There are people with R1Ses without any issues right?

[Steve A.]

I picked up my R1S 8 days ago. After reading all the issues posted on theses forums, I had my wife go over it w/ a fine-toothed comb at pickup, since after 27+ months I knew I'd be too *giddy* to be objective. ;-) She only found 2 minor paint touch-up spots that I didn't see which were touched up by the SC technicians before I drove away.

So far, I've put 800+ miles on it the 1st 7 days, which included my daily commute (100+ miles) and a 210+ round-trip to go out to brunch w/ our daughter on Father's Day.

The only real issue I had was the 1st charge on my Rivian Home Charger which I had installed yesterday by my electrician along w/ a brand new 240V/60A line; essentially, it was only charging at 14A instead of 48A and producing only 3-4kW. I was at work when my electrician finished and left, so after my wife discovered the issue, she scoured the forums and found this apparent well known issue the resolution of which is to contact Rivian Support for them to push out a software update. After I got home from work, I waited on hold w/ Rivian Support for 30+ mins then decided to chat Rivian Support instead and got someone after ~10-15 more mins. So, I told him the issue and the probable resolution that my wife research; however, he had me go through the standard rote diagnosis steps which entailed me running up and down from my garage to my breaker box in the basement several time while taking photos of everything incl. the breaker box, and the charger after removing the cover. After more than an hour or so, he had me turn off the breakers again and they pushed out the software update which worked. All's well that ends well, but AFAIC, step #1 should be to update the software esp. if it's a known issue.

Other than that, sure, the A/C compressor noise issue is troubling but considering that I'm used to owning diesel Excursions and other V8 trucks while cranking rock music so, it's not a *show-stopper* and I'm confident Rivian will find a simple solution such as adding more insulation.

Bottom line, I'm an extremely happy camper especially after confirming the 0-60 in 3s many times and determining that my identical build TODAY costs $19K MORE than when I preordered it!

That said, YMMV. ;-)

Cheers!

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[moondog417]

Picked mine up two days ago. One window has some scratches from transport, but a: rivian will fix it eventually, b: things happen, and c: it’s barely noticeable and I probably wouldn’t worry about it were it not a free fix. Otherwise, any “problems” are really just adjustmentable settings.

 

[NMR]

4k miles and three months into owning my LE R1S. No issues beyond some minor panel alignments that were fixed at the SC.
AC vibration is noticeable but not nearly as loud as I have seen in others posts.
Much more fun than any trouble!

 

[smiesguy]

I have one of the earlier builds (VIN #4xx) and had none of the major issues, but it hasn't been perfect either. The longest standing issue which just got resolved is wind noise from the trim pieces around the front door triangle windows. The trim was replaced once back in December and it didn't solve anything. Got mobile service back out here again last week and as they were swapping the new part in it was cool to see just how much of an improvement the new assembly is compared to the one they removed from my R1S - larger tabs, more foam pads etc. An indication that they are continuously improving the vehicle and updating it based on feedback from the assembly line, service techs and of course us customers. After the fix the noise from those areas have gone down dramatically.

The ride quality has seemed a bit janky to me in all-purpose / standard height. I thought this thing would eat potholes for breakfast but it's more jarring to me than my previous ride, a Lexus RX. Not sure if there's much I can do about it but just something to adjust to. It does perform better when ride height is set to 'high'. Has been discussed on threads here before.

I have also just started experiencing the AC noise issue :/. Been going on for a couple of weeks now I think, most recently in Seattle on a 75 degree day. It isn't weedwhacker loud like the other guy's, but it's there. Will put another ticket in for that and see how it goes.

There are also some more minor panel gap/alignment issues that I wish I didn't have but I can most certainly live with because they do not affect the functionality of the vehicle.

Overall I'm satisfied and I'm sure QC has improved since those early VINs as well.

Do you know if that piece can be swapped with tinted windows? Window tint and “in spec” were the 2 excuses I got when I asked to get the wind noise fixed.

