2025 R1S TriMax Ascend -- best car I've ever owned, except for the range.

[mcjohnson]

I've been a Rivian fan for years. I finally made the decision to get one and was planning to order a dualMax R1S when I happened to find a Tri motor, Max battery, full loaded with ascend interior and only 1,200 miles on it -- locally. WOOOT!!!

I went for it and it is the best vehicle I've ever owned/driven... except.. the range.

Fit and finish is remarkable.
Acceleration and drive quality is bonkers (good).
Sound is 'meh (should be definitively better for a $110k+ car) but I knew that going in
Ascend interior and walnut dash are a work of art
Tech is simple but pretty great (coming from a Tesla, I'm pleasantly surprised and happy with it)

The biggest negative so far has been the range.

Fully charged, it should have 340mi range in regular all-purpose mode (conserve would get us to 400). Granted, I haven't charged fully, but in the few weeks I've had this truck, the range has been really quite bad. After a week of testing launch mode, I've settled into babying it. And, while it's been a little chilly here in the midwest -- I took it for a solid test drive on a recent 70 degree day. We drove it 150 miles at a 62mph average and used 65% of the battery capacity. What!?

This type of range is pretty consistent for the near month I've had the car.

Do the rest of the math on that and we would be getting approx 230-250mi on a full charge.

I'm used to EV's underperforming range estimates (hello model Y), but I'm pretty surprised by how far off this one is even in pretty ideal conditions and how I've been driving (think hyper-miling). 70 degrees, no heat/ac on, 60-65mph, using highway assist almost the time, can't really ask for any better.

Who knows, might be a very lightly used TriMax for sale pretty soon if anyone is looking :/

Sponsored

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I have the identical vehicle, and I'm getting 2.6 kWh doing 75 on the freeway in conserve. Weather makes it take a hit and AP is less efficient, but I'm not getting anywhere near what you're saying. Also if you're listening to Apple Music make sure sound check is off. It makes a substantial difference on the audio.

 

[mcjohnson]

That’s great to know, maybe I’ll schedule a service apt and see what’s happening.

Total efficiency for the first 1,500 miles was 1.6 (before I drove it).

Overall average since I’ve been driving is 1.8 (some cold weather, a lot of in-town).

My efficient on the highway, 70degrees and 62mph average was 1.9

It seems like something might be up. Really appreciate your response.

 

[ElGuano]

R1T Tri here, I seem to get between 1.8-2.5 in AP mode, and between 2.1-2.8 in Conserve. If you're looking to maximize range, Conserve is definitely the way to go.

 

[HapticWagon]

I kinda noticed my R1S getting worst after the 2025.06 update. Maybe they turned on the use of the Nvidia GPUs and they are power hungry? I’ve been getting 1.6Kwh when I used to get ~2.0Kwh with similar conditions and route.

I figured the GPU could be taking 400W easily to run?

 

[SANZC02]

That’s great to know, maybe I’ll schedule a service apt and see what’s happening.

Total efficiency for the first 1,500 miles was 1.6 (before I drove it).

Overall average since I’ve been driving is 1.8 (some cold weather, a lot of in-town).

My efficient on the highway, 70degrees and 62mph average was 1.9

It seems like something might be up. Really appreciate your response.

Short trips are going to be less efficient than longer trips once things warm up it is more efficient.

The enduro motors should be more efficient than the old Bosch motors I have in my quad. I’m in the middle of a trip usually do the posted speed limits which range between 65 and 80 on the freeways. These are the numbers for the first half of my trip. It gets me 235 on an 80% charge and 293 on a 100% charge.

 

[mudito]

That’s great to know, maybe I’ll schedule a service apt and see what’s happening.

Total efficiency for the first 1,500 miles was 1.6 (before I drove it).

Overall average since I’ve been driving is 1.8 (some cold weather, a lot of in-town).

My efficient on the highway, 70degrees and 62mph average was 1.9

It seems like something might be up. Really appreciate your response.

Sounds a bit lower for what I was able to see from other Tris (I have a Quad). I would pick a stretch of highway of about ~15 miles and do it back and forth (to cancel for elevation and wind) at 70mph in cruise. Before doing this, do a charge to 80% (ish) of battery (DC fast charge or overnight charge) to make sure that when you start you have a warm battery (specifically if lt sleeps outside)

If those ˜30 miles render in less than 2mi/kWh with a warm battery neutral elevation and (hopefully) neutral winds, then there might be something going on.

