unexpected "opportunity" to be all-EV family

[photontorque]

We recently got an R1S as an refresh for my 19 yr old vehicle. Quite the upgrade.

Our other car is only ~14 years old, so we thought we had a few more years. A few shudders and some strange accelerations this week, and we're facing a major engine repair that will be expensive and take ~2 weeks.

Fate has a sense of humor, eh?

So < 2 months after getting a Rivian, we're contemplating buying another car. Not what we expected . . . things could be worse. We'd like to go all EV, though we thought we had a few years to consider all the new models coming out, how to accommodate a second charger in our garage, and save up a bit.

We're looking at the "usual suspects" of other EVs: Tesla (M3 or MY), VW id4, Ioniq 5, Kona, Bolt. The good news is that it now seems dealers have some in stock, rather than getting on a wait list.

For those that are > 1 EV car owners, what's your experience with Rivian plus another EV? Is having a Tesla helpful because of access to Superchargers, or a pain because of different home charging needs? (Or a bit of both?) Recommendations on a "good pairing" in terms of complimentary capabilities?

I should say that range is an important factor as this car supports work activities that can involve regular (but not necessarily daily) 200+ mile commutes.

Many thanks in advance for suggestions and advice!

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[connoisseurr]

Had a Ford Mach-E in addition to an R1T. With the underdeveloped tech on the Mach-E, we sold it for a Tesla Model Y Performance. Just from the last month of ownership, I wish I had the Tesla sooner. It definitely makes road tripping and traveling easier, as there are many more chargers to rely on. I've used one Electrify America 350W station with CCS adapter, when a nearby Tesla Supercharger station was full. Worked like a charm.

 

[manitou202]

We have been all EV for the past 4 years. Colorado has some of the best EV infrastructure in the US, so getting around Colorado has been really easy. There are more non-Tesla chargers around Colorado, especially in remote areas, but any type of EV will be fine. We had a Tesla and a non-Tesla EV for the first two years of EV only and it's not a problem. You'll just need an adapter for one of the cars to charge at home.

So many good EV options now, that it's hard to go wrong. I would suggest getting long test drives as much as possible. They all have quirks and pros/cons that are hard to pick up with a short drive.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

For those that are > 1 EV car owners, what's your experience with Rivian plus another EV? Is having a Tesla helpful because of access to Superchargers, or a pain because of different home charging needs? (Or a bit of both?) Recommendations on a "good pairing" in terms of complimentary capabilities?

That's been my thinking.

We went PHEV (Wrangler 4xe) added a Tesla (M3P), had both of those for about 2 years, they're due to be returned the middle of 2024.

With the PHEV, we can always just gas around In fact, we recently drive it to Savannah (from St. Augustine) vs. the Tesla, I wasn't sure about parking at the hotel and the Jeep is way more curb-proof, and when we left, gas almost like a drive through, < 5 minutes and we were good to go.

So back to the question: yeah, I think if I was going to have a non-Tesla BEV - like for instance, an R1s - the other car would need to be a PHEV or a Tesla. That just sounds right to me, having had these two vehicles, and really getting to understand our use cases, how Tesla works vs. "others", etc.

 

[DuoRivians]

Currently have an R1T and Model Y Performance. Love the R1T. Not so much the MYP. When our R1S arrives, we'll be selling the Model Y.

Two EVs is easy to do.

 

[CharonPDX]

Had a Ford Mach-E in addition to an R1T. With the underdeveloped tech on the Mach-E, we sold it for a Tesla Model Y Performance. Just from the last month of ownership, I wish I had the Tesla sooner. It definitely makes road tripping and traveling easier, as there are many more chargers to rely on. I've used one Electrify America 350W station with CCS adapter, when a nearby Tesla Supercharger station was full. Worked like a charm.

The Mach-E seems to be a *VERY* popular "second EV" for Rivian owners. I will say that the Mach-E software has gotten way better over the last few months. Doesn't have the benefit of the Supercharger network, but that is starting to roll out. That said, with current prices, Tesla is definitely a more competitive offering than it was even six months ago.

 

[mikehmb]

We’re all EV (see sidebar). Rivian handles the long-haul duty, i3 is local only, Golf splits the difference a bit in that it opens up the radius more than the BMW.

Never looking back. Never had to use a Supercharger either.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Replaced our Volt with the R1S. Still have an ICE car in the driveway but it doesn't even run right now due to rodent damage. Most likely going to just donate it for $1 to one of those orgs.
No need for an ICE unless we have some kind of a massive area wide extended power outage. But if that's the case, being able to get to work and back is the least of my worries.

 

[zefram47]

As for multiple vehicle charging, look at the Grizzl-E Duo or the dual-headed models from Clipper Creek. Those allow plugging in both vehicles simultaneously while only requiring one 50 or 60A outlet/hardwire. When both vehicles are charging you'll get 20A to each and if one finishes you'll get the full 40A to the one left charging. This is best because then you can get in the habit of plugging in all the time and just not worry about who's charging when. You can also look at something like NeoCharge or the Lectron socket splitter, but that will only allow one vehicle to charge at a time. Not a big deal if each car will still charge in serial each day, but it's easier just to have a two-headed EVSE in the first place.

