The Max Pack Will Most Likely Be Canceled - IMO

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Those are great efficiency numbers, but I simply cannot drive that slow.

If you set the cruise for 70, that means you were going 67 (I think). In my Mustang Mach-E, I set the cruise at 80 (which is actually 79 due to the speedometer offset). When I first got the MME, I thought I would drive slower than in an ICE vehicle to conserve range, but nope. Can't do it.

I am waiting for the Rivian R1S with max pack and removable roof. If it never comes, I am very unlikely to get a Rivian. So while Rivian may decide to cancel the max pack, they will certainly be cancelling a good number of potential customer orders, including mine.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but.....they already cancelled the removable roof like 8 months ago.

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[Dark-Fx]

Those are great efficiency numbers, but I simply cannot drive that slow.

If you set the cruise for 70, that means you were going 67 (I think). In my Mustang Mach-E, I set the cruise at 80 (which is actually 79 due to the speedometer offset). When I first got the MME, I thought I would drive slower than in an ICE vehicle to conserve range, but nope. Can't do it.

I am waiting for the Rivian R1S with max pack and removable roof. If it never comes, I am very unlikely to get a Rivian. So while Rivian may decide to cancel the max pack, they will certainly be cancelling a good number of potential customer orders, including mine.

It's generally slightly quicker to drive faster anyway, assuming you get chargers that run at full speed and don't need to go above 80-90% to make it to the next charger. Even in the Hummer, which was stupidly inefficient, it was better to drive 10 mph over versus the speed limit because it recovers charge so quickly.

I'm doubtful that they will cancel the max pack because most of the manufacturing would have been designed around accommodating that difference. See the battery sleds for an example. There really isn't much added complexity at this point for them to make them.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

These posts feel like fact finding missions "how many people will be pissed if it gets cancelled"

Rivian cancelled, or at least shelved the Max Pack in the S for obvious reasons, the packaging wouldn't work unless a bunch of storage was sacrificed. The T is a different animal. It has the space within its frame to make the larger pack a seamless integration. I think, the original intention with the Max Pack was to have what I'm going to call a "Hunch-Pack" (see what I did there?) in that it would occupy the same space on a 2d plane as the 135 kWh pack, but the additional battery modules would be above. However, the locations of storage vs seating are very different between the two vehicles, and packaging would have been too dissimilar to really make the Max S worth while.

So what I'm guessing the intent is, is to keep that max pack flat, fit it between the front and rear motors of the T. But... Also have that pack continue life in the to be announced X. Which is, according to tid bits here and there, meant to be a more suburban larger style SUV. Which would likely just be the R1T 's skateboard with a different top hat.

And those are just a few reasons I see a Max Pack in my driveway in the first half of' 23

Stop the anti max pack prophecies, they keep me up at night.

 

[Jumacao]

I hope they don't cancel the Max pack, because I've been waiting for an EV truck wth 400+ miles of range since 2015. Current DD is a Model Y, so I have a good sense of how far I can get with a ~300 mile battery.

I think the bigger issue, as some have pointed out here, is strategic. Rivian is slowly turning into one of those start ups that make big promises and deliver half as much in the end. If the Max Pack is the next thing canceled, Rivian will go from a first mover regarding EV trucks and range to an also-ran. I, for one, would cancel my reservation in favor of the CT, Silverado, or potential Gen 2 Lightning if that were to happen.

 

[Blueassassin]

I know why this guy has so much wisdom.

 

[rydb]

For what's it's worth, I'm getting the R1T for towing, but I'm getting the large pack to maximize the GVWR (well I guess standard would be even better but that range is indeed too low). I'm by no means a cross country tower, and I don't think a max pack is really going to help that much for those who are cross country towers anyway, what they really need is pull through charging stalls in key locations.

Stopping every 60 to 80 miles and charging for an hour every time makes towing anything big and draggy just awful. I don’t tow my boat long distances but a few times a year and wanted so badly for it to be workable, but it just isn’t and it’s not even close to being solved with just pull through charging stalls.

 

[zipzag]

Cancellation would only happen if battery cell availability deteriorated unexpectedly after the max pack was cancelled on the R1S.

