Here to help provide clarity on the transition to vehicle electrification. Looking at charging, batteries, costs, safety, and research.
Joined January 2025
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I've been working to develop and populate my new EV comparison site for true nerds:
evbench.pluginpath.com
It's still a rough work in progress as I feel out what questions it needs to answer, but I would love feedback on any and all aspects!
Here's a look across a wider range of shapes and sizes: Chevy Bolt, BMW iX3, Tesla Model Y, Porsche Cayenne, and Ford F-150 Lightning.
Virtually all of them track tight to their EPA dynamometer curves (or beat them).
The R2 has, by far, the largest discrepancy between EPA baseline and real-world efficiency.
Exactly, but the issue is that Rivian's official EPA dynamometer coefficients (which account for aerodynamic drag, tires, and drivetrain efficiency) imply far better high-speed efficiency than what real-world tests have shown so far.
By contrast, real-world data shows the Model Y meets or beats its dyno curve, while the iX3 lands right on its estimate.
EPA range is supposed to be based on physics.
So far, I've seen no independent test that can come anywhere near the claimed efficiency - including for those driving in cycles much like the EPA test cycles.
They were optimistic but much closer with the R1 ratings.
Draining the battery from 70% to dead in less than 3 days sitting in the garage is abysmal.
I am hoping that there's an actual "off" mode, and this is just the power consumption with the anti-theft features engaged.
Plug-In Path retweeted
A classic chart to counter the wisdom of crowds idea. US Americans are absolutely clueless about how common things are. They think over a quarter of Americans are Native Americans, one in five Americans is transgender, over a quarter of the population are Muslim, one in five households earn over half a million dollars. The right answer to all of these questions is 1%. They build their worldview on totally incorrect assumptions towards reality. Data literacy matters.
What won’t they copy from Tesla? 😅
As a Gen 1 owner and (tiny) shareholder, I root for Rivian, but overpromising on future hardware capability without retrofits is a move right out of the Tesla playbook.
That said: we still don't know if Tesla HW4 will legally achieve true eyes-off autonomy either.
EVBench is designed to help put tests on a level playing field and give the best reasonable predictions possible on real-world range and charging.
evbench.pluginpath.com/?tab=…
For example, this is what R2 range looks like at 75mph in the winter
The first Out of Spec test with Joes's R2 got 253 miles - basically the same as Toms test adjusting for massive HVAC usage due to 98F weather.
And that's the test that kicked off the range complaints.
If we adjust for altitude and temperature (to sea level, 70F) the rests are actually reasonably consistent. Tom must drive smoother, he almost always gets a little better range.
Below are the (roughly) adjusted figures:
