Rivian R1T First Drive reviews

[roth_nj]

You're going to have to be a lot more specific. Your complaint is almost universally applicable to EVs. The R1T is pretty nice, the Wolf Alpha may be the best. F150 seems like cheating, lol.

And @roth_nj totally gets it. Rivian is the , it's just not for me yet. I think my wife will switch to a full EV before I do, and we'll keep a 22 JT around as long as we can.

i was in the same boat. she has a subaru ascent and there aren't a lot of comparable EV's like that yet.



but the 314 range is really good. you can charge like 70 miles in 10 minutes, thats not much longer than it takes filling up and enough to get home. there are a lot more chargers out there than you think. plus with everyone rolling out EV's now they will just increase in number and capacity.

if i ever start having to commute again to work full time, my drive is 45 min/33 miles each way. so the range is more than enough for me. i think once or twice a year it might not

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[869 KPH]

@Challenger85, Elon is as close to a chaotic neutral supervillain I've ever seen. I completely agree the CyberTruck is an ego exercise.


That being said, I invested in TSLA years ago and have no regrets.

 

[roth_nj]

Lol, well I suppose there are a lot of ugly EVs. The cyber truck, rivian and Prius all make me want to throw a rock at them. Bolt, Leaf and that horrible BMW is also ugly. Doesn’t change the fact the Rivian is a god awful, butt ugly vehicle.


Although I can’t decide if I hate the Rivian or the cyber truck more. The Rivian is just really really really ugly, the cyber truck is just absurd, It’s designed for douche bags. I’m convinced Elon Musk designed that truck so ridiculously just so he can sit back and laugh at how all the sheep will buy anything he slaps a name plate on.

“Make it as stupid and absurdly ugly as possible boys, they’ll buy a polished turd.”


Its like fashion. If a designer tells people it’s cool to wear squirrel piss laden velvet pants with a hot pink polka dot shirt and a skinned crocodile hat every moron with money gobbles it up.

what is actually ugly though? it looks pretty much like all the other trucks on the road just slightly more aerodynamic? maybe the headlights because they are different? or do you just want someone to get off your lawn?

also, the cybertruck is just a stupid prototype. there is no way the final truck, if there ever is one will look like that.

 

[Challenger85]

@Challenger85, Elon is as close to a chaotic neutral supervillain I've ever seen. I completely agree the CyberTruck is an ego exercise.


That being said, I invested in TSLA years ago and have no regrets.

Lol definitely. Good choice though!

 

[Challenger85]

what is actually ugly though? it looks pretty much like all the other trucks on the road just slightly more aerodynamic? maybe the headlights because they are different? or do you just want someone to get off your lawn?

also, the cybertruck is just a stupid prototype. there is no way the final truck, if there ever is one will look like that.

The entire front end is hideous.

 

[Hootbro]

I wouldn’t drive that truck if you gave it to me for free and paid me for every mile driven. By far and away the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. Fire anyone that came up with that design.

It's like the chubby girl in the bar at closing time, you will take it for a spin so long as you think your friends will not see you.

 

[XraytecH]

This is 100% the future. Jeep needs to (and I think has been making steps to) embrace this technology. Anyone who doesn't is going to be the Blockbuster/Sears/etc. of the automotive world. I'm a big fan of solid axles, but a motor at each wheel is far and away the king of tech here. Rivian is also immediately appealing to the overlanding/outdoor crowd, and the ideas in this thing are remarkable. A flat underside, traction on demand, tank turn, storage galore, etc.

The biggest issue from my standpoint is weight. This much weight takes a huge toll on everything down the chain, but that downside isn't enough to outweigh (pardon the pun) the upsides.

