R1T trip report - SF bay area to Boise roundtrip with a payload (1300 miles) - Long w/ data!

[RivianXpress]

Thank you for the great write-up!

I may have missed it, but what drive mode/height setting were you using. I haven't had the opportunity to drive any really long trips, but I did drive from Hillsboro, OR to Lincoln City, OR in SPORT mode and the Lowest setting when picking up my R1T from the Xpel PPF shop. I was floored by how much SPORT mode ate up the available range number. It was a poor man's test and assured me I would never, ever use SPORT mode on any trip where distance between chargers mattered. That's probably a given, but I seem to be a slow learner some days.

I was in Conserve the entire trip except for a few instances where I need to pass a slow semi on a two lane road. I switched to All purpose for these instances. I find the Conserve mode too slow to react when I needed quicker acceleration.

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[Acoustic71]

I was in Conserve the entire trip except for a few instances where I need to pass a slow semi on a two lane road. I switched to All purpose for these instances. I find the Conserve mode too slow to react when I needed quicker acceleration.

Thank you.

I haven't tried it yet, but is it OK to switch drive modes on the fly? As you can tell, I haven't had much time in the cockpit, so to speak.

 

[RivianXpress]

Thank you.

I haven't tried it yet, but is it OK to switch drive modes on the fly? As you can tell, I haven't had much time in the cockpit, so to speak.

Yes, but you’ll need to switch off cruise control in order to change drive modes.

 

[srnyoung]

I'm curious why the truck never got more accurate about range?
Is there is a mode or other tweaks you could make so it "learned" what the payload/wind resistance was?

I've been pleased to read that in tow mode, people have reported that the mileage adjusts and ends up pretty accurate after a few miles. Wonder how to replicate that when hauling but NOT towing...

Thanks for the detailed report!

Just returned from the KTM Adventure rally in Idaho in my R1T. I left a week ago Monday with my KTM 790 in the bed. It weighs about 480 lbs and I also had my gear along with a friends gear - maybe 900 lbs payload including me.

The route was pretty simple. I-80 from SF to Winnemucca and then North on 95 to Boise. There are not any other options that are direct.

First part of the drive was a breeze as there are lots of chargers on I-80. First three stops were in Auburn, Fernley and Winnemucca at EA stations. No issues at all.

It was 408 miles to Winnemucca and I averaged 69mph in 6 hours and was at 1.74 mi/kWh and used 233 kWh.

From here (Winnemucca) things got interesting. The onboard nav warned me there were no hi speed chargers on the way the Boise. The distance was about 260 miles but I knew there was a 50A charger in McDermitt about 80 miles north of Winnemucca. I charged to a range of 256 miles at the EA in Winnemucca and left at 3:10PM. Next stop was McDermitt where I had planned to grab some extra charge in order ro make it to Boise.

I arrived in McDermitt about an hour later (5:10 - time zone change) and plugged in to the slow charger (28 min added 20 kWh). The charger stopped charging at 20 kWh for some reason and I thought I had enough charge to make it. Left McDermitt at 5:47PM. The Nav said it was 179 miles to Boise and I had 209 miles of range. About an hour later things still looked good 137 miles to go with an indicated 154 miles of range. Another hour (7:35) and not so good - 65 miles to go and 67 miles of range. At this point I was really getting anxious and started going slow and even started drafting a big rig. 60 mph on the flats and 35 up the hills when the semi slowed slowed to climb them. There is absolutely NOTHING out in this area of southern Oregon and Idaho, no towns, no stops, NOTHING - did I mention it was getting dark and I started to see mountains ahead?

The closest EA fast charger was at Walmart #2508 in Boise and other than a few 14-50 RV spots there wasn't anything else on Plugshare so I needed to get there. At 7:57 with 41 miles still to go it said I would arrive there with 3 miles of range. I really slowed down at the point and arrived at the Walmart at 8:45 with 1% SOC and 4 miles of range. Wow, was that stressful!

Lesson learned - when driving to Boise either charge to 100% in Winnemucca or have at least 40 miles of range buffer when leaving McDermitt. I'm honestly not sure I could have done this trip at all in the winter with the same payload.

I parked my truck at my buddies house and kept it plugged in four 5 days while we went to the KTM rally in Tamarack. He only had a 110 outlet and I knew I'd need full charge for my return trip.

SF bay area to Boise totals:
Distance - 658 miles
Avg Speed - 66 mph
Duration - 10:02
Efficiency - 1.72 mi/kWh
Total Energy - 360 kWh

----- Return trip (boise to SF Bay area) -----

I came home this past Monday. I left my buddies house in Boise (10 miles past Walmart #2508) with a full charge (293 miles) at 7:15AM but this time with two motorcycles in the bed.
————————————————————————————
McDermitt stop - charge - 52 min

I arrived in McDermitt with 27 miles of range left (!) having travelled 186 miles averaging 61 mph in 3:04 with a 1.65 kW/h. I didn't speed at all and never exceeded the highest posted speed of 70 mph. The temp varied from 45 to 65 degrees. This time I charged longer at the slow charger and wasn't kicked off. I added 42kWh in 52 min. I left McDermitt with 111 miles of range for a 75 mile trip to Winnemucca.

