California Man Left Stranded in Wyoming Mountains when Rivian Electric Truck Runs Out of Juice

A man from California learned a hard lesson about electric vehicles (EVs) after his Rivian truck ran out of battery charge had to be towed out of the Wyoming mountains.

“Towed my first EV Today… a brand new $90,000 electric pickup from the rest area on South Pass to Rocksprings…” Jake Yeaman, tow truck operator with Specialty Towing, wrote in a Facebook post.

“He had charged in Riverton enough to go 120 miles, but ran out of kilovolts halfway over the mountain (about 60 miles) so you might want to make sure your tank is full of electrons before tackling any mountain passes,” the tow truck operator added.

Yeaman told Cowboy State Daily that the man who was driving the new $90,000 electric truck spoke with a heavy Chinese accent, so much of what he learned about the situation came from others who spoke to the stranded driver.

He said the driver had charged his truck in Riverton, Utah, so that he could head to Rock Springs, which is 140 miles away. But 60 miles into the journey, the man was running out of power, and couldn’t make it to the charging station in Rock Springs.

The man ended up stranded at a rest stop on Highway 28 on South Pass.

Patrick Lawson, who owns Wild West EV, told the outlet that he has driven a Rivian through that same path several times, but that winds, steep terrain, and cold weather can quickly drain the battery.

“On the way back, though, it’s the opposite. I actually gained 20 miles,” Lawson said, adding that he would charge up to 200 miles of range before the trip.

Lawson also noted that speed factors into how far an EV can go on a single charge. If the man was in a hurry, then that could have reduced the range. Moreover, it was snowing the day he got stranded in Wyoming.

The stranded man is not alone in the hard lesson he learned about EVs.

As Breitbart News reported last week, a Business Insider reporter learned how “brutal” a road trip in an EV can be when he was forced to bundle up instead of using the heater in his car to try to maximize his range. After the trip he commented, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t curse these silly electric cars under my breath once or twice.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.