Road Trip: 3,200 miles in 5 days from CA to RI in our R1T

[moosetags]

Thank you so much for posting your trip log. We are newbies and this type of information helps us immensely.

Brian

Sponsored

 

[Gully]

Could you please tell us what route you took. From Sacramento you probably started on I80 but at some point dropped down to I70 if you went through Kansas.

For peace of mind, I decided early on we were going to stop in major cities each night so we had many charging options and help if needed … so this was in no way the most direct route … and we also went out of the way to stop in Cincinnati to visit family.

We took 80 to SLC and then Denver. We left Denver on 70, hit Kansas City, kept on 70 to Indy, and then took 74 to Cincy. Went from Cincinnati following 71 to 70 to 76 to 78 to 95.

 

[Ozmt]

I just wanted to share some thoughts after my wife and I (and two dogs) made the 3,200 mile, 5 day trip from Sacramento CA to Warwick RI in our R1T.

We drove roughly 600 miles a day with the exception of 800 on the last day (we stopped for the night in Salt Lake, Denver, Kansas City, and Cincinnati (to visit relatives). We typically drove for 3 hours at a time and then recharged for 35-50 minutes ... repeating until we arrive at that days destination (which typically meant stopping twice a day). We didn't charge at hotels, but instead planned on using nearby fast chargers before ending the day or beginning the next ... typically charging to roughly 95% then. We drove between 65-80 miles per hour ... see second note below on how we chose our speed.

I used A Better Route Planner and Plug Share to plan the trip, and we stopped at about 15 fast chargers on the way with all but two being Electrify America. We had no problems with any chargers until the last day, when we had a problem starting a charging session and had to call EA at one stop. This was also the only day we ran into lines at chargers (twice, 5 min and 35 min waits) and it seems like eastern PA and NJ have this problem.

Things I discovered that I found helpful ...

– I always just plugged the charger into the truck and went to the phone App for the charging company and initiated the charge there. I avoided interacting with any of the screens on the charger's themselves ... when I deviated from this I always ran into glitches.

– The best way IMO to avoid range anxiety is to put the next charger into the Rivian system (in order to get the pre-charge prep on arrival) and then note how many miles you will have when you get there. Watch this number! If its goes down you need to slow down (this happened for us in Kansas with some strong headwinds) and if the number goes up then you can add speed or not need to charge as long at your next stop. This prevents any surprises along the way. BTW, you can't just rely on the efficiency graphic in the truck because you don't know what assumption the software is making for going up and down hill and its effect on your energy without looking at the mileage on arrival.

– The Rivian mapping system does not like you to arrive with less than 50 miles charge, if you want to arrive at a station with less than ~15% charge then you will need to be prepared to tell the truck to proceed without having enough energy ... in our case we always gained mileage as we went, so eventually the truck changed from the warning graphic to a mileage upon arrival. As noted in the previous entry, not having the mileage upon arrival to start with can make determine how efficient you are being difficult to determine, so we always started conservatively on speed until the mileage measurement kicked in.

Thats it, let me know if you any questions.

PS - We had the aero covers on, and also had a camping fridge plugged into the bed's 120V outlet the whole time. R1T, 21" , cover deployed.

Sounds like a great trip. I did a 4000 mile trip in 12 days last month. No issues with charging except in Las Vegas. 65-84 mph. Cruise. Conserve. 21" average 2.43 saw some ugly charger blocking, mostly by tesla blocking ccs in California. Comfortable and quiet. Can't ask for much more

 

[Dmsail]

For peace of mind, I decided early on we were going to stop in major cities each night so we had many charging options and help if needed … so this was in no way the most direct route … and we also went out of the way to stop in Cincinnati to visit family.

We took 80 to SLC and then Denver. We left Denver on 70, hit Kansas City, kept on 70 to Indy, and then took 74 to Cincy. Went from Cincinnati following 71 to 70 to 76 to 78 to 95.

How was your experience with driver+?

 

[Gully]

Any chance you kept track of all your charging stops and would have that available? I am doing Denver to the MA/RI border next weekend. Would be super helpful to know the good and bad stations you visited. Thanks for sharing your experience, I am trying to do it in roughly the same amount of time and this made me feel like it’s doable.

