Purchase hesitancy

[Joe 4EV]

I was notified that it is time to start the purchase process. I have mixed feelings. I currently share a Volvo XC40 with my wife. On my long range travel for volunteer work and adventure travel I currently use my RAV4 hybrid and am very happy with it. Do a lot of camping. I'm 66yrs old and a bit intimidated with the learning curve with all the technology. I did two test drives and felt comfortable. I have the options I want but am disappointed in the range expectations and speed of charge. Mainly I'm disappointed that I have only been able to talk to a guide one time and only got two emails responded to. Is this a hint that service or future advice will be difficult? Should I just stick with my hybrid? I'm not craving the "best SUV EV". Just care about the environmental benefits of EVs.

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[MidnightRivian]

You will love camping / overlanding with the Rivian. The R1S would be perfect for your use case.

Don't worry about charging speeds or range. You will have access to the Tesla network soon and your range anxiety will disappear overnight.

Charging speeds has never been an issue for me. I tend to take longer for food breaks / restroom breaks than my car needs to complete the charge I need to make it to my destination or charger.

Life is too short to not have experienced living / driving a Rivian daily.

 

[HopefullyR1S]

How long are you traveling on a typical day?
Are you able to charge at home?

Range anxiety is real and if you typically do very long trips your hybrid may be better.

If your typical trip is under ~300 mi and you can charge at night, IMO, the R1S is the best camping vehicle made.

I cant wait until summer so we can start camping out of it. Most state parks (in WV) have free EV charging.

FWIW our guide responded promptly when I asked about our all weather mats. They were shipped the next day.

 

[Sam_L]

Hi Joe, we’ve been a Toyota family for a long time — Tundra, Tacoma, and Prius, plus borrowing a 2 year old RAV4 from the in-laws when my wife’s Prius needed an engine replacement last year. I even worked for Toyota for over two years at one point and I could be happier with our R1T. We won’t be going back to Toyota anytime soon, if ever.

The Rivian software is intuitive and gets more user friendly with each monthly update. Quality and conform is way above Toyota, and better than Lexus in my opinion. While there were several settings we adjusted on delivery day, which the delivery specialist was fantastic walking us through, I rarely go back into the settings to modify things unless I am looking to change something specific — an added feature, etc. I would worry about the tech curve and there is a great community out here to support you when/if you have questions.

I think communication varies from Guide to Guide. Mine was good before purchasing and I still email her every now and then and she gets back to me within a day or two. The service techs were great at delivery and the one time I had to take it in for some post delivery adjustments. Otherwise, service items were easy to submit through the app and Rivian reps were proactive in reaching out to confirm details multiple times ahead of our scheduled service date.

Hope that helps!

 

[dleepnw]

Based on your concerns about range and charging an EV might not be for you. EVs are not easy to road trip with either. I think a plug in hybrid might be the best bet for you and give you more peace of mind about being environmentally friendly.

All that being said the R1 is an insanely fun and capable vehicle so from that point of view it’s worth having.

 

[COdogman]

Obviously Rivian is not Toyota, so service will not be as readily available as it would be with your RAV4. Rivian is getting better at service, but they are a work in progress. Some areas are much better than others.

And “best SUV ever” is totally subjective. That being said, if you enjoy camping and are interested in owning a great vehicle from a company that is on their way up, then you would be very happy with a Rivian.

Only you know what is best for you and your family. All I can say is after 8000 miles in my R1T I am so glad I decided to go through with my purchase. It is the best vehicle I have ever owned by a large margin.

 

[Golfer04]

I was notified that it is time to start the purchase process. I have mixed feelings. I currently share a Volvo XC40 with my wife. On my long range travel for volunteer work and adventure travel I currently use my RAV4 hybrid and am very happy with it. Do a lot of camping. I'm 66yrs old and a bit intimidated with the learning curve with all the technology. I did two test drives and felt comfortable. I have the options I want but am disappointed in the range expectations and speed of charge. Mainly I'm disappointed that I have only been able to talk to a guide one time and only got two emails responded to. Is this a hint that service or future advice will be difficult? Should I just stick with my hybrid? I'm not craving the "best SUV EV". Just care about the environmental benefits of EVs.

Not sure where you are, but I've had great service in Illinois. The charging speed isn't an issue unless you travel long distances, and even then it isn't terrible. Put a charger in your garage and charge at home for daily use. On my last trip I drove almost 700 miles in a day (I'm 61 yrs) and only stopped twice. Once I ate, and once charged for maybe 20 minutes during a restroom break. Just went over 60,000 miles an my R1T and looking to trade for another one. You will love it.

