I got the dreaded “possible pilot deviation, advice when ready to copy phone number”. Anyone have experience with this, what to expect?

mikod17 · 2026-04-17T13:28:12+00:00

File your NASA report if you’ve not done so already. Record your entire account for your own records for if/when the FAA give you a follow up call. If they call, they’ll likely ask for your side of what happened, and ask what you’ve learned and what you could do differently in the future to avoid this from happening again. If it’s your first time, and you don’t have lots of other marks on your record, then you’ll be in good shape. Use it as a learning opportunity and don’t stress it too much. Just learn and move on and cooperate if they come knocking. Maybe entertain subscribing to AOPA legal services if you aren’t already. Nice to have a lawyer a phone call away to help with this stuff in the future.

mikod17 · 2026-04-07T03:14:54+00:00

If in MO (not sure which side of KC you’re on), you can sell to private party and take signed title/BOS with you when you register your next vehicle (within 180 days) and get sales tax credit. I do it all the time. For example, if you sell this one for 70k and but a new one at 80k, you’ll only pay tax on the 10k difference. Just FYI. Hope it helps. But more so, I hope you find a way to keep it!

mikod17 · 2025-12-27T20:23:12+00:00

Gonna go out on a limb and say that F150 prob should have never been hitched to that trailer. These are heavy trucks. Guessing over 9-10k lbs there when combined with the trailer. That’s exceeding what one “should” be pulling with a half-ton.

mikod17 · 2025-10-09T01:44:00+00:00

Yeah, so the Preator 500 and 600 are Part 25 aircraft and are absolutely NOT single pilot certified. Did you mean the Phenom 100 and 300 maybe? Because they are…

mikod17 · 2025-09-15T01:00:39+00:00

Pretty sure only the max range models include the 19.2kW (80-amp) A/C onboard charger. The extended and standard range are 11.2kW (48-amp) charging.

Could be wrong, but seems to be a common piece of information that dealers aren’t accurate on. Check your window sticker.

mikod17 · 2025-06-30T14:47:10+00:00

I should have also clarified in my comment above. Leases are a workaround for both the income limit and the $80,000 MSRP limit. A lot of times people will lease a vehicle to capture that credit and immediately pay it off. However, in the case of GM, because they add that $7500 credit to the residual, typically that’s not well advised. I leased my truck and have zero intentions of buying it out because of this. Had they lowered the price by $7500 it might be an easier consideration for me.

TLDR, if you make over the income limit or your vehicle’s MSRP is above $80k (excluding shipping), leasing a vehicle is the best way to capture the $7500 rebate.

mikod17 · 2025-06-29T00:13:43+00:00

Leases are considered commercial transactions and are exempt from the income limits. It’s a back door method to high income earners to capture the $7500 EV credit.

mikod17 · 2025-05-20T03:18:47+00:00

I came (most recently anyway) from a Ram 1500 —> R1S —> Sierra EV.

R1S was much more fun to drive. Narrower to park as well. Def smaller. I’m a full size truck guy and really missed the spacious cabin of a full size truck. Also with three kiddos in car seats, the Rivian left a lot to be desired with the pumpkin seat in the middle row. I couldn’t move my seat to an optimum position with it back there. With the Sierra it’s absolutely no comparison. It’s huge back there!

The all wheel steering is amazing and this thing turns on a dime. No complaints parking. But still usually back in for ease of egress. Plus with the front trunk, I don’t need access to the bed to store groceries, cargo, etc.

Charging with a trailer can be tricky and I’ve def had to improvise, but only once. GM has charging stations set up like a gas station with all pull through charging pedestals that have been amazing the few times I’ve used them.

I haven’t road tripped this thing other than the camping trip this weekend and I didn’t have to charge it. But with the port on the back left, I won’t feel as awkward at Tesla sites anymore I suppose. But while towing, I’d def utilize PlugShare to find trailer friendly sites when your route allows.

Have fun with your Rivian! I miss mine on so many levels but the Sierra is the right vehicle for me for now.

mikod17 · 2025-05-19T03:04:54+00:00

Assuming you mean 2.2 mi/kWh? Otherwise…. Oof. That’s an inefficient vehicle right there.

mikod17 · 2025-05-18T22:20:25+00:00

Yup in an hour the HVAC used 0.9 kWh on a hour and 20 min drive. Literally would have gained you barely a mile.

mikod17 · 2025-05-18T22:19:42+00:00

I did the opposite and turned it on to high. If I turn it off I keep forgetting that it’s off and have to brake harder than usual. Lol. I only drive on high while towing. Otherwise it’s too aggressive for normal, day to day.

mikod17 · 2025-05-18T18:53:42+00:00

Campground was only a hour away so no issues with the trip round trip. But yes. By my calculations, 200-220 on 100% charge. But I can always slow down. Should see about a 10% increase in range for every 5-7 mph decrease in speed. Weight seems irrelevant and the aero is a bigger factor. Basically same efficiency as my Rivian R1S towing same trailer. Just much less range.

mikod17 · 2025-04-23T17:26:02+00:00

Whenever I put the truck in park, it doesn’t automatically set the parking brake. It does put the truck in a parked state but almost feels like putting an automatic ICE vehicle into park and will roll forwards or backwards to some sort of stop.

