Max Value Pack - What's yours? [LOCKED DUE TO DISRESPECTFUL / INSULTING BEHAVIOR]

[Bee]

I very recently went from a high 80s to 90s spec to this. My new philosophy is minimal from Rivian, tackle everything else in the after market. This new value approach has me dropping the Max Pack as when I think about it, this has less to do with my needs and more to do with making it a desirable truck overall. I don't think I'll make back the $10,000 in resale later since this is a wear item.

Ultimately I'm now liking the bragging point of, "I got a quad motor R1T for under $70k, all-in sans taxes and fees" for when people tell me I spent too much money on my truck. I want to see the reaction when they have their Lightning at the same price with far inferior specs

Anyone else change from max OEM to a more "work truck"-oriented approach? (cannot scare quote "work truck" hard enough at these prices). Am I missing any "must haves"?

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[sub]

My main concern would be that just like max pack, you have no idea when they will start building explores. Could be 2024 before you see your truck.

 

[Bee]

My main concern would be that just like max pack, you have no idea when they will start building explores. Could be 2024 before you see your truck.

Agreed, this is by design. I've done very well for myself in cars during the pandemic and I'll be sitting on two fully paid EVs. This is a car for recreation and home utility so I'm fine being patient and waiting for the right spec. What makes it so easy to do this is I know the car will be that much better in a year.

I'm also a huge fan of the Explorer pack's Ocean Coast interior. I find the penguin contrast of black and white to be stunning. Don't get me wrong, the Adventure interiors are great and a definitely overall improvement, this is just a color thing.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I just don't think it's worth it and that's saying something considering I have a base $40k Lightning Pro about to be delivered to me!

I also bought a sub $60,000 Model S - bare bones. For a while everyones jaw dropped that I got a $100,000 car for $60,000. But I've since added back a lot of those options on my own...and it wasn't cheaper to do so.

So here's the big thing for me: I haven't seen or driven this truck. I'm trusting everyone else in the world who is telling me this is an AMAZING truck. But, nobody in this world has said an explore package is amazing. They've been calling LE and AV's amazing.

Sure the power is good. The off roading will be the same. But to me, everyone has really been struck by the quality and luxury of the truck. The whole - anything you can do, I can do too - package of the truck works. Some of those things above, seats, audio, trim are the things you interact with the most - visually and physically. I wouldn't mess with that. If you find yourself wishing you had it, how much more would you have to spend to then get there?

 

[Bee]

I just don't think it's worth it and that's saying something considering I have a base $40k Lightning Pro about to be delivered to me!

I also bought a sub $60,000 Model S - bare bones. For a while everyones jaw dropped that I got a $100,000 car for $60,000. But I've since added back a lot of those options on my own...and it wasn't cheaper to do so.

So here's the big thing for me: I haven't seen or driven this truck. I'm trusting everyone else in the world who is telling me this is an AMAZING truck. But, nobody in this world has said an explore package is amazing. They've been calling LE and AV's amazing.

Sure the power is good. The off roading will be the same. But to me, everyone has really been struck by the quality and luxury of the truck. The whole - anything you can do, I can do too - package of the truck works. Some of those things above, seats, audio, trim are the things you interact with the most - visually and physically. I wouldn't mess with that. If you find yourself wishing you had it, how much more would you have to spend to then get there?

I hear you, I've actually owned 2 MkV GTIs new (wife made me swap in the manual when we got married) the first one was max spec and the second one was base spec. I kept the car for over 10 years and regretted the sacrifice.

That being said, there's a limit. I don't have an early enough reservation for LE so the Adventure Pack really only adds ventilated seats and an upgraded sound system. Neither of which I care all too much about for $5,000.

Passenger lumbar you say? Screw that, she needs to pay for that whole making me trade in my MT GTI, there be scores to settle

Anyways, point being, what am I sacrificing of value? Surely I can get an under-body shield done for far, far less than $1700 and any winch is going to require a new bumper anyways so who cares about the tow hooks?

The wheels are a wild card. I'm juggling all 3 sizes for various practical reasons.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

True. But things like a max battery (I don’t have one ordered) would cost far more than $10,000 to get swapped in.

On my Tesla I looked into a 100D swap and the costs were closer to $20-30k and I’d lose my warranty.

If you don’t need it, easy sacrifice. If you need it, not something you want to retrofit. You’d essentially have to trade in the car for a new R1T max pack

 

[Bee]

True. But things like a max battery (I don’t have one ordered) would cost far more than $10,000 to get swapped in.

On my Tesla I looked into a 100D swap and the costs were closer to $20-30k and I’d lose my warranty.

