Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[Tom(myBoy)]

Every EV tapers heavily at 80% whether 400v or 800v, unless you live in China. 800v is faster 10 to 80% than 400v but everything slows down at 80% not bc of heat but bc cell capacity is nearly full. R2 appears to be as good as any 400v vehicle is capable of. If you want faster you’ll have to buy an 800v vehicle.

One YouTube video did 6% to 78% in 28 minutes. I am thinking you can do 10 to 70% in around 20 minutes. From what I’ve seen R2 tapers heavily after around 73%.

I understand that, for example, a Ford Mach-E charges at 80-150 kW below 80% and drops down to around 12-15 kW above 80%.

I guess I am wondering whether such stats for R2’s are known/released.

And, how such stats for the R2 compare to the same stats for the
- Tesla Model Y,
- Hyundai Ionic 5 (or 6),
- BMW iX3 and IX, and the
- Volvo EX60.
Thx.

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[Jeremy3292]

I understand that, for example, a Ford Mach-E charges at 80-150 kW below 80% and drops down to around 12-15 kW above 80%.

I guess I am wondering whether such stats for R2’s are known/released.

And, how such stats for the R2 compare to the same stats for the
- Tesla Model Y,
- Hyundai Ionic 5 (or 6),
- BMW iX3 and IX, and the
- Volvo EX60.
Thx.

Ioniq 5, EX60 and iX3 are going to be ~8 to 10 min quicker 10 to 80% bc they’re 800v. R2 is as good or slightly better than Model Y that I’ve seen. R2 has maxed out 400v charging speeds IMO (unless you have a small battery car).

 

[macb00kemdanno]

I just signed a second demo drive so that my wife can see/drive the vehicle with me. The confirmation email says we only get 15 minutes to drive the vehicle now. WTF?

 

[DaveA]

I just signed a second demo drive so that my wife can see/drive the vehicle with me. The confirmation email says we only get 15 minutes to drive the vehicle now. WTF?

Well, yeah....you gotta spend 25 minutes working with those haptic chrome-oreos.

 

[RedAero42]

I just signed a second demo drive so that my wife can see/drive the vehicle with me. The confirmation email says we only get 15 minutes to drive the vehicle now. WTF?

That seems to be the default allotment. Actual time will vary depending on the site and demand. In Tempe, AZ despite the 15 minute statement I actually was allowed 40 minutes. We didn't need to talk about the car and no one was signed up after me.

 

[Dman250]

I am a first-day reservation holder who has never owned an EV, but I’ve driven an R1T for about ten miles of varied road and I’ve spent maybe 30 minutes in various Model 3’s. Plus a few minutes in a Leaf, a BMW i3 and even a Corbin Sparrow. My wife and I shared 30 minutes in an unaccompanied test drive of an R2 in San Jose yesterday. The pre-drive briefing of controls was well, brief, and a lot of time was wasted after the Rivian guy took off, figuring out how to adjust some basic settings, and even to close the rear sliding window which turned out to open; when we got up to freeway speed it was pretty blustery and hard to assess road/wind noise. Obviously, a few minutes of learning go a long way to making the experience much better. However, despite being comfortable with tech, I don’t see any advantage to the Rivian (and many other modern cars) touch-screen model vs our own three ICE cars which have big screens but for info and ‘tainment only, with all vehicle controls using fairly industry standard physical controls.

For reference, our other vehicles are a full-size van, a 4wd pickup, and a manual transmission turbocharged hatchback, all 2015 or newer

General likes: after 50 years of driving ICE, the power and silence are wonderful. It felt quieter than the quad-motor R1T that I had driven. Big screen navigation was nice. We have factory nav in one car and CarPlay in another, but the size and resolution of the Rivian display were great. Ditto the cameras, including the way it automatically displayed the front view when we pulled into a nose-in parking spot. Ho-hum to modern cars owners, but our other vehicles have rear view cameras (in reverse) only. Roominess and storage were great for the vehicle size compared to “sleeker” so-called SUV’s.

Dislikes: I’ve mentioned the touch screen and menus, and I’m sure that’s mostly a matter of learning. On a sunny day, the glass roof bothered my wife but I didn’t notice it. I found the haptic wheels OK to operate, but again, we struggled to find the menu’s that we wanted to control with them. I played with the damper settings but even in soft mode the ride seemed harsher than I hoped; the test vehicle had 21” all-seasons. As the owner of a 4wd truck and a 3/4 ton van this surprised me. I played with seating and steering wheel position a lot but visibility of the front display through the wheel never felt right when the settings were otherwise right for a comfortable driving position. The shape and diameter of the wheel didn’t help. I also prefer a more circular wheel. But not a huge deal.

Non-issues for us, but things that seem to bother other people: Interior door locks were fine. Frunk opening and closing was easy and as someone who’s never had a car with a frunk, not even a VW Beetle or a Corvair, that feature is compelling. Same with the rear window. The outside button was easy to find and operation was intuitive and effective. I do think that hidden rear wiper will be a nightmare with snow or even leaf debris.

Test drive logistics: the employees were friendly but rushed. For SF Bay Area folks, I’d recommend avoiding the Santana Row location, which we chose because they had a convenient test drive opening and is closest for us. Tiny showroom with just one R2 and and one R1S to look over. Very crowded. And at least on a weekend, the traffic in the area did not make for a very pleasant test drive. Plus, we had to pay for parking about a 1/4 mile away, despite Rivian having a huge private garage where the test vehicles (two, I think) were, with plenty of empty slots for test drive appointment holders to park for an hour. Not at all the experience that a $50k or $100k vehicle deserves.

