Southern New England - Are folks driving in the winter?

[Rade]

Before taking delivery of our Rivian R1T-Large in mid-November, we would always see Rivians on the roads along the East Bay of RI and on the Interstate. Both T's and S's. Since taking delivery, we have not seen a "Rivian in the wild" here, with the exception of the one time I took our truck over to the East Greenwich RAN station and someone pulled up in an R1T for a quick hit of power. We see hundreds of Tesla's on the road (including a couple Cybertrucks).

It's Winter, I get it - it's cold outside, everyone claims that EV's don't like the cold, but I just rolled 1000 miles on our R1T and it truly has become my daily driver, out and about it sub-freezing weather, in snow showers or rain, with nary an issue. Heaters all work great (cabin, seat and steering wheel).

Are folks in these parts just not driving their EV's this time of year?

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[Budman]

I drive long distances in rural areas of Northern MN and Wisconsin in temperatures around 0 deg F all the time. Just be aware of reduced range but really no big deal.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It isn't that cold here, but we don't have any ICE cars, so we drive our EVs all year, no matter where we go.

 

[mrcapt]

Just did a road trip from Boston metro to western NY. Temps on most days were between 20-30 F. My 2025 R1S handled like a champ, but just need to be aware of reduced range and plan accordingly.

 

[md2023]

Yes, driving the same amount as summer in MA, NH, VT, ME, CT. Seeing more and more Ss on the road every week. Same number of Ts.

 

[R1TCntrlMaIzzy]

I do, thru all of NE, from Central MA.

 

[jeeden]

It's probably a combination of less people going to work during holidays, less pleasant to be out in general, and less people doing road trips like they would in the summer.

 

[COdogman]

My only vehicle is my T, so it gets driven all year... (in CO). Rivians are pretty popular here. See at least one almost every time I leave the house.

 

[Alawiscious]

Before taking delivery of our Rivian R1T-Large in mid-November, we would always see Rivians on the roads along the East Bay of RI and on the Interstate. Both T's and S's. Since taking delivery, we have not seen a "Rivian in the wild" here, with the exception of the one time I took our truck over to the East Greenwich RAN station and someone pulled up in an R1T for a quick hit of power. We see hundreds of Tesla's on the road (including a couple Cybertrucks).

It's Winter, I get it - it's cold outside, everyone claims that EV's don't like the cold, but I just rolled 1000 miles on our R1T and it truly has become my daily driver, out and about it sub-freezing weather, in snow showers or rain, with nary an issue. Heaters all work great (cabin, seat and steering wheel).

Are folks in these parts just not driving their EV's this time of year?

Oh Yeah, We're in Ontario, Canada - even few Rivians on the road here!
I JUST got the max pack R1S - even in the cold and snow the range was dreamy!!! Drove 5 hours at mixed (fast) highway speeds and got 500km out of it - for the americans - I averaged about 74 mph for 4 hours (with stops) and did about 260 miles - that's well below the rated distance but it was 0 celsius (32F) and i have 5 of us in the car plus a dog and all our xmas crap and luggage for 5 days so relatively heavy too.

it will only get better in summer so very happy!!!!

 

[Paradigm_Shift]

Here in southern Maine it's not uncommon to see a Rivian or two every day year-round. Snow is not a problem (we have 20" AT tires) We have even driven our R1S up the logging road to our mountain cabin in 6+ inches of snow. As others have said, you will see a noticeable loss of range if it's really cold.

 

[Wispitgood]

Before taking delivery of our Rivian R1T-Large in mid-November, we would always see Rivians on the roads along the East Bay of RI and the Interstate. Both T's and S's. Since taking delivery, we have not seen a "Rivian in the wild" here, with the exception of the one time I took our truck over to the East Greenwich RAN station, and someone pulled up in an R1T for a quick hit of power. We see hundreds of Teslas on the road (including a couple of Cybertrucks).

