DomB
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2020
887 days ago, I placed a fully refundable $1,000 deposit on a company called Rivian, which had been in stealth mode for about ten years, bouncing around concepts. Today, my wife, daughter, and I got to spend 30 minutes driving a Rivian R1T (Rivian, 1st Truck). While no fancy vehicle is that important, the machine performed beyond my very much hyped expectations and elicited whoops, smiles, and laughter. If Rivian can manage to get these things in customer hands (an 'if' to be sure), there is really exciting change coming.
I know my posts are long. Below are my impressions along with a handful of photos, and some information I did not know before the test drive. I have broken this into headings to allow for easier skimming.
(I) THE BUILD UP AND THE APPROACH (You can skip this easily)
A few years ago, we spent the weekend with friends who had a Model X and Model 3. While Tesla has many flaws (just search Camp's handle to find some of them), the wierd and silent feel of electric acceleration got me thinking. We have two kids, we spend a good amount of time in the winter on the road, and like to mess around fishing on Long Island beaches. Like so many luxury-loving suburban Americans, we would be in the market for a three-row SUV at some point.
I was intrigued. Having spent a combined total of about $48,000 on two cars in my entire life - both of which are our daily drivers today - it was unlikely I was going to buy a Tesla. But my friend mentioned Rivian, a new company that was cross-breeding Tesla's electric benefits with the ruggedness of a Land Rover or Jeep.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving of 2020, when I 'configured' my order: a Launch Edition R1S (Rivian, first SUV): what promised to be a three-row SUV delivering 300 miles of range on a charge, with an electric motor on each wheel, around 800 horse power, and torque starting at 0 RPMs, the last being a benefit over ICE vehicles for offroading. At $75,500, not cheap. Under current law it would qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, but the current draft language would lower the price cap and in some cases only apply it to union based carmakers (i.e. basically the big American automakers).
In the meantime, my CRV is approaching its 11th birthday (you'll see it in the pictures below). Despairing of delivery after reading a pre-IPO filing called an S-1 making clear that Amazon has a lot of leverage over Amazon, I thought that Rivian would continue to delay the R series.
But in public statements they have committed to their revised timelines: non-employee customer R1t deliveries this month; R1s deliveries starting in late December, with all Launch Edition R1s delivered by Spring 2022 (which in Rivian speak means June 20, 2022).
(II) THE EMAIL AND THE 'TEST' DRIVE
Fresh off my post S-1 sadness (and frustration with Jeff Bezos), I figured I would control what I could, and just chilax on my jaunts this winter to Gore in our trusty CRV. Then, I received an email from Rivian inviting me to participate in their New York leg of the 'First Mile' tour of areas where it was taking R1Ts off the assembly line and into consumers' hands for 30 minute drives with Rivian employees.
My first choice was who to drive with in light of a limit of two guests. My wife was agnosotic and my kids were excited, so no problem arriving at me and my 10-year-old son and 7-year old daughter.
In an attempt to be crafty, I chose a location without traffic (difficult when you live about 15 miles from mid-town), wide open areas like an empty parking lot (same), and access to sand in the case they would let me take off road. That pointed me to Captree State Park in Bay Shore, Long Island. Some of you may recognize Bay Shore as the jumping off point to Fire Island, a big summer hang out of a barrier beach. Captree is a small, bridge-connected island that sits between Long Island and Fire Island. Incidentally, a great place to crab or fish.
(III) The Real Deal - Drive and Impressions
We pulled up and met two very nice young men who were basically there to chaperone us. One thing I am good at is doing my homework: I had my questions, and the types of driving I wanted to do, including:
-0 to 60 run on a highway (Ocean Parkway)
-Aggressive (but safe) circular turns in an open parking lot
-feel out the handling
-sit in the seats
-experience the sound system
I did that and more, splitting the drive time about equally with my wife.
When we arrived, I saw the R1t parked in its highest ride mode (Rock Crawl, I think) at 14.4 Inches of clearance. Keep in mind, there is no gear box or giant differential like on ICE cars, so this was about 15 inches of true clearance. Here is a pic of the height:
There is a better one, but it was too big of a file.