So a couple of notes:
– Times listed are for a VERY loose idea of when we would arrive, and do NOT reference the time it took.
– The charging times listed were the estimates, I didn't keep close track on their accuracy but I know they weren't bad. I didn't note charging time estimations for the final stops ... these were near my hotels, and I went to them when I had some time in the evening or early morning.
– The charging percentages are the amount we were expected to have arriving and what we needed leaving
– My ABRP percentages were based off of me putting a "Ref.Consumption" of 2.85 mi/kWh in ABRP ... don't take that number literally. I used that number because it was slightly conservative when combined with ABRP, and would mean I would almost always come out ahead of its estimates. (They only time that did not happen was driving up and over to Reno, but even then it was still very close)
- I generalized in my first post, mileage was more like 700, 500, 600, 600, 800 per day. So Day One has an extra stop.
– Day Five also has an extra stop in it because my originally plan had us using two other charges, but Plug Share had them having problems earlier in the week, so by adding a quick stop I was able to use two chargers that were not having any concerns.
– If you want quick charing stay between 10%-80% ... some of the stops that had us charging to 90+% I would charge extra at the stop before so we would not start as low and could make up for the slower time over 90.
– FYI - I pulled all this information from a shared calendar I had with my wife and I posted the "appointments" with the info and Plug Share links the week before we left. We would use the links to check up on the chargers. I was just lucky this information was easily copied from my calendar to share it in this post.

Day ONE

Electrify America (33-88%) 35 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, PDT
Location: 1550 E Newlands Dr
Fernley, NV, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/186879
Stations 2, 3 -350 kW

Electrify America (15-84%) 49 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM, PDT
Location: 654 W Front St
Battle Mountain, NV, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/174442
Stations 2, 3 -350 kW

Electrify America (15-75%) 37 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, PDT
Location: Smith's
1855 W Wendover Dr, West Wendover, NV 89883, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/314334

EVgo (15-95%)
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM, PDT
Location: 2572 S 5600 W
West Valley City, UT, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/512549
Search EVgo for “Nolan”


Day TWO

Electrify America (51-92%) 27min
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, PDT
Location: 70 Yellow Creek Rd
Evanston, WY, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/373613

Electrify America (10-88%) 55min
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, PDT
Location: 602 N Higley Blvd
Rawlins, WY, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/353154

EVgo (10-95%)
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, PDT
Location: In-N-Out Denver (Coming Soon)
4637 N Central Park Blvd, Denver, CO 80238, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/478340


Day THREE
Electrify America (14-82%) 41min
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, PDT
Location: 115 W Willow Ave
Colby, KS, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/154522

Electrify America (10-84%)46min
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM, PDT
Location: 500 N Ohio St
Salina, KS, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/186836

Electrify America (15-90%)
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, PDT
Location: Target
17810 E 39th St S, Independence, MO 64055, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/169540

Day FOUR

Electrify America (18-78%)42min
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, PDT
Location: Walmart Supercenter
2897 Veterans Memorial Pkwy, Saint Charles, MO 63303, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/193081

Electrify America (16-77%)49min
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM, PDT
Location: Walmart Supercenter
2399 SR-46 E, Terre Haute, IN 47803, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/169434

Electrify America (15-90)
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, PDT
Location: Electrify America
11315 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/184658


Day FIVE

EVgo (63-69%) 10min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, EDT
Location: EVgo
1518–1526 Stonecreek Dr S
Pickerington OH 43147
https://www.plugshare.com/location/452247
Lorraine (350kW)

Electrify America (11-70%) 42min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, EDT
Location: Bitcoin Depot
4692 PA-51 S
Belle Vernon PA 15012
https://www.plugshare.com/location/174470

Electrify America (10-63%) 38min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, EDT
Location: 1098 Harrisburg Pike
Carlisle PA 17013
https://www.plugshare.com/location/163263

EVgo (10-71%) 32min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, EDT
Location: Union Crescent Plaza/Whole Foods
2229 Springfield Ave, Vauxhall, NJ 07088, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/488893
Whole Foods here, Delilah 350 kW

Last stop was charger at house.

 

[Gully]

How was your experience with driver+?

Almost never used it, but when I tested it for short times, it worked well. I enjoyed the minutia of driving and didn't completely trust plus.

