Even more observations from Rivian test drive / First Mile

[yizzung]

Got my test drive today, so here's yet another set of observations for those curious:

The good

1. It's fast as hell. I've seen some speculating that it won't hit 60 in three seconds and I will counter it by saying that it definitely hit 60 before I could count to three-mississippi. Not scientific but neither are their observations... That was uphill, in 20" ATs. I used to own a 911 and this thing would smoke me in that car.
2. There was almost no observable lag in the UI, as I've seen reported elsewhere. I have a 2017 Audi allroad that does both Carplay and Android. It was slick and moved seamlessly from screen to screen without a hitch, faster than in my current car. The nav looks very pretty. No telling how well it will actually navigate us through traffic and whatnot.
3. The interior is pretty gorgeous and tight. I'd easily put it on par with my Audi or previous BMWs. Seats are great. Super comfy. They clearly thought out the cabin and it shows.
4. I expected to hate the on-screen adjustments for vents and mirrors but it was actually pretty easy to instantly pop into either setting and make changes.
5. Love the storage options. Will never run out of places to put things and I own a station wagon, which has loads of storage.
6. Was worried about the glass roof but on a clear sunny day had no issues at all. Wasn't oppressive heat or light blasting into the cab.
7. Fun. Fun. Fun. It's going to be a blast to finally take ownership (someday).

The meh (*caveat, these likely weren't production vehicles so... YMMV)

1. Outside of the cabin, the build quality to me seemed more like a... well, I'm not exactly sure? I haven't owned a Ford or a Toyota but there were plenty of places on the exterior that just weren't anywhere near as polished as a BMW or Audi. This could be a conscious choice by Rivian (?) because, well, it's an adventure vehicle. My allroad (by comparison) will never go offroad. I think they hit BMW quality on the inside and (maybe) Ford quality on the exterior? Not a deal breaker for me but just an observation. Or maybe production-quality will be tighter.
2. Lots of plastic on the outside -- and I'm not saying that as a slight, because it has plastic in many of the same places as my allroad does -- that didn't seem super securely in place or had weird seams. In particular, the plastic doors for the storage on the gear tunnel doors were pretty janky. I could see these breaking down over time, especially considering that they also function as steps when the gear tunnel is open.
3. One truck had a squeaky gear tunnel hinge and the gear tunnel doors were kinda hard to close. On one of the trucks I had to slam it in order for it to close 100%.
4. While the Yakima rack integration is more seamless than I've had on any other car, I found it a little strange that you have to carry around a key to secure the pillars. Rivian has a locking mechanism inside the truck that secures the gear guard thingie, but they require you to manually lock the racks with a physical key. They had trucks set up with all four racks in place, which means you'd need to use a physical key to manually lock 8 different locks in place to secure them, then manually unlock in the same 8 places with a physical key to remove them. Why not lock from within using the same mechanism as the gear guard?
5. The exterior camera looking down the embankment was super fuzzy and low-res. Again, maybe pre-production but the video quality was bad. I don't think it's a deal breaker as you're not exactly using it to create postcards but seemed like a weird place for them to skimp given how nice everything else seemed. Even the two side cameras showing the front wheels had far sharper resolution.
6. [Edit] Bonus item: I have a feeling the power tonneau cover is going to be a mess. All of them were disabled, as others have mentioned, and I literally heard one of the guides saying, "yeah, we've disabled them because they have a tendency to get messed up when a bunch of people are futzing with them"... Or, you could interpret this as: they tend to get messed up after a few times of opening and closing them during normal use? I think if they could undo this feature they probably would but maybe it'll get ironed out before we get our trucks...

Other non-truck notes:

1. The staff, while friendly and energetic, typically knows far less than us weirdos. I didn't ask too many questions but even then managed to stump them several times. Some of it was pretty basic -- so, what exactly do you get with the offroad package? "hold on, let me look it up on my phone..." Ok then. What happens if you're using the nav and you run out of cell coverage? "No clue." Alright. Most of them have worked for Rivian for less than a couple of months.
2. There was no truck in limestone and no truck in whatever-the-red-is-called. The LA silver is VERY sparkly. (Too much metal flake for me.) Forrest Green had more metal flake than I expected but not too much. El Cap looked real nice.
3. One staffer told me they are headed back to Southern California for their next First Mile event. Maybe that's already known? I didn't know.
4. One staffer told me he's physically based in Orlando and is just waiting until they open the center there before he heads back east.