I was immediately greeted with a knowing smile. They said when they saw the location they knew I would want to go offroad, but they had been told by management that because the permits are car specific, they could not. I totally understood this. My next question, knowing I couldn't go offroad, was how to select 'sport mode'.
Sport mode immediately dropped the truck to 9.5 inches, tightened the steering, and uses an algorythm for the handling that gives you the feel of a track car. Here is that height:
After everyone was set, I tested the turning radius and performance, letting my group know, and turning the wheel as far to the left as I could and punching the throttle. The tires (all terrains no less) held perfectly in a surprisingly tight circle. It was awesome. And shocking thrust at the touch of a peddle.
Next up was the 0-60. We merged onto the highway, and with no traffic were able to do the 0-60 with no cars around. I was shocked. the first time we did it, we all kind of giggled and exclaimed. The second time was on a u turn turnaround onto the highway (kind of unique to that parkway). It is really hard to describe the feeling, but you can literally feel the car both shoot out smoothly yet just launch at the same time. Hopefully I won't do it much, but it will be fun to do that next to some fancy ICE sportcar at a light at some point, hypothetically speaking.
A few more pictures below, but during my wife's turn to drive, we played with the fancy Meridian sound system, which can focus the surround sound in individual spots, like the driver, passenger, etc. This was ridiculously cool and made you feel like you could point a concert at someone. I have experienced nothing like that.
More pics, less typing: The Frunk, the Interior, and the Wheels -
The frunk was no joke. You could fit several large ski backpacks. Or half of 52 inch tall kid.
The tires are 3 peak rated (I think that is the term) which means they can be considered snow tires.
As to fit, it would have made Camp smile. I even checked in the back seat, where there is an interior passage to the frunk, and the stitching on the leather where you ordinarily can't see it was quite nice. And, this was a vehicle that came off the production line (though it is still considered preproduction).
So, there you have it. My verdict: worth the wait. I haven't really doubted the order, but putting price aside, for me this is going to be a no brainer.
Thanks for making it this far. As to the interesting facts I learned, you can just check out my ICE v Electric note.
Safe, fun, and adventurous travels.
-DomB
I know my posts are long. Below are my impressions along with a handful of photos, and some information I did not know before the test drive. I have broken this into headings to allow for easier skimming.
(I) THE BUILD UP AND THE APPROACH (You can skip this easily)
A few years ago, we spent the weekend with friends who had a Model X and Model 3. While Tesla has many flaws (just search Camp's handle to find some of them), the wierd and silent feel of electric acceleration got me thinking. We have two kids, we spend a good amount of time in the winter on the road, and like to mess around fishing on Long Island beaches. Like so many luxury-loving suburban Americans, we would be in the market for a three-row SUV at some point.
I was intrigued. Having spent a combined total of about $48,000 on two cars in my entire life - both of which are our daily drivers today - it was unlikely I was going to buy a Tesla. But my friend mentioned Rivian, a new company that was cross-breeding Tesla's electric benefits with the ruggedness of a Land Rover or Jeep.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving of 2020, when I 'configured' my order: a Launch Edition R1S (Rivian, first SUV): what promised to be a three-row SUV delivering 300 miles of range on a charge, with an electric motor on each wheel, around 800 horse power, and torque starting at 0 RPMs, the last being a benefit over ICE vehicles for offroading. At $75,500, not cheap. Under current law it would qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, but the current draft language would lower the price cap and in some cases only apply it to union based carmakers (i.e. basically the big American automakers).
In the meantime, my CRV is approaching its 11th birthday (you'll see it in the pictures below). Despairing of delivery after reading a pre-IPO filing called an S-1 making clear that Amazon has a lot of leverage over Amazon, I thought that Rivian would continue to delay the R series.
But in public statements they have committed to their revised timelines: non-employee customer R1t deliveries this month; R1s deliveries starting in late December, with all Launch Edition R1s delivered by Spring 2022 (which in Rivian speak means June 20, 2022).
