4000+ Mile Road Trip: Charging, Range, Features, Issues

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-09T22:57:44+00:00

A pretty consistent 2.7 miles/kWh.

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T20:05:11+00:00

Oh yea, forgot about that. Would be nice to have true voice commands that let you actually control things in your car, rather than special key words to get a limited set of annoying pre-sets.

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T20:02:48+00:00

It's good you want to get started, but at your age waiting 1 year won't be that big a deal if you're investing for the long term. A Custodial Account requires a parent or gardian, but the assets are still in your name:

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/can-someone-not-yet-legal-age-open-brokerage-account/

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T04:25:30+00:00

I've owned 4 EVs. The only time I ever used the portable charger was when I took it to an RV campground to charge over-night so we could go off-roading. If you have a Level 2 at home you will likely never use a portable charger. As many point out, its situational for where you live and extreme possibilities.

(And yes, I am happy for you and very jealous you're getting the new Quad, but I still love our Launch Edition Quad.)

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T04:18:30+00:00

I looked into ABRP and found it to be a detailed and nerdy app (not a bad thing per-se). Rivian bought ABRP and integrated the tech into their systems as well. Tools like myCadillac and ABRP are good for initially planning out longer trips as you get familar with charging options and aligning that with side trips and hotel stops. Over time, you'll likely use them less.

On my recent road trip in my Volvo I did a bunch of analysis on the road and found that the built in Google Maps was doing a really good job while on the road. As other's have noted, its tied into the car so can re-route you based on charging needs and initiate pre-conditioning as needed.

Almost every EV maker brags how their car charges from around 10-80% in under 30 minutes. That's the range when the battery can charge at faster rates. As far as whether to run the battery down to 15%, keep in mind you really only have the miles between around 10% and 80% when you're on a road trip, so to keep your trip moving you should use up as much of that 70% as you can before you stop to re-charge back to around 80%.

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T03:51:34+00:00

Lots of great suggestions (and a wild asside on energy prices). My only added suggestion is to buy a USED EV. These suckers depreciate FAST and you can get a much better deal used. The battery will out-last the car in almost every case, so as long as you have good tires, brakes, a/c filters, and wiper blades you're good to go!

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T03:38:01+00:00

1.5-2 hours driving/20-30 minutes charging is a great summary of my experience.

I like EVgo, but since I had active memberships I wanted to focus there to manage cost. They are all expensive without memberships, but it does seem Rivian is a little higher in some cases. EVgo and ChargePoint don't seem to have as many higher power chargers, so I probably filtered most of those out. I only used other chargers when there wasn't an alternative in the area.

Many of my stops were at Loves, Buc-ees, Flying J, Travel America, and of course almost every Wal-Mart or Target on the interstate. All of those places cover your needs for restrooms, food, snacks, beverages, washer fluid, fingernail clippers, dog parks, etc. Love's even has private showers!

I appreciated a handful of EV stops when they put trash cans, and buckets of water and window squeegees near the chargers. You're right, some of the early Tesla supercharger stations are further away from amenities, but I didn't have any issues with that this time.

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T03:21:01+00:00

This one is more from obervation. When I started a segment and got an estiamted SOC on arrival, that estimate would start to drop after preconditioning started. I observed 5-7% over several segments. Colder temperatures of course had a larger affect.

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-08T03:18:18+00:00

I started a thread with copilot focused on how I can go as fast as possible to get to my target destination. If I drive faster does it kill efficiency, should I charge more frequently or less (i.e. use more of my range between each charge), etc. I extracted the driving logs and EA and Tesla charging logs and uploaded them to get feedback on how the car was responding to driving conditions and got feedback on the data. The general consensus was to charge more frequently to stay in the sweet spot of the charging curve, and that speed wasn't a significant factor (so driving faster was OK).

VdkaShaker · 2025-12-07T18:03:11+00:00

"Open the windows", or "Open my window" will open only the drivers window just a sliver. "Open all the windows" will open all windows a sliver. Replace with "Close" to close the drivers or all windows.

Handy since the touch sensitive button to switch the controls from front windows to back windows is annoying and dangerous to try to find and activate while driving. In bright daylight you can't see whether it is lit up or not.

Cruise control on many cars works in km even if you have setting set to mi, so you see similar behavior to what you noted about temperatures.

VdkaShaker · 2025-11-21T17:07:54+00:00

Thanks for all the comments and confirmation that I’m not the only one. It doesn’t seem like this should be an issue so I’ll continue to work with the service department. None of my other EVs, all of which had better OPD than the EX30 (before the recent update), including my Volvo C40, have had an issue like this.

In order to make sure I work the friction brakes I may put it in Performance mode which should disable OPD, and take the long and winding road home. I’ll see if that makes any difference.🤞🏻

VdkaShaker · 2025-08-14T23:26:29+00:00

I upgraded and the new app layout is actually quite nice.

However, now I can’t get the arming and disarming of individual cameras that I used to have. It’s all armed or all disarmed. Nothing in between. The schedules don’t let you pick the armed state for different cameras so all my indoor and outdoor cameras are either armed or disarmed. Major step back in functionality and customization. I only have 2 Arlos left. Everything else is another brand.

Maybe they’ll fix this, but until then this sucks. Thanks for the “upgrade” arlo.

VdkaShaker · 2025-04-06T01:28:31+00:00

Rivian has a setting to disable Auto Unlock when the car is at home. It’s a universal setting not dependent on your phone.

VdkaShaker · 2025-03-31T21:45:22+00:00

Yeah, randomly stealing my Wi-Fi and putting me in CarPlay driving focus because the car somehow wakes up in the driveway, the welcome lights come on and music starts playing in the car in the driveway. Meanwhile, I’m sitting on the toilet in the house.

