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I'm Considering a Long Trip on My R1 Truck, But Rivian's App and ABRP Give Widely Different Times, So Here's What I Did

One Rivian owner’s road trip plans hit a shocking roadblock after seeing his truck’s navigation predict a grueling 27-hour journey, while another app claims it’ll be hours faster!

For one Rivian R1s owner, planning a Florida road trip has become an exercise in algorithmic trust, pitting the vehicle’s native navigation system against corporate sibling ABRP. What began as a simple range calculation exposed the growing pains of EV ownership.

Santiago Gomez took to the RIVIAN Electric Vehicles Discussion Facebook Group to tell his story – 

A facebook screenshot

Considering a long road trip down to Florida in the next week or 2.

TLDR: In your experience, which app is more accurate on long trips? Should my time/stops be closer to Rivian’s app or ABRP? Anything else I should consider?

Getting wildly different times between Rivian nav and A Better Road Trip Planner (ABRP) and wondering which is more accurate?

-I tried to make sure it was apples to apples as much as I could

-100% departure range; although I see the Riv app is already accounting for the cold weather range loss

-Tried adjusting the consumption numbers accordingly in ABRP. I actually made it 2 mi/kWh whereas the Rivian app seems to have it at 2.22 mi/kWh

-I do NOT have premium ABRP, so it doesn’t do ‘live weather’ or whatever other premium features

-The only thing I was able to do on ABRP that I couldn’t on the app (as far as I can see) is input the charger arrival SoC

-Wondering if that’s why the app is showing 10 stops vs 6 stops in ABRP?

-Why the huge discrepancy between the 2? I know Rivian owns ABRP which makes the discrepancy somewhat surprising. Though I know just because a company owns another doesn’t mean they’re integrated.

Note; there’s is a 10 mile distance difference between ABRP & the app, not sure why, but that shouldn’t account for an almost 4hr 30 min difference in travel time. My wife is willing (barely lol) to do the trip if it takes the time ABRP says, but says it’s a dealbreaker if it’ll take almost 27 hrs. Halp plz

 

The Plugshare Council

 

Group veterans took to the comments and recommended that Gomez split the difference between competing apps, likening ABRP to an optimistic teenager and Rivian’s native navigation to a paranoid parent. 

Screenshot of ABRP

EV owners frequently report significant variations in their driving range on online forums, leading to increased range anxiety. While minor efficiency differences in gas-powered vehicles rarely matter, for EVs these variations can mean the difference between a quick 15-minute charging stop and a frustrating hour-long delay.

EV Adoption In The USA

  • EV adoption in America is accelerating, with increasing sales from both established manufacturers like Tesla and Ford, and new entrants such as Rivian and Lucid Motors.
  • The expansion of nationwide charging networks, including fast-charging stations along major highways and in urban centers, is making EV ownership more convenient and supporting long-distance travel.
  • Federal and state incentives, including tax credits and rebates, are encouraging consumers to switch to electric vehicles, while regulations aimed at reducing carbon emissions are driving the automotive industry toward electrification.

Rivians Navigation System

The Rivian R1s in standard pack form features 258 miles of EPA estimated range and has a zero to sixty time of around 4.5 seconds with 533hp. 

Rivian’s Navigation System factors in real-time terrain, weather, and driving style, while other tools like ABRP use generalized models. This allows the vehicle to provide a more tailored range estimate.

Screenshot of Rivian App

The disconnect arises because ABRP isn’t directly linked to the R1S’s onboard computer unless you pay for premium, which means it can’t access the vehicle’s live telemetry. This gap in data integration likely explains the discrepancies between Rivian’s predictions and those from third-party apps.

The New Overlanding

Rivian acquired ABRP in June 2023 by purchasing its parent company, Iternio, to strengthen its EV ecosystem and address critical challenges in EV trip planning. The primary motivation was to integrate ABRP’s advanced algorithms and real-time data, such as weather, traffic, and charging station availability into Rivian’s navigation systems, enhancing route accuracy and driver confidence for long-distance adventures. 

By leveraging ABRP’s technology, Rivian aimed to refine its in-vehicle and mobile app trip planning tools, allowing drivers to pre-plan routes with personalized preferences and seamlessly sync them to their vehicles. 

App Screenshot

Over the long term, the acquisition supports Rivian’s broader mission to accelerate EV adoption by maintaining ABRP as an open, cross-brand platform. 

What do you think about the growing pains of EV trip planning? Would you trust the conservative estimates of Rivian's native system, or lean towards ABRP's more optimistic predictions?

Share your own EV road trip experiences or thoughts in the comments below!

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.