HOW DOES A NEW OWNER LEARN HIS/HER NEW R1S?

[iansriv]

You're on the right track. Spend time on this forum. It's the best source of information. Contact Rivian for a test drive and ask questions then. Your delivery person will spend time with you but you'll be so excited that you'll forget most of it. Lastly, once you have the car-fiddle with it. Cheers.

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[240vPlug]

Your video is Private.

Until this morning. It's scheduled for 9am release.

 

[NDallasR1S]

Like others have said there are a lot of You-tube videos that you can watch. By the time I got my R1S I really didn’t have a lot of questions for my delivery guide, and I was out of there in about 15 min. The forum also has a lot of details that help you prepare, from how to navigate through the purchase process to issues some people have experienced.

Rivian has done a pretty good job of making the vehicles system intuitive and you’ll pick it up quickly.

If you’ve never driven an EV the biggest difference from a user’s experience is charging. You’ll want to spend some time researching it and understanding where you’ll charge and what to expect. Download Plugshare and play around with it reading driver comments etc. Don’t let all negative sentiment worry you, as long as you understand it all you’ll be fine. I’m currently in middle of a trip we made from Dallas to Breckenridge CO and the first leg of our trip was a great experience. That said 99% of my charging is done at home with my Rivian wall charger, which I had hardwired into the electrical panel.

Single pedal driving is the biggest driving difference. You’ll pick that up within 30 min of driving and eventually love how it changes your experience from an ICE vehicle.

I have 6K+miles on mine and absolutely love it!

Good luck!

 

[R1T_Observer]

I wish Riv would do at least an annual "drive experience", similar to what Audi did with their ICE cars. I did one from Audi back in 2008, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA for the A4's latest platform w/drive select. It was pretty fun, and it was free, complete with snacks and drinks.

RJ should put something like that together for the public on a regular basis; before I left Riv, they did do something like that but only in Palo Alto and only once to my knowledge ( at 600 Hansen & El Camino Real,) and they were allowing people and their families get a ride in one and answer their questions. Personally, I think every Rivian Service location, should do that and maybe go one step further and do what Audi did, reserving a drive event at a local track, and allow the public to drive it with a Rivian a employee/driver it to get used to all the features.

Another venue, would be to rent space at a track event, to show off the R1T's terrain capabilities.

I went to a Petite-LeMan's race at Laguna Seca in 2009 or 2010, and the NorCal Audi Club reserved turn 5 for us ( btw, I bought the A5 instead of the A4 ) and behind us was a Land Rover area, but they setup a climb course for anyone that wanted to experience their SUV's capabilities on uneven dirt terrain. I was more into the race but there was a long line to get into a Land Rover.

I retired from Riv last year but I'm glad to have worked there (and I still visit my team on a monthly basis). Oddly, I've never ridden in a R1T. I never asked as I was busy as heck at the Help Desk... maybe I should ask!

 

[rockandrollray]

We will take delivery of our R1S Adventure quad motor in the February - March 2024 window. Perhaps we'll get lucky in the next sweepstakes at the end of October and move up a bit more. But either way it's now s00n.

The owners manual online is very superficial beyond telling us not to electrocute ourselves. Not a word about programming seat memory, and navigation instructions are limited to saying to touch the navigation icon on the screen, etc.

I'm pretty confident I can drive the R1S home without running into other folks or their stuff. But where do I turn to school myself thoroughly in my soon to be new R1S?

I bet the answer will be something so obvious that I'll feel dumb for not knowing, but I'd appreciate any guidance you can provide.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Upon delivery your guide will go over all of this stuff BUT here’s a quick reference that you can always have on hand or to be really familiar with the vehicle before and after pick up. Note: there have been a ton of updates since I took delivery so some of the newest features like Dashcam or controlling the state of charge from your app, or turning on the AC and vented seats from your app weren’t around when this video was made but the majority of the info you need is in this video.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

YouTube and forums have always been my go-to sources.

Here's a link to one to get you started.

 

[Eeyore]

If you lived in Oregon, I'd be more than happy to meet up with you and let you try out my R1T.

Maybe there is a Rivian club in your area? I can't imagine you, as a future owner, not being welcomed at a club meeting or event.

Check out https://driveelectricweek.org/event?eventid=3598 and us your zip code to locate an event in your area.

Plugging in to charge, no big deal. You will eventually want a 240 V outlet for charging at home, as that will fill the battery faster. A regular 120 V outlet will work, just a lot slower.

I think the biggest difference is regenerative braking.
The thing that I found the most difficult to adjust to is the gear shifter is a stalk on the steering column right where most cars put the wiper control.

 

[jimmyb2]

The thing that I found the most difficult to adjust to is the gear shifter is a stalk on the steering column right where most cars put the wiper control.

Obviously, you have not been around long enough (too young).

That is the exact location where the gear shift lever was for most cars with an automatic transmission a few (?) years back. So for someone old enough (me) that is an acceptable location for it.

Would be nice to be your age today, but unfortunately …

 

[jimmyb2]

But where do I turn to school myself thoroughly in my soon to be new R1S?

As others have said, read everything you can in this forum. There are many very knowledgeable people here.

After that drive, drive, drive; and experiment with your Rivian.

 

[Tdfster]

As for navigation, setting a destination is easy, anyone with a phone/computer should be able to figure it out. And if a road is closed, and the navigation doesn't recognize it, you just pull out your phone and start using Waze. At least thats what I do, I haven't figured out how to get the Rivian nav to re-route for closed roads yet. Maybe it will be the time you get yours. Or maybe I am just an idiot that defaults back to programs/apps I am familiar with.

Don't overthink it. You have other cars and figured them out. A guide will help you get oriented for about an hour, any more than that you probably won't remember anyway. Two things to remember, holding down the left steering wheel button can cycle between nav/tire pressures/effeciency on the dashboard. Also, on the center console screen, there is a bell you can hit for notifications.

Do you have a recommended phone mount for the Rivian or are you able to get Waze to display through the Rivian somehow? I've not heard of anyone being able to do that. We get our R1S on the 15th!

 

[PaulPlacerCounty]

Take advantage of your time with delivery person then just drive it

Thank you all for your helpful responses. Very much appreciated and got me on the right track.

 

[crashmtb]

I will provide personalized lessons for the very reasonable rate of your R1S’ weight in pies & crab sandwiches from Ikeda’s.

 

[Eeyore]

Obviously, you have not been around long enough (too young).

That is the exact location where the gear shift lever was for most cars with an automatic transmission a few (?) years back. So for someone old enough (me) that is an acceptable location for it.

Would be nice to be your age today, but unfortunately …

You must be hella old if you think 61 is young. Yes, I’ve owned cars with column mounted shifters, including an old Plymouth valiant with 3 on the tree. It’s been 22 years since I’ve owned a vehicle with a column mounted shifter, so I was out of practice using them when I got my R1T

 

[mkg3]

What a strange thread...

 

[R1T_Observer]

Obviously, you have not been around long enough (too young).

That is the exact location where the gear shift lever was for most cars with an automatic transmission a few (?) years back. So for someone old enough (me) that is an acceptable location for it.

Would be nice to be your age today, but unfortunately …

heh, same here... drove my dad's 63/64 Ford Fairlane Station wagon with steering stalk shifter too!

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