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We are way too obsessed with range

Dark-Fx

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Please do not show that garbage around here... nothing should EVER be -XX... C or F! I would take 65-95 year round every day and twice on Sunday, snow and cold can go to hell. :p
233 Kelvins sounds quite toasty.
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crashmtb

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is the Rivian your primary vehicle?
no, because it does not yet exist.

will it be? Maybe. Current “primary” vehicle has less range(terrible fuel economy) than the R1T will, but it’s also much less comfortable, which makes the necessary stops a relief.

I’ve also done lots of long winter trips in a Tesla model S, before supercharging existed in western canada. From those experiences…Give me all the range I can get.

I’d option a bigger tank on a gas car if I could.
 

thibbitts

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We have the opposite problem here in Texas. I can't remember the last day that the highs were below triple digits! I have no idea what that does to my range but I'm definitely tired of trying to cool off my cabin from over 120F down to something tolerable after work each day. That said, on longer trips (in conserve) I've been averaging about 2.2mi/kWH which I am happy with. I assume that will only go up when the HVAC isn't working as hard.
 

svet-am

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Reason I opted for Max Pack is so I can go from San Diego to LA area then back without charging.

Not my daily but for weekend adventures.
I am interested in this exact use case because it's one I do often when I'm in town. My family takes every December and spends it in San Diego. Since I have a lot of friends in LA (specifically, in North Hollywood), I drive up a few times and hang out with them. In our Volvo XC40 Recharge, I can easily get from San Diego to NoHo/Sherman Oaks for breakfast, plug in at an EA station while we eat, put around town a bit and _still_ get back to San Diego without any issues. The charging becomes totally "invisible" in the background. What are you doing in town that would require no charge stop at all?

I mean this question honestly and legitimately. I hear this concern a lot but it's usually from people that don't have a lot of experience charging (I have no idea on your experience) and it's just anxiety rather than experience driving it.
 

Socalriv

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I am interested in this exact use case because it's one I do often when I'm in town. My family takes every December and spends it in San Diego. Since I have a lot of friends in LA (specifically, in North Hollywood), I drive up a few times and hang out with them. In our Volvo XC40 Recharge, I can easily get from San Diego to NoHo/Sherman Oaks for breakfast, plug in at an EA station while we eat, put around town a bit and _still_ get back to San Diego without any issues. The charging becomes totally "invisible" in the background. What are you doing in town that would require no charge stop at all?

I mean this question honestly and legitimately. I hear this concern a lot but it's usually from people that don't have a lot of experience charging (I have no idea on your experience) and it's just anxiety rather than experience driving it.
Mostly because I'm too used to Tesla superchargers and the ease of finding a spot on the screen with spots open/charge rate and can map out my waypoints with estimated % at each spot. Maybe Rivian does this too but I'm not sure. Im getting the big wheels so that + large pack will not suffice for me so hence the max pack.

You can probably call me an EA noob but it would be nice to have that extra range to go up in the mountains/parks too without getting anxiety. You are right about the charging experience as I know EA is not on the same page as Tesla superchargers and I have not experienced any EA charging ever.
 

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SlaterGS

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This is true but also the reason why the Rivian is not targeted as our road trip vehicle.
Too much uncertainty with EVs and Long Trips (500+ miles)
"We are way too obsessed"
"Too much uncertainty with EVs and Long Trips"
Which one is it?

If it's the latter, then that is exactly why many are obsessed. If it is the first then obviously your use case is different than many other owners and that is okay, but it seems silly to try and blanket statement this argument.

For me and many others it will or we want it to be our primary vehicle. This will be more money than I have ever spent on a vehicle x2. Why would I NOT want it to be my main its freaking awesome?
I love my Leaf and 90% of the time I will never deal with range anxiety for my Leaf or my R1S, BUT when I travel 7 hours to visit family a few times a year and the chargers are few and unreliable, then the range is critical.

I do agree with driving it how you want it and use your climate control however necessary when it comes to how most people will generally be driving it day to day. The obsession over efficiency in these scenarios may be a bit much to some, but long range, towing, and main vehicle range is a valid concern for many looking at these vehicles.
 

jjswan33

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As a user of my Rivian as an adventure vehicle the range of the Rivian does create problems. There just isn’t charging at most remote camping locations, then using the truck to power a fridge, cooking and other cases further drains the battery. Last weekend I had to miss a couple of outings with my friends as I drove back to Bend to charge up.

Charging infrastructure will get better but I suspect when talking about an adventure vehicle there will always be locations that will induce range anxiety, remote charging just isn’t going to be the priority.

Now if we are talking about an EV CUV or something if you have 250 miles of range that is probably more than enough. So in that sense I agree with you.
 

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meh, there are A LOT of people that are completely new to this. It’ll take a while for us to get used to this new reality. I’m not particularly worried about the R1T’s range for daily driving. I drive well under 100 miles. I’m more interested in range for my weekends since I’ll be going up into the mountains and putting 200 miles or more, at a time, on my truck. That said, the R1T will serve my needs well.
 

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Why are we so obsessed with Range? Unless you drive 100+ miles per day, I see no concern on a 260-320+ mi battery pack even with cold weather losses. That still leaves 150-200 miles of range which is plenty.

