New owner - any suggestions?

[RMSko]

Hi everyone. I’m getting my new R1S this weekend and am looking for newbie suggestions. I’m coming off of a Lucid Air (and an Audi e-tron before that) and so I’m familiar with EVs. I really loved the Lucid, but wanted to try something a bit different. Does anyone have any new owner “setup” suggestions?

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[iansriv]

Congrats! Firstly, enjoy your new car. Spend time here learning about the car. My R1S is my first EV and about two years old now. I'm still here learning daily and trying to share what little I know. There are some very knowledgeable members. Most owners without issues dont post. The board, like most, will get complaints. I'm not knocking them but you need to not let most worry you.

Most of the time, when I get a new car, I will do a PPF and tinting (ceramic). I also added a screen on the glass roof. The horn might be an issue for some as the sound is a bit emasculating. There is a thread on an upgrade. You can also go down the "how to max milage" rabbit hole. Not sure if you got a home charger installed yet but plenty of good advice here on that.

Lastly, post pictures! All the best mate!

Edit: there is a governor at 115mph. Let us know when you hit it.

 

[COdogman]

Welcome! Obviously every EV has its own quirks and things to learn - Rivian is not different. I haven’t spent much time with a Lucid, but Rivian may be a step back as far as software compared to what I have heard about them. Rivian is probably a step up from the Audi software, though.

I would say the biggest problem with Rivian in general is still service. They are adding service centers at a pretty good pace, but they still have a long way to go and the experience is inconsistent across the board. And I say that as someone who has been lucky and only required 1 service visit in over 2 years… I absolutely love my truck and have only had good experiences with Rivian employees, but others haven’t been so lucky.

Lots of good info here and knowledgeable people. The forum search function is hit or miss, so don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t find what you are looking for.

 

[Great Gatsby]

Welcome aboard! I considered the Lucid Air before settling on the R1S for its ride height. I have enjoyed my time with both companies. Will likely be a Rivian and Lucid household moving forward once we are able to get the Gravity. In my experience with both I'd say Lucid software is far more responsive while Rivian's has less bugs and more features overall.

Just spend a lot of time playing with the car would be my suggestion. Watch videos online of people showing off tips and tricks, as the Rivian does have a lot to offer. Playing with the air suspension is fun. Recommend doing that to find a ride that will feel comfortable with you, but most just do standard height and soft feel. A lot of fun accessories (running boards, magsafe chargers, all weather mats, additional cup holders, etc) available online to make the everyday experience that much better. A bit of learning curve getting used to it but once you do it will feel very intuitive!

Also not sure if you've done it yet, but IMO the connect+ subscription is totally worth it.

 

[beatle]

Some less-obvious tips that are mostly Rivian specific:

• Turn off auto suspension height for more comfort on trips. This keeps the truck in standard ride height. The range impact is basically zero. This resets after the truck sleeps.
• The truck will reset itself into all purpose mode every time after a sleep (about 4 hours). Nothing you can do about that. Keep this in mind if you switch to sport mode to get the suspension into the lowest setting for parking garages.
• You can reduce stability mode to keep the rear motor engaged in all purpose mode. This is useful if you're driving in the mountains and want to keep it from disengaging/reengaging when you need the power, but this reengages when you enable Driver+. Snow mode will also do this and can be used on dry roads with no problem.
• You've got a year to squash all NVH issues with the service center under warranty. I don't think this timeframe is published anywhere, but I could be wrong.
• Pick up a CCS to NACS adapter so you can use CCS stations. (I assume your new truck is NACS, otherwise get an adapter to go the other way for superchargers.) These are around $150 or less. A J1772 >> NACS adapter will be nice for public J1772 charging stations as well. Good ones are $50 or less.
• @RWerksman of OpenSourceEV has designed a number of free useful 3d printable parts for the truck. If you don't have a printer, he sells printed versions.
• Get a set of jack pucks and familiarize yourself with where the jack points are to jack up the truck. These don't need to be expensive. Good ones are $50-$70 (maybe less).
• ElectraFi is a data logging service. It's great for tracking your trips, efficiency, checking software updates for the fleet, etc. It costs $50/year, but I've found it to be very useful for the past 6 years (it is run by the guy who does TeslaFi as well). You can get a slightly longer free trial with a referral code. You can use mine if you like: mdbbox1.

Welcome to the fold!

 

[RMSko]

Thanks for all the great responses and tips! My car comes with the adapter included so I’m good there. I also already have a home charger and so hopefully I won’t have any issues with that (it’s an Emporia charger).

