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cryogen97

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I feel that we all want to hear about the truck and how it performed, but Rebelle is much more interested in the competitors. There is some mention of cars, but other than Harry/Henry (I forget) they didn't spend a ton of time on the car details for any of them if it wasn't a sponsor. Even the '69 Bronco they were so hyped at the beginning didn't come up much.

Rebelle seems much more focused on women empowerment and "come with the vehicle in your driveway" than a true vehicle proving ground. That's 100% a good mission goal. The rest of us are drooling over our new truck and want to hear all about it. I bet we'll get a good video in a week or two giving us more teasing driving shots to tide us over until next year.

I have mixed feelings about whether the Rivian should be recognized as special being electric or that it just flat out competes with ICE vehicles without special compensation.
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RivFly

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Rivian posted this story today upon completion of the Rebelle Rally:

https://stories.rivian.com/rebelle-...d=R0083A8B44BE7B14CE79357D7AAC073BDA4E192ADDB

IT’S NOT A RACE
Long distance. Precision. Grit. This is Rebelle Rally.
Thanks for posting the link.

I think this idea about putting a relatively primitive test bed vehicle into an event like this is the right thing to do! I applaud the Rivian test team for their efforts and frankly the gals for even doing it. Its not like a previous winner of an event like this would consider a "test bed" vehicle for the next race, the damn thing could've gone up in flames! Thats a pretty rough area of the country with extreme temperature variation and the like I wrote, the terrains unforgiving. Again, well done all involved!!
 

davrow_R1T

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I think this idea about putting a relatively primitive test bed vehicle...
Test bed vehicle? This was production vehicle 1. First off the assembly line. As in, no longer a test vehicle at all. What you see is what you will get.
 

skyote

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Test bed vehicle? This was production vehicle 1. First off the assembly line. As in, no longer a test vehicle at all. What you see is what you will get.
Pilot production vehicle #1. Rivian has already commented that a lot of useful feedback has been provided that will help make the final production vehicles better.
 

skyote

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Test bed vehicle? This was production vehicle 1. First off the assembly line. As in, no longer a test vehicle at all. What you see is what you will get.
Here's a couple excerpts from the Rivian blog linked above (bold is my emphasis):

HARD-EARNED DATA
We were in the 4x4 class as a Bone Stock vehicle, competing without any modifications or upgrades. While most others had custom suspension, rock rails, shocks and aftermarket tires, our R1T was a straight production vehicle. Or more accurately put, a straight pre-production vehicle.

...

RALLY ON
Rebelle Rally provided the perfect real-world laboratory – one that just happened to be incredibly exciting to follow. The rally concluded this past Saturday and our “bone stock” pre-production R1T finished in 6th overall. More than just where we placed, this was about how much we learned. We leave the rally energized to capture the feedback to continue refining the R1T before customer deliveries start next June. And we already have our sights set on next year’s rally. :)
 

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Fenwayfan77

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Here's a couple excerpts from the Rivian blog linked above (bold is my emphasis):

HARD-EARNED DATA
We were in the 4x4 class as a Bone Stock vehicle, competing without any modifications or upgrades. While most others had custom suspension, rock rails, shocks and aftermarket tires, our R1T was a straight production vehicle. Or more accurately put, a straight pre-production vehicle.

...

RALLY ON
Rebelle Rally provided the perfect real-world laboratory – one that just happened to be incredibly exciting to follow. The rally concluded this past Saturday and our “bone stock” pre-production R1T finished in 6th overall. More than just where we placed, this was about how much we learned. We leave the rally energized to capture the feedback to continue refining the R1T before customer deliveries start next June. And we already have our sights set on next year’s rally. :)
You beat me to the punch in responding to the above. Rivian is not going to put a vehicle in the Rebelle Rally, or conduct tests elsewhere, which they are currently doing, and at the end of the day, say "Nah, we're not going to adjust, change, refine anything, especially with all the new data and feedback we received. What you see, is what you get!!!!.......Good luck!"

Now, with that said, i'm sure the vehicles are, for the most part, in the last stages of being finalized, and that making last minute changes is obviously difficult and hard sometimes, especially monetarily. However, i'm quite positive (or hopeful for that matter) that Rivian is going to make whatever adjustments and changes that are easy, necessary, or critical, that benefit both them as a company releasing a new EV to the masses, and the consumers, who won't receive a vehicle with MAJOR known issues or concerns, or ones that could have been easily corrected. Yes, I know, established manufacturers have done this in the past, on many occasions. The key difference is, they didn't need to nail those offerings in order to survive day one.
 
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Bumble1978

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I just love the picture of one of one of the drivers hugging the Truck at the end. Now whether or not they did that with each truck at the finish line especially the two times they won is hard to know.

My other takeaway is it that Rivian put what they (and we) feel is one of the best vehicles for off-road adventures in the hands of two champions. It's like having a really expensive & rediculous sharp knife, does it make you a Chef? No, but it does make cutting things much easier.

Here's an awesome tool...what are you willing and able to do with it?!? ✌❤

How many more months until July?
 

Pixelshot

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I'm not at all ashamed to say that I binge watched the entire event (and tracked the teams live on the live tracker) - all of the hours of live footage and interviews, etc. I was driven to see any bit of info about the Rivian and Team 140 - Killer Watt. It was really fun actually. I only wish that I could enter myself next year. But alas, that darn Y chromosome...

Among the tidbits that I pulled out:
- Yes, they finished 6th place overall, but actually tied points with 5th place. Not sure why they were bumped to 6th. Note that there were 36 teams, so 6th place is legit.
- They WON stage 2. Had a bad stage 3 (not sure why) which put them out of contention for the overall win, but they did keep pace with the leaders for the rest of the rally.
- There were very few mechanical issues mentioned. One commentator mentioned they had some problems with the 12v battery system at one point but didn't give much clarification.
- The driver (Emme Hall) said they had bottomed out the suspension over one whoop and it caused some damage in the wheel wells.
- The Rivian story linked above says they were "on par" with the other vehicles regarding time and range, but the team mentioned that they had to charge mid day every day for a 30 minute charge, which had to be part of their strategy. However, they did say that their concerns about range were unfounded since it did not slow them down (except for the 30 min charge, presumably).
- I understand that they were driving the 135KW model. Not sure if the 185KW model would have kept them from the mid-day charge.
- The Rebelle is very cool and this team in particular was awesome.

There is a nice interview as they crossed the finish line - the last car to finish. It starts at 2:42:00 of this link:

Rivian R1T R1S Rivian R1T to participate in the 2020 Rebelle Rally [Update: 6th Place Finish] 1603321329941
 

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- The driver (Emme Hall) said they had bottomed out the suspension over one whoop and it caused some damage in the wheel wells.
...and then...

- I understand that they were driving the 135KW model. Not sure if the 185KW model would have kept them from the mid-day charge.
I would think the 180kwh pack (note: not 185kwh) would've been more of a curse than a blessing. It would've made bottoming out more likely, and the resulting damage potentially more severe.

So I'd also wager they were in the 135kwh model.
 

Babbuino

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...and then...



I would think the 180kwh pack (note: not 185kwh) would've been more of a curse than a blessing. It would've made bottoming out more likely, and the resulting damage potentially more severe.

So I'd also wager they were in the 135kwh model.
Not just that, bit with all the soft sand, having a heavy vehicle is considerably worse
 

jagged

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