the OEM tires, and it would still break loose!
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