In terms of service, Rivian is actually ahead of Lucid in this area. There’s a Rivian service center within 30 minutes of where I live while the closest Lucid service center was 75 minutes. That said, Lucid would always come get my car and leave me with a loaner and so that was great. I have no idea if Rivian does that.

I did really love my Lucid and would get another one except there are none available with the Dream Drive Pro (the most advanced self driving) and I want the hands off highway driving. I looked at a lot of alternatives, but given that range and tech were top priorities, there weren’t many options.

One question: some of the above comments note that the Lucid software is better or more responsive. Does anyone have more detail to share? I actually found the Lucid software a bit buggy and had to reset the system quite often just to get audio to work. It also wasn’t very customizable so if it’s ahead of Rivian, that would be a bit of a red flag for me. If anyone has more info that would be great (I haven’t gotten my Rivian yet and could still cancel).

 

[Great Gatsby]

Thanks for all the great responses and tips! My car comes with the adapter included so I’m good there. I also already have a home charger and so hopefully I won’t have any issues with that (it’s an Emporia charger).

In terms of service, Rivian is actually ahead of Lucid in this area. There’s a Rivian service center within 30 minutes of where I live while the closest Lucid service center was 75 minutes. That said, Lucid would always come get my car and leave me with a loaner and so that was great. I have no idea if Rivian does that.

I did really love my Lucid and would get another one except there are none available with the Dream Drive Pro (the most advanced self driving) and I want the hands off highway driving. I looked at a lot of alternatives, but given that range and tech were top priorities, there weren’t many options.

One question: some of the above comments note that the Lucid software is better or more responsive. Does anyone have more detail to share? I actually found the Lucid software a bit buggy and had to reset the system quite often just to get audio to work. It also wasn’t very customizable so if it’s ahead of Rivian, that would be a bit of a red flag for me. If anyone has more info that would be great (I haven’t gotten my Rivian yet and could still cancel).

I wouldn't say its ahead of Rivian. My neighbor has a Lucid and I've spent a lot of time test driving and going to showrooms for the Gravity and the Air. What I have found from my experience is that overall, when clicking around, the Lucid software feels more responsive. Rivian, in contrast, can feel a bit laggy when clicking around when the vehicle first starts up. IMO not a deal breaker, but it is noticeable. But overall, I would say the Rivian software works (YMMV). For me, I've only had to do a system reset about 4x in a little over a year of ownership. Rivian offers Youtube/Hulu/Chromecast, has Google Maps as standard now and the cameras on the newer Rivians are best in class. I'd also say Rivian software updates have come more often and are more meaningful than those in the Lucid (I peruse the Lucid forum as well to stay up to date). I personally love the Rivian software since it has more personality and color along with intuitive functionality once you get used to it. Also, I'm sure you probably know this by now, but there is no Apple Carplay/Android Auto for Rivian

 

[RMSko]

I wouldn't say its ahead of Rivian. My neighbor has a Lucid and I've spent a lot of time test driving and going to showrooms for the Gravity and the Air. What I have found from my experience is that overall, when clicking around, the Lucid software feels more responsive. Rivian, in contrast, can feel a bit laggy when clicking around when the vehicle first starts up. IMO not a deal breaker, but it is noticeable. But overall, I would say the Rivian software works (YMMV). For me, I've only had to do a system reset about 4x in a little over a year of ownership. Rivian offers Youtube/Hulu/Chromecast, has Google Maps as standard now and the cameras on the newer Rivians are best in class. I'd also say Rivian software updates have come more often and are more meaningful than those in the Lucid (I peruse the Lucid forum as well to stay up to date). I personally love the Rivian software since it has more personality and color along with intuitive functionality once you get used to it. Also, I'm sure you probably know this by now, but there is no Apple Carplay/Android Auto for Rivian

Thanks for this. The Lucid s/w is responsive for sure, but it is not customizable at all and I agree that the Rivian s/w looks nicer. I'm not sure how customizable Rivian is, but for Lucid, you can't even reorganize your audio favorites and you are not able to change the apps showing on the touch screen (when I test drove the Rivian, I was able to do that). Yep, I am aware that they don't offer CarPlay and that's a bummer, but at least it has the Google Maps, which is what I care most about.

My gut is that Lucid and Rivian are very similar in terms of tech and s/w and both are a bit behind Tesla (but the Tesla cabin is boring and I hate how the touch screen looks). Both Lucid and Rivian constantly provide s/w updates and I expect that both will be exceptional in the coming years.

