Just over a year ago, a lot was going on in life on multiple fronts, and my psyche just cracked. I hopped in the Rivian and started driving. I didn’t know my destination. I didn’t know where I was going to end up. I had no idea what charging might look like well beyond home. I started that journey in the post: North.
Besides range anxiety, charging uncertainty was a significant factor in that trip last year. I didn’t know where I would charge. I was unsure if those chargers worked. I questioned if those chargers would charge my truck. I also didn’t know what Plan B was if things went downhill. I remember being stuck in Boise, Idaho, without a fast charger to get the truck to 100%. There was only one charger with bad reviews between Boise and Winnemucca that I didn’t want to depend on. They say that all’s well ends well, and the trip was fantastic. I learned quite a bit about driving an EV long distances in those 30 days.
I came into a similar block of time as I’m changing jobs at work and wanted to take a similar trip to Vancouver, BC. On this trip, however, I had the Tesla NACS adapter to access some of the Supercharging network. I can’t overstate it enough: this little adapter has fundamentally changed my EV experience. What started as frustrating and harrowing has become boring and mundane. I had many questions on the road when someone saw a Rivian at a Tesla Supercharger. I always told the same story.
“I remember when digital cameras first came on the market in college. It was the only device in our entire lives that you would purchase and be excited that it worked. You’d take a picture and be thrilled when the image appeared on screen. Nobody in the early 2000s bought a refrigerator and told all of their friends that it actually keeps food cold. Likewise, nobody plugs anything into an electrical outlet and is excited that the device turns on. Charging my Rivian with the NACS is now fundamentally as mundane as plugging in the iron.”
Power isn’t cheap on the road
I also thought driving to Vancouver would be cheaper than flying. Last year, many of the Rivian chargers were free and other vendors were lower cost. This year, the cost of power jumped significantly. I wanted to double down on the Tesla supercharger network, so I purchased their membership for about $14 a month. In contrast in 2023, the Electrify America membership was only $4 ($7 today).
Membership in Tesla’s network dropped the price of power anywhere from $0.07-$0.15 per kWh. When the Rivian uses 1.95 to 2.3 mi/kWh, the Tesla membership quickly pays for itself. With the membership, prices ranged from $0.33 to $0.47 per kWh. Tip: When road tripping, buy the membership to a charging network and use it exclusively.
So how did all the math work out?
Northbound:
| Stop | Cost Per kWh | kWh | Cost | Charge Time | Miles Driven |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | $0.00 | — | — | Overnight | — |
| Williams, CA | $0.46 | 34.26 | $15.76 | 14 | 98 |
| Redding, CA | $0.62 | 15.00 | $9.29 | 6 | 104 |
| Redding, CA | $0.46 | 54.45 | $25.04 | 25 | 0 |
| Grants Pass, OR | $0.43 | 100.16 | $43.07 | 51 | 178 |
| Harrisburg, OR | $0.40 | 70.67 | $28.26 | 29 | 159 |
| Ridgefield, WA | $0.37 | 65.81 | $24.35 | 36 | 118 |
| Tulatip Bay, WA | $0.33 | 62.93 | $20.76 | 21 | 195 |
| Vancouver, BC | $0.00 | Overnight | 135 | ||
| Total: | 403.28 | $166.53 | 182 | 997 |
Southbound
| Stop | Cost Per kWh | kWh | Cost | Charge Time | Miles Driven |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver, BC | $0.00 | — | — | Overnight | — |
| Rochester, WA | $0.54 | 80.00 | $43.87 | 31 | 226 |
| Salem, OR | $0.40 | 73.29 | $29.31 | 31 | 146 |
| Roseburg, OR | $0.36 | 68.00 | $24.47 | 31 | 134 |
| Ashland, OR | $0.41 | 76.04 | $31.17 | 36 | 109 |
| Red Bluff, CA | $0.46 | 76.33 | $35.11 | 36 | 165 |
| Vacaville, CA | $0.59 | 38.00 | $22.57 | 15 | 132 |
| Home | Overnight | 85 | |||
| Total: | 411.66 | $186.50 | 180 | 997 |
I realize that the math is a bit funny as I’m leaving with a full charge and coming home with an empty battery. Solar power charges the truck in California and the city of Vancouver’s clean-air program charges the truck on the north end. While not a direct comparison on cost and efficiency, there are hacks with electric vehicles to make things cheaper.