My top three paint choices are Forest Green, Glacier White and El Cap. Just as I was leaving, I snagged a pick of all three side-by-side. Still can't decide...

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[Max]

My top three paint choices are Forest Green, Glacier White and El Cap. Just as I was leaving, I snagged a pick of all three side-by-side. Still can't decide...

El Cap will still look classy after 5 years. Glacier White will drive you bananas after the first door ding in the parking lot. It looks great only when it is perfect.

 

[CGM55082]

Got my test drive today, so here's yet another set of observations for those curious:

The good

1. It's fast as hell. I've seen some speculating that it won't hit 60 in three seconds and I will counter it by saying that it definitely hit 60 before I could count to three-mississippi. Not scientific but neither are their observations... That was uphill, in 20" ATs. I used to own a 911 and this thing would smoke me in that car.
2. There was almost no observable lag in the UI, as I've seen reported elsewhere. I have a 2017 Audi allroad that does both Carplay and Android. It was slick and moved seamlessly from screen to screen without a hitch, faster than in my current car. The nav looks very pretty. No telling how well it will actually navigate us through traffic and whatnot.
3. The interior is pretty gorgeous and tight. I'd easily put it on par with my Audi or previous BMWs. Seats are great. Super comfy. They clearly thought out the cabin and it shows.
4. I expected to hate the on-screen adjustments for vents and mirrors but it was actually pretty easy to instantly pop into either setting and make changes.
5. Love the storage options. Will never run out of places to put things and I own a station wagon, which has loads of storage.
6. Was worried about the glass roof but on a clear sunny day had no issues at all. Wasn't oppressive heat or light blasting into the cab.
7. Fun. Fun. Fun. It's going to be a blast to finally take ownership (someday).

The meh (*caveat, these likely weren't production vehicles so... YMMV)

1. Outside of the cabin, the build quality to me seemed more like a... well, I'm not exactly sure? I haven't owned a Ford or a Toyota but there were plenty of places on the exterior that just weren't anywhere near as polished as a BMW or Audi. This could be a conscious choice by Rivian (?) because, well, it's an adventure vehicle. My allroad (by comparison) will never go offroad. I think they hit BMW quality on the inside and (maybe) Ford quality on the exterior? Not a deal breaker for me but just an observation. Or maybe production-quality will be tighter.
2. Lots of plastic on the outside -- and I'm not saying that as a slight, because it has plastic in many of the same places as my allroad does -- that didn't seem super securely in place or had weird seams. In particular, the plastic doors for the storage on the gear tunnel doors were pretty janky. I could see these breaking down over time, especially considering that they also function as steps when the gear tunnel is open.
3. One truck had a squeaky gear tunnel hinge and the gear tunnel doors were kinda hard to close. On one of the trucks I had to slam it in order for it to close 100%.
4. While the Yakima rack integration is more seamless than I've had on any other car, I found it a little strange that you have to carry around a key to secure the pillars. Rivian has a locking mechanism inside the truck that secures the gear guard thingie, but they require you to manually lock the racks with a physical key. They had trucks set up with all four racks in place, which means you'd need to use a physical key to manually lock 8 different locks in place to secure them, then manually unlock in the same 8 places with a physical key to remove them. Why not lock from within using the same mechanism as the gear guard?
5. The exterior camera looking down the embankment was super fuzzy and low-res. Again, maybe pre-production but the video quality was bad. I don't think it's a deal breaker as you're not exactly using it to create postcards but seemed like a weird place for them to skimp given how nice everything else seemed. Even the two side cameras showing the front wheels had far sharper resolution.

Other non-truck notes:

1. The staff, while friendly and energetic, typically knows far less than us weirdos. I didn't ask too many questions but even then managed to stump them several times. Some of it was pretty basic -- so, what exactly do you get with the offroad package? "hold on, let me look it up on my phone..." Ok then. What happens if you're using the nav and you run out of cell coverage? "No clue." Alright. Most of them have worked for Rivian for less than a couple of months.
2. There was no truck in limestone and no truck in whatever-the-red-is-called. The LA silver is VERY sparkly. (Too much metal flake for me.) Forrest Green had more metal flake than I expected but not too much. El Cap looked real nice.
3. One staffer told me they are headed back to Southern California for their next First Mile event. Maybe that's already known? I didn't know.
4. One staffer told me he's physically based in Orlando and is just waiting until they open the center there before he heads back east.

