My R1T is going on a 2000 miles trip and need advise on charging

[Budman]

View this thread I recently posted about a recent trip

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...dona-and-back-in-r1t.26039/page-2#post-515356

I have done three long road trips with no issues. Just do a little advanced planning in PlugShare and stay top of your consumption rate and charger spacing and you should be fine.

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[Writemax]

Be sure and download all the charging company apps before your trip.
We returned Sunday from our first long trip, Seattle to Santa Fe to Las Vegas and back, and found charging to be easy.
We used/needed Electrify America, ChargePoint, EVgo, and EV Connect.
The only issue we had was with the Rivian Navigation, which would sometimes not show chargers or try to send us on less than ideal routes, this is where Plug Share and ABRP came in handy.

 

[Skellogg]

We are planning on a long road trip with our R1T in June and I haven't received the Rivian charge adaptor and I don't think I will be getting one soon. So what is my option? Should I just stick with RAN, EVGO, ChargePoint, etc? Or should I buy charge adaptor to use Tesla supercharger? I do remember Rivian warning against the non-Rivian charge adaptor though. I would appreciate if any one who has done a long road trip with Rivian share some wisdom here.

I just finished a 2,000 mile trip from San Diego to Medford, OR in my new 2024 R1T that I just received 4 days before the trip. I may have been crazy for doing a long trip so soon after delivery but as it turned out all went smoothly with no issues (mostly).

I only relied on the Rivian app to map charge points. My A2Z hasn’t arrived so relied on Rivian, EVGo, EA mostly. I only used fast chargers and had enough range to get to each. Downloading the app for each was a big time/stress saver. I really liked EVGo’s plug and charge feature. No messing with payment options or credit card swiping. You just plug in and it starts charging, just like the Rivian chargers. I didn’t experience any broken or crowded charging stations luckily mainly because I stuck to major freeway routes. Originally I wanted to take the coastal scenic route but not enough chargers and 2 land slide closures nixed that.

my only complaint is with the display navigation map. It would loose my location at almost every red light and “reroute” once the light turned green. Any quick turn directions would disappear for a block or two making me miss a few turns. I finally had to memorize what turns were ahead as I approached any stops. Sometimes when stopped the display would ask for a u turn ahead even though I was already turning the right direction. On one leg it directed me to a charge location near the end of the leg but then 15 minutes into the leg it changed and wanted to take me to the same charge location first, even though there were no temp, terrain or range changes. Wierd.

I did get smarter about picking charge locations that had something for my wife to do while charging. While I was perfectly content watching my new truck charge, she was not. I ended up looking up each potential charge location in Google maps and then looking nearby for “approved”shopping/restaurants, etc.

While I owned a Tesla for 5 years I never did any long road trips so was overly cautious on this trip. Turns out I could have skipped a few charging sessions and still been ok.

No other issues, the ride is very comfy and other than the nav issue above, all went great.

 

[R.I.P.]

The fact that you posted the question means you're not entirely comfortable with the available CCS options.

That being the case, seems obvious you would want to buy an inexpensive supercharger adapter and remove that question from your mind.

 

[ksurfier]

May be repeating what others have said, with 1 exception the following is your best bet:

1) Buy a Tesla J1772 (L2) adapter (if you haven't already): $30 one from amazon has worked great so far:
"Only for J1772 EVs Tesla to J1772 Charging Adapter, Max 48 Amp & 250V - Compatible with Tesla High Powered Connectors, Destination Chargers, and Mobi..."

2) Buy A 3RD party adapter like the A2Z ($200): Order at least 60 days ahead of when you need it a2zevshop.com
After your trip you could sell the adapter...but most likely the money saved using Tesla network will easily pay for the adapter...

3) Plan to charge at Rivian (1st choice), Tesla (2nd), Electrify America (3rd), and EVgo (4th). There may be others I'm not familiar with...Also, if you have the Tesla adapter, make sure to sign up for membership ($13/month) so you get the better rates....

4) Can also look for convenient level 2 options for overnight stops (I believe Rivian maxes out at 11 kwh (22 miles per hour), this can get a significant charge in 8-10 hours (~200 miles) which saves around 45 minutes of supercharging.

For the exception, if it's a route you've already traveled/planned out well then you might feel like not worrying too much about it (doesn't sound like that's your case though).

 

[CharonPDX]

Depends entirely on where your trip is going.

Your profile says "Southern California" - if your 2000 miles is just Portland and back, you don't need an adapter. If it's Denver and back, you might want one.

I did 4500 miles down the West Coast, towing a trailer, including Eastern California, all over Arizona, even into Mexico. Pre-NACS-adapters. There was only one time when it would have been *nice* to have the adapter, but it certainly wasn't a deal-breaker. (Would have let me use a more convenient Tesla @ 200kW instead of a more out-of-the-way 150kW. But that added only about half an hour.)

 

[iBang]

I am sorry to you all that I haven't responded. I was away for a couple of days. My itinerary is like this: Los Angeles -> Bishop -> Lake Tahoe -> Reno -> Chester, CA (Lassen Volcanic NP) -> Redding -> Portland -> Port Angeles -> British Columbia (by ferry) -> Vancouber -> Mt. Rainier -> Portland -> Napa Valley -> Los Angeles.

Since I will be mostly on West Coast I assume I should be OK?

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I am sorry to you all that I haven't responded. I was away for a couple of days. My itinerary is like this: Los Angeles -> Bishop -> Lake Tahoe -> Reno -> Chester, CA (Lassen Volcanic NP) -> Redding -> Portland -> Port Angeles -> British Columbia (by ferry) -> Vancouber -> Mt. Rainier -> Portland -> Napa Valley -> Los Angeles.