Driving a vehicle like this at max 65mph, not warming the cabin enough because of battery range, charging only on certain times due to battery degradation seems to me like way too much range anxiety.

Drive the truck at the speeds you want , heat up the cabin to what makes you comfortable, charge when needed and enjoy your Rivian.

Worrying so much about range and battery degradation takes the fun out of this. Enjoy in good health.
Agreed, BoisVert. I think your approach works for 95% of us (including me). There are some folks for whom range limitations are a real issue (they drive long distances daily; live in the boonies; drive to the boonies on the regular; tow long distances often). I respectfully submit that those folks should not buy electric vehicles (yet). Wait a bit for better vehicle charging performance, and better and more ubiquitous charging infrastructure.
 

EVTrucking

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I think there are levels of range anxiety. From, no way will I own an EV to no concern. The level of anxiety is heavily influenced by charging experience, location, intended use, and so on. BTW this also applies to ICEs.

In my 50+ yrs of driving I have on occasion wished for a larger gas tank.

We drive our EV6 and R1T primarily around town and charge at home. We plan on taking longer trips but until we get a few trips under our belt we are understandably anxious but not too the point of not doing it.

IMHO anyone taking long trips (round trips exceeding 80% of range) must be anxious enough to do careful planning. Especially when taking a trip to a destination you have not done before. The charging infrastructure in the vast majority of the US is minimal, poorly executed and maintained.

For those of us that drive locally and charge at home range anxiety should be minimal. For those driving locally but do not have home charging then it is understandable to have a higher level of range anxiety.
 

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mkg3

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Range only matters on road trips. If you can eliminate a charging stop, great. If not, just need better planning.

I blast AC/Heat when needed and drive at 80mph+/- depending on traffic flow.

I plug in overnight everyday that I drive my EV.
 

RBR1S

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Why are we so obsessed with Range? Unless you drive 100+ miles per day, I see no concern on a 260-320+ mi battery pack even with cold weather losses. That still leaves 150-200 miles of range which is plenty.
We are NOT too obsessed with range. We are too obsessed with FAST. Tell me any normal driver that wouldn't want to go 500miles on one charge and take 6 or 7 seconds 0-60 vs MAYBE 300 and 3 seconds.

For those of us who don't just want a "daily driver" - AKA a Nissan leaf (because you just said you don't need 100 miiles a day), we need the range for trips, and ADVENTURES (since Rivian is an ADVENTURE vehicle).

There are literally hundreds of threads on here about "can I make it to" and a dozen or more apps designed to squeak you to the next charging station.

Signed,
Max pack bitter.....
 

Taycanfrank

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So, if you're just using it for around town it doesn't matter.. but why are you buying a Rivian for using around town? It's marketed specifically as an adventure vehicle.

Otherwise, range & charging speed are the most important things in an EV.

There are two really important aspects of range.

1. Can this vehicle make my longest average day trip without needing to charge? For me that's daytrips to the coast and driving to the ski resort.

2. Does this vehicle have a sufficient combination of range & charging speed to make long trips without adding tremendous amounts of time?

If you're afraid of making long trips in an EV, it's weird to buy something like a Rivian. I've made many, many long trips in my Taycan and they've all been great. You just have to know what you're doing, and have confidence in the vehicle's range & charging.

So for me it isn't "we are way too obsessed with range" it's "why are you buying a Rivian just to drive around town?"
 

ccmun

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As others have noted, I am only obsessed with range on long trips if I have to depend on EA charging. With the Tesla SC network and destination charging,. range anxiety is minimal.

And yes, I agree, drive as fast as you can, and enjoy your vehicle without babying it. Life is short, and you paid a ton of money for it.
 

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My parents live in a city of 100k people that is 180 miles away from me. There are ZERO chargers along the way and ZERO chargers in that town above 7kW.

I found a person on plug share with a NEMA 14-50 outdoor plug nearby that opens their gate for me when I show up.

Without that, the R1T would not be able to do that, right now. I expect that to change in the near future though.

My MILs house is about 200 miles from us, 160 miles from the nearest charger a long the way and they finally put a 200kW charger in town. There are two and last time I went both were broken....I had a plug that fit into her dryer outlet, and ran a 50' cable around and out to the truck to charge at like 8mph. That will likely also improve soon too

I am going hunting in two weeks that is 165 miles from the nearest fast charger. Oh, and I'm towing....expecting to go 55mph to try and make it to the campsite with just a couple of miles left. I am bringing along a 6kW generator and ten or more gallons of fuel to top her up in the forest. I don't expect that one to improve soon. Maybe the closest charger comes into like 80 or 50 miles away instead of 165, but would.probably still being the generator along so I can drive around out at the hunting site, deal with vampire drain over two weeks, etc.

No one obsesses about range for their 10 miles commute. The basic premise is silly. But for those of us that live out in the big west where the range limitations need to be worked around on an every couple of weeks basis it's good to have and see lots of discussions about how people deal with it.

I have I think 8 adapters in my frunk and the 50' extension cable. I've had to use quite a few of them....and bum some electrons from random good samaritans or go pay for an RV park spot with a 14-50 plug and leave it overnight.
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