The Ad Hoc Gist: 531 Electric Miles to Maine
Our first Gist came out four years ago this month and was about the potential slowdown in EV sales due to Covid. In 2020, U.S. drivers purchased 330,000 EVs. They purchased just as many in Q2 of this year alone. We still have a ways to go, but it’s progress.
In late July, I took a road trip with my family in our new silver Rivian RS1 from Virginia to Maine to test out the Tesla Supercharger network, newly opened to Rivian drivers. In this month’s Gist, I share the tale and what it means for the EV market.
In AHG news, we brought on Miranda Ballentine, former CEO of CEBA, as a Senior Advisor; and we’re hiring a new Principal Consultant, if you’re interested in joining our growing team.
Looking to hire policy or sales leaders? Learn more about our Search practice or email us: search@theadhocgroup.com.
I hope to see many of you at Climate Week in NYC in September! If someone passed along this newsletter, you can subscribe here.
Best,
Jim
531 Electric Miles to Maine
This summer I finally ditched our family’s last remaining gas-powered car – a lovable 2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid – and replaced it with a Rivian RS1. And I did it just ahead of a 531-mile family road trip from Virginia to Maine.
The RS1 was the first EV on the market that fit all of our needs. We have three girls so a third row SUV was a requirement. The only other real option, the Kia EV9, was a great drive and more affordable, but a bit small for our gang (i.e. happy wife, happy life). We also were able to get one with a battery range of 340 miles. Not bad.
Two other things got me over the edge. First, Rivian introduced a lease option in Virginia this spring. Given how fast EV technology is changing, buying felt like a risky bet. Second, and the real game changer, was the announcement that Rivians can now access Tesla’s 26,500 superchargers. The summer family road trip – the most American of traditions – now felt finally within grasp.
For those less familiar with the EV acronym soup, Teslas operate on the North American Charging Standard (NACS). Tesla invented the standard originally to keep other car manufacturers out of their exclusive network. The strategy worked. It will soon relegate the competing combined charging system (CCS), which all other EVs have up to now used, to the dustbin of history; for GenXers, think NACS = VHS, while CCS = Betamax.
While new Rivian models won’t come with built-in NACS sockets until at least 2025, Rivian “said” they would send us a free fast charger adapter. Two months after getting my vehicle, there was no indication when that would be, so I forked over ~$150 for the Lectron CCS to NACS adapter that would enable me charge – theoretically at least – on Tesla’s superchargers.
I set out from Alexandria, Virginia to Ogunquit, Maine with my wife and three daughters in the new Rivian (nicknamed, “the Rivvy” by the girls) for the long drive. We set expectations in advance: we’d be making a few stops to charge and they would take longer than filling up the gas tank. But we’d get food, iced mochas, and run around, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
And yet, the song that the girls kept playing in the car – Olivia Rodrigo’s “It’s a Bad Idea, Right?” – made me wonder if we’d made a terrible mistake.
We didn’t. It was fine.
We made three stops: one at a Rivian supercharger in a mall parking lot in Maryland, another at a Tesla supercharger at a WaWa gas station in New Jersey, and a final stop at a supercharger in a mall parking lot in Massachusetts. Since we would have needed to stop a lot for the kids anyway, the stops probably added 45 minutes to an hour at most to our trip.
The adapter worked seamlessly. All I had to do was plug into the Tesla supercharger. Payment occurred automatically through the Rivian app; no credit card swipe required.
But it wasn’t all roses.
I have two main complaints.
First, who wants to stop at random shopping malls, WaWa parking lots, or Walmarts to charge their car in the middle of a road trip – some of which have no public restroom or decent amenities – for 30+ minutes? Not this guy.
Second, to charge our Rivian from 150 miles to 310 miles at a Tesla supercharger took 40 minutes; that simply won’t work for most Americans. The EV companies make claims about improved charging times but Rivian’s didn’t stack up in reality.
So one of two things will eventually have to change for mass market customers.
Either charging times will have to dramatically fall, or we’ll need to reimagine the customer experience and business model.
No one minds spending 5-10 minutes at a gas station where they jump out to hit the bathroom and buy a bottle of water. But if you’re going to be hanging out for 30 minutes to an hour charging, drivers will demand better and more curated amenities – and bathrooms!
Imagine a new highway rest stop that was designed from the ground up for EV drivers who will be there for longer than a few minutes. Just like airports have turned into restaurants and shopping malls, highway stops may need to offer more diverse dining and leisure options. Gas stations don’t make money selling gasoline; they make money at the convenience store. Rivian is beginning to do this, just not near me yet.
The charging experiences we had off the highway were better, but still need to be improved. At our hotel outside of Ogunquit, we were able to park at one of six chargers onsite — three Tesla NACS and three Chargepoint CCS Level 2 chargers. Assuming we have a lot more EVs on the road in five years, six chargers isn’t going to cut it at a hotel with 100 rooms.
And the owner of our rental house in Harpswell had installed a Level 2 Tesla charger since our last visit, which made charging very easy. Unfortunately this instance felt like an outlier – we often use Airbnb and other rental services and it’s rare to find one with an EV charger. Airbnb is trying to change this and announced a partnership with Chargepoint in May to offer discounted chargers to hosts citing increased demand.
The Gist: The Tesla Superchargers are a big leap forward for consumers considering buying a non-Tesla vehicle, but they’re not a panacea. Most Americans aren’t going to feel comfortable ditching their last gas vehicle until they are convinced that the long haul charging experience is reliable and, ideally, more delightful than filling up their tank.
News from Our Network
From our clients:
- WSJ referred to Impulse as the “Tesla of Stoves.”
- California is using Technosylva’s AI tech to prevent and fight wildfires.
- Forbes featured Renew Home and the rise of virtual power plants.
- Octopus Energy Group named Amir Orad as the new CEO of Kraken.
- Pano AI’s cameras continue to identify wildfires early, stopping them from spreading. Their cameras play a crucial role in preventing wildfires for utilities.
- H&M is encouraging textile manufacturers to switch to Rondo’s thermal heat batteries.
- CNET explores how SPAN and other smart home tech can save the grid from strain.
- Frontier made its offtake agreement for carbon removal public.
From friends and colleagues:
- The White House released a Climate Resilience Game Changers Assessment.
- The Boston Globe did a detailed dive into Melissa Lavinson’s work on the clean energy transition in Massachusetts.
- ChargerHelp! released a new study of 20,000 chargers showing uptime is still a problem.
Jobs in our network:
Send us your job openings in cleantech policy, startups, and utilities, and we'll put them in next month's Gist.
GridX: Senior Product Marketing Manager
KrakenFlex: Client Transformation Director
Pano AI: Senior Product Manager
Rondo: Project Counsel
Technosylva: Sales Account Executive
truCurrent: Program Director, Energy Transitions
Uplight: Go-to-Market Partnership Manager/Director
VEIR: Director of Business Development, Utilities
GlacierGrid: Energy Account Executive
Greentown Labs: Director, Investor Program
MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Deputy Executive Director, Office of Energy Transformation
Dandelion Energy: Director of Business Development and other jobs
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Sept 9-12, Anaheim, CA
Julia Hamm is attending