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First EV drive: 500 mile trip home - first impressions

EVTrukHog

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First time EV owner here. Took delivery of R1T at factory and my first drive was a 500 mile trip home from Normal. I’ve read about every post on this forum over the last 18 months and watched countless R1T YouTube videos, so I was familiar with the R1T but had never driven EV other than 20 min First Mile test drive. First impressions:
  • I didnt just have range anxiety - I had charging anxiety since I had never even operated an EV charger. This turned out to be very easy. I setup EA and ChargePoint accounts in advance. All of the chargers I stopped at were available and in working order. The EA chargers (Walmart) pushed 150kW and were “complimentary”. Does this happen a lot? Can you search for complimentary charging stations in the app?
    • The ChargePoint was slower at about 80kW and the owner charged a $0.20/min surcharge but didn’t have many choices at that point.
    • At the end of the 500 mile trip, I was only out of pocket about $20 for fuel.
  • The Rivian navigation software worked flawlessly for me. After reading complaints, I was prepared to use phone apps but really didn’t need to. The mapping was accurate and it tried to route me around two traffic jams but I was too stubborn to follow the directions.
    • I couldn’t figure out how to enter intermediate waypoints?
    • it gave me time and distance to next charging stop but not to final destination. Is this a setting I’m missing?
  • The adaptive cruise control engages the vehicle in front way earlier than I thought it should. Is this distance adjustable? It would be nice if it gave you a subtle warning and time to change lanes before it auto adjusts your speed.
  • i never got comfortable with Driver Assist…played with it some but it seemed to add stress - especially in traffic - rather than make it easier.
  • The acceleration is unbelievable! Makes on-ramp merging, lane changing, and passing very easy
  • Make sure you have a USB-C iPhone charging cord. I missed this little detail and quickly found nowhere to plug my antiquated USB charging cord. Had to make a stop on trip and upgrade my phone charging cord.
The vehicle performed great and trip was easy. It was fun way to get acquainted with all of the features. I never let SOC get below 25% due to anxiety and trust issues, but will be relaxing that now that it’s more comfortable. This should be fun!
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Donald Stanfield

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You’re braver than me. This truck is my first EV too, and I haven’t left my home area with it yet. I also have never used a fast charger. I’m planning on some closer road trips maybe one charging stop at most type trips in the near future.

Yes there is a way to adjust the following distance with driver+. It’s the right side scroll wheel on the steering wheel. The right and left arrows on that side raise and lower speed.
 

moosetags

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Great post. We hope to be doing what you did very soon.

Brian
 

milliemc

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First time EV owner here. Took delivery of R1T at factory and my first drive was a 500 mile trip home from Normal. I’ve read about every post on this forum over the last 18 months and watched countless R1T YouTube videos, so I was familiar with the R1T but had never driven EV other than 20 min First Mile test drive. First impressions:
  • I didnt just have range anxiety - I had charging anxiety since I had never even operated an EV charger. This turned out to be very easy. I setup EA and ChargePoint accounts in advance. All of the chargers I stopped at were available and in working order. The EA chargers (Walmart) pushed 150kW and were “complimentary”. Does this happen a lot? Can you search for complimentary charging stations in the app?
    • The ChargePoint was slower at about 80kW and the owner charged a $0.20/min surcharge but didn’t have many choices at that point.
    • At the end of the 500 mile trip, I was only out of pocket about $20 for fuel.
  • The Rivian navigation software worked flawlessly for me. After reading complaints, I was prepared to use phone apps but really didn’t need to. The mapping was accurate and it tried to route me around two traffic jams but I was too stubborn to follow the directions.
    • I couldn’t figure out how to enter intermediate waypoints?
    • it gave me time and distance to next charging stop but not to final destination. Is this a setting I’m missing?
  • The adaptive cruise control engages the vehicle in front way earlier than I thought it should. Is this distance adjustable? It would be nice if it gave you a subtle warning and time to change lanes before it auto adjusts your speed.
  • i never got comfortable with Driver Assist…played with it some but it seemed to add stress - especially in traffic - rather than make it easier.
  • The acceleration is unbelievable! Makes on-ramp merging, lane changing, and passing very easy
  • Make sure you have a USB-C iPhone charging cord. I missed this little detail and quickly found nowhere to plug my antiquated USB charging cord. Had to make a stop on trip and upgrade my phone charging cord.
The vehicle performed great and trip was easy. It was fun way to get acquainted with all of the features. I never let SOC get below 25% due to anxiety and trust issues, but will be relaxing that now that it’s more comfortable. This should be fun!
I think you can set up more distance between yourself and the car in front of you. That might hep with the early engagement. We have a Tesla and the cruise control is my favorite thing--and being able to just follow the car in front in heavy traffic without having to touch gas or break. My car automatically following the one in front.
 

bhopkins

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The EA chargers (Walmart) pushed 150kW and were “complimentary”. Does this happen a lot? Can you search for complimentary charging stations in the app?
It happens on some high travel days or when EA detects issues with chargers. Totally random as far as I can tell. No way to search for complimentary charging in the app.