My top three paint choices are Forest Green, Glacier White and El Cap. Just as I was leaving, I snagged a pick of all three side-by-side. Still can't decide...

What was your impression of the different interior colors? I'm stuck between Ocean and Forest.

 

[yizzung]

What was your impression of the different interior colors? I'm stuck between Ocean and Forest.

I like Forest quite a bit. I used to have a green allroad with green interior and it was a bit much… but all the Rivian interiors are actually two-tone. So the green is less in your face. And the dark wood looks nice.

That said, I’m leaning Ocean Coast because I want nice cool interior in the summer months.

 

[CGM55082]

I like Forest quite a bit. I used to have a green allroad with green interior and it was a bit much… but all the Rivian interiors are actually two-tone. So the green is less in your face. And the dark wood looks nice.

That said, I’m leaning Ocean Coast because I want nice cool interior in the summer months.

I've noticed in some pictures the wood in Ocean Coast can look a little odd (sort of a pink-ish tone) against the white gray. Curious if you noticed that in person? I'm also curious what color you would describe Ocean Coast as in person? From pictures it's hard to tell if it looks gray, white or a bluish white. Many thanks!

 

[yizzung]

I've noticed in some pictures the wood in Ocean Coast can look a little odd (sort of a pink-ish tone) against the white gray. Curious if you noticed that in person? I'm also curious what color you would describe Ocean Coast as in person? From pictures it's hard to tell if it looks gray, white or a bluish white. Many thanks!

Looked very light gray to my eyes.

 

[Blur1t]

Got my test drive today, so here's yet another set of observations for those curious:

The good

1. It's fast as hell. I've seen some speculating that it won't hit 60 in three seconds and I will counter it by saying that it definitely hit 60 before I could count to three-mississippi. Not scientific but neither are their observations... That was uphill, in 20" ATs. I used to own a 911 and this thing would smoke me in that car.
2. There was almost no observable lag in the UI, as I've seen reported elsewhere. I have a 2017 Audi allroad that does both Carplay and Android. It was slick and moved seamlessly from screen to screen without a hitch, faster than in my current car. The nav looks very pretty. No telling how well it will actually navigate us through traffic and whatnot.
3. The interior is pretty gorgeous and tight. I'd easily put it on par with my Audi or previous BMWs. Seats are great. Super comfy. They clearly thought out the cabin and it shows.
4. I expected to hate the on-screen adjustments for vents and mirrors but it was actually pretty easy to instantly pop into either setting and make changes.
5. Love the storage options. Will never run out of places to put things and I own a station wagon, which has loads of storage.
6. Was worried about the glass roof but on a clear sunny day had no issues at all. Wasn't oppressive heat or light blasting into the cab.
7. Fun. Fun. Fun. It's going to be a blast to finally take ownership (someday).

The meh (*caveat, these likely weren't production vehicles so... YMMV)

1. Outside of the cabin, the build quality to me seemed more like a... well, I'm not exactly sure? I haven't owned a Ford or a Toyota but there were plenty of places on the exterior that just weren't anywhere near as polished as a BMW or Audi. This could be a conscious choice by Rivian (?) because, well, it's an adventure vehicle. My allroad (by comparison) will never go offroad. I think they hit BMW quality on the inside and (maybe) Ford quality on the exterior? Not a deal breaker for me but just an observation. Or maybe production-quality will be tighter.
2. Lots of plastic on the outside -- and I'm not saying that as a slight, because it has plastic in many of the same places as my allroad does -- that didn't seem super securely in place or had weird seams. In particular, the plastic doors for the storage on the gear tunnel doors were pretty janky. I could see these breaking down over time, especially considering that they also function as steps when the gear tunnel is open.
3. One truck had a squeaky gear tunnel hinge and the gear tunnel doors were kinda hard to close. On one of the trucks I had to slam it in order for it to close 100%.
4. While the Yakima rack integration is more seamless than I've had on any other car, I found it a little strange that you have to carry around a key to secure the pillars. Rivian has a locking mechanism inside the truck that secures the gear guard thingie, but they require you to manually lock the racks with a physical key. They had trucks set up with all four racks in place, which means you'd need to use a physical key to manually lock 8 different locks in place to secure them, then manually unlock in the same 8 places with a physical key to remove them. Why not lock from within using the same mechanism as the gear guard?
5. The exterior camera looking down the embankment was super fuzzy and low-res. Again, maybe pre-production but the video quality was bad. I don't think it's a deal breaker as you're not exactly using it to create postcards but seemed like a weird place for them to skimp given how nice everything else seemed. Even the two side cameras showing the front wheels had far sharper resolution.