 

[Yossarian]

If you're a pre-March price payer (like me) then thank your lucky stars! Dropped off my R1S for some minor paint correction, PPF on the rocker panels and ceramic treatment. Shop was nearby a Genesis dealership. Walked over to checkout the new EV model called GV60. Right away can tell its just a fancied-up Kia EV6. Glanced at the sticker and the price was $67K. Paused for a moment to consider the R1S pricing is around $10-12K more. We are getting SO MUCH MORE vehicle in countless ways for a modest amount more money. A few hiccups that some might need fixing still make it well worth it.

The GV60 is probably more comparable to the soon-to-be-released R2 series. While we don't have pricing on the R2, other than a $40k target, it certainly won't be more than $67k you will pay for the Genesis.

The GV70 or 80 are more aligned with the R1S, and to make it apples-to-apples, you have to look at the turbo 6 model of the Genesis. That vehicle, though not as capable as the R1S, will be somewhere in the $80k-plus range, so in between the pre-March and current pricing.

At least one reviewer recognizes that the R1S is good value for money, even at the current, somewhat elevated price level. This recent (25 May) review of the R1S from the Wall Street Journal was pretty glowing and noted only a few minor complaints. As the author stated in the review: "the R1S lavishes buyers with value-added content."


Rivian R1S: A Startup EV, Now Debugged

The SUV version of Rivian’s all-electric pickup has been fine-tuned, transforming it into one of the most delightful EVs on the market, writes Dan Neil

EYE CATCHING The Rivian R1S is the SUV version of the California-based company’s electric pickup truck, the R1T. The midsize, three-row, seven-passenger SUV features four independent electric motors, one for each wheel, energized by 135-kW battery pack.

Dan Neil
May 25, 2023 4:40 pm ET

I WAS WHEELING a Rivian R1S between Riverside, Calif., and Los Angeles when I spotted some bare-shouldered hills to the south, with 4×4 trails connecting ridgelines to summits. Eureka! Often the hardest part of testing an off-road capable vehicle is finding new and unsupervised playgrounds.

I took the next exit, passed through some subdivisions and soon arrived at the gates of an off-road paradise: thousands of acres of hill country laced by steep, scary fire roads, gully-washed from the recent rains. Except there was no gate. Dude.

I paused to set up the R1S for overland operations. From the touchscreen’s Drive Mode menu, I selected Off-Road. Terrain? Rock Crawl. Ground clearance? Maximum. I watched as the pneumatic suspension stood up another 6.5 inches, lofting the R1S to an amazing 14.9 inches of ground clearance. Close enough to heaven.

In the next two hours the long-legged, googly-eyed R1S—the SUV version of Rivian’s all-electric pickup, the R1T—clawed and crawled, shimmied and scrambled to the top of my If-I-win-the-lotto contingency plans. On the road, but especially in the weeds, the Rivian is a formidable piece of machinery that joyously exploits the possibilities of EV design and kicks ass doing it.

Take, for example, packaging. The R1S is a midsize, three-row, seven-passenger SUV—never a promising phrase, in terms of comfort. Yet the cabin is open and roomy (160 cubic feet of interior volume), with loads of legroom, long seat-coupling distances, lots of storage and two easily reached, adult-size seats in the back. Like the Tesla Model X, the R1S has a frunk (11.1 cubic feet), providing dry lockable storage separate from the cabin. Still more storage lives under the rear floor panel, as well as room for an optional space-saver emergency tire. Va bene.

SKY’S THE LIMIT The roof of the R1S consists of two large pieces of glass, one over the first two rows of seats and another over the third row. Fixtures on the seat backs provide a place to hold e-devices. The Rivian has USB-C ports at every seat.

Photo: Rivian

This spaciousness comes courtesy of the electric propulsion system’s compactness. Moreover, any piston-driven power plant to rival the Rivian’s quad-motor AWD array (835 hp and 908 lb-ft, combined) would displace driver and passengers to the roof. On the street, the R1S’s at-will physicality—3.0 seconds to 60 mph—will burst the luftballon of a Mercedes-AMG GLE or BMW X5 M. Yet, in other moods and modes, this same machine can outclimb veteran alpinists like the Land Rover Defender.