  • The Rivian navigation software worked flawlessly for me. After reading complaints, I was prepared to use phone apps but really didn’t need to. The mapping was accurate and it tried to route me around two traffic jams but I was too stubborn to follow the directions.
    • I couldn’t figure out how to enter intermediate waypoints?
    • it gave me time and distance to next charging stop but not to final destination. Is this a setting I’m missing?
Not able to enter intermediate waypoints at this time. Hopefully this will be an OTA enhancement someday.

Not missing a setting….right now, it doesn’t give you total time/distance to final destination.

  • The adaptive cruise control engages the vehicle in front way earlier than I thought it should. Is this distance adjustable? It would be nice if it gave you a subtle warning and time to change lanes before it auto adjusts your speed.
Use the scroll wheel on the right side of steering wheel to reduce following distance.
 

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madgrey

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I'm with you on charging anxiety, going on my 3rd week of EV ownership and reading posts and seeing videos about broken chargers everywhere. I need to get familiar with the infrastructure. Good suggestion about getting those accounts sorted out first, I think I'll make a trip down to the Mount Vernon Walmart and see how it goes.
 

R1Sky Business

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First time EV owner here. Took delivery of R1T at factory and my first drive was a 500 mile trip home from Normal. I’ve read about every post on this forum over the last 18 months and watched countless R1T YouTube videos, so I was familiar with the R1T but had never driven EV other than 20 min First Mile test drive. First impressions:
  • I didnt just have range anxiety - I had charging anxiety since I had never even operated an EV charger. This turned out to be very easy. I setup EA and ChargePoint accounts in advance. All of the chargers I stopped at were available and in working order. The EA chargers (Walmart) pushed 150kW and were “complimentary”. Does this happen a lot? Can you search for complimentary charging stations in the app?
    • The ChargePoint was slower at about 80kW and the owner charged a $0.20/min surcharge but didn’t have many choices at that point.
    • At the end of the 500 mile trip, I was only out of pocket about $20 for fuel.
  • The Rivian navigation software worked flawlessly for me. After reading complaints, I was prepared to use phone apps but really didn’t need to. The mapping was accurate and it tried to route me around two traffic jams but I was too stubborn to follow the directions.
    • I couldn’t figure out how to enter intermediate waypoints?
    • it gave me time and distance to next charging stop but not to final destination. Is this a setting I’m missing?
  • The adaptive cruise control engages the vehicle in front way earlier than I thought it should. Is this distance adjustable? It would be nice if it gave you a subtle warning and time to change lanes before it auto adjusts your speed.
  • i never got comfortable with Driver Assist…played with it some but it seemed to add stress - especially in traffic - rather than make it easier.
  • The acceleration is unbelievable! Makes on-ramp merging, lane changing, and passing very easy
  • Make sure you have a USB-C iPhone charging cord. I missed this little detail and quickly found nowhere to plug my antiquated USB charging cord. Had to make a stop on trip and upgrade my phone charging cord.
The vehicle performed great and trip was easy. It was fun way to get acquainted with all of the features. I never let SOC get below 25% due to anxiety and trust issues, but will be relaxing that now that it’s more comfortable. This should be fun!
Brave adventure for sure.... good to hear EA didn't give you trouble
 

R1Sky Business

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First time EV owner here. Took delivery of R1T at factory and my first drive was a 500 mile trip home from Normal. I’ve read about every post on this forum over the last 18 months and watched countless R1T YouTube videos, so I was familiar with the R1T but had never driven EV other than 20 min First Mile test drive. First impressions:
  • I didnt just have range anxiety - I had charging anxiety since I had never even operated an EV charger. This turned out to be very easy. I setup EA and ChargePoint accounts in advance. All of the chargers I stopped at were available and in working order. The EA chargers (Walmart) pushed 150kW and were “complimentary”. Does this happen a lot? Can you search for complimentary charging stations in the app?
    • The ChargePoint was slower at about 80kW and the owner charged a $0.20/min surcharge but didn’t have many choices at that point.
    • At the end of the 500 mile trip, I was only out of pocket about $20 for fuel.
  • The Rivian navigation software worked flawlessly for me. After reading complaints, I was prepared to use phone apps but really didn’t need to. The mapping was accurate and it tried to route me around two traffic jams but I was too stubborn to follow the directions.
    • I couldn’t figure out how to enter intermediate waypoints?
    • it gave me time and distance to next charging stop but not to final destination. Is this a setting I’m missing?
  • The adaptive cruise control engages the vehicle in front way earlier than I thought it should. Is this distance adjustable? It would be nice if it gave you a subtle warning and time to change lanes before it auto adjusts your speed.
  • i never got comfortable with Driver Assist…played with it some but it seemed to add stress - especially in traffic - rather than make it easier.
  • The acceleration is unbelievable! Makes on-ramp merging, lane changing, and passing very easy
  • Make sure you have a USB-C iPhone charging cord. I missed this little detail and quickly found nowhere to plug my antiquated USB charging cord. Had to make a stop on trip and upgrade my phone charging cord.
The vehicle performed great and trip was easy. It was fun way to get acquainted with all of the features. I never let SOC get below 25% due to anxiety and trust issues, but will be relaxing that now that it’s more comfortable. This should be fun!
Also, keeping it above 25% SOC is great for battery health.
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