If you don’t need it, easy sacrifice. If you need it, not something you want to retrofit. You’d essentially have to trade in the car for a new R1T max pack

Aye but I'm not convinced the max battery is a net positive for anyone except for people who tow frequently. You're increasing your weight without adding any HP, right? I don't need it and in 13-17 years when I or someone else goes to replace the battery it will likely be 60% of the cost, right? That will definitely impact resale value or cost of ownership down the line.

312 miles on aeros is an insane amount of range as anyone who already drives an EV can attest.

The compelling thing on the max pack for me, personally, will be if they deploy an 800v architecture on the max and withhold it from the large pack.

I was leaning heavily towards the large pack before I started to think value is the bottom line. We're just guessing at the whole 800v thing at this point.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Aye but I'm not convinced the max battery is a net positive for anyone except for people who tow frequently. You're increasing your weight without adding any HP, right? I don't need it and in 13-17 years when I or someone else goes to replace the battery it will likely be 60% of the cost, right? That will definitely impact resale value or cost of ownership down the line.

312 miles on aeros is an insane amount of range as anyone who already drives an EV can attest.

The compelling thing on the max pack for me, personally, will be if they deploy an 800v architecture on the max and withhold it from the large pack.

I was leaning heavily towards the large pack before I started to think value is the bottom line. We're just guessing at the whole 800v thing at this point.

I agree, use case for a Max pack would be either towing or frequent road tripper. I’ve done multiple 10+ hour trips and towed with my Tesla (230mi range) About the only times I wish I had a bigger pack, and usually those thoughts would be - I wish I had another 30-50 miles.

So the large is fine for me but Im sure there are some folks who fall into that camp. And for those folks…don’t save a penny to spend a dollar.

 

[Bee]

I agree, use case for a Max pack would be either towing or frequent road tripper. I’ve done multiple 10+ hour trips and towed with my Tesla (230mi range) About the only times I wish I had a bigger pack, and usually those thoughts would be - I wish I had another 30-50 miles.

So the large is fine for me but Im sure there are some folks who fall into that camp. And for those folks…don’t save a penny to spend a dollar.

I don't even know that a frequent road tripper needs it. The single charge range speed only matters for the first leg if you're not charging any faster, right? If you're driving 8-10 hours a day you're annoyed when you pop out of the bathroom and stretch your legs, climb back in to see 20 minutes on the dash to 80% and the Max Pack doesn't help that (in fact, makes it worse psychologically when it says 40 minutes to 80% because of the increased capacity, heh).

I would try and talk "frequent road trippers" out of waiting for the Max Pack.

Rivian just needs to map out what our charging future is going to be already so we can plan. I'm guessing they won't do so until they're good and ready because they want to deliver cars right this very second, not get all their reservation holders to say, "ya, but we'll wait."

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I don't even know that a frequent road tripper needs it. The single charge range speed only matters for the first leg if you're not charging any faster, right? If you're driving 8-10 hours a day you're annoyed when you pop out of the bathroom and stretch your legs, climb back in to see 20 minutes on the dash to 80% and the Max Pack doesn't help that (in fact, makes it worse psychologically when it says 40 minutes to 80% because of the increased capacity, heh).

I would try and talk "frequent road trippers" out of waiting for the Max Pack.

Rivian just needs to map out what our charging future is going to be already so we can plan. I'm guessing they won't do so until they're good and ready because they want to deliver cars right this very second, not get all their reservation holders to say, "ya, but we'll wait."

It's situational and just so many variables.

Example 1: The larger initial range may allow you to skip a must stop and go to a preferred charger. The preferred charger could be closer to your route, or could have a higher charging speed. Unfortunately as of today, the infrastructure isn't there to support convenience and consistent speed.

Example 2: The larger pack also allows a wider charging curve. So you will be able to sustain higher speeds for longer. This will in theory shorten your charging stops, although this realistically only saves 2-3 minutes for the same amount of kWh charged.

Example 3: The amount of charge needed between charging stops. On a smaller pack you may need to charge to say 80-90% to get to the next stop. It takes more time to charge from 80-90% than from 20%-70%. On a larger pack you may only need to charge to say even 60% allowing you get out of the station right as your charge curve starts to stop. This aspect saves a LOT of time.

For my situation I've taken a 8 hour gas car trip. On a 230mi range Tesla, it took just about 12 hours with 3 stops.

A 33% larger battery saves 1 stop. Linear math would say it's not that much savings but it saves me roughly 1.5 hours on that trip between extra charging time, detours, etc. That's a decent amount of savings. I personally have a need to stop every 4-5 hours if I'm alone. 2-3 if I'm with family so on that trip I'd biologically wouldn't need more than 2 stops.