Sounds nice, you say. What’s a Rivian? Founded by RJ Scaringe in 2009, the Irvine, Calif.-based startup went public in late 2021, making history as the first manufacturer to bring an EV pickup to the consumer market. It also has an order to build 100,000 EV delivery vehicles for Amazon by 2030.

The company has since struggled to ramp up production at its facility in Normal, Ill., battling the semiconductor shortage, Covid-19, quality-control issues and some ugly price hikes. At one time it had amassed a list of 114,000 preorders.

Things are better now. The company says it’s on pace to build 50,000 R1s and delivery vans this year. And compared to the early-production R1T I tested last year—which devoured its own cargo-bed tonneau with a cringe-y gnashing of actuators—the black-over-white R1S tester was damn-near flawless. The fit-and-finish was flagship quality, notably the precisely aligned gap around the charge-port cover that’s hidden in the left-front fender. That can’t have been easy.

HIDDEN FIGURES The R1S’s charging port is concealed in the front left corner, behind a motorized panel. The charge-port position allows owners to pull up to charging spots, nose-first. The drawback is that the charge-port assembly is vulnerable in front-end collisions.
Photo: Rivian

I’m detecting a pattern here. Not unlike the luxury-EV startup Lucid Motors, Rivian launched with a pile of cash and a charismatic, slightly underbaked product that required lots of software fixes and fettling—the dreaded ramp of volume production. Both companies spent the intervening months gradually debugging and upgrading cars in the field via frequent over-the-air updates. This history played out very much like Tesla’s beta testing by any other name.

What didn’t need fixing was Rivian’s product design. The brand’s cheerful, fresh-faced futurism deliberately cleaves opinion along the fault lines of the new and comfortably familiar, the culturally entrenched and the innovative. Traditional truck buyers may not love Rivian’s signature flourish, the expressive vertical headlamps with glowing LED irises. That’s OK. Rivian isn’t looking at them.

The R1S all-electric SUV joyously exploits the possibilities of EV design and kicks ass doing it.

Inside, the R1S’s chic and lean modernism—wrapped in top-notch vegan leather and brightened with grained wood and fine metallic trim—owes little to the conventions of the category. To the extent that the UX sorta-kinda looks like a Tesla, all to the good. The screen is big and bright, the UX autodidactic and instantaneous. It opens on Rivian’s world of configurable wonders, including Pet Comfort Mode, that keeps your pet climate controlled; Car Wash Mode, that represses the wipers’ urge to oscillate; Camp Mode, with a courtesy feature that mutes the locking chirps and dims the exterior lights. When the Gear Guard security system is activated, a cartoon Sasquatch in a Björn-Borg headband appears on the screen to warn away thieves.

The R1S has the usual downsides, too, including lack of range and charging convenience. I was nowhere close to getting the official 289 miles range (on 20-inch all-terrain tires). Then again I spent a lot of time galloping uphill like Teddy Roosevelt. Optimally, the R1S can recover 80% of the battery’s charge in 30 minutes or 140 miles in 20 minutes. Life is rarely optimal.

But with regard to one familiar complaint—price—the R1S meaningfully answers. From the bespoke Pirelli all-terrain tires and forged aluminum suspension links to the panoramic glass firmament they call the roof, the R1S lavishes buyers with value-added content. This thing is beyond loaded. Examples include the integrated air pump in the back, for water toys or reinflating tires. There’s a very nice flashlight in a spring-loaded compartment in the driver’s door. The cargo rails in the rear look like best-of climbing gear. There are eight USB-C ports and six cupholders. I feel…I dunno, appreciated?

After a couple hours of light trespassing, I headed back to L.A. With the R1S once again humming along effortlessly at 85 mph, I marveled that only a few minutes before, this paragon of enlightenment and urbanity was spitting boulders and seesawing through hub-deep ravines.

Now that’s range.


Rivian R1S

FAMILY FRIENDLIER The Rivian R1S is essentially identical to the R1T pickup from the front doors forward. Its wheelbase is 14.7 inches shorter than the pickup. The SUV model omits the pickup’s cross-vehicle cargo box behind the rear seats. Instead, the R1S has wider rear doors that more easily accommodate child-safety seats.