 

[mudito]

I kinda noticed my R1S getting worst after the 2025.06 update. Maybe they turned on the use of the Nvidia GPUs and they are power hungry? I’ve been getting 1.6Kwh when I used to get ~2.0Kwh with similar conditions and route.

I figured the GPU could be taking 400W easily to run?

Not sure what they've turned on or not, but I'm sure the onboard GPUs aren't consuming 400w. They're using automotive power-efficient versions of custom chips (think like laptop GPUs that are very efficient and fast while consuming ~140w top).

 

[Golfer04]

I have that same set up on in the truck. If you believe RJ (hmmm ??) there is no reason not to drive mostly in conserve. It won't wear uneven on your tires because all motors engage when you take off from a stop or accelerate. I had two QM prior to this Tri and, IMO, there is no comparison. I'm in Central Illinois and am getting 2.55 on 9,000 miles since November 13th. Just "eyeballing" it AP is around 2.0 mi/khw. A LOT depends on your tires and how you drive. I have the "range" wheels that I didn't want, but came on the vehicle from the shop. If you have AT tires that is your issue; especially in cold weather. They're terrible; both my QM had them (first set only).

 

[mudito]

I have that same set up on in the truck. If you believe RJ (hmmm ??) there is no reason not to drive mostly in conserve. It won't wear uneven on your tires because all motors engage when you take off from a stop or accelerate. I had two QM prior to this Tri and, IMO, there is no comparison. I'm in Central Illinois and am getting 2.55 on 9,000 miles since November 13th. Just "eyeballing" it AP is around 2.0 mi/khw. A LOT depends on your tires and how you drive. I have the "range" wheels that I didn't want, but came on the vehicle from the shop. If you have AT tires that is your issue; especially in cold weather. They're terrible; both my QM had them (first set only).

THIS!
Forgot about wheels @mcjohnson what wheels do you have installed?

--> Check this video where José talks about the difference between his original 22" range wheels versus the All-Terrain he installed.

 

[mcjohnson]

THIS!
Forgot about wheels @mcjohnson what wheels do you have installed?

--> Check this video where José talks about the difference between his original 22" range wheels versus the All-Terrain he installed.

Thanks for checking!

I was going to order it with the range wheels, but I’ve got the 22” dark with the Pirelli Scorpion road tires on it. No AT’s here (although they do look awesome ?).

Based on what I’ve read, the roads and ranges shouldn’t be too far off.

 

[mcjohnson]

Sounds a bit lower for what I was able to see from other Tris (I have a Quad). I would pick a stretch of highway of about ~15 miles and do it back and forth (to cancel for elevation and wind) at 70mph in cruise. Before doing this, do a charge to 80% (ish) of battery (DC fast charge or overnight charge) to make sure that when you start you have a warm battery (specifically if lt sleeps outside)

If those ˜30 miles render in less than 2mi/kWh with a warm battery neutral elevation and (hopefully) neutral winds, then there might be something going on.

Thanks, that was my thought too. I did a 75mi out and back on the exact same road, same conditions when I got the 1.9.

 

[strykerwsu]

Unless below 30 degrees or crazy acceleration at each light something is off. Have a Gen 1 quad S on 22’s and we get 2.4 overall with around 2.2 at 80 mph so close to 300 off 130 kWh usable on old large.

Our T is about .1 less for each.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

That’s great to know, maybe I’ll schedule a service apt and see what’s happening.

Total efficiency for the first 1,500 miles was 1.6 (before I drove it).

Overall average since I’ve been driving is 1.8 (some cold weather, a lot of in-town).

My efficient on the highway, 70degrees and 62mph average was 1.9

It seems like something might be up. Really appreciate your response.

When it’s cold out the range is much worse. I got 1.6 this morning. A cold battery with heating will really tank your range.

 

[mcjohnson]

I’ll try again when we get above 60 later this week. Will plan the same trip with a pre-heated battery, no heat, 65mph and run it in conserve mode.

thanks for all the responses.. one of the main things I’ve always liked about Rivian is the community. Have learned a ton from you all.

Sponsored