Because the charge port is on the front of the vehicle, I always have to park next to the charger, taking up 2 spaces unless I’m on the end.
Overall, I drove 1994 miles and used 845 kWh in power at a cost of $347. If I drove a Ford Ranger / F150 at 25 miles a gallon (which is a touch high) at $4.50 a gallon, that nets out to $359 for the same trip. Electric vehicles on average are less efficient at highway speed and more efficient in stop and go traffic. Gasoline vehicles, obviously, are the exact opposite. Gas vehicles also don’t have to pay increased registration fees as they pay road taxes in fuel cost incrementally.
All this to say, as gas prices have returned to more typical norms after the 2022 price spikes, driving electric from an energy consumption cost standpoint seems to have normalized out with its gasoline counterparts (for California with high gas and electricity prices). Other places with far cheaper electricity prices will net out differently.
#soManyWorkingchargers!
I also spent $310 on hotels split across the northbound and southbound legs of the trip. Coupled together with the electricity cost – $650 (sans wear, tear, insurance) makes for a great plane ticket or a decent plane ticket and a rental car. Am I glad I drove? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Maybe. Only if I spent at least two weeks or more in Canada, as the drive would consume two weekends on either side of the trip. However, having the truck north of the border has a slew of benefits well beyond the cost of the trip. We had great “powered by water via BC Hydro” adventures up BC Highway 99 to Whistler and beyond.
So what did I learn?
Last year’s trip from Olympia to Boise was my first “time and miles” trip to really test how far I could drive in the EV with distance being the primary goal. On this trip, I wasn’t looking to explore and take in the sights. I wanted to drive straight up and back on the freeway to get there to maximize time in Canada. It was a continuous cycle drive, charge, drive and repeat. What did I learn? Lots!
- Having the Tesla adapter is a game changer. No other piece of hardware, tip, or hack could have made the trip better. Charging was a non issue.
- I wished there was an extension cord with the Tesla Adapter. I have to park off-center from the charger, which forces me to take up two charging spots, unless I’m on the right end of the charging bay. Not an issue this trip, but could get awkward with more demand and adoption by non Tesla vehicles.
- The numbers on the charger matter. For example, 2C means I’m the third charger on the second node of the station. If someone else parks in 2A, 2B, or 2D, I have to share the node with them, dropping the throughput in both vehicles.
- Where you stop, matters. In Grants Pass, I got a haircut. In Red Bluff, I took care of some banking. Other places I stop for meals. There’s no getting around the fact that charging takes more time than filling up the gas tank. In some ways the off time is good, but it takes planning to use the off time well.
- A Better Route Planner is truly awesome when you configure the app to understand your preferences and habits and driving. I needed to be back in the Bay Area at 3:30 on Thursday. On the southbound journey I followed ABRP’s directions to the letter on the route and charging stops to the minute. ABRP got me to my destination within two minutes of its prediction.
- The ICECO cooler was essential to keep insulin and drinks cool during the trip, but I still found that I needed to buy something at a gas station to get access to the restroom so the cooler had limited benefit versus taking it on a camping trip where it has significant benefits.
- I appreciated the forced time out of the truck. Sometimes when riding the motorcycle I will get into a ride, fill, ride motion and not have enough time off the bike tensing up my muscles when I get to my destination.
The charging ecosystem still has a long way to go. Restrooms at charging stops are still problematic. The Tesla app showed restrooms at particular charging stops but didn’t give directions on accessing them. Rivian does a good job providing charging access for people towing. Tesla, however, does not as evidenced by this charging stop in Washington.
The more I drive the Rivian, the more I realize I probably won’t ever own a gas car again (unless it’s some sort of interesting classic from my past). The benefits of driving electric for my life work really well and will continue to grow as the ecosystem matures.
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