I also looked at the Gravity, but I just don't love the look of it. By comparison, I love the look of the AIr - IMO it's one of the most attractive looking cars out there.

 

[Great Gatsby]

Thanks for this. The Lucid s/w is responsive for sure, but it is not customizable at all and I agree that the Rivian s/w looks nicer. I'm not sure how customizable Rivian is, but for Lucid, you can't even reorganize your audio favorites and you are not able to change the apps showing on the touch screen (when I test drove the Rivian, I was able to do that). Yep, I am aware that they don't offer CarPlay and that's a bummer, but at least it has the Google Maps, which is what I care most about.

My gut is that Lucid and Rivian are very similar in terms of tech and s/w and both are a bit behind Tesla (but the Tesla cabin is boring and I hate how the touch screen looks). Both Lucid and Rivian constantly provide s/w updates and I expect that both will be exceptional in the coming years.

I also looked at the Gravity, but I just don't love the look of it. By comparison, I love the look of the AIr - IMO it's one of the most attractive looking cars out there.

You are spot on then! Those options are certainly available on the Rivian to re-organize certain elements and only getting better with software updates. The Carplay conversation is one brought up often in the forums, but for my personal use case, I don't really need it and find myself not really caring for it on my other vehicles. Also agree with your assessment on where Rivian and Lucid are at versus Tesla. Also want to mention that the range estimates, at least for me, have been very accurate on the Rivian compared to any other EV I've driven.

The Gravity grew on me over time. I specially like it in white. The air is beautiful for sure. Had the seating position been a bit higher and had a hatchback instead of a traditional trunk, it would likely be in my garage today as well. My wife loves Lucid so her next car will likely be one. This works for me, as I do like Lucid as well but am also planning on having at least one Rivian in my garage moving forward. I'm not a full on fanboy, but I've grown really fond of the brand. I always tell people my R1S is the best car I've ever owned, and by quite a large margin.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

My car comes with the adapter included so I’m good there.

I think 2026 Rivians come with a free J-1772 to NACS AC adapter, but the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter must be bought separately. Rivian's list price for the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter is $300, which is pricey -- but then Rivian takes responsibility for how well it works and whether or not it damages your vehicle.

If you're doing trips that require hotel stays, you might only need the AC adapter for overnight charging at J-1772 charging. If you're doing long miles in a day, especially under time constraints or in remote areas, you may find the DC adapter worth paying for.

Welcome to the Rivian family, @RMSko!

 

[RMSko]

I think 2026 Rivians come with a free J-1772 to NACS AC adapter, but the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter must be bought separately. Rivian's list price for the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter is $300, which is pricey -- but then Rivian takes responsibility for how well it works and whether or not it damages your vehicle.

If you're doing trips that require hotel stays, you might only need the AC adapter for overnight charging at J-1772 charging. If you're doing long miles in a day, especially under time constraints or in remote areas, you may find the DC adapter worth paying for.

Welcome to the Rivian family, @RMSko!

99% of my charging is with my home charger and so am I right that the free charger will work for that?

 

[beatle]

99% of my charging is with my home charger and so am I right that the free charger will work for that?

Yup, if you were using an existing J1772 connector to charge the Lucid and Audi, the included J1772 >> NACS adapter is all you need for home charging.

 

[RMSko]

I have an unrelated question (sorry if this is the wrong forum). I know if I had purchased the car last month I would have gotten the $7,500 tax credit for leasing (stupid me!). Although Rivian is currently offering a $5,000 leasing credit, does anyone know whether there were any incentives offered by Rivian last month in addition to the tax credit?

I am also getting 1000 points, but am I right that they don't otherwise negotiate prices?

 

[RMSko]

I think 2026 Rivians come with a free J-1772 to NACS AC adapter, but the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter must be bought separately. Rivian's list price for the CCS-1 to NACS DC adapter is $300, which is pricey -- but then Rivian takes responsibility for how well it works and whether or not it damages your vehicle.

If you're doing trips that require hotel stays, you might only need the AC adapter for overnight charging at J-1772 charging. If you're doing long miles in a day, especially under time constraints or in remote areas, you may find the DC adapter worth paying for.

Welcome to the Rivian family, @RMSko!

I've now had my Rivian a couple of days and I can say that the s/w is well ahead of the Lucid s/w in many respects. I also haven't found it to be unresponsive at all so maybe that's been fixed with the updates.

One question: If I put the car in car wash mode and am doing an interior and exterior wash, do I need to leave my key inside the car? I reviewed the manual and it seems to imply that I don't but I just want to make sure before I do my first car wash.

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