R1T ski trip with family from San Francisco CA to Bend OR

[zsherry]

I also have the latch issue, but so far the tailgate has stayed shut.

I recently suffered a bricked R1T due to a 12V battery failure. With mine, there was no warning, only a dead car, and jumping did not fix it.

This is my biggest problem with using the Rivian as an "adventure vehicle"--if it spontaneously bricks on you on an "adventure," you are in serious trouble. I couldn't even get the doors to open. Imagine if I was in the snowy backcountry, hours from anywhere. It's zero degrees out, night is falling, it's snowing heavily, I'm out of cell phone range on a lonely forest road, and I can't get back into my car. If I can't send an SOS via satellite from my iPhone, I might freeze to death (depending on how bad the weather gets)! Even if I can send an SOS, help may take a long time to arrive.

ICE models at least offer a backup key you can use to open the doors in case of 12V battery failure. Not Rivian!

Totally on the same page here. I’m seeking a hidden exterior spot to keep a small 12v jumper to use on rear leads for just this reason.

Same issue with not getting the truck going from rear leads. Was only able to get doors open. So I wound up jumping directly to the 12v under the hood on the drivers side once I got the doors/hood open.

I guess in a pinch you could keep this in the frunk and use the emergency release under the wheel well as well.

Either way it’s not all that inspiring to use as an adventure vehicle with these issues, hence figuring out my contingency plans.

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[zsherry]

It’s going to be expensive. If you have had warranty work done, you have received an invoice with costs, but no charge. I’m thinking these are being sent out pretty conspicuously so that, when out of warranty work is $$$$, folks had notice of sorts.

Will reply back once all of this is done. So far 0$ on invoices and all is under warranty. I did see what they expect to charge for a battery replacement and frankly. Nope. I will replace with a LiFePO4E with a charge controller when the warranty is up as these can be remotely monitored and are much more reliable than lead acid.

 

[Eeyore]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. It benefits so many other people.

If you ever happen to be in Kalamath falls again, Wubbba's Express is the place to go for BBQ. Probably the thing I miss most about K Falls.

Just one question; Is the skiing at Bachelor worth that long of a drive?

 

[zsherry]

Did you try cycling the "unlock driver only" setting? After updates, I've noticed random settings get flipped and you have to cycle them to fix.

Thanks. Will check this!

 

[zsherry]

I’ve got Blizzaks on my R1T A/T and agree that the snow traction is awesome. However, I have noticed very little to no reduction in efficiency with them. And, from a road noise perspective, they are a breath of fresh, being much, much quieter than the stock Pirellis. Maybe weather and speed/aerodynamics are the efficiency culprits on your Bend trip.

As for the costs of charging while road tripping, even if it does approach the cost of gasoline, we are still waaaay ahead of the game, if charging at home.

What psi are you running?

 

[Tejkalra]

I also have the latch issue, but so far the tailgate has stayed shut.

I recently suffered a bricked R1T due to a 12V battery failure. With mine, there was no warning, only a dead car, and jumping did not fix it.

This is my biggest problem with using the Rivian as an "adventure vehicle"--if it spontaneously bricks on you on an "adventure," you are in serious trouble. I couldn't even get the doors to open. Imagine if I was in the snowy backcountry, hours from anywhere. It's zero degrees out, night is falling, it's snowing heavily, I'm out of cell phone range on a lonely forest road, and I can't get back into my car. If I can't send an SOS via satellite from my iPhone, I might freeze to death (depending on how bad the weather gets)! Even if I can send an SOS, help may take a long time to arrive.

ICE models at least offer a backup key you can use to open the doors in case of 12V battery failure. Not Rivian!

Chances are you will freeze to death in ice car too. I mean why you want to go all alone on adventure trip which looks shady and scary already. I will never go alone on those kind of trips. I will go in group and prepared for worse.

 

[zsherry]

Thanks for the informative trip report. Glad to hear the positives and that you made it back safely despite the issues that came up.
On long road trips, I’m beginning to realize that when it comes to cost and convenience, ICE vs Electric might be getting on par since the cost of charging is getting bigger now than a year or two ago. Plus, you don’t have to wait around when refueling than charging although you can plan your stops and do other “stuff” while charging but if time is of the essence then ICE definitely is the choice.
If on this trip you only have a 3peak A/T tire, and not a snow tire, how doable could it be?
I’m shopping for new tires and have one trip coming up in February to the mountains and a set of snow tires for just one trip might be excessive.

