MN Rivian Tips

[Bootowl]

All- I pick up my Rivian R1S tomorrow. Wondering if any MN folks have any tips/tricks for a new R1S owner here in the land of ice, snow, and cold (at least until next week when it gets back into the 30s). Does snow mode work for icy driveways? Am I (or more importantly my wife) going to freeze in the cabin when windchills are -10 or worse? I have many questions. Thanks for any wisdom you can provide!

-BootOwl

Sponsored

 

[Cycliste]

Always Be Charging—plugged in and charged up to your charging limit dictated by your range needs between charging
Charge at home; DCFC is mainly for road trips away from home
Set Navigation to the DCFC location to get the battery to ideal temperature for DCFC 25 C / 75 F
Park in a garage if possible
Your battery has an increased demand for warming the cabin, but also lower deliverable capacity due to cold’s effect on electrochemistry
Throw out your fueling methodology for ICE cars and learn an EV charging methodology

 

[DonkeyKong]

Move to Florida like I did! Fellow Blaine resident, now in St. Augustine area. I do not miss the cold one bit…but I miss ‘MN Nice”.

 

[Redline]

Hello fellow MN R1S owner!

You’re going to love it.

I agree with what was said above. Always charge when you can. Also a garage makes a huge difference. Make sure you use preconditioning when you can. Snowmode does work and I have had zero issues keeping my cabin warm.

We did a road trip this past weekend to the cabin and back…the only issue being the charging situation in MN sucks right now. That’s going to change quickly, but something to be mindful of right now. Learn to use plugshare and check it often. My Rivian wanted me to make an insane drive home from the cabin and stop at a lvl 2 for 5 hours because it didn’t realize there was a 50 kWh charger just 20 miles away….but I knew about it and used it.

Also, the entire team at the Minneapolis Rivian SC rock. They’re just all great guys.

 

[schwartz83]

Welcome!

This is my second winter with an R1T and we've taken a couple of road trips in frigid weather. It takes more planning than with a gas vehicle, but it's very doable.
Plugshare and ABRP have been invaluable. Range takes a hit in the cold - which I'm sure you've read on the forum.

I'm headed up north of Grand Rapids this weekend (from Minneapolis) and have no worries.

My neighbor has a Rivian, as do two close friends, and none of us have regrets.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as we have!

Oh, no problems staying warm. Pet mode is great when running errands!

 

[Bootowl]

Thanks, all! Look forward to seeing you on the road.

 

[Redline]

Thanks, all! Look forward to seeing you on the road.

Just be one of the good ones and wave back

Oh and hopefully the MN guys will get more active. @ThumprMN has tried to get some Rivian owners together. Maybe when the weather gets nicer we can do something.

 

[minneR1Tonka]

You will be fine if you have a charger at home to precondition the battery and cabin. This morning with preconditioning in an unheated garage my battery temp was 51 and outside was -4. I drove 80 miles (40 country roads and 40 interstate) with the cabin heated to 75, and used roughly 35% battery.

Efficiency was obviously better during warmer months, but well within acceptable/expected range given the temperatures we get.

 

[Redline]

75?! Did you bring a towel for that sauna?

 

[schwartz83]

Just be one of the good ones and wave back

Oh and hopefully the MN guys will get more active. @ThumprMN has tried to get some Rivian owners together. Maybe when the weather gets nicer we can do something.

I'm in!

 

[Redline]

Also, I’m probably the easiest Rivian to spot right now. I’ve got the new Minnesota Twins plates on my car

 

[Doug]

Welcome to Rivian ownership!! We have had ours for about 14 months. We drove to Brookings SD with ours this last weekend in -45 windchill and we were warm. I unzipped my coat and could have taken it off and just wore my sweatshirt. Redline was right above, be sure to check for working chargers on plugshare. Another tip is to have a backup plan in case a charger is unexpectedly not working. Tonight we went to Worthington and had to charge a bit before coming home and 3 of 4 EA chargers were down. So at least one worked and no one was there waiting. One observation I noticed this week is that some snow gets in the Frunk when you drive in high wind and it is snowing. I am not sure if this is normal or if I have a panal gap somewhere. I was driving in some whiteout conditions so maybe that is normal in those conditions. Others can weigh in on that.

 

[Bootowl]

All- I pick up my Rivian R1S tomorrow. Wondering if any MN folks have any tips/tricks for a new R1S owner here in the land of ice, snow, and cold (at least until next week when it gets back into the 30s). Does snow mode work for icy driveways? Am I (or more importantly my wife) going to freeze in the cabin when windchills are -10 or worse? I have many questions. Thanks for any wisdom you can provide!

-BootOwl

Well, Rivian is in hand, and I can definitely say heating is not an issue! Gets balmy in here quick! Thanks all for your advice and tips. Look forward to a MN Rivian event sometime when it warms up a bit!

 

[Redline]

Enjoy!

Sponsored