NFR Rivian R1T Driven Yesterday

[Tim L]

Made me think of this one from a few months ago...

Man forced to ditch Ford EV truck during family road trip to Chicago: ‘biggest scam of modern times’

A Canadian man is sharing his frustrating experience – and the expenses incurred – after he purchased a Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck earlier this year.

www.foxbusiness.com

 

[nwbobber]

Here is the trailer for an EV pickup... if you can afford it.

L1 Trailer

Lightship is the first American all-electric recreational vehicle company bringing travel trailers into the electric age.

lightshiprv.com

 

[nwbobber]

I see Mr. Musk is proposing a $1 per minute during peak charging times!

That's for people who are clogging up the chargers charging their vehicles at over 90%, which slows the rate way down. I think it is a great thing for people who want to use an ev, to kick people like that off the charging infrastructure. It gets really congested in the Seattle area, the cars have been oversold, it will take a bit to get the charging infrastructure caught up in some places.

 

[flybill]

That's for people who are clogging up the chargers charging their vehicles at over 90%, which slows the rate way down. I think it is a great thing for people who want to use an ev, to kick people like that off the charging infrastructure. It gets really congested in the Seattle area, the cars have been oversold, it will take a bit to get the charging infrastructure caught up in some places.

If you can afford an EV, and a high end one to boot, like this or the million Tesla's in Redmond.. you can afford a $1 a minute.. cheaper than the stripper streaming sites... at least that's what I hear!! From the admins... LOL!

 

[Stonedfish]

Does anyone know how the whole charging industry works?
Say for instance the Fred Meyer store near my office in Kirkland. They are installing a long row of Tesla charging stations in the parking lot. I assume Krogers, the corporate entity that owns the Fred Meyer brand owns the property. Does Tesla lease that section of the property or do they just pay Krogers a percentage of the charging fees? Just curious how that works if anyone knows.
It is obviously a loss leader (go shopping while your vehicle charges) for Krogers to have that on their property now that other manufacturers have adopted Tesla charging capabilities.
They already had charging stations, but not many. This looks like it will at least quadruple the charging capacity at the store.
I also noticed a new 7-Eleven that was recently built that had gas pumps as well as a big row of charging stations.
SF

 

[NRC]

Does anyone know how the whole charging industry works?
Say for instance the Fred Meyer store near my office in Kirkland. They are installing a long row of Tesla charging stations in the parking lot. I assume Krogers, the corporate entity that owns the Fred Meyer brand owns the property. Does Tesla lease that section of the property or do they just pay Krogers a percentage of the charging fees? Just curious how that works if anyone knows.
It is obviously a loss leader (go shopping while your vehicle charges) for Krogers to have that on their property now that other manufacturers have adopted Tesla charging capabilities.
They already had charging stations, but not many. This looks like it will at least quadruple the charging capacity at the store.
I also noticed a new 7-Eleven that was recently built that had gas pumps as well as a big row of charging stations.
SF

I don’t know the answer to your question, but access to and understanding of the different types of charging was one of the big intimidators as I sized up EV options. Not that the cost of an EV was feasible for me anyway. I ended up getting a nice deal on a used Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid to ease myself into the game. Has the towing capacity for my driftboat and almost enough battery juice for my/my wife’s commute.

I have a charging station at my work (ChargePoint), and it has been as simple as downloading their app, tapping my phone on the station, and plugging in. Charging at work lets me do the whole day’s commute (plus daycare drop off) on battery, which is pretty sweet. We also trickle charge our way back to a full charge in the garage overnight.

That’s a long winded non-answer to your question - I work in local government now, so my employer owns the station and ChargePoint collects revenue charging for charging. Anyway, I’d encourage anyone EV curious to take a look at plug-in hybrids. The battery mileage continues to improve, and you can just trickle charge at home without investing in electrical upgrades. If you can find an eligible used one for under $25k like I did, you should be able to claim a $4k tax credit. I’ll find out how real that is when I file for 2023.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

@Robert Engleheart - I bet that torque was impressive and put a grin on your face!

I really wasn’t able to use it except for a short bit on freeway on ramp, probably never gave it more than 1/2 throttle for more than a couple seconds, but yes, very impressive. More impressive was the handling, ride, quiet smoothness. Would I ever buy one; no but I sure like it.

 

[Fourbtgait]

Wife has a Rav4 hybrid. I like the aspect that some of the times can run just battery. Otherwise it would be a pain going to Montana, sitting once there, waiting for it to charge.
I wouldn’t buy a full size electric truck, but I would buy a hybrid truck with a decent payload/tow capacity

 

[brownheron]

I'm an admitted car nut and am much better at buying them than I am at keeping them.