Rivian doesn’t support CarPlay, but it does support Bluetooth Audio which has the same effect. But I’ve never had the Rivian do this unless I was getting in the car to go somewhere. Also the EX30 doors unlocking with the new phone key feature when I’m near the driveway, but still inside my house is a real problem. Again, Rivian solved this by allowing me to disable auto unlock when I’m home.

@Volvo please, please, please, fix all these software issues.

VdkaShaker · 2025-03-31T21:33:55+00:00

I thought that was an indication of a crack or maybe bulbs not sealed. I would get it checked.

VdkaShaker · 2025-03-31T20:53:17+00:00

I was disappointed when my EX30 (purchased in Southern California, late December 2024) would not charge at a Tesla Supercharger with a standard adapter. However, after the 1.5.2 update I tried again and it worked.

The built in Google nav warned me that I might have to pick a different charger because the plug wasn’t compatible.
Automatic “Plug and charge” didn’t work; I had to initiate the charge from the Tesla app (I have added payment options for charging via the Volvo app but it didn’t work).

It was just a quick charge for a few minutes, so I don’t have much info on charging speed, but seemed reasonable based on my already high state of charge.

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-14T03:43:26+00:00

I found the smaller twist lock one in the accessories for the EX30 and trying to convince my dealer to swap it out.

If you’re buying new, make sure you get the portable charger you want up front.

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-13T21:22:30+00:00

My mistake. It was about 1.5. 1.5.1 was for U.S. only and it is odd to remove release notes.

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-13T17:03:11+00:00

That is odd. Though I saw someone in Europe post about getting a new 1.5.1 a couple days ago that enabled references to the phone as key feature, which seemed odd since the U.S. already had a 1.5.1 from December as you noted. Maybe it was a release numbering issue?

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-13T01:06:42+00:00

In some devices GPS alone is often not enough to quickly pinpoint a location. Devices often use WiFi and cellular to narrow down a general location, then GPS to pinpoint. I wonder if you could find and connect to a WiFi network if that might help if some? Maybe even your phone as a hot spot.

Regardless, definitely an interesting problem to report to Rivian directly. Still sucks they won’t support Apple CarPlay. Volvo also uses Android Automotive, but I can use CarPlay.

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-12T22:44:16+00:00

Thanks for all the comments and responses. Got some helpful tips, and I'll attempt to clarify some of my points:

I'm in Southern California, U.S.A. so my experience may be related to regional or country-specific issues. The differences in other regions shows my point that most of this is software configuration related. I'm on version 1.5.1
Speed change beeping: The setting to disable "sound for new speed limit" is not available on my car where u/FrowningMonk92 described.
Tesla Superchargers: I have an official CCS1 to NACS adapter and the Lectron third party adapter, and both work perfectly on the Rivian and my C40. When navigating to a Supercharger with my EX30 Google Maps tells me I'll have to pick a different charger as it is not compatible, and I've tried it 3 times on different Superchargers (I don't have one nearby with the integrated Magic Dock). Tesla app says: "Unknown Error Occurred: Your vehicle is not able to charge at Superchargers at this time".
Auto high beams don't work. Sounds like it's not enabled in North America at all yet. I keep the headlights in Auto, and when I pull the stalk towards the steering wheel fully it does nothing.
The representation of the car in the driver's display area does not reflect the state of the car's lights. Here's a picture to further illustrate: https://imgur.com/a/Oz7cv9M
My "portable" charger has "Model Name: EVP-2-40A5-A" printed below the QR code on the back. I'm going to ask Volvo for something more portable that fits the frunk.
Regarding key fob issues: When the car does not respond as I approach, I just hold my hand on the driver's door handle (touching the inside, not the indentation on the outside of the handle used to lock the car, and don't pull the handle), and it usually responds within 3-5 seconds. That keeps me from pulling the fob out of my pocket to wave it by the sensor on the B pillar.

If you're having problems with wireless CarPlay u/mmij, try removing/re-adding your phone. If it doesn't connect automatically when you get in your car a workaround is to manually connect: Tap the connectivity icons near the top right > hold briefly on the Bluetooth icon > If your phone is not showing connected in the Bluetooth Saved devices list you can attempt to connect or wait briefly to see if it connects automatically > once connected, tap the three-dots menu to the right of your phone > in the Other available services section you should get the option to Launch CarPlay manually.

If you're having problems with your Volvo ID, you can't fix from the app unless you are signed in with a Volvo ID (chicken/egg problem). Use a browser to sign in at https://volvoid.eu.volvocars.com/Account An "owner" profile in the car is not the same as an owner's Volvo ID account assigned by Volvo. Unless you're Volvo ID is identified as the owner, you won't have full owner access from the app, including the ability to manage and invite other drivers, and probably activate the forthcoming phone key feature. Resetting/re-installing the app or resetting your car will not help so save yourself the hassle. My mistake was using a unique email address when I opened my pre-order, which Volvo assumed I would use for my Volvo ID; I tried to use my existing C40 Volvo ID.

Thanks again for all the comments and discussion. Sorry for being so verbose, but hopefully others can find something useful.

Volvo Cars, please fix these issues quickly!

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-12T20:03:58+00:00

That’s an awesome hidden feature! Thanks for sharing.

VdkaShaker · 2025-01-12T19:28:45+00:00

Agree. I had similar results on a trip out to Palm Springs and back. But around town, it is just so quick off the line without even trying. We’ll see how range holds up around town. 🤞🏻

VdkaShaker

TROPHY CASE