Selling the max pack to pre 3/1 preorders certainly does not impact the bottom line much. The investment in engineering the max pack is likely spent.

New companies try hard to not disappoint customers.

 

[DTown3011]

I agree with everybody thinking they’ll push it back.
Probably not too much as the Silverado will have that 400+ range and should be coming in the next year.
I would have loved a 400+ R1S (5 seater).

that’s the ticket - if they could figure out a max pack S, I’d be in, but really don’t need it for the truck.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I could definitely see them doing that as well. I would be very curious to know what percentage of those 98,000 reservations are max packs. One could definitely take their complete silence as a bad sign, but we also see here every day so many large pack reservations from 2-3 years ago who have still not heard from a guide or even gotten invited to an drive. So to me it’s still just a toss up as to who gets trucks.

A case could also be made that the best business decision for Rivian’s shareholders would be to produce as many post 3/1 orders as possible, to maximize profits. Obviously that would piss off all the pre 3/1 orders but depending on how many of each they have, they could consistently do some of each and make their books look slightly better.

I think it has more to do with where you live than anything else. What I've been noticing hanging around the forums and reading before joining is that many people from the same service center seem to get their vehicles around the same time. I think the builds are getting distributed based on the capacity the service center can handle. Rivian knows these are new trucks and might have problems, so they want to make sure they can handle the volume of repair work in any given area.

Nothing will sink their reputation faster than people sitting with dead trucks for months at a time.

 

[ads75]

These posts feel like fact finding missions "how many people will be pissed if it gets cancelled"

To me these posts seem like people wanting to post "I told you so" or "I called it!" if Rivian does cancel the max pack. It seems like every few weeks a thread pops up in this or another forum with someone thinking they have an original thought about the max pack getting cancelled.

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Rivian was the first electric truck to market, they also may want to be the first 400 mile range truck to market.

 

[manitou202]

If you frequently go on out of town trips, you will definitely appreciate the longer range. Charger congestion is a big problem, and it is getting worse very, very quickly. If you can skip a DCFC or two, your trip will be much less stressful.

I cannot imagine waiting in line to DCFC. That will make me go back to ICE. Longer range BEVs are needed for those of us who travel frequently.

Everyone would appreciate more range, but at a cost of $10k most will not pay for it. So the max pack will have a very low market share. Over an 800 mile road trip, you might save 30 minutes total.

Towing is a different story because of the distances between chargers. But again this is a small minority of buyers looking to use the R1T as a long distance towing vehicle and willing to pay the extra $10k.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Stopping every 60 to 80 miles and charging for an hour every time makes towing anything big and draggy just awful. I don’t tow my boat long distances but a few times a year and wanted so badly for it to be workable, but it just isn’t and it’s not even close to being solved with just pull through charging stalls.

Stick to 55 mph roads. Ultimately will be faster than going freeway speeds.

 

[Speedrye]

These posts feel like fact finding missions "how many people will be pissed if it gets cancelled"

I think cancelling the Explore package and changing the OC interior was more of a test run for Rivian to see how customers reacted. With that knowledge, they're likely considering what the fallout for ditching the big battery would be. RJ has already acknowledged that battery supply is, and will be, an issue for many years to come, so I can't imagine they're not weighing profit margin vs pissing off customers.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Everyone would appreciate more range, but at a cost of $10k most will not pay for it. So the max pack will have a very low market share. Over an 800 mile road trip, you might save 30 minutes total.

Towing is a different story because of the distances between chargers. But again this is a small minority of buyers looking to use the R1T as a long distance towing vehicle and willing to pay the extra $10k.

For me, it's not necessarily about the time saved, it's about the increased flexibility that the larger pack gives you. Being able to skip a charger because no-one needs to take a break right then can be a big advantage. Being obligated to stop to charge an hour before anyone is hungry equally sucks, because you're either then going to eat while driving, or have to stop again soon.

Rivian, if you are reading this thread, I hope you guys aren't looking at the data of how people are using their trucks to determine if the Max Pack is still worth making, because I know that my charging behavior on trips is going to be different if we are given the additional flexibility, and that's why I still have another R1T with the Max Pack reserved.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Getting tired of these posts where the poster speaks with authority and then backs it up with pure unoriginal speculation.

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