Rivian R1S

"I have read many Canadian gasoline stations also close in the winter if traveling to/from AK. Am I wrong?"

I made my 1st winter trip on the Alcan going from Los Anchorage to Seattle area in 1972....I had only a learner's permit at the time and was on the trip with my uncle's foreman to help get hay and a trailer from Seattle and return. I would estimate that at that time 75% of the roadhouse stations through YT/BC outside of identified cities were closed in (IIRC) January...part of that was that there were a LOT more places 50 years ago and the winnowing effect was taking place. A colleague (admittedly not my direct experience) made the trip North from Seattle this year leaving on 2-Jan, getting here about a week ago. He reported that he had no problem finding stations to keep his 30+ gallon diesel tank at 1/2 or higher. He never had to get into the 20 gallons of spare diesel cans in the back of his pickup.

....which is a key point on this rambling message. Until my latest trip (3 years ago, helping someone relocate from Ewe-Stun), in 20+ trips since that '72 trip, I've always made a point to carry at least 10 gallons of fuel for any trip outside of the May - August window. That gave me anywhere between 150 and 220 miles of "Oh ****, I'm getting low" problem solving. I'm not sure what the mitigation is if one's pure EV lasts shorter than expected in cold weather.

...and again, I'll admit to a morbid fascination of "what can go wrong", but I'm unwilling to take the drive, at any time between October and April which is winter driving with all the risk that entails, between Los Anchorage and Glennallen even though the mileage looks to be within the range of an EV and even though there might (probably?) be charging stations in Glennallen.

PA12DRVR wrote:
...and there are (based on rough quick look) about 30 charging stations in Alaska. Just as a for-instance, there are 3 locations (depending how one counts "location" and there are more than 3 stations) between Los Anchorage and Valdez. Anchorage lists 8 charging stations but once outside of the core area: One of the other charging locations is at a local chain grocery store and has been blocked off twice in the past 3 weeks...presumably due to cold, although at the then -15 F, it wasn't that cold. Two of the other locations include a private campground (closed for the winter) and a public (State of Alaska DNR) campground and conference facility, also closed for the winter. There are probably others, but I would not choose to take a 180 mile drive (Anchorage to Glennallen) without the ability to "charge up" nor the additional 120 miles to valdez with no ability to "charge up" on that leg until reaching Valdez.

Again, if I were to spend $100,000 or so on a summer-only vehicle, I'd probably be looking at something different. FWIW, there's an identifiable segment of Los Anchorage drivers that do the commute in their Teslas....although strangely enough over the past two weeks (when we had a bit of below zero weather), the Teslas weren't as noticeable.

...and I use GWN to refer to Alaska, although perhaps misappropriating the name from Canada.

I have read many Canadian gasoline stations also close in the winter if traveling to/from AK. Am I wrong?
Yes, know your fueling options before you go to remote areas in the dead of winter. No matter the fuel.

spoon059 wrote:

mosseater wrote:
The ugly would be the virtue signaling part. If they looked like other vehicles they wouldn't have reached market saturation This quickly.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? I think they look kinda cool. I like the LED lighting on them. I haven't spent too much time looking at them, but when I see one going down the road they don't offend me.

Half ton truck just isn't enough for me and my family though, so they aren't something that interests me enough to dive further into them.

Maybe I went a little overboard with the ugly comment as it stirred up some feelers here. I admit there have been worse looking vehicles made. For example the Riv is 1000% better looking than a Pontiac Aztek! Lol.

Although it seems like the Guardians of the EV Galaxy clan on here, while they talk a big game, most of them, as map40 so simply and accurately put it, also vote with their wallet. And that is the real bottom line here. Well that and capability.
It’s not accurate to compare the Riv to something it’s not even pretending to be which is a Hd pickup or even a real half ton truck.
What is even more fun to think aboot is IF some of the folks who can seem to look past the stupiferous price tag (mostly because that would hurt their argument since there’s no way they could/should buy one while being even remotely fiscally responsible with whatever their capital is), is what would someone who’s driving experience includes asking basic trailering questions and who’s driveway contains a 4 banger milquetoast commuter vehicle and a E 350 with a house attached to it do with a 3 second 0-60 vehicle?
I mean if you’re gonna pay over 100 grand for effectively a 600-800hp version of a less capable (as an actual truck) Chevy Colorado, it’s either a status symbol (you ain’t worried about gas prices and you’re not saving the world) or you want to have the quickest stoplight sleeper at the Fri night run what ya brung drag races.
Status symbol, I get it. We all like to have something whether it be a car or a used bubble gum collection that we can be proud of and show off a bit.
But since we know it’s not actually to save the world from greenhouse gasses, then the other reason is luxury race car. In which case you missed the boat. You could have 20 grand of free gas money leftover and 1.5second better time slips and waaaaay better top end and handling by just getting any number of actual fast American sports cars.