Other non-truck notes:

1. The staff, while friendly and energetic, typically knows far less than us weirdos. I didn't ask too many questions but even then managed to stump them several times. Some of it was pretty basic -- so, what exactly do you get with the offroad package? "hold on, let me look it up on my phone..." Ok then. What happens if you're using the nav and you run out of cell coverage? "No clue." Alright. Most of them have worked for Rivian for less than a couple of months.
2. There was no truck in limestone and no truck in whatever-the-red-is-called. The LA silver is VERY sparkly. (Too much metal flake for me.) Forrest Green had more metal flake than I expected but not too much. El Cap looked real nice.
3. One staffer told me they are headed back to Southern California for their next First Mile event. Maybe that's already known? I didn't know.
4. One staffer told me he's physically based in Orlando and is just waiting until they open the center there before he heads back east.

My top three paint choices are Forest Green, Glacier White and El Cap. Just as I was leaving, I snagged a pick of all three side-by-side. Still can't decide...

Thanks for the info!

 

[Laurent]

I've noticed in some pictures the wood in Ocean Coast can look a little odd (sort of a pink-ish tone) against the white gray. Curious if you noticed that in person? I'm also curious what color you would describe Ocean Coast as in person? From pictures it's hard to tell if it looks gray, white or a bluish white. Many thanks!

Ocean Coast is light gray. It’s my favorite. But the wood finish is awful. Maybe I can put a wrap on it.

 

[Gimmeoneofeach]

Ocean Coast is light gray. It’s my favorite. But the wood finish is awful. Maybe I can put a wrap on it.

AGREE! I always prefer light colored interiors because they stay cooler but when I saw the wood on the OC I changed to FE interior. Wish they would offer the dark wood in the FE in the OC interior ... that would be awesome!

 

[Tommy]

Got my test drive today, so here's yet another set of observations for those curious:

The good

1. It's fast as hell. I've seen some speculating that it won't hit 60 in three seconds and I will counter it by saying that it definitely hit 60 before I could count to three-mississippi. Not scientific but neither are their observations... That was uphill, in 20" ATs. I used to own a 911 and this thing would smoke me in that car.
2. There was almost no observable lag in the UI, as I've seen reported elsewhere. I have a 2017 Audi allroad that does both Carplay and Android. It was slick and moved seamlessly from screen to screen without a hitch, faster than in my current car. The nav looks very pretty. No telling how well it will actually navigate us through traffic and whatnot.
3. The interior is pretty gorgeous and tight. I'd easily put it on par with my Audi or previous BMWs. Seats are great. Super comfy. They clearly thought out the cabin and it shows.
4. I expected to hate the on-screen adjustments for vents and mirrors but it was actually pretty easy to instantly pop into either setting and make changes.
5. Love the storage options. Will never run out of places to put things and I own a station wagon, which has loads of storage.
6. Was worried about the glass roof but on a clear sunny day had no issues at all. Wasn't oppressive heat or light blasting into the cab.
7. Fun. Fun. Fun. It's going to be a blast to finally take ownership (someday).

The meh (*caveat, these likely weren't production vehicles so... YMMV)

