Three months ago: June was the start of the crazy travel days. We'd gotten close to taking delivery of a Rivian R1T electric truck in May in Texas, but the first one designated for us had some issues that delayed everything. Eventually we were told they had assigned us a different (and problem-free) truck -- and was there any chance we wanted to pick it up at the factory in Normal, IL?
Yes we wanted! That sounded like an amazing opportunity that wouldn't happen often in our lives.
The main question was how to get Bev (our Chevy Bolt) to Texas to sell to John's parents. Well, also how to set up some rather convoluted travel plans to move all the people and vehicles in all the directions they needed to go. Our first pass at a plan yielded the answer "I don't see any reason we CAN'T make this work" and so we replied to Rivian - yes, Marcy will be picking up the truck on Thursday!
Luckily for us, we had a place to park Howie with friends in New Mexico for several days (we were just starting out on a driving tour from Flagstaff toward the Bighorn race in Wyoming). One piece figured out.
We knew we wanted to sell our old Dodge Ram for parts and remove it from commission. Tug has been our faithful vehicle since 2007, taking us and Howie all over the country. It was time to give Tug a rest. And to remove one diesel-consuming and slightly-stinky internal combustion engine from the road.
John driving Tug one last time while I followed in Bev:
John found a place in Albuquerque that would give us a few dollars while promising that the truck would not be driven again (as much of a guarantee as we could hope for). Thank you Tug, you were an awesome adventure vehicle!
John dropped me off at the airport and then started driving Bev toward east Texas. I hopped on a plane that took me to Dallas way before he arrived:
Then it looked like he might catch up, as my flight to St. Louis was very delayed and I got to hang out at the gate well past when most airport people left for the night. We had a helpful gate agent, and most importantly Southwest never gave up on our flight. It finally took off - way late - thankfully not cancelled!
I slept on the flight, got another 2 hours of sleep at the hotel near the airport, and got up in time to catch a train from downtown St. Louis. A fun view of the city on the way out:
The train took me directly to Normal, IL - thank you Amtrak!
Normal has a cute little downtown:
A friendly Rivian guy picked me up, gave me a quick (and very fast!) demo of the truck's acceleration capabilities (wow!), and brought me over to the plant. It was great to see a live, working manufacturing plant, after seeing it in the early and much-more-empty stages about 3 years ago.
In 2019 when Howie was in the Rivian parking lot:
This time I was allowed into the lobby:
I got a tour of the plant, so exciting (but no photos please)! Lots of trucks rolling off the line, glimpses of the upcoming R1S SUV, and a really good look at the new electric Amazon vans. Can't wait to see all of those out on the road.
And then - hello Tug-E, it's great to meet you!
The cleanest and shiniest this truck will ever be, so pretty:
Marcy approves:
They took it apart so I could see the battery sled... not really, of course, this is a reference model:
Quick paperwork, and then a detailed walk-through where I asked a ton of questions. Lots to absorb, and it's a good thing there's a comprehensive owner's manual on board.
And then they let me take it home! My only regret was not making sure the highlight photo was safely saved on my phone. I did a yoga pose on top of the gear tube seat from inside the traffic circle in front of the plant, and it was an awesome picture but apparently my phone didn't care for it... ah well, first world problems.
Our first charging session and a chance to run into Walmart to grab a phone charger cable for the USB-C plugs in the truck:
Look Ma, we have a Rivian finally!
It didn't take long to get the hang of the driving. I really appreciate several of the driver assist features, such as when the truck will slow itself down to stay a certain distance back from the vehicle ahead of it. The regenerative braking is of course, excellent (it's not easy driving a gas car now, expecting it to slow itself down and all that good one-pedal driving stuff).
Me and Tug-E made our way down Illinois and through some other states and eventually to Little Rock. Two of my favorite things in one picture:
Messing around while waiting at a charging station - yep, I fit in the gear tube (was there ever any doubt?):
John and I reuned at his parents' place, where Tug-E got an inspection by the locals:
Back to one vehicle again, finally, and an all-electric family for the first time, yay!
We had to use some level 2 (medium-speed) chargers on our way west, as our normal cross-Texas route doesn't yet have enough level 3 (DC fast) chargers. It would have been quicker to stay on interstates, drive a few extra miles, and charge a lot faster along the way. We're learning it. One of our options at a car dealership (thankfully under covered parking):
Howie, meet Tug-E:
Next up - all-electric towing!
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