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BATTERY PREFERENCE

What is your battery choice and why?


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ajdelange

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Sunday AM 55 votes tallied.

18 of the respondents (33.9% of the total) own or have owned BEV. Of them 11 (61.1%) want the 180 kWh battery.

Among the remaining 37 non owners 21 (56.7%) want the larger battery. This supports my hypothesis that those familiar with BEV operation would better appreciate the advantages of greater range but with these small number of responses the positions could easily reverse with a few more votes supporting @Babbuino 's thesis that the inexperienced would be motivated by range anxiety.

Of the 23 respondents wanting the smaller pack 7 (30.4%) were motivated by cost (note that not a single BEV owner fell into this bin) and the rest (7 owners, 9 non owners) felt that 300 miles was enough. Again this suggests that lack of understanding of BEV operation might lead to choice of the smaller pack but again the numbers are close enough that we cannot draw that conclusion with any certainty.
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electruck

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I spoke with Kyle from chat and he said they aren't sure they can fit 180kw pack in the R1S with 7 seats but it will be a larger pack than the 135kw. They just haven't decided on how large the pack can be. Maybe something changes and they fit in 180kw pack for 7 seats. That is what I would opt to get.
I've been thinking more about the above reported chat with Kyle and the statement on their web site:
Rivian R1T R1S BATTERY PREFERENCE range


Rivian is clearly committing to a 400+ mile variant of the R1T... but they are no longer explicitly committing to offering a variant of the R1S with 400+ miles of range (180 kWh pack) as they have advertised from the beginning (they are now only committed to offering something with greater than 300+ miles of range for both 5 and 7 seat variants)... and they aren't sure if they can fit the 180 kWh pack in the 7 seat config and may decide to offer a compromise pack bigger than 135 but smaller than 180... and they seem to have moved away from referencing packs by kWh to more of a t-shirt sizing...

...does this mean they are considering pulling the plug (pun intended) on ever offering a 400+ mile variant of the R1S? It sure seems that way to me. Any bit of extra range is welcome for the 7 seat variant but failing to deliver the promised 400+ mile range for the 5 seat variant is really going to upset a lot of people (or perhaps just me). A delay is frustrating but completely abandoning 400+ for the R1S will cost them customers. Range is king for BEVs, especially for these billed as Electric Adventure Vehicles.
 

monzarottie

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I've been thinking more about the above reported chat with Kyle and the statement on their web site:
range.png


Rivian is clearly committing to a 400+ mile variant of the R1T... but they are no longer explicitly committing to offering a variant of the R1S with 400+ miles of range (180 kWh pack) as they have advertised from the beginning (they are now only committed to offering something with greater than 300+ miles of range for both 5 and 7 seat variants)... and they aren't sure if they can fit the 180 kWh pack in the 7 seat config and may decide to offer a compromise pack bigger than 135 but smaller than 180... and they seem to have moved away from referencing packs by kWh to more of a t-shirt sizing...

...does this mean they are considering pulling the plug (pun intended) on ever offering a 400+ mile variant of the R1S? It sure seems that way to me. Any bit of extra range is welcome for the 7 seat variant but failing to deliver the promised 400+ mile range for the 5 seat variant is really going to upset a lot of people (or perhaps just me). A delay is frustrating but completely abandoning 400+ for the R1S will cost them customers. Range is king for BEVs, especially for these billed as Electric Adventure Vehicles.
This is exactly how I was reading the change in language. It does have me worried because I want a 5-seater R1S with long range pack. If it's more of a 300++ then I might consider the launch edition. The problem with that is we won't know exactly how long of range the large pack is until after production starts when we've already had to commit to a configuration. I'll be towing a small travel trailer and was really hoping for 400 mile range though. Especially since advertised range (EV or otherwise) is rarely achievable. Interesting note from my Rivian CE Rep. She said the 300+ pack is actually getting a bit more range than they originally estimated. So maybe this just means they can get really close to 400 miles with the larger pack and still keep the third row.
 

electruck

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Interesting note from my Rivian CE Rep. She said the 300+ pack is actually getting a bit more range than they originally estimated.
It's going to be interesting to see what it gets in practice, especially across the 3 different wheel/tire packages.
 
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ajdelange

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...does this mean they are considering pulling the plug (pun intended) on ever offering a 400+ mile variant of the R1S?
No. I don't think so. I think it means their current battery technology did not prove to work out quite they way they hoped it would (and I think this is the reason for the delay in the release of the 400 mi R1T too). But they will not continue to use the current battery technology forever. The various manufacturers and researchers are pushing battery technology towards higher capacity and greater robustness in smaller, lighter cells and Rivian will eventually avail themselves of this. When? Who knows.