Since I will be mostly on West Coast I assume I should be OK?

Mostly OK, at least in Washington! Fair number of RAN chargers and other DC Fast chargers on that route.

Consider a side trip to the Makah Museum/Cultural Center and hiking trails at Neah Bay, Washington.

Enjoy!

 

[mikehmb]

I am sorry to you all that I haven't responded. I was away for a couple of days. My itinerary is like this: Los Angeles -> Bishop -> Lake Tahoe -> Reno -> Chester, CA (Lassen Volcanic NP) -> Redding -> Portland -> Port Angeles -> British Columbia (by ferry) -> Vancouber -> Mt. Rainier -> Portland -> Napa Valley -> Los Angeles.

Since I will be mostly on West Coast I assume I should be OK?

You’ll almost certainly be fine.

The Reno -> Lassen route, though … which way did you plan to go? Heading down to the central valley then up 99 is a better choice than trying your luck up 395.

Otherwise, plenty of options. Especially (as others have stated) if you get a NACS adapter from one of the reputable 3rd party OEs (ex. A2Z).

 

[WSea]

I am sorry to you all that I haven't responded. I was away for a couple of days. My itinerary is like this: Los Angeles -> Bishop -> Lake Tahoe -> Reno -> Chester, CA (Lassen Volcanic NP) -> Redding -> Portland -> Port Angeles -> British Columbia (by ferry) -> Vancouber -> Mt. Rainier -> Portland -> Napa Valley -> Los Angeles.

Since I will be mostly on West Coast I assume I should be OK?

Do charging research for Lassen. Almost hit it last summer on way back from Tahoe but bailed. Seemed to require a long L2 charge. Things may have changed with TSC access

 

[CrazyOne]

I am sorry to you all that I haven't responded. I was away for a couple of days. My itinerary is like this: Los Angeles -> Bishop -> Lake Tahoe -> Reno -> Chester, CA (Lassen Volcanic NP) -> Redding -> Portland -> Port Angeles -> British Columbia (by ferry) -> Vancouber -> Mt. Rainier -> Portland -> Napa Valley -> Los Angeles.

Since I will be mostly on West Coast I assume I should be OK?

Stay at a hotel with a J1772 in Vancouver and you should be good between BC and Washington. I did the same. Plenty in Washington along the interstates and the Olympic national park. Plan on such a way that you won't be stranded by the non-availability of a single station.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

If staying overnight in Seattle area, @iBang, consider the Four Points by Sheraton in Des Moines, Washington. It's a few miles south of Seattle-Tacoma Airport and has five working Level 2 chargers -- three 8-kW Tesla Destination chargers, and two 6-kW J-1772 that work consistently despite finicky latch buttons. The chargers are described fully in the PlugShare listing.

We have never ever had anything but a great night's stay at that hotel. The room rates are reasonable, in our opinion, except during the summer peak season. Two restaurants -- one has good American-style food, and the other serves authentic spicy Indian/South Asian food.

We have occasionally found both of the Four Points' J-1772 chargers busy, but we now carry Tesla-to-J1772 adapters so we can charge on any of the five chargers. With the adapters, we get good overnight charging on every stay.

I hope this helps!

 

[Wefty]

Plugshare has been mentioned plenty of times. It isn't only for planning your trip but using it for each station you are planning to go to before you get there. Example: At stop#1 start researching charging stop#2 etc. I have charged at stations that were great one day then out of service the very next day on my return trip. I was lucky that I checked Plugshare ahead of time and was able to plan a different route which didn't cause too much delay.

Also mentioned plenty of times is to download AND make accounts for every service you may need before leaving on the trip. It is really a crap shoot at a lot of stations on which form of payment and authorizations will work.

Those Tesla Destination Charger adapters are cheap and very useful.

 

[defcon888]

Sign up for EA membership and EVGo. You can cancel after your trip.

Like others have said, use ABRP and Plug-Share to map your trip.

As you are planning your trip, look for chargers (most likely Level 2) at hotels you can stay at. Call the hotel/motel and ask if they are reliable. Then when you get there, you can plug in and most of the time, you can charge for free if you will be staying there.

There are 3rd party adapters you can get right now. People like the "A2Z" brand, but keep in mind that those aren't approved and guaranteed by Rivian. If something happens to your Rivian vehicle and it is determined to be the adapter, you are out of luck.

June is a couple of months away. Maybe a Rivian owner will get theirs soon in your area that you might be able to borrow. Join a facebook group for your area. I belong to the NorCal one and there are amazing people in the group.

 

[defcon888]

Plugshare has been mentioned plenty of times. It isn't only for planning your trip but using it for each station you are planning to go to before you get there. Example: At stop#1 start researching charging stop#2 etc. I have charged at stations that were great one day then out of service the very next day on my return trip. I was lucky that I checked Plugshare ahead of time and was able to plan a different route which didn't cause too much delay.

Also mentioned plenty of times is to download AND make accounts for every service you may need before leaving on the trip. It is really a crap shoot at a lot of stations on which form of payment and authorizations will work.

Those Tesla Destination Charger adapters are cheap and very useful.

You are like me. When we went on a road trip from NorCal to SoCal last September, I studied Plug-Share like a teenager cramming for a test. About 2 months out I checked all the possible stops along the way and read reviews....that is why I always leave reviews if and when I use a public charger. It helps others.

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