Out of Spec 10% Challenge of Gen2 R1T dual Max: Massively Negative!

[Treebeard]

Wow...Kyle just posted his 10% challenge test of a new Gen2 dual Max truck. Charge curve bad....driver assist didn't work....sound system horrible....heat pump noisy....build quality bad.... I've never heard Kyle struggle harder to find positive things to say.

He compared the range of a Rivian to Model 3 after charging. Why? Two very different vehicles. Total range is important when living in a cold climate, for me and my daily drive anyhow. Is he confused about adaptive cruise control and driver assist. He is mixing the two terms and they are engaged differently. The brakes get hot when driving hard? It weighs 7000 lbs! Is he using high regeneration when driving hard? Sound is not something that anybody will ever agree on. Put a sound meter in the cab and show me the decibels, that’s the only why to talk about sound and the heat pump.

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[daeHelkcunK]

Kyle has the ability to say in 30 minutes what would take a normal person 3

 

[Milk]

I think he’s a bit harsh but I appreciate Kyle’s criticisms—especially because i think they will get Rivian’s attention. I love my Gen2 R1S but I’d definitely love it more if they fix the sound system (hopefully the new update will help!) and improved charging would be a bonus. In my use case, fast charging isn’t that important but i can see how in other use case it would matter more.

One thing though: 80 mph? That strikes me as insane. Once you surpass 65, efficiency goes to hell and, moreover, it’s pretty unsafe. (Yes, when I was young and stupid I drove like that but having since noticed that no one is immortal and that car crashes are a leading cause of death….)

80mph is the speed limit in a lot of regions.

Yep. 80mph in Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Colorado.

 

[dandurston]

Do we think Rivian might improve the gen 2 charge curve over time? Maybe they will find a bit more heat is OK and they can bump the charge rate up 10 or 20%?

 

[MidnightM00N]

Do we think Rivian might improve the gen 2 charge curve over time? Maybe they will find a bit more heat is OK and they can bump the charge rate up 10 or 20%?

I think I this is certainly possible. Battery longevity and range loss over time will probably dictate that. Unclear if they are being very conservative or not, but range loss seems pretty minimal for most owners. Tesla of course got in trouble for raising and lowering this with various updates over the years. They were mostly trying to reduce excessive battery capacity loss (and maybe a fire or two) if I recall correctly.

 

[hgpayne]

I can't believe he drove the whole loop without stopping to do a hard reboot to get the driver+ back. I had the same issue the other day. The lane assist, collision avoidance, and one other indicator was going off and I could not set cruise control. I wasn't on a road allowing auto steer assist. I pulled over thinking a reboot might fix it. As I shifted into Park the lights went out. Happy with that I pulled out and started driving again -- and the lights came back on and there was no cruise control. I pulled over again and did a soft reboot. All error lights were out until I started driving again and again, no cruise control. I pulled over and did a hard reboot (left wheel button, hazard flasher button). As the car started coming up it did another soft reboot automatically. When all was said and done the error lights were gone and cruise control was back. Kyle should know to do this.

My Max Pack has never had a smooth curve. Charge times for me are about an hour because we tow. We show up low and need to charge deep to shoot that next 150 mile gap to the next charger. Given closer chargers I could charge less -- maybe 30-40 minutes, which would be fine by me.

Here's an example max pack curve -- or not curve as you can see the wiggles. It took about 35 minutes to go from 20 to 75%. If I'm not towing I'm leaving now. Since I was towing, had to go 150 miles and climb 4500' I stayed. I was also waiting for my wife to catch up to me so I did stay even longer than I would normally, but it is nice to have this 20-100% charge on the books. From 75% to 100% took another hour. A whole hour to add 25% -- on the top end. Only stay as long as you need -- like any EV.

 

[TomServo2112]

I’m 11 days into ownership of a Gen 2 dual max R1S after 14 months of a Gen 1 quad large R1S. Yesterday was my first road trip in the new Gen 2, traveling with my two sons from our home in Marin County (northern SF Bay Area) down to Universal Studios in Hollywood.

The ride quality is so much better in the Gen 2 than the Gen 1 it’s just ridiculous. That in and of itself made the Gen 2 worth it (weak sound system be damned).

However, I charged at two I-5 RANs on the way down and was a little surprised at the low charge speeds I was getting. In particular, what I really found interesting was that it was taking much longer to charge - maybe 10 to 15 minutes longer - than the estimate that Rivian displays on the driver display as the vehicle was charging. So when the display said I had zero minutes left to reach the 80% max that I had set….er, no.

It’ll be interesting to see if the .43 update helps those estimates. From the very first time I ever charged my Gen 2 R1S the estimates have been out-of-whack. Telling me I’ll get from 6 to 100% on my 40A (50A) L2 charger in 6 hours? DCFCs are a bit of a different kettle of fish because any number of variables can creep in to ruin your time estimate. I just wish it would recalculate and update quicker.

 

[iamnid]

3) His criticism stems from the roadtrip-ability of the vehicle. Not everyone does 2000 mile roadtrips requiring minimal time at charging stops. I'd argue for the average shorter roadtrip, charging times are fine. You actually spend much more time waiting for a charger, especially in EV popular states like California where the public fast chargers seems always packed (esp Tesla superchargers).

Imagine how much less time you'd spend waiting if the cars charged faster.

 

[docwhiz]

Take an air hose and push X-amount of air through it and see what the heat is like. Now double the hose diameter and see how warm it gets.

Similar principle.

It's not the hose size that's the part. It's the pack cooling ability to accept the charge.

 

[docwhiz]

Yep. 80mph in Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Colorado.

Nobody lives there

 

[BobinIndy]

I hope Kyle got that Snickers he needed.

Did he even mention the improved cameras, adaptive/matrix headlights, better ride, or any of the other R2 improvements? It's an OOS video, so I had to skim it admittedly.

 

[boosted20v]

I hope Kyle got that Snickers he needed.

Did he even mention the improved cameras, adaptive/matrix headlights, better ride, or any of the other R2 improvements? It's an OOS video, so I had to skim it admittedly.

Yes he did mention how cool the matrix lights were

 

[RivianMatt]

It’ll be interesting to see if the .43 update helps those estimates. From the very first time I ever charged my Gen 2 R1S the estimates have been out-of-whack. Telling me I’ll get from 6 to 100% on my 40A (50A) L2 charger in 6 hours? DCFCs are a bit of a different kettle of fish because any number of variables can creep in to ruin your time estimate. I just wish it would recalculate and update quicker.

It didn’t. I updated to 2024.43.30 the night before we left on this road trip, and I very much had these range estimate issues on the drive to L.A.

but on the bright side, I’ve been wanting the ability to assign my wife’s and my Spotify accounts to our individual driver profiles for 14 months, and I finally have it!

 

[Mike Hunt]

Kyle is 100% right. Rivian cuts costs threw in a few low hanging fruit improvements “talking points” while punting on the engineering heavy lifting and other refinements that could make the truck second to none. Hope the bail out money keeps them afloat long enough to get their engineering house shipshape. Long live OG R1T

 

[Ngkgb]

I appreciate Kyle’s videos but they are too long and many times user specific. I’ve road
Tripped many times with our R1T with my wife and two small boys and it’s rare that my bladder or their patience outlasts range. I find stopping every 2-3 hours to charge is ideal. Many times you can refuel your body while you charge when chargers are placed well. You can’t usually do that with ICE vehicles.

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