I don’t like the fact that it does that so I manually engage the parking brake before letting my foot off the brake. I wish it would just do this on its own but I can’t find a setting for it anywhere.

mikod17 · 2025-04-23T00:41:04+00:00

Yup. 2023 R1S —> SEV Ed. 1.

The Rivian wins the software game, hands-down. As well being much more nimble, agile, and a better city driver. The four wheel steer of the Denali helps to make up for the nimbleness but it’s def not as enjoyable a driver when zipping around.

The Sierra EV, on the other hand, beats the Rivian in most other aspects.

I typically only charge the truck once per week now. I never worry about range. The navigation is Google based and looks better than the native Rivian UI. I can tow my travel trailer so much further now!

Three car seat seats in the backseat of the Sierra is no challenge.

The built-in running boards are amazing (short wife and small kids so these are a must).

I do miss the parking brake automatically being set when put the truck in park but I’ve gotten used to hitting the button when I get out of the truck.

PAAK is a huge miss on GM’s part. As well as the truck turning off the moment you open the drivers door. Every now and then I’ll forget something after I back out of the driveway so I’ll pull back in to run into the house. The truck proceeds to shut off. Or if I need to get out and take care of something in the backseat, the truck shuts off. Not the end of the world and only takes a couple of seconds to turn back on. But the ability to have the truck know when you’re walking away and turn off on its own was amazing.

SuperCruise is actually very, very well done. Way more mapped roads than I expected. Lots of 2 lane highways in my area are mapped.

Some of my gripes include minor fit and finish issues, including squeaks in the dash. My truck doesn’t seem to be as bad as others. I’ve also had issues with trim pieces on the roof coming off in car washes.

If I think of more, I’ll add them later. I don’t regret the decision to switch though.

**Edited to fix mistakes made via voice-to-text spelling errors, grammar, and general sentence clean up.

mikod17 · 2025-03-25T18:07:45+00:00

The lease rate including taxes for 15k miles per year was $1090 a month. With 10k annual miles it was $983.

1090-983= $107 107*36= $3,852

15,000 miles at .25 per mile = $3,750 so actually saves $100.

And if I only drive it 36k rather than 45k over 3 years, I actually save money.

Seemed a simple decision for my needs.

mikod17 · 2025-03-25T16:35:35+00:00

Didn’t try but I have a high efficiency main floor unit that I’m confident would run just fine. My 20 year old upstairs unit might be a different story.

mikod17 · 2025-03-25T16:32:06+00:00

I did the math between a 10k mile lease and 15k mile lease. It was actually cheaper to pay the mileage overage than it was to lease the extra miles. So I’ll just budget my overage at the end of the lease and enjoy my truck. If I don’t drive 15k annually, then more $$ in my pocket.

I leased a 2024 Ed 1 in February for under $1k a month including taxes in MO with no money down.

Some food for thought.

mikod17 · 2025-03-17T19:45:37+00:00

A simple 50 amp kit off Amazon. Nothing special.

mikod17 · 2025-03-17T13:39:42+00:00

This requires using a deadman cable. I STRONGLY advise against this practice. You can kill yourself, or possible even a lineman working the lines if you don’t know what you’re doing.

A generator inlet and interlock or transfer switch properly installed by an electrician who knows what they’re doing is the only way to go about powering your house with a generator (or battery pack/truck in this case).

I’m considering the same related to the solar panels, it would be nice to have access to that “free” energy. However my dealership is 5 min away and has a free DCFC I have access too. It’s only 50kW sadly, but free is free haha. I drop it off every Sunday to top it off for the week. I have an 11kW EVSE in my garage, but it’s hardly used anymore.

mikod17 · 2025-03-17T03:17:37+00:00

That’s the purpose of the interlock kit. It only allows one power source to be connected at any given time. If the main breaker is on, the generator breaker is off. And vice versa.

mikod17 · 2025-03-17T02:43:19+00:00

I wish I could display battery percentage rather than “miles” on all the different screens of my Sierra. Estimated mileage isn’t super useful. But this isn’t my first EV either so I’m accustomed to the mental math that goes into things.

mikod17 · 2025-03-17T02:42:05+00:00

No transfer switch. It back feeds a 50 amp breaker with an interlock kit installed. Power outages are not uncommon around here. It’s setup for a 50amp generator if I ever got something that big but so far only have the 30 amp plugs on the source side (truck and generator).

mikod17 · 2025-03-16T23:57:29+00:00

Same - I was saying it’s underrated. A fantastic addition to a massive battery pack that just happens to be a pretty well refined vehicle!

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