It's Winter, I get it - it's cold outside. Everyone claims that EVs don't like the cold, but I just rolled 1000 miles on our R1T, and it indeed has become my daily driver, out and about in sub-freezing weather, in snow showers or rain, with nary an issue. The heaters work great (cabin, seat,, and steering wheel).

Are folks in these parts just not driving their EVs this time of year?

Just got back home to Virginia yesterdY after a holiday trip to Connecticut where it was 10 to 25 degrees the two days there. I saw a lot of Teslas at charging stations there, coming and going. I mean a lot, especially for me as EVs are rare where I live. However, I also saw many Rivians and had two Tesla owners talk to me about how they came close to buying Rivian. The one thing that struck me was the uniqueness of the Teslas. If not plugged into a charger, they would blend into looking like any ordinary car.

I got from 1.2 to 2.0 miles per kWh in that cold.

Also, I want to say that the Rivian charger stations were impressive throughout the whole trip. Light up nicely in the dark, too!

 

[ThumprMN]

I just did a road trip from Minnesota to Toronto and back, going through all kinds of mixed winter conditions (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario CA, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana). Temps ranged from 9’f - 40’f. Range certainly dropped the colder it got, but overall trip efficiency was 2.3 for the 1800 mile trip. Mostly used conserve for the long stretches, but All purpose mode the rest of the time. The fog lights came in handy a lot on this trip. Only complaint was the ice build up on the headlights during the wet sloppy snow stretches.

 

[Wick2241]

Before taking delivery of our Rivian R1T-Large in mid-November, we would always see Rivians on the roads along the East Bay of RI and on the Interstate. Both T's and S's. Since taking delivery, we have not seen a "Rivian in the wild" here, with the exception of the one time I took our truck over to the East Greenwich RAN station and someone pulled up in an R1T for a quick hit of power. We see hundreds of Tesla's on the road (including a couple Cybertrucks).

It's Winter, I get it - it's cold outside, everyone claims that EV's don't like the cold, but I just rolled 1000 miles on our R1T and it truly has become my daily driver, out and about it sub-freezing weather, in snow showers or rain, with nary an issue. Heaters all work great (cabin, seat and steering wheel).

Are folks in these parts just not driving their EV's this time of year?

I live on the mid-coast of Maine. I picked up my R1T in the dead winter and it's my primary ride. During storms I put it in snow mode and I monitor the charge level carefully. I have 21" wheels and all season tires. My biggest concern is having to stop abruptly and sliding, so I don't tailgate. I keep boats in the ocean until late December. The boat ramp is very steep and ice cover right now. I pulled a boat yesterday and wasn't sure how it would go. I crept down the ramp with no problem and had no problem driving back up the ramp. Best vehicle I've ever owned, bar none.

 

[racekarl]

Dive mine all year round in SE Mass and often into NH. Stopped by the Lebanon, NH RAN at 8:30 am on 12/26 and there were two R1Ts charging there. Saw a bunch of both Ss and Ts traveling back and forth from MA to NH over the holidays.

 

[bfilippo]

I live on the mid-coast of Maine. I picked up my R1T in the dead winter and it's my primary ride. During storms I put it in snow mode and I monitor the charge level carefully. I have 21" wheels and all season tires. My biggest concern is having to stop abruptly and sliding, so I don't tailgate. I keep boats in the ocean until late December. The boat ramp is very steep and ice cover right now. I pulled a boat yesterday and wasn't sure how it would go. I crept down the ramp with no problem and had no problem driving back up the ramp. Best vehicle I've ever owned, bar none.

bold! I take my boats out November 1st here in Hancock County. Though I always feel like I could push it longer.

My new R1T is my daily driver, partner takes Model Y. So far so good in winter driving, easily got in/out of the road to our camp nearby that’s pretty rough after a fresh snow.

That being said - I drove the model Y from Maine to Indianapolis for holidays and I saw one Rivian the entire time.

I know there are more in southern Maine, but I have seen 3 T’s and 1 S in my neck of the woods. Including the awesome launch edition quad in compass yellow with the RIVIAN vanity plate.

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