So by process of elimination, the only plausible justification to buy a Riv is to best the Jones’s at their own game!

mosseater wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Well they are as fast as they are ugly!
I’d love to have a ripper 11 second EV. But even though it smoked a TRX, if I had to drop $100k on a pickup truck for some silly reason it would be a TRX Redeye or the baddest new diesel 1 ton in my favorite color! Not an ugly midsize toaster oven.

The ugly would be the virtue signaling part. If they looked like other vehicles they wouldn't have reached market saturation This quickly.

Not gonna lie. I had to look up virtue signaling…credit where due, that was a very eloquent way of communicating an insult or at least disagreement with my OPINION of their looks.
One has to wonder if the same would be thought if I said the same about a more popular or commonplace vehicle?
Either way as impressive as your use of uncommon big word terms is, you got the definition of market saturation wholly incorrect in the context of your statement.

mosseater wrote:
The ugly would be the virtue signaling part. If they looked like other vehicles they wouldn't have reached market saturation This quickly.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? I think they look kinda cool. I like the LED lighting on them. I haven't spent too much time looking at them, but when I see one going down the road they don't offend me.

Half ton truck just isn't enough for me and my family though, so they aren't something that interests me enough to dive further into them.

Grit dog wrote:
Well they are as fast as they are ugly!
I’d love to have a ripper 11 second EV. But even though it smoked a TRX, if I had to drop $100k on a pickup truck for some silly reason it would be a TRX Redeye or the baddest new diesel 1 ton in my favorite color! Not an ugly midsize toaster oven.

The ugly would be the virtue signaling part. If they looked like other vehicles they wouldn't have reached market saturation This quickly.

Reisender wrote:
Yah I get that. But quite often you see phrases like “it’s no good for towing”. Which is true…for some people. But EV’s can be great tow vehicles for some. Never a good idea to paint with a big brush.

You seem to be projecting...

The question asked never said anything about that. He asked how it handles heavy weight and cold weather. It wasn't a broad brush question, you simply took it that way.

This is ridiculous. It was a question about the tow capabilities of a truck being dicussed in the Tow Vehicles section of an RV forum. You over reacted a little bit, just let it go...

...and there are (based on rough quick look) about 30 charging stations in Alaska. Just as a for-instance, there are 3 locations (depending how one counts "location" and there are more than 3 stations) between Los Anchorage and Valdez. Anchorage lists 8 charging stations but once outside of the core area: One of the other charging locations is at a local chain grocery store and has been blocked off twice in the past 3 weeks...presumably due to cold, although at the then -15 F, it wasn't that cold. Two of the other locations include a private campground (closed for the winter) and a public (State of Alaska DNR) campground and conference facility, also closed for the winter. There are probably others, but I would not choose to take a 180 mile drive (Anchorage to Glennallen) without the ability to "charge up" nor the additional 120 miles to valdez with no ability to "charge up" on that leg until reaching Valdez.

Again, if I were to spend $100,000 or so on a summer-only vehicle, I'd probably be looking at something different. FWIW, there's an identifiable segment of Los Anchorage drivers that do the commute in their Teslas....although strangely enough over the past two weeks (when we had a bit of below zero weather), the Teslas weren't as noticeable.

...and I use GWN to refer to Alaska, although perhaps misappropriating the name from Canada.

wnjj wrote:

Reisender wrote:

time2roll wrote:

PA12DRVR wrote:
, never mind the dearth of charging stations up here in the GWN.

https://www.plugshare.com/

Sorry. Not an American. What is GWN.

Thanks.

Probably this.

Thank you.

Reisender wrote:

time2roll wrote:

PA12DRVR wrote:
, never mind the dearth of charging stations up here in the GWN.

https://www.plugshare.com/

Sorry. Not an American. What is GWN.

Thanks.

Probably this.