Rivian doesn't cost less to drive on long trips

[A Land Rover Forever]

Hahaaaa, try driving around my previous Range Rover supercharged V8, and you will see the real truth.

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[babalegba]

Sure, for now, as options are limited in terms of a robust distributed selection/competition, then yes, it won't always shake out as less expensive (although it does in many folks' experience). This begs the question- is saving $ chief among the incentives of using/owning an EV? For me, it's about cleaner energy use, especially over time. Then it's the cost and convenience related to avoiding service and maintenance visits, and THEN it's the time involved with charging access and speed (which continue to improve).
Any vehicle is going to have it's own version of compromise. And for this guy, not paying for and burning as much fossil fuel on a daily basis is simply more congruent with my core values. Just think about the last time you've seen someone idling their diesel rig in a parking lot, or in heavy stop and go traffic. The noise, the stank, and watching the photo-reactive plume spewing at each green light.
As Randy Jackson so eloquently asserted, "That's a nah from me dog."

Avoiding dealerships is a big one for me. Maybe I'm the only one that truly despises those service visits (which is normally about every 2 months for me). Having to deal with the logistics of drop off and pick up, hassling for a loaner, every 2 months is too much for me.

 

[shap]

Unlike your other vehicles, the Rivian doesn't need oil changes, service sessions in the hundreds of dollars, smog checks, regular brake jobs, a laundry list of mechanical repairs - and nobody is going to steal your catalytic converter. (My last Audi was my biggest money pit.)

Your "long trip" comparison is accurate but is taken way out of context. Most charging is done at home. Most of my destinations are at low/no cost L2 hotel chargers.

Well it has $200 EV tax. Good hybrid will cost you about $150-$250 yearly in oil changes. Breaks wear not an issue with hybrids as well.

Rivian depreciation is a WAY higher than any good hybrid. So you lose money on it (Compared to hybrid). Unless you buy it after 1-2 years used.

As for the roadtrip cost - DCFC is more expensive (on average) than similar 20mpg car. Most EA chargers bill .50c per kWh here in TX.

For some reason people continue to say that EV is cheaper. They are not (tax, depreciation, road tripping).

Also, roadtrip with EV adds 30% to the travel time. And yes, I hear the story that stops are fine, we wanted to stop anyway. Not, they are not for me. Look for trip I needed to do from TX to VW:

I drive EV because I like it, not because it is cheaper. As it is not.

 

[shap]

I just did an 1100 miles trip to LA last weekend. I charged primarily at RAN chargers ($0.35/kWh), and once at EVGo (0.69/kWh). The total on the road charging cost was $208 for 529kWh. Not including the initial or final charge at home (my PG$E is $0.45/kWh), which I largely offset with my solar. With CA gas about $4/gal, it’s about a wash with a 20+ mpg car. The big difference for me was the comfort and the lane keeping, adaptive cruise control made the trip drastically better than anything else I’ve driven before. I figure I spent about an hour longer charging than I would have getting gas, but the charging breaks were welcome.

R1S cost is about $96k - you can buy X7 that will be WAY more luxury with better driver assistant (including hands free driving in traffic) . But no off-roading of course

 

[AllInev]

The last time I drove the Audi AQ7 to Lake Tahoe and back was about $150 (500 miles @ 20mpg with Premium).

I pay $.15/kWh at each end of the trip for electricity, and my DCFC stops (one at an EA and another at a RAN) for both directions came to $29.58. Total electricity charges for the trip was $47.58.

That's $100 cheaper per trip for me. Paying $.50/kWh on a roadtrip is pretty pricy...and I live in CA

I’m jelly. How do you live in CA and pay only $.15/kWh?

 

[Tony R1S]

I’m jelly. How do you live in CA and pay only $.15/kWh?

Yeah, probably not with PGE. Some local utilities, like Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara are also very reasonable at $0.15 (even lower $0.13 below 300kW)

 

[Mathme]

I’m jelly. How do you live in CA and pay only $.15/kWh?

NEM 2 Solar with a battery backup...rates were locked in cheap at that time.

 

[Autolycus]

Long road trips are still probably a sweet spot for high-mpg sedans and small CUVs and will be for a while longer.

For me, the R1S has been overall MUCH cheaper than my last car, an Audi Q5. That thing needed premium gas and got 20-27mpg depending on conditions and speed. My commute and normal around-town driving required fill ups of 15-16 gallons every couple weeks. With the R1S, I have charged it at home just 3x since getting the thing in July 2023. I have mostly taken advantage of free public charging at a metro station while I'm at work. That's a pretty substantial amount of gas savings.

Now... it's offset some by the higher EV registration in GA, but even subtracting that out I'm doing well on the refuel/recharge balance.

 

[Joules Burn]

Yeah, probably not with PGE. Some local utilities, like Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara are also very reasonable at $0.15 (even lower $0.13 below 300kW)

Here is a rate comparison with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

 

[Lawrence-of-Blaine]

I pay $.028 to charge my car from 12am-6am. The rest of the time it averages out to be about $.088.

I feel bad for you Cali guys.

I’m in Blaine and Connexus Energy is 6.9 cents off-peak with their separate meter. How in the heck are you getting juice at half of that??

 

[Redline]

I’m in Blaine and Connexus Energy is 6.9 cents off-peak with their separate meter. How in the heck are you getting juice at half of that??

https://ev.xcelenergy.com/ev-accelerate-at-home-mn

 

[White Shadow]

California is an expensive place to live my friend.

I dumped the service records after the car was gone but the the $999.00 and the $931.86 were for two of the 10,000 mile services. One involved brake fluid change and the other transmission fluid.

The $972.11 was for the rear brakes after 22,000 miles. They gave me a $1,500 estimate for the front brakes at 40,000 miles and that's when I decided to move on.

So apples were were over two grand and the oranges were approaching $2,500. Who knows what bananas would cost when warranty ran out.

My Kia EV6 GT-L has 5% brake wear after 28,000 miles and my only service expense has been $30 for a cabin filter.

Oh, okay. So not for oil changes then. Got it.

 

[HaveBlue]

Hahaaaa, try driving around my previous Range Rover supercharged V8, and you will see the real truth.

Oh yea I'd see Land Rovers on the trail behind me quite often

(Acually we're tandem towing the Jeep so the Rover's not broke, lol.)

 

[Mooeymoose]

I think this is pretty well established. Dc fast charging is a wash to gas. Home charging at 15cents or less is about 1/4 cost of gas. Obviously the type of car matters too.

 

[RivianRunner]

It's not. If you don't drive, the vampire drain costs money, while my gas cars don't. Not to mention the upfront cost. It also adds an hour or more to long trips. Charging times are one thing, finding charger, waiting for it to be available, going out of the way to find the charger all are not convenient.

This thread is about cost, not convenience. People who wanted higher convenience bought a Tesla and got instant access to their ever-expanding, plug and play, fast charging network.

People who wanted lower costs for long road trips didn't buy a truck or an SUV. If you must have a truck or an SUV, and road trips are only 10% of your total annual mileage, you are still saving a ton of money on gas expenses overall.

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