R1T - my owner's perspective after ~1/mo

[Denver_Dan]

Between the forum and Rivian FB groups I often see questions like “is it worth the wait” “should I wait another year to work out the kinks” etc… etc…

so here is my perspective after owning one just short of 1 month. Couple notes: I’m a first time EV owner and the R1T is first EV I’ve ever driven. Colorado ZR2 and Range Rover velar prior to R1T (kept velar and traded ZR2). I state this for a reason below

1) my first initial impression and my current impression are the exact same. I was blown away from my first mile test drive. I was blown away the day I took delivery. And I am blown away every single time I sit in the Truck to go for a drive - long range or short.

2) zero *real* issues with the truck so far after 2k miles. Sure, couple panels misaligned, little wind noise in cabin, windows slow AF up and down. I could care less about that stuff given all the positives I can point out like: unreal storage space for camping trips, all free charging except once -FOR 2K MILES! Not to mention a home charger powered by solar panels starting tmr, acceleration is ridiculous and very convenient, quiet cabin 95% of time, the list goes on and on

3) off roads like my ZR2 and drives like my velar ALL IN ONE. this one really blows my mind. We took a country road a portion of our trip from Salida,CO (RAN spot) back to Denver. Roads were dirt/gravel/washboard and it floated right over it for a comfortable ride for the ~40 miles on it. Had a passenger in front and in the back and with two dogs. Comfortable as can be. I primarily drive in all purpose or conserve. Still get a ton of giddy up in conserve to pass ppl and what not.

4) charging in the wild is a breeze and I really don’t mind it. 45 mins to go from 25% to 85% … no problem. Even more of a bonus to get out of the house and away from the old lady for a bit. Hit up the RAN this past weekend and all I can say is that I cannot wait for the infrastructure to be sufficiently built out. It was very quick and…free. I hope I don’t jinx myself by saying this but EA has been extremely reliable for me… and free. I honestly have no idea why it’s been free or how long it will be (if anyone has info on this, plz let me know).

5) I can’t get enough of the attention it gets. I honestly never thought I’d be like this but I find myself acting like a Rivian activist trying to pretty much squeeze everything I’m typing right now into a 15 second convo. I love talking about it and spreading the word.

6) unpopular opinion but my support/service has been the best I’ve ever had with any vehicle. Yes I’ve only had to go in twice so far (one being a 20 second “recall” fix) but it’s been great and very thorough…. The Rivian service literally came to my house.

I seriously could go on and on about how much I love this truck. If you’re on the fence about your pre order - wait it out! You will not regret it. Don’t pay too much mind to the negativity in the forum and/or on FB - ppl usually only come to bitch and complain (sometimes valid but most of the time one off incidents).

I’d be happy to share experiences if anyone has questions. I’ve done everything from the 30 second ride to the store to the 5 hour drive through the mountains.

if you’ve made it this far and own a Rivian already… can we please come up with a universal “hello” when passing each other - Rivian to Rivian. The amount of times I’ve seen a Rivian coming from a mile away and get all fired up for some acknowledgment just to get let down with no acknowledgment is unreal. Shout out to the guy in the FG R1T with gold rims in RMNP last weekend who stopped in the middle of the road to say what’s up.

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[Donald Stanfield]

1) Same experience here. I’ve had one issue with some body damage at delivery but other than that my truck has been flawless.

2) The storage space still gets me too. There’s a spot to put everything I normally keep and it’s out of the way. Even things like extra cargo straps and first aid kits have their own spot in this truck. Very nice to be able to stow away yet have most of what I need with me everywhere. I had to fill a tire and was starting to look for a gas station with air when I remembered I already had everything I needed. Just pulled into a parking lot and I was gtg.

3) Haven’t taken mine off-road yet and I didn’t really buy it for that personally. I would buy an old ass jeep or a side by side to do any real off roading because I don’t want to dent up and scratch my nice truck. It’s nice to know that I can take it off the beaten path if necessary though.