I was recently in the market for an offroad capable SUV and after 3 Wranglers and a Gladiator, decided go go to something different. I looked very close at Rivians T and S but decided not to go that route due to potential repair costs for body damage that tends to happen in my sort of usage.

Rivian R1T Fender Bender Turns Into $42,000 Repair Bill

A Rivian R1T owner claims that a fender bender requires $42,000 in repairs, due to the high costs of labor.

www.thedrive.com

Along with tales on user groups of very long wait times for simple parts like windshields, etc. I think the push to get these out the door left little time for learning how they would be serviced and maintained over the long run. Very cool rigs and I liked driving them but just couldn't pull the trigger so went a different direction.

 

[brownheron]

I wouldn’t buy a full size electric truck, but I would buy a hybrid truck with a decent payload/tow capacity

2025...

The Impressive 2025 Ramcharger is a Series Hybrid Billed as an EV - Expedition Portal

The Ram 1500 Ramcharger is the pinnacle of the light-duty pickup truck segment and the ultimate electric truck.

expeditionportal.com

 

[Jake Watrous]

I see Mr. Musk is proposing a $1 per minute during peak charging times!

Cheap at twice the price.

I pay way more than that at the gas pump.

 

[Peyton00]

I am excited for the day when a few different SUVs with decent towing capabilities are on the market.
I want an all elec. before 2027.

 

[Shad]

I really want an all electric for my next vehicle, but I'm concerned now that just won't be realistic for me before my good ol' Taco truck finally decides to give up the ghost. I figured the Tesla craze would set the transition into fast motion, but instead, it seems to have only made Americans love gas burners even more. Purchase and maintenance costs need to come way down, batteries need new technology (the weight they add to a vehicle and all the wear and tear that brings, not to mention the environmental challenges they pose, which are almost as numerous and severe as those associated with petroleum), and charging infrastructure needs to be VASTLY improved before electrics become a realistic option for average folk like me.

The biggest obstacle I have right now (and one I suspect affects a large percentage of other folks) is that I live in a third floor apartment (and likely will the rest of my able-bodied life, seeing as investing in a home with no equity at this point in my life looks like a bad decision). Without charging stations in virtually every parking spot, charging at home would not be realistically possible. I don't see the money-grubbing bunch of trust fund babies someplace in Colorado that own my apartment complex (or any other, save perhaps for a luxury place that charges way too much rent) making that accommodation. Only way that's happening is government mandates, and I doubt those will be coming down anytime soon.

We waited way too long to start the transition away from fossil fuels. This rock is gonna burn before we get our shit together at this point. Sleep tight....

But yeah... the Rivian looks cool! I'd love to drive one (until I ran out of juice at home and couldn't recharge it anyway).

 

[Otter]

The biggest obstacle I have right now (and one I suspect affects a large percentage of other folks) is that I live in a third floor apartment (and likely will the rest of my able-bodied life, seeing as investing in a home with no equity at this point in my life looks like a bad decision). Without charging stations in virtually every parking spot, charging at home would not be realistically possible.
.......
But yeah... the Rivian looks cool! I'd love to drive one (until I ran out of juice at home and couldn't recharge it anyway).

I agree with all the points that you've made, Shad, especially the above issue. You are absolutely correct: No apartment building owner, and no developer of new buildings, will ever install charging stations for every parking spot.

This issue has a further serious problem in some locations. I don't know the situation in the US PNW, but here in my town (Nanaimo, B.C.), city planners and councilors automatically pander to developers requesting major reductions in parking spaces in multi-unit buildings, far below city policy. They call these parking reductions "variances". It is just plain pandering to greed.

Building on-site parking requires reducing the number of apartments on a building site, or building parking below units, or both. Street parking here is already seriously scarce, because of massive immigration (to all areas of Vancouver Island). Just one example: On my street, city council allowed a 57 unit apartment to be built with only 17 parking spaces. Virtually all tenants in that building have a car, not just because we are a car society, but because many tenants in that building are older or mobility-challenged, so riding a fricken bicycle isn't feasible for them. (Most of our city councilors are total bike nuts, and have even been eliminating lanes on busy 4-lane streets, to make room for damn bike lanes. This is restricting first responder access to emergencies, as well.)

Will our government arrange EV chargers all along every street in town? Of course not.

Rant over.

 

[Fourbtgait]

2025...

The Impressive 2025 Ramcharger is a Series Hybrid Billed as an EV - Expedition Portal

The Ram 1500 Ramcharger is the pinnacle of the light-duty pickup truck segment and the ultimate electric truck.

expeditionportal.com

A 150/1500 is not a decent payload. I was talking 3-4-1 ton

 

[Roper]

Cheap at twice the price.

I pay way more than that at the gas pump.

and that takes what, three minutes…? Oh, and thank your governor…for the cost.

