I’m right there with ya..Without a doubt my favorite line - and something I will repeat countless times to anyone that joins a ride in my R1T
" The upholstery is 100% vegan leather, made from only the finest vegans."
He had a bunch of those buried in there..." the gimlet-eyed R1T"..." it can haul off like a spooked tuna"..."and wade through 3 feet of water. Most pickups can do that trick only once"..." strangely light and heavy, like an aluminum anvil".
Man, I live that. I’ve recovered 4 vehicles from various situations in the Colorado Rockies. I’ve pulled one unmodified Tacoma from a lake that it tried to ford. I pulled 4runner with street tires out of a snow bank it should have never attempted to cross. One time I recovered a Willys Jeep that fell off a cliff edge and was saved by a tree. I actually the part of it falling off the cliff on video.
I’m there with you, My old Rubicon pulled many a fellow out of some sticky situations. You only live once, as long as it’s just you in the truck, it’s more fun on the edge of your seat…. ? Your wide body Raptor does not miss a branch on every trail but sure makes it look easy!
I’ve never needed 1000+ lbs of payload, nor would I ever ever tow a horse trailer (I’m towing a raft, that’s it). So this writer clearly doesn’t understand that this isn’t marketed as a work truck. One look at any promotional material from the manufacturer demonstrates that. If you’re buying this truck as a contractor or lineman expecting it to replace your Silverado or Super Duty, you need a reality check.
I'm actually more concerned about the things that need to be made correct from the factory, like gaps and fit and finish. UI can be updated OTA, but the physical issues would require a lot more effort t fix after the fact.
Especially if there are no physical controls in the vehicle. I am not opposed to there not being any physical controls, but I would expect that the UI is second to none in that case. If the UI is not up to par, then there needs to be physical controls so you aren't left with a $70K brick.
I think there are quite a few variations of software in the wild. RJ mentioned that they push out OTAs weekly, so it makes sense that there may be some fragmentation. I only say this because my experience driving it was quite different. The UI was responsive, all features (except the tonneau) worked as I expected, including Driver+ Highway Assist. Even the cameras were better than I had seen on other reviews with good (not great) resolution and no lag or stutter. I have terrible cell reception at my house, but there were no issues with Spotify or maps in my test truck.
I can see how maps and Spotify would stutter with a poor internet connection, but why should local functions like volume control, vents etc.? The OS itself should not have to rely on the internet for functionality, just like using your phone in airplane mode, and apps with local functions shouldn't stutter. I'm thinking the issue is something else.
The complaints about reviews making repetitive comments about EV range when driven hard are understandable, but also help set an expectation for people who have never driven an EV. This might be the first review (or only review) they read about a Rivian. There are probably a decent amount of people who have never heard of Rivian (or Lucid or most other startups) and aren't familiar with potential hits to range like performance or weather.
