Rivian EV Truck… Does It Belong Off-Road?! - MORR

[DeafPug]

Someone got their R1T stuck in sand and called Matt’s Off Road Recovery for assistance. On the 2nd attempt (shown in the video at least), they got it out of the holes the wheels had dug. They didn’t really bad-mouth the driver/vehicle, but the comments are generally against Rivian as well as EVs in general. Not unexpected really.

Nice to see people getting out and using their vehicles even though they did need to call for assistance in this specific case.

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[mkhuffman]

Did he fail to air down? Are they blaming the weight?

 

[COdogman]

Those guys are always badmouthing EVs.

 

[Franksmartin]

Rivians have completed the Rebelle Rally

 

[2kwik4u]

Someone got their R1T stuck in sand and called Matt’s Off Road Recovery for assistance. On the 2nd attempt (shown in the video at least), they got it out of the holes the wheels had dug. They didn’t really bad-mouth the driver/vehicle, but the comments are generally against Rivian as well as EVs in general. Not unexpected really.

Nice to see people getting out and using their vehicles even though they did need to call for assistance in this specific case.

This isn't the first Rivian they've recovered out there. I had to look at the timestamp to see if it was that older video, or a new one. Looks like it was released this morning. I'll have to go find the older one later.

I'm not surprised at all from the rhetoric. I went offRoading with the NERC group back in early April. posted a picture of my boys looking at the window as I forded like 40in of muddy watery mess. I used some tagline to try and get Rivians attention of "Keeping the next generation adventurous" or something like that. One Uncle responded with "Great, now teach them to tune a carburetor", the other uncle responded with "Wow, surprised it didn't short out". Lots of FUD out there around EV's, and even more around off-road oriented EV capability.

 

[VSG]

Rivians have completed the Rebelle Rally

Don't bother making that argument, I'm sure the reply would be women don't belong off-road either and probably shouldn't be allowed to drive at all ...

 

[DeafPug]

Not quite certain what the issue was to begin with. I’m guessing he got the vehicle a little slow for the soft sand and maybe didn’t properly deflate the tires. The comments include a lot of the tropes that we’ve all heard over the years. Not the best representation, but not the worst.

There was a previous recovery where the R1T got high-centered when trying to turn around on a narrow trail and getting off the path resulted in the high-centering.

Both of these “failures” shown on MORR were ones that any stock vehicle would have also failed at in the same situation, but with the capabilities of the stock Rivian vehicles, they had gotten further off the paved roads before encountering issues.

I had recently taken the R1T to a car show at a nursing home recently, so older population in general. Pretty good response received. I talked about long distance driving in an EV and showed off the suspension a few times. Only had one guy (who couldn’t drive any more) say that “I’d never drive an EV”, so replied “OK”.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

Those guys are always badmouthing EVs.

Yeah man, considering they have 1000s of videos rescuing jeeps, raptors, tacos, and like ... 2? videos rescuing a Rivian it seems silly to title it like that.

FWIW, personal experience bumping into him in Hurricane, in person Matt is a nice guy.

 

[COdogman]

Yeah man, considering they have 1000s of videos rescuing jeeps, raptors, tacos, and like ... 2? videos rescuing a Rivian it seems silly to title it like that.

FWIW, personal experience bumping into him in Hurricane, in person Matt is a nice guy.

That's good to hear. I'm sure he's got some good stories. Honestly I wouldn't expect many compliments from the recovery crowd in general

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Not going to bother watching the whole video (for obvious reasons). But a quick scan reveal they are high centered and there are no presence of recovery shovel or traction boards, which means they spun and spun some more and got themselves high centered.

Bad decisions and lack of prep (another bad decision) is what it boils down to. Nothing to do with energy source of drivetrain. Fodder for the anti-EV mouth-breathers.

 

[zefram47]

That title alone means I won't bother giving it a click.

When I was in Moab and the Ouray area I got plenty of questions about the truck off-road, including from a USFS ranger. Didn't get any negative comments at all. But that was also two years ago and I'm sure there are a lot more Rivians out there now and likely being piloted by more off-road novices more likely to get into sticky situations requiring recovery, etc. The only ugly things I recall seeing that would be relevant in questioning the truck's off-road chops would be the few that have snapped tie rods, but even that's not uncommon among other traditional 4x4s.

 

[SANZC02]

To be fair, the recovery team was pretty chill about it, the comments came from the viewers.

The tires did not appear to be aired down and it was soft hot sand so pretty easy to dig in to that.

Once they yanked him out the ride out appeared to be pretty easy.

 

[variableresults]

I do wonder about that perception. The few off-road experiences I've had in my R1T Quad have been very good, but I also drove extremely cautiously. I think there is a perception that comes from some new owners that now that they have a Rivian they are invincible off-road because of all the technology.

I look at that video and I think to myself, where are the MaxxTracks? A shovel to dig out some sand to get one under the front wheel(s)? Maybe that wouldn't have worked here since it looks like some high-centering, but given the sand that blows out from the driver-front wheel it's making contact somewhere.

Unpreparedness for off-roading is something I see with other vehicles, and not just Rivians. I watched a stock Jeep Rubicon blast through the Geology Tour loop at Joshua Tree (which is narrow one-way with lots and lots of sharp rocks and many ruts and a few steep approaches) at something like 20-30 mph. Once I got to the end of the loop, that same Jeep was pulled over on the side of the main road with the most slashed sidewall I've ever seen on a tire. I told the park ranger what happened, and he said "Yeah, not on those tires." I kinda wish Jeep wasn't allowed to call a Jeep Rubicon that has no business doing the Rubicon a Rubicon

For the record, I was doing that loop at around 5 mph average, and that's with aired-down E rated 20" Ridge Grapplers.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I do wonder about that perception. The few off-road experiences I've had in my R1T Quad have been very good, but I also drove extremely cautiously. I think there is a perception that comes from some new owners that now that they have a Rivian they are invincible off-road because of all the technology.

I look at that video and I think to myself, where are the MaxxTracks? A shovel to dig out some sand to get one under the front wheel(s)? Maybe that wouldn't have worked here since it looks like some high-centering, but given the sand that blows out from the driver-front wheel it's making contact somewhere.

Unpreparedness for off-roading is something I see with other vehicles, and not just Rivians. I watched a stock Jeep Rubicon blast through the Geology Tour loop at Joshua Tree (which is narrow one-way with lots and lots of sharp rocks and many ruts and a few steep approaches) at something like 20-30 mph. Once I got to the end of the loop, that same Jeep was pulled over on the side of the main road with the most slashed sidewall I've ever seen on a tire. I told the park ranger what happened, and he said "Yeah, not on those tires." I kinda wish Jeep wasn't allowed to call a Jeep Rubicon that has no business doing the Rubicon a Rubicon

For the record, I was doing that loop at around 5 mph average, and that's with aired-down E rated 20" Ridge Grapplers.

Lack of preparedness + 99°. They were lucky they had cell reception to call for a tow.

 

[variableresults]

Lack of preparedness + 99°. They were lucky they had cell reception to call for a tow.

My thoughts exactly. It's why I carry a Starlink Mini with me along with two portable LiFePo batteries. I used that Starlink to call the Joshua Tree ranger in my previous post. My mantra is, don't off road in the desert unless you have provisions to last you a few days in case you get stuck, and bring a way to call for help. Don't go alone is an even better mantra, but that's not always possible for me, so I'll own that degree of irresponsibility

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