My observations from Sonoma Rivian test drive event

[Shzeph]

As an aside, I’m scheduled for my First Mile mobile test drive on the 14th! So that’ll be fun

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[eggpaul]

I mean, not specifically? I asked on November 1st (was still on track). I’ll probably inquire again at the end of the week

Well, everyone else (October deliveries) were told after October came and went. Hopefully they aren't planning to do the same to Nov. deliveries. Would they even try a delivery during Thanksgiving week? If not, then they only have this week and next week to contact you, receive payment, and deliver. Not sure how that's possible.

 

[Shzeph]

Well, everyone else (October deliveries) were told after October came and went. Hopefully they aren't planning to do the same to Nov. deliveries. Would they even try a delivery during Thanksgiving week? If not, then they only have this week and next week to contact you, receive payment, and deliver. Not sure how that's possible.

I mean I can’t explain the full logistics of it, but I thinks it’s entirely doable.

 

[eggpaul]

Was at the same event. Very similar observations.

• I went in worried about UI lag based on other comments but was very surprised. Slow UI's drive me nuts after getting used to modern phones so this would have been a deal breaker for me in a car with so few manual controls. Turns out, it's not bad at all ('17 Model 3 owner). There were only edge cases where it was noticeably slower (i.e. trying to aggressively, and artificially, zoom in and out on the map while scrolling). I think most people will be plenty happy. Worlds better than our chevy bolt, only slightly slower than the M3 in certain interaction situations. I'd give it an 80-85% score vs Tesla which is basically perfect interaction response.
• Acceleration had a different curve vs the M3 (guide didn't let me drop it into sport mode in order to conserve energy for other drivers later in the day). It lagged and then ramped quickly but only after a lot of pedal travel. The M3 is more linear and comes on sooner in pedal travel. They can probably tune this with software very easily (may already be tuned in sport mode). Didn't feel anywhere close to 3 seconds, but I didn't formally launch, this was in general purpose mode with 3 people, and we were going up hill. Still way faster than I'd ever really want to accelerate on a non-closed circuit course, so it's still overkill-fast. Only car that I've driven that felt substantially faster was the M3P and Taycan turbo s (...that was frighteningly fast and should never be driven that fast on a public road.).
• Accelerating in conserve mode is interesting. Still plenty fast but the hood pops up toward the sky so it feels like you're in a boat. They need to stiffen the rear dampers even if the motors are disengaged in these cases, should be a simple fix.
• UI is less intuitive than the M3 but it probably just takes some getting used to. Had to hunt around at different icons that weren't really clear for some controls
• Thank god there is an actual stalk for window wipers...I cannot tell you how bad of a design decision that was on the M3. I know of multiple people, personally, who have gotten in serious traffic accidents trying to poke around on the M3 screen to adjust wiper speed vs. using a stalk.
• Rear seat space was not as big as I had hoped. I'm 5'10" and sit pretty close to the steering wheel for control. My daughter (6) was in the rear seat and said it felt pretty similar to the M3 (as evidenced by the shoeprints left on the back of the seat). For reference, we owned a subaru forester and that had substantially more room in the back seats. It's totally fine for sitting but not even close to an F150-level amount of rear seat room.
• Cameras were really bad/strange but I am guessing this was a bug that will be patched soon (based on other reviewers experiences). For some parts of the drive it was literally 640x480 and i couldn't tell what i was looking at in any level of detail. (think...minecraft, but in the 80's.) Color, contrast, etc. were all very bad. I saw, for a brief moment, that the cameras could do high res with better contrast so I think I just had a bad unit? strange that it would go back and forth between really bad and decent. Some sort of compression issue, likely solvable with software again.
• Fit and finish was way better than the M3.

Overall really liked it. R1S holder and 100% plan on purchasing. It did make me appreciate the M3. Yes, there are fit an finish issues with the M3, but as a vehicle, it has incredible value. The M3 has great acceleration, safety, handling...just squeaks a lot and parts fall off here and there. My M3 came with a set of giant (3/4" diameter) machine bolts that were loosely rolling under my driver seat and the turn indicator didn't work right out of the lot. I took it back and they never could figure out where those bolts came from (hopefully nothing major but they were large so I was afraid it was structural). and the turn signal had to be replaced 3x (still doesn't register sometimes). I love it still in the end. 0 major maintenance. looking forward to the r1s.