 

[Swilly]

So a couple of notes:
– Times listed are for a VERY loose idea of when we would arrive, and do NOT reference the time it took.
– The charging times listed were the estimates, I didn't keep close track on their accuracy but I know they weren't bad. I didn't note charging time estimations for the final stops ... these were near my hotels, and I went to them when I had some time in the evening or early morning.
– The charging percentages are the amount we were expected to have arriving and what we needed leaving
– My ABRP percentages were based off of me putting a "Ref.Consumption" of 2.85 mi/kWh in ABRP ... don't take that number literally. I used that number because it was slightly conservative when combined with ABRP, and would mean I would almost always come out ahead of its estimates. (They only time that did not happen was driving up and over to Reno, but even then it was still very close)
- I generalized in my first post, mileage was more like 700, 500, 600, 600, 800 per day. So Day One has an extra stop.
– Day Five also has an extra stop in it because my originally plan had us using two other charges, but Plug Share had them having problems earlier in the week, so by adding a quick stop I was able to use two chargers that were not having any concerns.
– If you want quick charing stay between 10%-80% ... some of the stops that had us charging to 90+% I would charge extra at the stop before so we would not start as low and could make up for the slower time over 90.
– FYI - I pulled all this information from a shared calendar I had with my wife and I posted the "appointments" with the info and Plug Share links the week before we left. We would use the links to check up on the chargers. I was just lucky this information was easily copied from my calendar to share it in this post.

Day ONE

Electrify America (33-88%) 35 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, PDT
Location: 1550 E Newlands Dr
Fernley, NV, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/186879
Stations 2, 3 -350 kW

Electrify America (15-84%) 49 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM, PDT
Location: 654 W Front St
Battle Mountain, NV, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/174442
Stations 2, 3 -350 kW

Electrify America (15-75%) 37 min
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, PDT
Location: Smith's
1855 W Wendover Dr, West Wendover, NV 89883, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/314334

EVgo (15-95%)
Scheduled: Jun 10, 2023 at 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM, PDT
Location: 2572 S 5600 W
West Valley City, UT, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/512549
Search EVgo for “Nolan”


Day TWO

Electrify America (51-92%) 27min
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, PDT
Location: 70 Yellow Creek Rd
Evanston, WY, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/373613

Electrify America (10-88%) 55min
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, PDT
Location: 602 N Higley Blvd
Rawlins, WY, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/353154

EVgo (10-95%)
Scheduled: Jun 11, 2023 at 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, PDT
Location: In-N-Out Denver (Coming Soon)
4637 N Central Park Blvd, Denver, CO 80238, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/478340


Day THREE
Electrify America (14-82%) 41min
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, PDT
Location: 115 W Willow Ave
Colby, KS, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/154522

Electrify America (10-84%)46min
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM, PDT
Location: 500 N Ohio St
Salina, KS, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/186836

Electrify America (15-90%)
Scheduled: Jun 12, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, PDT
Location: Target
17810 E 39th St S, Independence, MO 64055, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/169540

Day FOUR

Electrify America (18-78%)42min
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, PDT
Location: Walmart Supercenter
2897 Veterans Memorial Pkwy, Saint Charles, MO 63303, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/193081

Electrify America (16-77%)49min
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM, PDT
Location: Walmart Supercenter
2399 SR-46 E, Terre Haute, IN 47803, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/169434

Electrify America (15-90)
Scheduled: Jun 13, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, PDT
Location: Electrify America
11315 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45249, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/184658


Day FIVE

EVgo (63-69%) 10min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, EDT
Location: EVgo
1518–1526 Stonecreek Dr S
Pickerington OH 43147
https://www.plugshare.com/location/452247
Lorraine (350kW)

Electrify America (11-70%) 42min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, EDT
Location: Bitcoin Depot
4692 PA-51 S
Belle Vernon PA 15012
https://www.plugshare.com/location/174470

Electrify America (10-63%) 38min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, EDT
Location: 1098 Harrisburg Pike
Carlisle PA 17013
https://www.plugshare.com/location/163263

EVgo (10-71%) 32min
Scheduled: Jun 17, 2023 at 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, EDT
Location: Union Crescent Plaza/Whole Foods
2229 Springfield Ave, Vauxhall, NJ 07088, United States
https://www.plugshare.com/location/488893
Whole Foods here, Delilah 350 kW

Last stop was charger at house.

This is fantastic. Thanks for taking your time to write it up.

 

[lefkonj]

That is great, proves EV's can be road trip vehicles.

 

[Shnork]

glad to hear your trip went well except for 1 stop, planning on a trip to florida from Mass in the fall . Getting my R1S tomorrow god willing .

 

[RivLiam]

what happened when you called elecrrify america did they solve the charging issue?

I've called them twice for chargers when they were down (I just moved over one but called anyway to let them know) this was >1 year ago but it seems like they were genuinely surprised at the call like they didn't know the stall was down. One time they were able to reboot and it was back online, the other they put in a ticket to send someone out.

TLDR always call when one is down - its better they know twice a charger is down than not at all.

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