4) Only ever charged mine at home. Like you this is my first EV and I had a lot of range anxiety before I got the truck. I was planning on still using my Audi to road trip but I think I will be changing that plan next time I leave town and still road trip the Rivian. The extra storage space coupled with the fact it drives so nice with the one pedal and how quiet it is inside makes any drive much less stressful. Days worth of running errands go much easier these days with the R1 than any other car I’ve owned. The one pedal and the lack of noise make a much less stressful experience.

5) I’m the opposite here, I don’t care for a ton of attention as a rule and yes this truck will get random people to stop and talk to you. It’s all been positive, and with how well Rivian has treated me I’m happy to be a brand ambassador. Definitely people should be prepared to answer questions from the general public when out and about.

There was a thread not too long ago where some guy said his wife found the Rivian ugly and said females don’t like it. I showed that thread to my wife at the time and she’s always laughing now because the amount of positive female attention this truck gets is shocking. Not that I personally care, but I get way more looks and questions from women than I do men. Lots of really friendly glances driving it as well. In my experience I’ve gotten a ton of positive attention from both sexes.

6) Your opinion on service and Rivian as a company isn’t unpopular with me. I too am amazed at the overall care and positivity Rivian has shown me and really like the people I’ve dealt with. They get a top score for customer service in my book.

 

[COdogman]

I’ve never been on the fence about it, but I love reading these reviews. Nothing is perfect and some people will end up not liking Rivian for any number of reasons, but I think overall most owners seem to really love the product so far. So thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics!

That air compressor is something I am REALLY looking forward to. A couple weeks ago I was up in Glenwood Springs and I needed to add air to my Tacoma tires like I do every year when temps start to drop, and I had to stop at 3 freaking gas stations before I found one that was operational.

 

[R1Tom]

I am closing in on 10k, and after driving many vehicles over my life so far, nothing even comes close to the leap frogs forward the R1 makes in so many areas. I keep just thinking I am driving the future. I hope it holds up to high mileage, because I sure am going to test it! Cant get enough of it!

 

[R1Sky Business]

I am closing in on 10k, and after driving many vehicles over my life so far, nothing even comes close to the leap frogs forward the R1 makes in so many areas. I keep just thinking I am driving the future. I hope it holds up to high mileage, because I sure am going to test it! Cant get enough of it!

Keep the crew informed please.

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

I love to read this type of review. Thanks for sharing it!

On a tangential note, it took me a minute to understand the mural behind the Rivian chargers. Then, what a cool touch!

 

[mabowden]

I’ve never been on the fence about it, but I love reading these reviews. Nothing is perfect and some people will end up not liking Rivian for any number of reasons, but I think overall most owners seem to really love the product so far. So thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics!

That air compressor is something I am REALLY looking forward to. A couple weeks ago I was up in Glenwood Springs and I needed to add air to my Tacoma tires like I do every year when temps start to drop, and I had to stop at 3 freaking gas stations before I found one that was operational.

One of the best investments I made was a air filler attachment for my air compressor. So much easier to use a pancake/hotdog lighter air compressor with a long hose from home esp. with truck tires (33"-35" AT/MTs take forever to fill with a weak compressor). Not sure if you have the ability to do this, but it makes tires a breeze.

 

[Bonobojones]

I fully endorse this message! My R1T has been nothing short of pure delight since day one. I'm three months in and have had zero issues. I came from an F-250 with manual windows and a radio with an aux in for non radio listening, so I may be easily impressed. But the sheer magnitude that this truck exceeds any other vehicle in the aspects of being a vehicle is staggering. As a towing and hauling Ag truck, it is just a whole other world of quality. As a camping, surfing, Sunday fire road pleasure cruising truck, just as close to perfect as you can hope. Can't wait for California winter to get here to go enjoy the mountains. And get this as far as service goes, my recall mechanic texted me Saturday and said he'd be at my work 7 am today. He was at my work at 7:03 this morning. Take that cable guy!
Just as an aside, are there any other Rivian drivers who are like me in not enjoying the "tech" aspect of all EV's, really my only personal complaint. I greatly enjoy the technological advancement that is EV propulsion, but I don't like smartphones and screens and every aspect of life being app/portal based. When I go camping, it is with the intentional purpose of getting away from phones and screens. I feel I'm in the minority here, but also I'm interacting with an online forum, so maybe a skewed audience? Whenever I read complaints about the UI, the app, or some missing integration all I can think is "Do you even drive bro?" Because I love this truck because I like driving, and plain and simple it just drives better than anything else I've ever steered.