A year ago Jeep had a concept all electric wrangler with a manual transmission. It was basically a factory Rubicon with an off the shelf EV conversion kit bolted on to it (or at least that was my impression. I could be wrong)

 

[roth_nj]

t

A year ago Jeep had a concept all electric wrangler with a manual transmission. It was basically a factory Rubicon with an off the shelf EV conversion kit bolted on to it (or at least that was my impression. I could be wrong)

you can bolt an EV motor to a manual transmission pretty easily. it will work and be very fun but not as efficient vs the motor driving the wheels. i had a BRZ as a toy up until recently (those cars are super fun). i found this guy youtube who bolted up a leaf motor/battery to the stock tranny. same principle. i would buy the shit out of either the BRZ/86 or a gladiator EV in that format too

 

[dcmdon]

I saw one of these in Joshua Tree last week. I can’t get past that front end, not right now at least. Maybe it’ll grow on me, as the tech is intriguing. For me, the biggest hindrance to considering a Rivian (or any EV) is the charging infrastructure. Until these expand, AND the charging times decrease substantially, it won’t be part of my consideration set.

Thats what turns me off. The side and rear 3/4 view is nice. The front is abhorrent.

 

[roth_nj]

Thats what turns me off. The side and rear 3/4 view is nice. The front is abhorrent.

i cant wait to see one in person... every video that mentions it, says it looks better in person. and that even though it kinds looks tacoma sized, its actually a lot wider

 

[itsdapk]

As I plugged in my phone at the airport on a shared power station, my phone could only charge up 1% in 2 hrs. We are pretty far away from making our power grid capable. lol

 

[Mojave2021]

Hearing also that a removable top is coming forbth

Thats what turns me off. The side and rear 3/4 view is nice. The front is abhorrent.

It’s just the vertical headlights to me that are horrible. I guess that’s how they’re trying to make the Rivian standout more.

Everything else sounds promising though. Apparently it’s going to eventually have a removable roof option too.

I’m still not quite sure if electric will work off-road with the range anxiety concerns. You can’t carry cans of electricity with you. We’ve also got a Tesla m3 and we rarely take it on long trips.

 

[869 KPH]

I feel like the frunk on every one of these is a missed opportunity for a rentable battery. I envision something like this:

• You pay $20/month to belong to the 'club'
• You can rent 2 or 3 different sized universal battery packs that would provide an extra 300-500 miles of range and charge a relatively high daily rate ($60?)
• The rented battery is selectively used before your onboard battery
• You can do open-jaw rentals

I could pick up a fully charged 500-mile range extender here in Chicago, drive to Chattanooga, drop it off, and then chill around town as normal for a few days. When I'm ready to go back to Chicago I just pick up another fully charged pack and then drop it off later that evening before I go home.

 

[dcmdon]

I feel like the frunk on every one of these is a missed opportunity for a rentable battery. I envision something like this:

• You pay $20/month to belong to the 'club'
• You can rent 2 or 3 different sized universal battery packs that would provide an extra 300-500 miles of range and charge a relatively high daily rate ($60?)
• The rented battery is selectively used before your onboard battery
• You can do open-jaw rentals

I could pick up a fully charged 500-mile range extender here in Chicago, drive to Chattanooga, drop it off, and then chill around town as normal for a few days. When I'm ready to go back to Chicago I just pick up another fully charged pack and then drop it off later that evening before I go home.

Except your numbers are off. WAAAAYYYY OFF.

The battery that makes a Tesla go 300 miles weighs about 1800 lbs. So about 6 lbs of battery per mile.

So a 100 lb battery gets you about 16 miles of extra range.

 

[Undecided]

I feel like the frunk on every one of these is a missed opportunity for a rentable battery. I envision something like this:

• You pay $20/month to belong to the 'club'
• You can rent 2 or 3 different sized universal battery packs that would provide an extra 300-500 miles of range and charge a relatively high daily rate ($60?)
• The rented battery is selectively used before your onboard battery
• You can do open-jaw rentals

I could pick up a fully charged 500-mile range extender here in Chicago, drive to Chattanooga, drop it off, and then chill around town as normal for a few days. When I'm ready to go back to Chicago I just pick up another fully charged pack and then drop it off later that evening before I go home.

Something like this had come to my mind too. Your "fill up" is pulling into an authorized station that lifts and just swaps your battery to a full charged one. Say 15min max. and you're back on the road.

But, seems like the tech to speed up charging is pushing forward fast enough this wouldn't be needed. And no idea what kind of risk this idea would introduce.

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