 

[sub]

Personally, I think that for multi-vehicle families, you only need 1 "road trip" vehicle and the other vehicles are commuter/around-town vehicles.

On a road trip, range, charging speed, and charger available are super important. But for commuting or driving around town, none of those matter at all because nearly all modern EV's have plenty of range for a typical commute, and will be able to recharge overnight at home.

So my advise for your 2nd vehicle is to first figure if your Rivian is going to be your road-tripper? If the Rivian is going to be your road-tripper, then absolutely get another EV, and pretty much any EV will get the job done so you can base your selection solely on your personal sense of style/comfort.

If you are nervous about taking the Rivian on a road trip (which is quite reasonable with today's public charging infrastructure, especially if you live in a more rural area), then get a Tesla (or a plug-in hybrid).

IMO, no other EV's come close to matching Tesla for road-tripping. Not only does Tesla have the most chargers and the most reliable chargers, they are at/near the top for charging speed and range as well. The Tesla model 3 is the EV road-trip king if your family and all their stuff fits. Rivian's large size and therefore large battery means that it takes much longer to fill up than more fuel efficient EVs even at the same charging rate.

 

[JGard18]

We just went full EV, by adding a Volvo XC40 Recharge to our garage last week. So our dual-EV living has been short, but it'll be fine. I had a Tesla for 4 years before my Rivian last summer, and we have always taken my car everywhere. The other car was for my wife to basically get groceries and take the kids to after-school activities. The Volvo is low on range compared to its competition (rated 225 miles, tested is more like 250) and we'll never worry about it, because the Rivian will be the road trip vehicle.

Also I haven't done any road trips in the Rivian yet. I am definitely concerned about the charging situation having moved away from Tesla, so we'll see how it goes

 

[Tomgriff]

We have three cars, 2015 Model S, Bolt and an old mini-van. R1S will replace mini-van. Not worried about being all electric. Charging a Tesla and non Tesla at home is not an issue for us. We drive the two EVs around 1000 miles/month per car.

If you are doing a lot of roadtrips, a Tesla will probably make that easier. The Tesla plug and charge just works. No swiping and charge initiates for me typically in 15-30 seconds from plugging in. Preconditioning, navigation and charging integration in a Tesla is really good. With one press of the screen every supercharger shows on your map with current number of stall available. If you press the specific charger it will also show surrounding amenties and max charging speed.

My kids took the Bolt on a 1000 mile road trip last summer and they made it fine, although I certainly wouldn't have had the patience for some of their charging stops. CCS on roadtrips will get you to where you are going where we live (Pacific Northwest), but it isn't as easy.

For the second car, I think it depends on your use case, financial priorities and personal tastes. While I'm no Tesla fanboy, I love my model S (there are some flaws for sure). The combination of practicality (being a liftback with a lot of storage) and performance is pretty amazing. Used MS might be an option to consider.

The Bolt is a really solid car for what it is, an around the town small hatchback that can go on trips, particularly less than 220-250 miles. We picked up a used one for $16.5K with less than 30K miles, but that was before used car prices skyrocketed a few years ago.

It also depends on if you plan to buy new or used. I do think that if you can wait, all Teslas are going to continue to drop in price on the used market.

 

[Redmond Chad]

I am another vote for OP to jump in. We have been all-BEV since 2009.

No problems with different charge connectors at home.

If you don't do road trips, almost any ev will do (as long as it has 300 miles for OP). I have done long EV road trips since 2009 so I am used to dealing with sparse infrastructure, but it really is a pain. A PHEV or Tesla seems the way to go for a road trip car...for now. I hope the CCS network improves quickly.

 

[SilverII]

I went full EV when the R1T arrived last December. No range issues to report. The other EV is the Volvo XC40 recharge. Its a surprising blast to drive that compact suv around.

 

[evguy]

We've been an all-EV family since taking delivery of our R1S in November last year (the other car is a RWD Long Range Model 3 that I've had since 2018). The R1S is the daily family hauler and road tripper, and the Model 3 is for my work commute and some weekend driving. We've only taken the R1S on a couple of road trips so far - EA chargers have worked fine but looking forward to more RAN chargers for a more seamless experience (similar to the Tesla Supercharger).

In my experience, going all EV is no problem if you can Level 2 charge both vehicles to at least 70% every day/night at home and the typical daily use case for each vehicle is less than 150 miles. If you need more daily miles than that, you may need to charge above the recommended 70% cap for daily use in order to avoid range anxiety (or get a vehicle with a LFP battery pack so you don't have to worry about charging to 100% every day).

FWIW, I like my Model 3 and it "pairs" well with the R1S, but if I suddenly had to replace the Model 3, I'd be looking closely at the Ioniq 5.

We use a Tesla Wall Connector and a Rivian Wall Charger. Wish I had the Tesla J1772 Wall Connector for the Rivian instead of the Rivian Charger. The cable on the Tesla wall connectors is much thinner, making them a bit easier to handle. The Rivian Charger feels a little Stone Age by comparison.

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