 

[COdogman]

One of the best investments I made was a air filler attachment for my air compressor. So much easier to use a pancake/hotdog lighter air compressor with a long hose from home esp. with truck tires (33"-35" AT/MTs take forever to fill with a weak compressor). Not sure if you have the ability to do this, but it makes tires a breeze.

Definitely agree. I do have that on my compressor at home. I just forgot to do it before heading up to the mountains where the mornings were much cooler than where I live. Since I just needed to add like 6-8 psi I figure the on board compressor might have been perfect for that. But I do understand that thing is not heavy duty. I also love the idea of it for bike tires, blowing the dust off my clothing after a gravel ride, etc...

 

[moosehead]

Well done and great pics! FGFTW. Cheers.

 

[Kurt44]

Thank you for sharing (as a Colorado Native I like hearing about the driving in CO).
I had to finalize my order this past weekend and waiting to hear what my delivery date is. My question, did you get the Max pack? I add it to my order, I am thinking I will pulling a camping trailer. What are your thoughts?
Also did you get a cover? If so, manual or automatic? It seems the trend is get the automatic if you want it, don't worry about the problems, they are fixing it. Thoughts?

 

[COdogman]

Thank you for sharing (as a Colorado Native I like hearing about the driving in CO).
I had to finalize my order this past weekend and waiting to hear what my delivery date is. My question, did you get the Max pack? I add it to my order, I am thinking I will pulling a camping trailer. What are your thoughts?
Also did you get a cover? If so, manual or automatic? It seems the trend is get the automatic if you want it, don't worry about the problems, they are fixing it. Thoughts?

No max packs have been delivered anywhere yet. Rivian has only told people with those orders "second half 2023" as an estimate, but they could obviously have it ready sooner. So if you do switch to max pack, which is understandable if you tow often, it will probably delay your order by several months at minimum.

The service centers have basically just been disabling tonneau covers that are having trouble until the redesign is ready. We did hear last week about the first R1T to be delivered with no tonneau at all. Otherwise all have the powered cover so far.

 

[Denver_Dan]

Thank you for sharing (as a Colorado Native I like hearing about the driving in CO).
I had to finalize my order this past weekend and waiting to hear what my delivery date is. My question, did you get the Max pack? I add it to my order, I am thinking I will pulling a camping trailer. What are your thoughts?
Also did you get a cover? If so, manual or automatic? It seems the trend is get the automatic if you want it, don't worry about the problems, they are fixing it. Thoughts?

I have the standard large pack battery. I don’t think any other options are being produced right now. I also have the auto tonneau cover. I don’t think they are making R1Ts with manual yet (I did see one random post of a truck without a tonneau). I do not Tow anything, never have and likely won’t for a while until we get a camping trailer.There are some post on the forum that talk about towing efficiency and people who know much more than I do

 

[MXA121]

Thanks for the review! As a Colorado ZR2 owner, I'm curious if you can expand on the ride quality/off road comfort comparisons. I find the ZR2 suspension leaving much to be desired in comfort, probably due to the leaf spring rear. Thanks!

 

[Denver_Dan]

Thanks for the review! As a Colorado ZR2 owner, I'm curious if you can expand on the ride quality/off road comfort comparisons. I find the ZR2 suspension leaving much to be desired in comfort, probably due to the leaf spring rear. Thanks!

more so saying that the off road capability is on par with the ZR2, being extremely capable, but the comfort off road (in the Rivian) is similar to the Range Rover on road, with the air suspension. When I would go offthe beaten path in the ZR2 there was a ton of body roll (I think that’s the term?) meaning me and my passengers would bump and bang back and forth, drinks would rattle and spill, etc.. in the Rivian this doesn’t really happen.
At the end of the day I feel just as confident, If not more confident in the Rivian off road. * haven’t done extreme off roading yet but there are some good YouTube videos of it. Hope this helps

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