A delay is frustrating but completely abandoning 400+ for the R1S will cost them customers.
Just the delay will cost them customers with all the other 400 mile vehicles on the way.

Range is king for BEVs, especially for these billed as Electric Adventure Vehicles.
Certainly true up to 400 miles. Beyond that? I believe the originally dangled 400+ was a tremendous marketing benefit for them. I know it's what brought me into the fold. I also think their inability to deliver it is going to cost them in credibility. IOW I'm not buying the "We did this [release the 135 kWh model first] because it's what our customers wanted" story at all.
 
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drhnbtx

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Just the delay will cost them customers with all the other 400 mile vehicles on the way.

Certainly true up to 400 miles. Beyond that? I believe the originally dangled 400+ was a tremendous marketing benefit for them. I know it's what brought me into the fold. I also think their inability to deliver it is going to cost them in credibility. IOW I'm not buying the "We did this [release the 135 kWh model first] because it's what our customers wanted" story at all.
[/QUOTE]
In my chat the rep stated that demand was one of the reasons they went with the 300+ at launch.
They are obviously restricted in what they can tell us and I assumed that was the most palatable reason they were allowed to give.
 
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ajdelange

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Yes. I suspect the guy who said they were having trouble getting the 180 pack in may be looking for a job somewhere else. But I am such a cynical old fart.
 

wilderaz

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For me common road trips with the 135 kWh battery will require two recharge stops while the 180kWh battery will require only one. I'm disappointed by the decision to delay the 180kWh launch and feel mislead. I'll now consider remaining with an ICE.
 

electruck

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No. I don't think so. I think it means their current battery technology did not prove to work out quite they way they hoped it would (and I think this is the reason for the delay in the release of the 400 mi R1T too). But they will not continue to use the current battery technology forever. The various manufacturers and researchers are pushing battery technology towards higher capacity and greater robustness in smaller, lighter cells and Rivian will eventually avail themselves of this. When? Who knows.
Ok, didn't really mean "ever". You are such a literalist. Of course technology will improve. And I will eventually have a choice of BE SUVs from other companies. But I did mean "ever" as in within the current product cycle as in I now have very low expectations that the announcement they will make after start of production about a "longer range" R1S would be for 400+ miles. They could have put the 400+ mile 5 seat variant in the configurator with production starting in 2022 just like they did the R1T and indicated that they would provide details in a future announcement about an additional range option for the 7 seat variant. But they chose not to do this. This makes me think that a 400+ option for the R1S is not "ever" going to be included in the current product cycle.

I also don't think they are having technical issues with the batteries as they have indicated the 135 pack is performing better than expected. They are also committed to offering the 180 for the R1T so I think the tech is performing at least as well as expected. They may very well have supply chain issues. And they are obviously trying to offer better than 300+ for the 7 seat R1S based on customer feedback which is good. What is not good is screwing over the customers expecting the 5 seat variant to achieve 400+ by giving them less range in order to accommodate better range for the 7 seat variant. I can certainly rationalize the business decisions involved however that doesn't change the fact that they may fail to deliver the capability that drew me to Rivian in the first place.
 
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ajdelange

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I also don't think they are having technical issues with the batteries...
I consider their inability to "fit it in" to the R1S to be a technical problem.

...as they have indicated the 135 pack is performing better than expected.
The traditions of IBM live on! If you can't fix it, feature it!
 
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electruck

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I consider their inability to "fit it in" to the R1S to be a technical problem.
There has been no indication that the 180 doesn't fit in the 2-row and it was never advertised as an option for the 3-row because they knew it wouldn't fit. Now, if they actually have made it this long without realizing the 180 won't fit in the 2-row then we may all have bigger things to be concerned about.

The traditions of IBM live on! If you can't fix it, feature it!
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jacksonhandy

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I tried searching, but has anyone asked in the chat what they expect the EPA range to be?

300+ is great and all, but is it 305, or is it 350? 350 would be fine for me, especially if the 400+ is significantly more expensive.

Mostly because I’d rather have some options, more than the big battery, given most of my long travel is in our minivan.
 

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I tried searching, but has anyone asked in the chat what they expect the EPA range to be?

300+ is great and all, but is it 305, or is it 350? 350 would be fine for me, especially if the 400+ is significantly more expensive.

Mostly because I’d rather have some options, more than the big battery, given most of my long travel is in our minivan.
Or is it 270?
 

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One thing I forgot to ask, and not sure if they've mentioned it in the past. Whats the turning radius of the R1S or T since I imagine it'll be the same.
 

drhnbtx

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One thing I forgot to ask, and not sure if they've mentioned it in the past. Whats the turning radius of the R1S or T since I imagine it'll be the same.
I don't think they have stated a number but IIRC there was mention of radius close to a smaller car. S and T are probably slightly different due to different wheel base and overall length.
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