Random Thoughts on the First Year in My R1T

[Deacon]

I met you at the Hillsborough, NC, Electrify America Charger about 10 days ago. I was in the green R1T from Missouri and you told me about your trip to the Kirksville area. I just got back to Missouri this weekend after a 2700 mile trip to the Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina area for work. Charging went fine except I had to take about a 100 mile longer route each way to avoid the lack of fast chargers in southern West Virginia.

I am also nearly at one year since my purchase, have a couple of weeks to go. I'm at just under 10,000 miles.

I agree with all your comments, my truck has been almost problem free (minor issue with automatic hood function not closing that was solved by a mobile tech visit - while waiting on them just switched to manual closing). I also would like to have Sirius XM, but it's not a big loss.

Regarding the gear tunnel shuttle, when I have items that end up in the middle of the tunnel, I just grab the rubber mat and pull it out to the point where I can access what is sitting on it. I had to do that when I got back from the trip out east as I had the gear tunnel full of soil samples in bags from various farms I had visited.

Electrify America has been pretty good, but I did run into an issue once in Lincoln Nebraska where none of the three chargers was working, which created an issue where I had to backtrack to another fast charger an hour away. I agree with you that the charging network is still a bit of a weak link that will delay some people from adopting electric vehicles, so it will be great to have access to the Tesla network and have additional stations built out through the Inflation Reduction Act in the next few days. I charged at Rivian chargers in Virginia four times on my trip and it was really a pleasant experience to pull up, plug in, and know it would work without fiddling with credit card or phone app, plus the Rivian chargers were faster than Electrify America. I was the only vehicle charging at those chargers (Waynesboro and Roanoke, VA) the four times I charged.

You commented on having a bit of anxiety about getting an expensive vehicle from a startup company, and I felt the same way. Despite a lot of enthusiasm for the company and electric vehicles, I really questioned whether I was doing the right thing in buying the truck, but am glad I did. It's definitely been the best vehicle I've ever owned (in my 60s now). My favorite features:

- Very quiet operation, such a change from loud V8 work trucks I had in the past and even my V6 and V4 Hondas and Toyota SUVs

- Smooth power, very easy to merge into traffic on interstates and get away from erratic drivers.

- Versatility in storage options between the gear tunnel, frunk, rear seat and truck bed and under bed storage.

- Comfortable seats

- Safety features and driver assist (yes, it's only on certain highways but seems to work on most interstates and makes long drives easier).

- Efficiency. Although I had some trucks through my workplace in the past, I never bought one for personal use because of the poor gas mileage even though I do a lot of landscaping and a truck would have been handy all these years. It's nice now to have an electric truck that gets the equivalent of 70 mpg.

- It's really nice to not have to stop at gas stations, I nearly always charge at home which takes about 5 seconds to plug in as I exit my truck and walk in the house.

- The lack of required maintenance is not only a cost saver but a time saver, it's really nice not to have to go sit at a dealer and wait multiple hours to get my vehicle back. The one mobile service I had in my home driveway was very convenient.

- While some have complained about the navigation, I have found it to be very good, often comparing it to Apple Maps through my phone. Sometimes they have slight route differences but almost always the same arrival time. I love the big "aerial" view of the landscape I am driving through, seeing the mountains, hills, lakes and rivers, it's almost like flying at a low level over the landscape while driving the truck (yes, I avoid staring at the screen while driving, but it's fun to glance at the image when traffic is light or stopped at a light).

- I have read the issues various people have had with their trucks, but mine has been pretty flawless for this first year, well built, reliable, and performs extremely well. My only slight complaint is the HVAC system could be better, which has been discussed at length on this forum.

- I agree that the over the air updates are nice, like getting a new model year truck, and I look forward to further improvements through the software.

- Overall, I'm very pleased with the truck and impressed with the efforts of Rivian as a startup company. RJ Scaringe is a commendable CEO and I look forward to seeing what they make next!

Good to hear from you and glad the rest of your trip went well. I appreciate reading your take on 1 year in an R1T. I think we are in the same boat! Safe travels.

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[Green Mean Machine]

Great write up for your first year. Hopefully we all can have the same first year (I only have mine for 3 months and love it!).
As for a refer/freezer I got this one and found it to be perfect for the gear tunnel and everywhere else for 2 people it has plenty of room and is fairly inexpensive.
https://www.bougerv.com/products/12v-23-quart-portable-refrigerator-for-travel