I do think a lot of this will get solved with time as the infrastructure gets built out. The problem with stops right now is you spend about 30-45 minutes actually charging. But a 15-20 minute detour to find the charge ends up costing 30-40 minutes round trip, and burns range while you do it.

 

[ironpig]

Never buy modern cars thinking about resale value, they are depreciating assets. Especially EVs.

 

[OverZealous]

The number one thing for me that nobody ever seems to think about are round-trip travels that don't include a charging spot at the destination.

This is usually day-trips for us that are outside the reach of our current ~260-mile Tesla range. In our area, there's a lot of places you want to go that are just over 100 miles away. By the time you drive there, drive around your destination, and drive back, you often don't have enough range (or it starts getting sketchy). And even with Tesla's network, they generally don't cover off-the-beaten-path routes. So you either: add a 15-30 minute drive the wrong direction to find a charger, charge for 30-45 minutes, then drive back home (adding over an hour to your trip); or you just don't take the trip.

This ends up being a more "serious" issue than it is for long-distance drives. If you add some time to a 10-hour drive, it's still a very long drive (worst case, it might be hard to make the same journey in one day if it's on the cusp). For day trips, it can make some destinations effectively unreachable.

We're going to be an all-electric household in about 24 hours (well, technically we are now, since we just sold our gas car). We've had some discussions in the past about taking the gas car or the EV, but even with the occasional headaches, I always prefer the electric driving experience. I just wish I had more flexibility when charging, which a larger battery provides.

 

[Bee]

Never buy modern cars thinking about resale value, they are depreciating assets. Especially EVs.

This is 100% wrong. It's "don't consider a car an investment, because it's a depreciating asset", you absolutely must consider resale value. This is single handedly the biggest cost, ask a professional ride share driver how much of their income is based on this.

It should drive every decision you make, whether or not you lease or finance. One vehicle over the other. It's the single biggest determining factor in cost per mile.

In this scenario, trucks hold their value better than other cars but that has to do with their ability to be kept on the road, right? If it's $10,000 more to have the used Rivian that's a max pack over the large pack and you don't have a need, that absolutely will impact the resale value.

It's murky, because this is not just the next model of the Ram hitting the market. That murkiness is where the speculation on this thread comes in.

So, not only 100% wrong, but in truth the exact opposite is 100% true.

 

[Bee]

The number one thing for me that nobody ever seems to think about are round-trip travels that don't include a charging spot at the destination.

This is usually day-trips for us that are outside the reach of our current ~260-mile Tesla range. In our area, there's a lot of places you want to go that are just over 100 miles away. By the time you drive there, drive around your destination, and drive back, you often don't have enough range (or it starts getting sketchy). And even with Tesla's network, they generally don't cover off-the-beaten-path routes. So you either: add a 15-30 minute drive the wrong direction to find a charger, charge for 30-45 minutes, then drive back home (adding over an hour to your trip); or you just don't take the trip.

This ends up being a more "serious" issue than it is for long-distance drives. If you add some time to a 10-hour drive, it's still a very long drive (worst case, it might be hard to make the same journey in one day if it's on the cusp). For day trips, it can make some destinations effectively unreachable.

We're going to be an all-electric household in about 24 hours (well, technically we are now, since we just sold our gas car). We've had some discussions in the past about taking the gas car or the EV, but even with the occasional headaches, I always prefer the electric driving experience. I just wish I had more flexibility when charging, which a larger battery provides.

Not a problem for me. I'm a backpacker and offroader and I go everywhere and never had a problem. Took a Kona EV down to the Outter Banks last year and just rented a truck when I got down there. Plugged L1 into the house we rented, voila no problems no drama, even in a place uniformly not prepared for EVs with the closest DCFC over an hour away.

 

[ironpig]

This is 100% wrong. It's "don't consider a car an investment, because it's a depreciating asset", you absolutely must consider resale value. This is single handedly the biggest cost, ask a professional ride share driver how much of their income is based on this.

It should drive every decision you make, whether or not you lease or finance. One vehicle over the other. It's the single biggest determining factor in cost per mile.

In this scenario, trucks hold their value better than other cars but that has to do with their ability to be kept on the road, right? If it's $10,000 more to have the used Rivian that's a max pack over the large pack and you don't have a need, that absolutely will impact the resale value.

It's murky, because this is not just the next model of the Ram hitting the market. That murkiness is where the speculation on this thread comes in.

So, not only 100% wrong, but in truth the exact opposite is 100% true.

If you are taking financial advise from Uber drivers then I can see why you have come to this conclusion. But I would suggest talking to any financial planner who will set you straight.

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