- Boise to McDermitt leg -
Departure Charge Range indicated - 293 miles
Distance travelled - 186 miles
Arrival remaining range indicated - 27 miles
Discrepancy - 80 miles short

Boise to McDermitt totals:
Distance - 186 miles
Avg Speed - 61 mph
Duration - 3:04
Efficiency - 1.65 mi/kWh
Total Energy used- 113.5 kWh

Total Charging time - 52 min

————————————————————————————
Winnemucca stop - charge - 42 min

I arrived at the Walmart in Winne about an hour later with 13 miles of range remaining - again not going faster than 60-65mph.
There are four EA chargers at the Winne Walmart and three were broken. One had a blank screen, one had the 'not available' icon, the 350 charger said ready but would not charge when connect and luckily one of the 150 plugs worked. I charged to 236 miles (79%) for the 134 mile trip.

- McDermitt to Winnemucca leg -
Departure Charge Range indicated - 111 miles
Distance travelled - 75 miles
Arrival remaining range indicated - 13 miles
Discrepancy - 23 miles short
Boise to Winnemucca totals:
Distance - 261 miles
Avg Speed - 60 mph
Duration - 4:22
Efficiency - 1.66 mi/kWh
Total Energy - 157.6 kWh

Total Charging time - 94 min
————————————————————————————
Fernley stop - charge - 34 min

Arrived in Fernley with 27 miles of range left - weather was windy and had some rain. Speed varied from 78 to 85 mph. Charged to 211 miles (71%)

- Winnemucca to Fernley leg -
Departure Charge Range indicated - 236 miles
Distance travelled - 134 miles
Arrival remaining range indicated - 27 miles
Discrepancy - 75 miles short

Boise to Fernley totals:
Distance - 389 miles
Avg Speed - 63 mph
Duration - 6:10
Efficiency - 1.56 mi/kWh
Total Energy - 249 kWh

Total Charging time - 128 min
————————————————————————————
Auburn stop - charge - 26 min

Charged to 209 miles for 151 mile trip

- Fernley to Auburn leg -
Departure Charge Range indicated - 211 miles
Distance travelled - 131 miles
Arrival remaining range indicated - 49 miles
Discrepancy - 31 miles short

Boise to Auburn totals:
* forgot to get these*

Total Charging time - 154 min
———————————————————————————
- Auburn to home leg -
Departure Charge Range indicated - 209 miles
Distance travelled - 151 miles
Arrival remaining range indicated - 10 miles
Discrepancy - 48 miles short

Boise to home totals:
Distance - 688 miles
Avg Speed - 65 mph
Duration - 10:17
Efficiency - 1.65 mi/kWh
Total Energy - 406 kWh
-----------------------------------

I don't think you could do this trip with the same payload in the winter without a very long stop in McDermitt. Even then you'd have to charge past 80% on some legs. I've been driving EV's for over 10 years so I'm familiar with them. It's great to have a truck to carry payload like this but the aerodynamics, weight and payload seem to make a big difference on this trip. I'd have to do the same trip with no load to be sure.

I'm glad I have a max battery reserved at this point as I think it would help in exactly these sorts of situations.

 

[Feetdry]

I'm from the Boise area and due to the lack of chargers in Idaho, I am glad that I still have a Max pack still on order..

 

[loudog3114]

I think it's the wind that kills efficiency with a bike in the back, not weight. I've done some big road trips in ice trucks with either a motorcycle in the back or something so stupid as a hitch bicycle rack with a few bikes on it and I notice a 5-7mpg loss @ 80mph. One time I pulled the massive windshield off my Duc and noticed mpg go up a solid 1-2.

Anyway... That efficiency is really bad. Not road trip capable of you ask me. I wanted the rivian for exactly that use, to haul my motorcycle around. Let's be generous and call it 1.75mi/kw putting it at 236 miles of range on the large pack. Right now the max pack is vaporware. So with that you're stopping, at best, every 180 miles or so to charge to 80. When trying to cover 600 miles a day that will get old real fast.

Sigh.

 

[SantaFeSpence]

Great write-up - thanks! Man it must have been pretty tense wondering if you’d make it to the next charger. And frustrating having to go so slow. As others have said, I’m glad I ordered the Max - out here in New Mexico and the great mountain west, there’s a scarcity of chargers. Hopefully that’ll change once the funding for the infrastructure rolls out.

 

[RivnSoon]

@RivianXpress nice! The Katoom rally must have been epic!
How did the tie down rings work out holding the bike down?

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