Moab trip charging experience

[jwanderson88]

I just returned from a trip to Moab, Utah. It was a fast trip with snow, wind, and cold temperatures. I'm focusing on my charging experience. It's 198 miles from home to Moab and I was pulling a trailer with a Can-Am side-by-side loaded onto it. Rivian estimated the combined weight of the trailer and side-by-side to be about 4500 pounds, which sounds about right. I was traveling with my sister and her husband. I started my trip with a great deal of range anxiety caused by a traumatic experience coming back from Moab in February of 2024, which I posted about on 2/29/2024. I was probably overly cautious this time. I started with 100% range. 90 miles later I tried a Tesla charging station for the first time in Wellington, Utah. It was suggested by my Rivian route planner, so I knew it would work with the adapter. I had watched YouTube videos, so I knew something about what to expect. It was surprisingly easy. The Tesla station didn't have any controls or screens or card readers. I plugged the Tesla connecter into my Rivian-supplied adapter and then plugged it into the Rivian charge port. The connecting and initializing process started automatically and then charging started. I found out later that I was paying 48 cents per kWh. I understand it's cheaper if you use a Tesla app with a Tesla account. I charged it from about 20% to 95% which took a little over an hour. One thing I'm not sure about is if you need the Rivian app open on your phone. I didn't think to check at the time, I probably did have it open and that might have been why it was so easy.

In Moab, I used my included Level 2 charger to charge it overnight at my nephew's home at 240 volts and 34 amps. Next day when we left at about 5 pm, I had 100% charge. As I drove toward Green River, Utah, I noticed that the estimated miles of range was decreasing way faster than the actual miles driven. I got nervous and decided to stop in Green River at an Electrify America, which I have used before, after traveling about 70 miles. I charged to 70% and paid 56 cents per kWh. I probably could have made it to Wellington, but I didn't want to chance it. That took about a half hour. At Wellington, I used the same Tesla charger that I used before, and it was just as easy. I charged to 94%, which took a little over an hour. By that time it was dark and it had been snowing and the winding road made me nervous, but I don't think there wasn't any actual ice on it. It was 90 miles from Wellington to home. I made it home with 63 miles of range.

My Rivian app reported all the charging sessions. One thing I noticed while charging was that the "miles added" was adjusted to account for the trailer if the trailer was connected and not adjusted if it wasn't connected, which could be confusing. I think the successful charging process will decrease my range anxiety/panic.

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[antimatter]

Any idea what sort of miles/kwh you were getting and at what speed you traveled? I'm considering towing a camper with an R1T at some point and am trying to get an idea of how far I'll be able to tow.

 

[av8or]

Any idea what sort of miles/kwh you were getting and at what speed you traveled? I'm considering towing a camper with an R1T at some point and am trying to get an idea of how far I'll be able to tow.

I’ve pulled a conventional travel trailer about 14k miles now. 1.02 miles/kWh is the average driving 60-65mph, any stretch over 100 miles can get nerve wracking.

 

[CharonPDX]

Any idea what sort of miles/kwh you were getting and at what speed you traveled? I'm considering towing a camper with an R1T at some point and am trying to get an idea of how far I'll be able to tow.

There’s a whole thread of people discussing their travel trailers; many giving efficiency estimates.

 

[RivianRiverRat]

towing threads

Current Travel Trailers / RVs you're towing - Reviews and Recommendations! | Rivian Forum - R1T R1S R2 R3 News, Specs, Models, RIVN Stock -- Rivianforums.com

Towing + Efficiency: Please post your experience! | Rivian Forum - R1T R1S R2 R3 News, Specs, Models, RIVN Stock -- Rivianforums.com

 

[Pacernow]

jwanderson88,

Great pictures

 

[comtns]

Thanks. I'm considering moving out that way, and hearing charging experiences out there is useful.

 

[Erik+]

From my only handful of experiences, the EA chargers in Moab blow away the Tesla ones for charging speeds.

 

[Dutch]

The new EA charger in Moab is only 38 cents per Kwh and it has a pull through. It's just down the road from Tesla toward Arches.

 

[iamnid]

I plugged the Tesla connecter into my Rivian-supplied adapter and then plugged it into the Rivian charge port. The connecting and initializing process started automatically and then charging started. I found out later that I was paying 48 cents per kWh. I understand it's cheaper if you use a Tesla app with a Tesla account. I charged it from about 20% to 95% which took a little over an hour. One thing I'm not sure about is if you need the Rivian app open on your phone. I didn't think to check at the time, I probably did have it open and that might have been why it was so easy.

It had nothing to do with having your Rivian app open. Rivian has "plug and charge" with the Supercharger network. You plug in and it knows to charge the credit card on your Rivian account. If you wanted to get a Tesla membership and take advantage of lower prices, you'd actually have to initiate charging through the Tesla app before plugging in your Rivian.

 

[jwanderson88]

I didn't see a new EA charger on the app or anywhere else. The first charging session at Tesla in Wellington started out in the 200's. I thought that was pretty fast. The second session on the way back started at 178 and went down in the 40's as it got over 90 percent. I didn't see a lot of difference in the speed. The speed of chargers can vary a lot with no explanation. The rule of thumb of half the range with a trailer works better than Rivian's estimate. It was not realistic at all. Maybe it's for some imaginary place with level ground and no wind that doesn't exist in real life. Maybe that is something they should work on. Comparing the actual miles driven to the estimated miles gives you some idea of what's really going on. I drove between 60 and 65 the whole way. Tires around 48 psi.

If you look at my post in 2024 (I wasn't pulling a trailer) I went over the mountains, which gets over 9000 feet high. This time I took a longer route though Price that is more level, but around 30 miles farther. It is a steady climb of about 30 miles from Huntington to the top. Watching the estimated miles go down twice as fast as the actual miles is enough to curl your hair. It's something you can plan for though.

 

[CJRocker]

Any idea what sort of miles/kwh you were getting and at what speed you traveled? I'm considering towing a camper with an R1T at some point and am trying to get an idea of how far I'll be able to tow.

We just finished a cross country trip in a R1S. For the second part of the trip, we trailered my Indian - trailer and bike approx. 2,500 pounds. We ranged between 1.6 and .8 - we went through some mountains and had some headwinds impacting us. I learned that after trailering for a bit, hitting the reset button on efficiency calculations allows the system to better estimate reality for range.

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