 

[nwbobber]

Does anyone know how the whole charging industry works?
Say for instance the Fred Meyer store near my office in Kirkland. They are installing a long row of Tesla charging stations in the parking lot. I assume Krogers, the corporate entity that owns the Fred Meyer brand owns the property. Does Tesla lease that section of the property or do they just pay Krogers a percentage of the charging fees? Just curious how that works if anyone knows.
It is obviously a loss leader (go shopping while your vehicle charges) for Krogers to have that on their property now that other manufacturers have adopted Tesla charging capabilities.
They already had charging stations, but not many. This looks like it will at least quadruple the charging capacity at the store.
I also noticed a new 7-Eleven that was recently built that had gas pumps as well as a big row of charging stations.
SF

I don't, but we have had a Tesla model y for about three months now, and I can say that the cheapest charging I have found are at the superchargers, and the cheapest of them are at Tesla dealerships. Some of the cost is due to the cost of electricity in the area. I live in Cowlitz county and the pud charges 7.27 cents per kWh here, and the supercharger in Kelso is charging three times that for the energy you buy from them. Some of that has to go to the landowner, not sure if Tesla bought the property or leases it.
The most expensive charging we have done is at one of the charge point chargers on highway 12... near 50 cents per kWh, and the power is trickled in at a meager 6kw, The highest I have paid at a super charger is 31 cents per kWh so far. The superchargers put energy in at a rate of 150kw to bettter than 300 depending on where you go. It is a business so if they are located in a busy parking lot in a high value shopping area I am sure a good chunk of the money you pay goes to pay for the real estate.

 

[headduck]

Couple interesting points above.

The parking in cities (my reference is seattle/portland) was typically excessive with a glut of routinely empty spaces. Also number spots were mandated by code, with variances initially very difficult or impossible to get. They're also typically sub grade which is super spendy and often dont bring additional revenue. Yeah, bike nuts push for less spaces for sure.

For mobility impaired, make sense to have ample spots or at least insure that parking is available is limited.

in the PNW where we're fed by Bonneville, electrical demand exceeds capacity, and all additional Kwhs come from dirty out of state sources subject to huge transmissions losses.

The consequence being that emissions of electric vehicles is displaced to out of state communities who rely on dirty sources for generation, then we lose a bunch of it in the way.

The batteries are also not the cleanest in production or end of life.

Not saying this breaks the benefit, as I haven't done the math, but as with everything, it's a bit more nuanced.

For the record, I'm ok with losing the ICE for good, but we need to figure out how to power all these new cars in a manner that makes sense. If everybody had one, we'd have a whole new set of problems for future generations.

 

[SurfnFish]

Son drives his Telsa Y 500 miles from SF coastal home to vacation house in Sunriver, requires one stop along the way at the Fred Meyers Tesla Supercharger in Klamath Falls, 25 min stop. It 'pencils out' for him by being able to drive solo in commuter lanes, turning a 75 minute commute into an under hour commute.
Been reading positive reviews about the 2024 Prius..sporty new styling, peppy, over 50 mpg, lot to like in a well proven technology.
These 'boutique' Ev's coming to market...good luck with any breakdowns that occur hours from the nearest dealer repair center.

 

[Jake Watrous]

For the record, I'm ok with losing the ICE for good, but we need to figure out how to power all these new cars in a manner that makes sense. If everybody had one, we'd have a whole new set of problems for future generations.

Indeed, but not necessarily as much as we might think at first glance.

My house uses an average 22kw per day, but aside from the three chest freezers in the garage and shed, I’m all-in on LEDs and every other electrical efficiency I could justify in my desire to be energy independent. My solar panels produce 30kwh a day on average. Assuming my average 30 miles per day (I drive a lot on weekends and in the summer/winter/spring breaks) I’d just about break even with the average solar vehicle’s ~7kwh to do 30 miles—maybe adding 1kw additional need to the grid. My household isn’t normal, though.

California has lots of readily available data, and I’m too lazy to hunt down Washington’s (I fished both sides of the high tide this morning), but the average Californian drives 35 miles per day on average, which for an electric vehicle is about 8kw. Meanwhile, the average house in the US uses about 35kwh. So, adding an electric vehicle in every home in the US would increase residential consumption about 27%. Adding it all at once would be a huge load, but if it happened over, say, the next 10-15 years we’d only need to increase grid capacity by a small amount—call it 2% a year and we can be done with time to spare (those contractors and municipalities often need extra time).

I wrote “residential consumption”, though, which in California is only about 20% of the grid. The math gets messy with people not charging at home, people buying plug-in hybrids, and many not buying electrics overnight, so let’s say it cuts that 2% a year figure in half and not to 1/5th.

1% grid capacity increase per year is not bad at all—and that’s if every Californian household got one by 2038.