Did you tell them about your thoughts on the hood popping up when accelerating? That seems really odd. If you did, hopefully they take the concern seriously.

 

[jffkm]

Did you tell them about your thoughts on the hood popping up when accelerating? That seems really odd. If you did, hopefully they take the concern seriously.

I didn't have a chance to engage with any guides after the test drive as we had to leave pretty soon thereafter but the guide that was with me was also surprised. It was just like a boat, but that's not a good thing because you're looking up at the sky vs. at the road where obstacles may be. I think most folks weren't flooring it in conserve mode either. I was just curious what the acceleration differences would feel like between that vs. standard mode. It was still quite fast but they should definitely adjust rear dampers to avoid the front-end lift.

They should really find out why the video compression is so bad and finicky. If it were always bad that'd be a hardware-concern but it would go into much higher resolution periodically so I know it's not a camera limitation. This could also be a safety concern when driving backwards, for e.g., it was that low res/bad.

I think they'll be able to fix these minor things very quickly via software.

One thing I didn't mention is that I was really impressed with the off-road handling. It was almost too easy to ascend and descend without any feedback on the controls. I had an early test drive so it was wet/colder (very muddy) on the final descent and the traction control/wheel spin and dampers were going nuts. There was no change in acceleration/velocity at all so it felt like we floated down on an escalator without having to touch anything, despite the car being hard at work. Really neat and I'd admittedly almost never encounter something like that day to day.

Steering dynamics were also quite good/diverse. In off-road mode I tried some F1-style wheel warm ups and it absorbs all sudden wheel input nicely. Standard mode is like a large sedan/suv. Was hoping to test sport mode to see if the steering gets tighter (i prefer tighter steering ala M3/E90 3-series) but didn't get a chance. Hopefully it is similar.

Hoping that early recipients can share feedback and looking forward to seeing more vehicles out there! I'm a 11/18 LE R1S holder but not expecting delivery until Q2-3 of next year most likely after their ramp is figured out.

 

[eggpaul]

I didn't have a chance to engage with any guides after the test drive as we had to leave pretty soon thereafter but the guide that was with me was also surprised. It was just like a boat, but that's not a good thing because you're looking up at the sky vs. at the road where obstacles may be. I think most folks weren't flooring it in conserve mode either. I was just curious what the acceleration differences would feel like between that vs. standard mode. It was still quite fast but they should definitely adjust rear dampers to avoid the front-end lift.

They should really find out why the video compression is so bad and finicky. If it were always bad that'd be a hardware-concern but it would go into much higher resolution periodically so I know it's not a camera limitation. This could also be a safety concern when driving backwards, for e.g., it was that low res/bad.

I think they'll be able to fix these minor things very quickly via software.

One thing I didn't mention is that I was really impressed with the off-road handling. It was almost too easy to ascend and descend without any feedback on the controls. I had an early test drive so it was wet/colder (very muddy) on the final descent and the traction control/wheel spin and dampers were going nuts. There was no change in acceleration/velocity at all so it felt like we floated down on an escalator without having to touch anything, despite the car being hard at work. Really neat and I'd admittedly almost never encounter something like that day to day.

Steering dynamics were also quite good/diverse. In off-road mode I tried some F1-style wheel warm ups and it absorbs all sudden wheel input nicely. Standard mode is like a large sedan/suv. Was hoping to test sport mode to see if the steering gets tighter (i prefer tighter steering ala M3/E90 3-series) but didn't get a chance. Hopefully it is similar.

Hoping that early recipients can share feedback and looking forward to seeing more vehicles out there! I'm a 11/18 LE R1S holder but not expecting delivery until Q2-3 of next year most likely after their ramp is figured out.

So the front rising was only in conserve mode?

 

[jffkm]

So the front rising was only in conserve mode?

The front still rose a bit in standard mode (as most cars do under really hard acceleration) but it wasn't a distraction, and it leveled out pretty quickly. In conserve mode, it was definitely a distraction where we all said "whoa! #*($" and I took my foot immediately off of the accelerator as I couldn't see any turns/cones in front of me. I did this a few times to see if it was a fluke but the rear dampers definitely are not stiff enough in conserve mode. Probably has to do with the motors being disengaged in conserve I am guessing.