 

[Tucker74]

You won’t regret it, it’s just too much fun to drive. Sure - road trips can be challenging, but charging it over night once a week isn’t hard. I’ve got a Land Cruiser in the driveway I hardly ever drive anymore…the Rivian just does everything better.

 

[kyunam]

You are only 66 yrs old! You must get one. It will give you a great new chapter in your life.

 

[RivianRunner]

Based on your concerns about range and charging an EV might not be for you. EVs are not easy to road trip with either. I think a plug in hybrid might be the best bet for you and give you more peace of mind about being environmentally friendly.

Huh? All three of our EVs are super easy and fast to road trip with. Of course, they are all Model 3s with Supercharger access. It makes all the difference in the world, my typical charge stop is between 10 and 17 minutes, the car is almost always ready to hit the road before I am (and I tend to skip every other Supercharger, sometimes hitting only every third Supercharger.

The only questions for a potential Rivian buyer is how many Superchargers (and which ones) will Tesla open up to non-Tesla? And how fast will they charge through the adapter for Superchargers?

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

The R1 vehicles get better fast charging speed that many other EVs (up to 220kw). They take slightly longer to charge because the battery is pretty big. Large pack has 131kwh usable.

If you travel a lot and it's long range travel outside the range of the vehicle then an EV may not be the best choice at present. In the end you have to be comfortable with how things will work.

What I would suggest is going to https://abetterrouteplanner.com and putting in some of the destinations you normally travel to for your work. Now bear in mind in the winter time range will be slightly lower due to cold temps. So if you do this now, it will be kind of a worst case scenario. In the spring fall and summer months you will not need to charge as much and the range will be a bit better. This will give you a good idea of what your trips will look like and how long you will need to charge typically on these trips.

It's an excellent vehicle and keep in mind that you will not have to perform maintenance on like oil changes and all that fun stuff.

 

[Joe 4EV]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll have a home charger so no worries there. I drive from Ohio to CA and FL quite often, camping in between. I think I'll probably go ahead and just plan on reading more books while charging. Retired and not in a hurry. I'll hand on to that RAV 4 with 180K. I feel more comfortable after your comments.

 

[md2023]

I was notified that it is time to start the purchase process. I have mixed feelings. I currently share a Volvo XC40 with my wife. On my long range travel for volunteer work and adventure travel I currently use my RAV4 hybrid and am very happy with it. Do a lot of camping. I'm 66yrs old and a bit intimidated with the learning curve with all the technology. I did two test drives and felt comfortable. I have the options I want but am disappointed in the range expectations and speed of charge. Mainly I'm disappointed that I have only been able to talk to a guide one time and only got two emails responded to. Is this a hint that service or future advice will be difficult? Should I just stick with my hybrid? I'm not craving the "best SUV EV". Just care about the environmental benefits of EVs.

I had similar concerns.
My range anxiety has definitely decreased. It has not gone away completely but with a little planning (download the apps including plug share) range really hasn't been an issue. And camping with the R1T has been great.
Good luck!

 

[Trandall]

@Joe 4EV, you mentioned the environmental benefits as a primary decision point. To minimize impact on the environment you would trade in your larger less efficient vehicles for other used vehicles that are the smallest, oldest, and most efficient models you can live with and try to maintain and drive them as long as possible. Alternately if you can use public transportation and ride share programs even better.

Now if you want the most powerful and capable medium-large SUV for under $100K that just happens to be an EV The R1S is your huckleberry. I love my R1T and am getting ready to receive an R1S in 2 weeks. I have driven my R1T average of 26,000 miles a year for almost 2 years now and don't find the charging to be an issue at all. I have the Rivian "charger" EVSE at home which is the source of 90% of the charging I need.

 

[COdogman]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll have a home charger so no worries there. I drive from Ohio to CA and FL quite often, camping in between. I think I'll probably go ahead and just plan on reading more books while charging. Retired and not in a hurry. I'll hand on to that RAV 4 with 180K. I feel more comfortable after your comments.

TBH I enjoy the breaks when I have to stop and charge on a trip. I’m not 21 anymore, trying to get to Vegas without spending money on a hotel. I will read, or check my work messages or stream a show while I’m waiting. Or sometimes I just sit on the tailgate and get some fresh air. And you will meet some cool people who also love EVs

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