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.