 

[PAFDenver]

• Rear seat space was not as big as I had hoped. I'm 5'10" and sit pretty close to the steering wheel for control. My daughter (6) was in the rear seat and said it felt pretty similar to the M3 (as evidenced by the shoeprints left on the back of the seat). For reference, we owned a subaru forester and that had substantially more room in the back seats. It's totally fine for sitting but not even close to an F150-level amount of rear seat room.

Well now I am really confused about one of my big concerns - space. After reading the specs months ago this became a big question for me. Not that I need much space in the back, it's usually just my dog, but was hoping for space that would be good enough for my friends (we're all fairly tall). I'm 6'2", my friend's 6'3".
CarterGee said it was fine. I don't know how tall he and his friends are, but he looks fairly tall.
The video made it look fine - there were a couple of inches of space between the front seat and the rear passenger's knees and I would guess the driver was around 6'. No idea how tall the photographer in back seat is.
But then Jffkm says the rear seat space is really bad.
If spending $80K+ for this I would like a substantial upgrade from my Subaru Baja, but now I am just lost (since jffkm compared it negatively to a Forester) as to what to expect.

 

[AxelR]

@jffkm i didn’t experience bad video quality (black truck green interior). If anything it was excellent.

As for your M3 maybe those were issues with early builds. Despite everybody talking about bad quality on the Tesla forum I have to say that my M3P was delivered with everything working (2 weeks ago, there’s still time for things to fall apart).
I agree that in terms of cabin room we’re nowhere close to any full size pickup truck, not even as spacious as Range Rover.
Still really like it.

 

[Kidentist]

A. Nice quick review
B. So.... does everyone who is buying these trucks look like Models for the North Face Catalog.........

 

[wizard467]

Well now I am really confused about one of my big concerns - space. After reading the specs months ago this became a big question for me. Not that I need much space in the back, it's usually just my dog, but was hoping for space that would be good enough for my friends (we're all fairly tall). I'm 6'2", my friend's 6'3".
CarterGee said it was fine. I don't know how tall he and his friends are, but he looks fairly tall.
The video made it look fine - there were a couple of inches of space between the front seat and the rear passenger's knees and I would guess the driver was around 6'. No idea how tall the photographer in back seat is.
But then Jffkm says the rear seat space is really bad.
If spending $80K+ for this I would like a substantial upgrade from my Subaru Baja, but now I am just lost (since jffkm compared it negatively to a Forester) as to what to expect.

Go to a dealer and sit in a Honda Ridgeline, the front/back is really close to the same size regarding space for knees. There is more headroom in the R1T although the Ridgeline does pretty good with the the ceiling pushed upward where your head would be in the backseat.

 

[RivianXpress]

Can you buy merch at the Sonoma event? Asking for a friend ;-)

 

[mwexler2]

Can you buy merch at the Sonoma event? Asking for a friend ;-)

Yes. I did yesterday.

 

[Monkey]

• Thank god there is an actual stalk for window wipers...I cannot tell you how bad of a design decision that was on the M3. I know of multiple people, personally, who have gotten in serious traffic accidents trying to poke around on the M3 screen to adjust wiper speed vs. using a stalk.

Not to hijack the discussion, but have to agree the wiper controls in the 3/Y are not friendly. (all Teslas to varying degrees) The real trick to them is the wiper button on the stalk. Pressing it to get a wipe or fluid also pops up the wiper setting on the screen so a speed setting or off/auto can be selected. Can use the thumb control for selection. Wiper operation and speeds still leave something to be desired. Voice commands can be used as well, but I've found voice control in our '16 X and '20 Y to be unreliable. My wife can't use them at all as the cars don't seem to acknowledge her speaking, it's weird.

 

[Monkey]

B. So.... does everyone who is buying these trucks look like Models for the North Face Catalog.........

You didn't get the memo? There's acceptable dress code for Rivian events, vehicle delivery and subsequent operation. Be sure to pick up a puffy vest and beanie before your delivery, if you don't already own them. Jeans are acceptable if you meet the vest/beanie requirements and also hold a coffee tumbler or insulated water bottle.

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