1. Outside of the cabin, the build quality to me seemed more like a... well, I'm not exactly sure? I haven't owned a Ford or a Toyota but there were plenty of places on the exterior that just weren't anywhere near as polished as a BMW or Audi. This could be a conscious choice by Rivian (?) because, well, it's an adventure vehicle. My allroad (by comparison) will never go offroad. I think they hit BMW quality on the inside and (maybe) Ford quality on the exterior? Not a deal breaker for me but just an observation. Or maybe production-quality will be tighter.
2. Lots of plastic on the outside -- and I'm not saying that as a slight, because it has plastic in many of the same places as my allroad does -- that didn't seem super securely in place or had weird seams. In particular, the plastic doors for the storage on the gear tunnel doors were pretty janky. I could see these breaking down over time, especially considering that they also function as steps when the gear tunnel is open.
3. One truck had a squeaky gear tunnel hinge and the gear tunnel doors were kinda hard to close. On one of the trucks I had to slam it in order for it to close 100%.
4. While the Yakima rack integration is more seamless than I've had on any other car, I found it a little strange that you have to carry around a key to secure the pillars. Rivian has a locking mechanism inside the truck that secures the gear guard thingie, but they require you to manually lock the racks with a physical key. They had trucks set up with all four racks in place, which means you'd need to use a physical key to manually lock 8 different locks in place to secure them, then manually unlock in the same 8 places with a physical key to remove them. Why not lock from within using the same mechanism as the gear guard?
5. The exterior camera looking down the embankment was super fuzzy and low-res. Again, maybe pre-production but the video quality was bad. I don't think it's a deal breaker as you're not exactly using it to create postcards but seemed like a weird place for them to skimp given how nice everything else seemed. Even the two side cameras showing the front wheels had far sharper resolution.

Other non-truck notes:

1. The staff, while friendly and energetic, typically knows far less than us weirdos. I didn't ask too many questions but even then managed to stump them several times. Some of it was pretty basic -- so, what exactly do you get with the offroad package? "hold on, let me look it up on my phone..." Ok then. What happens if you're using the nav and you run out of cell coverage? "No clue." Alright. Most of them have worked for Rivian for less than a couple of months.
2. There was no truck in limestone and no truck in whatever-the-red-is-called. The LA silver is VERY sparkly. (Too much metal flake for me.) Forrest Green had more metal flake than I expected but not too much. El Cap looked real nice.
3. One staffer told me they are headed back to Southern California for their next First Mile event. Maybe that's already known? I didn't know.
4. One staffer told me he's physically based in Orlando and is just waiting until they open the center there before he heads back east.

My top three paint choices are Forest Green, Glacier White and El Cap. Just as I was leaving, I snagged a pick of all three side-by-side. Still can't decide...

So, did you bring your dogs? Curious how that worked out and if you have any observations on how dog friendly the R1T is. One of my disappointments is that when the rear seats fold up, it does not leave a wide flat floor for the dogs. Thanks.

 

[yizzung]

So, did you bring your dogs? Curious how that worked out and if you have any observations on how dog friendly the R1T is. One of my disappointments is that when the rear seats fold up, it does not leave a wide flat floor for the dogs. Thanks.

I did! But mostly they just sniffed the ground for stray popcorn from the camp kitchen demo…

I determined that I can’t do the tent because there’s no way I can lift two 60 lb dogs high enough to toss them into it.

The back seat is plenty roomy but you’re correct that the floor probably isn’t the best option. I think I’ll reuse my Orvis floor extenders (https://www.orvis.com/solid-foam-backseat-extender/90XR.html) and have them on the seats.

Will also need a seat cover, especially with the light gray seats.

 

[eggpaul]

@yizzung . Great review. Did the employee notice the front camera? So frustrating they can't answer a simple question about the offroad package. Kind of like CS.

 

[Jehorton]

One staffer told me he's physically based in Orlando and is just waiting until they open the center there before he heads back east.

@yizzung, best news I’ve seen on here

 

[yizzung]

@yizzung . Great review. Did the employee notice the front camera? So frustrating they can't answer a simple question about the offroad package. Kind of like CS.

Oh yeah. No way not to notice. Both sitting in the front (me driving) and looking over the edge of a drop. We were literally doing a front camera demo, staring at the screen together...

I guess I could have said, "hey, this image isn't very clear, right?" but given how well they had answered my previous questions I just made a mental note and didn't mention it.

Best guess is that he would have said, "this is a prototype and the production images will be better." Or (more likely), "hmm, I don't know the answer but that is a great question!" At that point I was getting far more value from just using the thing versus asking them questions...

 

[Bumble1978]

I did! But mostly they just sniffed the ground for stray popcorn from the camp kitchen demo…

I determined that I can’t do the tent because there’s no way I can lift two 60 lb dogs high enough to toss them into it.

The back seat is plenty roomy but you’re correct that the floor probably isn’t the best option. I think I’ll reuse my Orvis floor extenders (https://www.orvis.com/solid-foam-backseat-extender/90XR.html) and have them on the seats.

Will also need a seat cover, especially with the light gray seats.

Agrees those of us with four-legged adventure family need a Rivian Ramp and we'd be all about the tent. ???

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