The stops are nicely spaced to get some rest from drive fatigue so that part is actually helpful as it forces you to rest/stretch.

Im sure it would be fine. The blizzak tires are just insanely grippy on snow/ice. The 97 is just a white knuckle drive if nearly any winter weather rolls in but I’ve done this in a tesla my with all season pirellis with only a bit of slip. I do a lot of trips to the sierra so the snows are a regular swap in the winter. They’re also great in the rain. I keep them on a separate set of wheels and swap in my garage. It’s an investment but it does distribute wear across both sets so you wind up purchasing tires less frequently. I wouldn't suggest if it’s just one trip however. Bring some snow socks or chains.

 

[zsherry]

Chances are you will freeze to death in ice car too. I mean why you want to go all alone on adventure trip which looks shady and scary already. I will never go alone on those kind of trips. I will go in group and prepared for worse.

This response sounds a little “fanboy” but I agree that regardless of vehicle it’s about planning for contingencies. Whether that be going with a partner or having the right stuff to handle the likely and less likely events that may occur depending on how far out you’re going. The issue for me is that the Rivian is a bit less reliable and does not inspire confidence when little issues occur more frequently than with other manufacturers products. Fact is it’s a first run vehicle so prone to having more issues and probably not the best first choice for a remote adventure.

 

[webfootdawg]

Did the Sunriver/Bachelor trip this weekend from Portland

Only 110v destination charging

Extended the dc charging stop on the way to have some buffer.

 

[Tejkalra]

This response sounds a little “fanboy” but I agree that regardless of vehicle it’s about planning for contingencies. Whether that be going with a partner or having the right stuff to handle the likely and less likely events that may occur depending on how far out you’re going. The issue for me is that the Rivian is a bit less reliable and does not inspire confidence when little issues occur more frequently than with other manufacturers products. Fact is it’s a first run vehicle so prone to having more issues and probably not the best first choice for a remote adventure.

Rivian is bit less reliable... Yes I think so too. Fortunately I didn't get into such event. Trust me, one such event and I m moving on. Question is which other ev truck or SUV should I choose. Pls don't say cybertrash. Ford lightning very good but then not that satisfying. What else then. So I m kind of stuck and may be thats why most of the rivian owners are praising it as they don't have a proper comparison. May be scout EV in future. I have issues with rivian too. Yes I m a faboy but not blind.

 

[Singletracker]

What psi are you running?

I’m running around 52 psi in the Blizzaks. They are the LT’s 275/65-20.

 

[zsherry]

Rivian is bit less reliable... Yes I think so too. Fortunately I didn't get into such event. Trust me, one such event and I m moving on. Question is which other ev truck or SUV should I choose. Pls don't say cybertrash. Ford lightning very good but then not that satisfying. What else then. So I m kind of stuck and may be thats why most of the rivian owners are praising it as they don't have a proper comparison. May be scout EV in future. I have issues with rivian too. Yes I m a faboy but not blind.

This is all uncharted territory. We won’t see reliability for another 3-5 years. Hazards of bleeding edge technology.

 

[BTOR]

Documenting my trip from SF Bay Area, California to the Mt. Bachelor ski area in Bend, Oregon. First road trip with family of 4.

Going into this trip with a roughly 1.5 year old R1T with 15k miles. Updated tires for snow to the Bridgestone Blizzak and carrying ski/snowboard gear on the rack on the bed. Starting both ends of trip with 100% charge.

Also going in with several known issues I am waiting on repairs later this month:
-dead 12v battery - jumped this myself and everything was working.
-rear gate latch not recognizing being closed.
-rattling front suspension.

None were serious enough to stop the trip.

We averaged roughly 1.7 miles per kWh for the trip. I attribute this to the less efficient snow tires, colder temperatures, and hill climbs.

On the way north we stopped 4 times to charge though could have easily made it with 3. The last stop was near our destination and I did not know what the charging situation would be at the rental so wanted to top off as we would be heading out early to the mountain the next day.

Starting in Marin County CA at just after 8:30am we had our first stop at a Tesla supercharger in Red Bluff, CA. 187 miles and showed up with 21%. Charged up to 70% and headed on. The tab on that charge was nearly $50. Ouch.