Unrelated to Rivian: I don’t know if this is common at Santana Row on weekends, but the area was inundated with deafeningly loud exotic cars, some driving very fast on Stevens Creek and in the mall. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes. I might have thought this was cool when I was 16 but if you can afford these cars, grow up. Some of them made unmuffled Harley’s sound quiet. The silence of any EV is a blessing. Maybe it will become cool someday.

 

[hsctiger]

Nice Corvair pull there, @Dman250 ! I've had an EV since 2014 and can probably count on two hands the number of times I've used my frunk. But everyone's different.

As for the loud sportscars, I read somewhere that someone studied people who own them. The original hypothesis was that they were overcompensating for something missing in their lives. Turns out the group they studied just wanted to inflict pain on others.

We have a church right across the street from our house. The loud car people liked to use it to rev up their engines and such. The people working in the church have had enough and have taken to telling these guys to go elsewhere. I'm quite grateful since my wife and I try to enjoy our back yard but those cars can make it impossible.

 

[tgo10000]

Nice Corvair pull there, @Dman250 ! I've had an EV since 2014 and can probably count on two hands the number of times I've used my frunk. But everyone's different.

As for the loud sportscars, I read somewhere that someone studied people who own them. The original hypothesis was that they were overcompensating for something missing in their lives. Turns out the group they studied just wanted to inflict pain on others.

We have a church right across the street from our house. The loud car people liked to use it to rev up their engines and such. The people working in the church have had enough and have taken to telling these guys to go elsewhere. I'm quite grateful since my wife and I try to enjoy our back yard but those cars can make it impossible.

We use the frunk in the R1 several times per week, since it’s powered it’s easier to use than for example a vehicle like the Mach E.

R2 frunk while not fully powered does seem like a very usable solution at the price point.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I just signed a second demo drive so that my wife can see/drive the vehicle with me. The confirmation email says we only get 15 minutes to drive the vehicle now. WTF?

That's been the default just about everywhere, It's a 30 minute window- they assume about 15 minutes to show you the ins/outs. If you don't need that, you're on your way. I've done four drives now - the last two I booked in the last slot of the day ... and I might have stayed out a little longer...

 

[rbdavis808]

I've done four drives now - the last two I booked in the last slot of the day ... and I might have stayed out a little longer...

Interesting, The Amazing Kreskin has foreseen this behavior in my own very near future as well!

 

[DucRider]

Test drove yesterday and things were pretty much in line with what I expected. Still has the "truck like" drive feel. Been awhile since I had my R1S and spent a week in an R1T on a road trip, but it all read as Rivian. Ride quality was very good and handled road imperfections quite nicely. Undulations seemed to upset it a bit with some "bounce" in all suspension settings.
Cornering was adequate (as expected), and in line with the vehicles price point.
All EVs have their own OPD character and didn't find an issue adapting to the R2. Was able to drive smoothly almost right out of the gate. I'm actually a fan of blended braking systems that allow using regen on either/both pedals (particularly in low traction conditions), but not a deal breaker.

UI is familiar and OK. Haptic wheels are a nice idea but in practice kind of a pain (but would likely get used to them). Landscape screen has the same issue as some other EVs I've tried - far left side of screen blocked by the steering wheel and requires a lean to the right to see. No HUD is a negative (for me). Didn't mess with the stereo much as I knew going in it was a significant downgrade from the B&W in my Polestar 3. Same with the suspension and handling - the Polestar 3 sets a pretty high bar (but is in a different price class). Seats were also throwing some warning signs of comfort issues on long trips (my wife has some back issues and is very sensitive).

Overall a good solid EV that checks a lot of the boxes, but didn't excite me. Don't do anything more than the occasional gravel road when camping, so off-road chops are not on my checklist.

Nothing glaring that makes it a "do not buy", but at the same time the little misses add up. We are replacing one EV this year, and the Polestar 3 next year. While still on the "maybe" list it dropped from the number one spot. Since it is priced lower than the others on the short list (iX3 and EX60) I was hopeful that I would connect with it more than I did.

EX60 is the most likely replacement for my Polestar 3 at this point, but have not seen/driven one and things could change. Not a knock on the R2, but vehicles are not "one size fits all".

 

[Tom(myBoy)]

Test drove yesterday and things were pretty much in line with what I expected.

…While still on the "maybe" list it dropped from the number one spot. Since it is priced lower than the others on the short list (iX3 and EX60) I was hopeful that I would connect with it more than I did.

EX60 is the most likely replacement for my Polestar 3 at this point, but have not seen/driven one and things could change. Not a knock on the R2, but vehicles are not "one size fits all".

I’ve been looking at these 2 as well.

When I priced a comparably equipped EX60, it was about $12K more than the R2 as I recall. Got me thinking that maybe this Rivian is the “Mazda” of this bunch.

…Just a thot.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I’ve been looking at these 2 as well.

When I priced a comparably equipped EX60, it was about $12K more than the R2 as I recall. Got me thinking that maybe this Rivian is the “Mazda” of this bunch.

…Just a thot.

Yeah. The 60 I priced out was $20k more. Can’t do that much but I like everything that I see about it.

 

[FlyingPilot2012]

Yeah. The 60 I priced out was $20k more. Can’t do that much but I like everything that I see about it.

I found that a comparably optioned EX60 (P10 Plus) was actually only 1-4k more than a Performance Package Launch Edition R2 (Launch Green, 20" wheels). I didn't exactly finish it (or validate all my data), but here is an excel I through together comparing the two.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Volvo

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