(II) THE EMAIL AND THE 'TEST' DRIVE
Fresh off my post S-1 sadness (and frustration with Jeff Bezos), I figured I would control what I could, and just chilax on my jaunts this winter to Gore in our trusty CRV. Then, I received an email from Rivian inviting me to participate in their New York leg of the 'First Mile' tour of areas where it was taking R1Ts off the assembly line and into consumers' hands for 30 minute drives with Rivian employees.
My first choice was who to drive with in light of a limit of two guests. My wife was agnosotic and my kids were excited, so no problem arriving at me and my 10-year-old son and 7-year old daughter.
In an attempt to be crafty, I chose a location without traffic (difficult when you live about 15 miles from mid-town), wide open areas like an empty parking lot (same), and access to sand in the case they would let me take off road. That pointed me to Captree State Park in Bay Shore, Long Island. Some of you may recognize Bay Shore as the jumping off point to Fire Island, a big summer hang out of a barrier beach. Captree is a small, bridge-connected island that sits between Long Island and Fire Island. Incidentally, a great place to crab or fish.
(III) The Real Deal - Drive and Impressions
We pulled up and met two very nice young men who were basically there to chaperone us. One thing I am good at is doing my homework: I had my questions, and the types of driving I wanted to do, including:
-0 to 60 run on a highway (Ocean Parkway)
-Aggressive (but safe) circular turns in an open parking lot
-feel out the handling
-sit in the seats
-experience the sound system
I did that and more, splitting the drive time about equally with my wife.
When we arrived, I saw the R1t parked in its highest ride mode (Rock Crawl, I think) at 14.4 Inches of clearance. Keep in mind, there is no gear box or giant differential like on ICE cars, so this was about 15 inches of true clearance. Here is a pic of the height:
There is a better one, but it was too big of a file.
I was immediately greeted with a knowing smile. They said when they saw the location they knew I would want to go offroad, but they had been told by management that because the permits are car specific, they could not. I totally understood this. My next question, knowing I couldn't go offroad, was how to select 'sport mode'.
Sport mode immediately dropped the truck to 9.5 inches, tightened the steering, and uses an algorythm for the handling that gives you the feel of a track car. Here is that height:
After everyone was set, I tested the turning radius and performance, letting my group know, and turning the wheel as far to the left as I could and punching the throttle. The tires (all terrains no less) held perfectly in a surprisingly tight circle. It was awesome. And shocking thrust at the touch of a peddle.
Next up was the 0-60. We merged onto the highway, and with no traffic were able to do the 0-60 with no cars around. I was shocked. the first time we did it, we all kind of giggled and exclaimed. The second time was on a u turn turnaround onto the highway (kind of unique to that parkway). It is really hard to describe the feeling, but you can literally feel the car both shoot out smoothly yet just launch at the same time. Hopefully I won't do it much, but it will be fun to do that next to some fancy ICE sportcar at a light at some point, hypothetically speaking.
A few more pictures below, but during my wife's turn to drive, we played with the fancy Meridian sound system, which can focus the surround sound in individual spots, like the driver, passenger, etc. This was ridiculously cool and made you feel like you could point a concert at someone. I have experienced nothing like that.
More pics, less typing: The Frunk, the Interior, and the Wheels -
The frunk was no joke. You could fit several large ski backpacks. Or half of 52 inch tall kid.
The tires are 3 peak rated (I think that is the term) which means they can be considered snow tires.
As to fit, it would have made Camp smile. I even checked in the back seat, where there is an interior passage to the frunk, and the stitching on the leather where you ordinarily can't see it was quite nice. And, this was a vehicle that came off the production line (though it is still considered preproduction).
So, there you have it. My verdict: worth the wait. I haven't really doubted the order, but putting price aside, for me this is going to be a no brainer.
Thanks for making it this far. As to the interesting facts I learned, you can just check out my ICE v Electric note.
Safe, fun, and adventurous travels.
-DomB