80.8940 kWh added in 33 min 17 sec
$47.73 total

I decided to stick with Rivian chargers the rest of the way.

Next stop was Mt. Shasta where we didn’t need to stop but did and charged as far as it would go while we ate lunch. 91 miles - roughly 1.5 miles per kWh.


84.7520 kWh added in 1hr 2 min 57 sec
99.77kW DC max rate
$31.36 total

Next was Kalamath falls which was mostly just a top off before getting on the 97 which can be known to get very icy and accident prone.


31.6543 kWh added in 13 min 24 sec
220.44kW DC max rate
$13.93 total

Final stop was in Crescent which was not needed but wanted to top off.


57.7541 kWh added in 22 min 32 sec
219.24kW DC max rate
$20.79 total

Arrival in Sunriver, OR at just after 5pm with roughly 65% charge. Total time 8 hours 45 minutes 483 miles

It is a 50 mile round trip from where we stayed to Mt. Bachelor and it was storming every day. The truck handled like a champ on the roads and was super fun to drive. I tried all purpose, snow, and rally modes. All handled well. The clearance helped on the snowy days getting in and out of the parking lot with more than a foot of fresh snow.

I also had to figure out a 220 charging solution at our rental and managed to plug into the dryer 30A outlet and was able to get 7kwh to top off overnight while there. Saved runs to bend to spend big $ at Tesla SC! This was a bit complicated as the Rivian supplied 220 plug is for RV setups not home dryer receptacles. Happy to share my setup if anyone is interested.


During our stay I experienced several new issues.
-doors other than driver door not unlocking and handles not deploying. Locking and unlocking from the app reset this.
-odd behavior with tailgate, the latch previously stopped registering it being closed but it would now show in the dash as broken and would not open unless I restarted the vehicle.
-key FOB stopped working. Fresh battery and showing 100% in the dashboard. Nothing. Dead.

I spoke to Rivian about these issues and they setup a mobile appointment very quickly to come to me as this could be related to the dead 12v battery issues that is supposed to be fixed later this month at the service center.

On the way back we left at 6am and targeted a first stop at Kalamath to take advantage of the better energy rates in Oregon before crossing back into CA. The blizzaks were an asset on the 97 as a storm was rolling in and ice and snow were abundant. No traction issues whatsoever and saw several cars off the road.

We targeted 3 stops total:

1. Kalamath falls, OR - 123 miles. Roughly 1.6 miles per kWh.

55.5526 kWh added in 26 min 11 sec
220.44kW DC max rate
$24.44 total

2. Cottonwood, CA -157 miles. Roughly 1.75 m/kwh.

84.2560 kWh added in 29 min 43 sec
$50.55 total

3. Dunnigan, CA - 110 miles. Roughly 1.8 m/kwh

67.2660 kWh added in 25 min 40 sec
$39.69 total

Marin County (home) at 3:15 pm - 87 miles with 35% charge remaining.

Total trip time 9 hours 15 minutes. hit traffic getting back to the Bay Area which slowed us down.

Overall impressions.
-not any more cost efficient than driving a gas SUV.
-nervous about locking/access issues (hoping this gets sorted at the service center)
-driving was effortless at highway speeds and use of lane assist on I5 was awesome.
-handled snow and ice way better than anything I’ve ever driven.
-plenty of storage for all the ski stuff.
-a little cramped for 4 of us (2 adults and 2 mid to late teen boys)

Even though your energy cost savings over an ICE were essentially a wash, keep in mind you likely kept over 0.5 metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere versus a similar sized ICE pick-up. I know my family appreciates that.

 

[zsherry]

Ha. We were in Sunriver with our R1S at the same time! Some stormy ski days, but some amazing powder days too!!! Would you mind sharing your dyer set up for our next trip? Thank you.

I outlined it here: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...san-francisco-ca-to-bend-or.38459/post-696285

 

[zsherry]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. It benefits so many other people.

If you ever happen to be in Kalamath falls again, Wubbba's Express is the place to go for BBQ. Probably the thing I miss most about K Falls.

Just one question; Is the skiing at Bachelor worth that long of a drive?

thanks. Will check that out the next time I’m up there.

this trip was definitely worth it but we hit the weather just right with several huge dumps before we arrived then several epic powder days. The length of trip justifies at least a week stay IMHO.

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