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Rhidan

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Rivian R1T R1S Flat Top Wilderness / White River National Forest - Trip Report B56326F5-95A9-4176-9842-BD227E8AFE74


I took my R1T for an extended camping trip on family land near the Flat Top Wilderness in Colorado. We had fun putting the truck to use, light off-roading on some private roads/forest roads, rally and drift mode on some dirt backroads, and using the truck as a big battery pack to recharge gear at a remote off-grid cabin. Still in love with the truck after two months and already planning the next adventure.

Shout out to the Yampa Valley Electric Association who have installed one (1!) CCS 50kW plug in the small town of Yampa, Colorado. I took great advantage of that plug, which is strategically placed right on the eastern end of the Flat Top Wilderness Scenic Byway. Not the fastest charge, but a great location. Hopefully this is the type of location Rivian has planned for the RAN.

Rivian R1T R1S Flat Top Wilderness / White River National Forest - Trip Report C136EB4B-C34F-49C7-A7A9-73071CF06625


Had no real issues with the truck, but here are a few minor annoyances from the trip:

  • Phantom drain is still a real issue. I lost 10% charge parking the truck for four nights at the family cabin. The truck was parked at around 8,500 feet in an area with no cell service. We had variable weather (80 F day, 40 F night) with a few thunderstorms. Only made slight use of the truck during this time period (locking/unlocking and opening frunk/tunnel to get gear). On the first night I lost 4%, which gave me some anxiety about the whole trip. I would have used the truck more if I wasnā€™t worried about losing 5% parked each night. Felt like I had a small hole in my gas tank. Luckily, I only lost 6% the remaining 3 nights. The total drain was not terrible, but losing so much the first night was unsettling. Ultimately, I made it back to Steamboat Springs with 30% left. I easily could have stretched it more. Iā€™m still not comfortable getting super low in the battery pack when there are so few CCS plugs in NW Colorado and Iā€™ve already experienced some outages.
  • My temp tag is set to expire tomorrow. I may have stayed longer if I had my new plates. I reached out to my guide but have heard nothing. Hopefully, Iā€™ll find a package with my new plates when I get back home to Denver.
  • The Qi charger is not functional. The charge port on my phone is broken, but I just use Qi chargers exclusively at home anyways. I wasnā€™t able to charge my phone with the truckā€™s Qi pad. I also had trouble getting a standalone Qi pad to work plugged into the AC outlets. Probably just time to buy a new phone. Phone died early in the trip, so I had to use my iPad like a goober to take photos. [On a side note, Iā€˜ve really enjoyed keeping the iPad in the truck. The truck hotspot works flawlessly, and I can catch up on my emails/news/stream on the iPad while at a DCFC].
  • The inside passenger cover of my A-pillar wonā€™t stay in place. Not sure if I took a bump too hard and knocked it out place or if its just defective. I havenā€™t figured out how to latch it back so it will stay in place. Thereā€™s an airbag underneath, so Iā€™ve tried not to mess with it too much. Will likely have to call service, which is a bummer for such a small issue.
  • Tonneau cover. Iā€˜ve yet to have it jam on me, but i didnā€™t even risk opening it. There was so much dirt and dust. I never needed it open. An RTIC cooler fits perfectly underneath. But really hoping Rivian comes up with a more reliable solution.
Rivian R1T R1S Flat Top Wilderness / White River National Forest - Trip Report 80E6FD49-7DDF-4408-A61C-A6D8B36DE066
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SurlyBurris

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Thanks for the write-up. We've also spent quit a bit of time camping in the Flat Tops over the years and are hoping to re-create a few of these routes in the Rivian....specifically around the scenic by-way and up near Steamboat. It looks like there is charging "opportunities" in a few spots up there but they are few and relatively low powered.. Yampa having a charger is amazing knowing how tiny it is. Did you charge anywhere else? I've also heard charging in Steamboat is pretty sparse.
 

COdogman

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Love that area! Thanks for the pics and trip report. I don't have my truck yet so I'm just basing this question on what I was shown on my demo drive, but do you turn off the AC outlets when you are not using them? My demo drive guide made a point to show me how to do that because she said if they are left on - even when not in use - they can contribute to the vampire drain.
 

Dreamwater

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Love that area! Thanks for the pics and trip report. I don't have my truck yet so I'm just basing this question on what I was shown on my demo drive, but do you turn off the AC outlets when you are not using them? My demo drive guide made a point to show me how to do that because she said if they are left on - even when not in use - they can contribute to the vampire drain.
Definitely turn off the outlets when not in use. I left them on after I gave a Tesla a little charge from the gear tunnel AC. We were both surprised it even worked. Not much juice but enough to get him moving a bit. Anyway, I forget the number but it was around 1-2 miles drain per hour with nothing plugged in.
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