Photo: Rivian

Price, as tested: $99,350

Propulsion: Battery electric, with four AC synchronous permanent magnet motors; 135 kWh lithium battery pack; 11.5 kW onboard charger; permanent all-wheel drive.

Power/torque: 835 hp/908 lb-ft

Length/wheelbase/width/height: 200.8/121.1/81.8/77.3 inches

Curb weight: 7,000 pounds

0-60 mph: 3.0 seconds

Estimated range: 289 miles

Fuel economy: 64 mpg-e

Towing capacity: 7,000 pounds

Charging: Peak rate, 217 kW; DC fast charge, up to 80% in 30 mins

Cargo capacity: 17.6/46.7/88.2 cubic feet (behind 3rd/2nd/1st-row seats)

 

[strykerwsu]

I’m set to pick up our R1S later today and of course cruising the forums now. I know there’s some bias by reading what’s posted in the forums but I just gotta ask…there’s people out there with vehicles that have no issues right?

It’s not 100% of people with AC noises? It’s not 100% of people with suspension problems? It’s not 100% of people with unaligned steering wheel? How about the drivetrain clicking?

Lol, car forums, got to love them. I don't have an R1S but have an R1T and 4 months of worry free ownership. A lot of the noises that concern people can be attributed to no ICE noises that overshadow such noises on other cars. I've had many ICE cars with fans etc that once vehicle is turned off are extremely loud but you don't hear it with engine on.

 

[sevengroove]

Do you know if that piece can be swapped with tinted windows? Window tint and “in spec” were the 2 excuses I got when I asked to get the wind noise fixed.

Mine are tinted as well, that is certainly not an excuse. Try putting in another service ticket and explain to them that you want the newer part (assuming you are also an earlier VIN) which has been designed to address the issue.

 

[smiesguy]

Mine are tinted as well, that is certainly not an excuse. Try putting in another service ticket and explain to them that you want the newer part (assuming you are also an earlier VIN) which has been designed to address the issue.

Awesome thx! I”m in the 600’s on the build so hoping it makes a difference.

 

[sevengroove]

Awesome thx! I”m in the 600’s on the build so hoping it makes a difference.

Good luck! Feel free to quote "that internet forum guy" when you speak to them if it helps. It was a mobile service technician who in fact told me about the newer part and suggested I file a ticket to get both sides swapped. That's exactly what I put in my ticket.

 

[daeHelkcunK]

Zero issues for me too.

 

[Nix]

Would people who don't post on forums because they don't have any problems, suddenly post in response to your question that they don't have any problems?

I'm not sure you are going to get responses from the people you are looking for.

 

[Bliksem]

I've had my R1S about 3 weeks. Issues found (so far):

• Left front parking sensor unseated (pushed in) from mounting location
• Driver rear door handle retracts too far when closed - not flush with door
• Wind noise coming from glass roof on passenger side at freeway speeds
• Rocker panel gasket at passenger front door doesn't seat properly in bracket
• Gasket at top of rear hatch has detached from adhesive strip and won't reattach

These, in my opinion, are stupid little things that should have been caught during a final QC walk around before leaving the factory. Most of them, with the exception of the wind noise, I found at delivery. Unfortunately the first local service center appointment is July 26th.

This SUV rides like my Ford Super Duty, stiff and bouncy. I wish there was a way to soften the ride a bit more for around town driving. Out in the country the suspension is great, however.

 

[Count Orlok]

my 2022 R1S VIN 23xx (i.e., early build) issues:

1) a few fasteners for the under-body plastic cosmetic covers failed.

2) a guy hit it when I was only at about 2,500 miles and repair time and location were not ideal (I live way out in the boonies). Hood gap is not perfect after the repair (but this will be taken care of).

A couple design issues that have nothing to do with build quality and are just a YMMV on how you view each: roof glass gets too warm; no glove box; phone charging thingy is a POS; I miss nobs and switches.

 

[Count Orlok]

I think almost 100% of people have:

1. AC Noise. Those of us in TX or FL report this more than others Not super nice, but I can leave with this

2. Steering Wheel is 3-5 degrees to the left. I think on all cars (ok, all cars I saw). Some people mention this, some just do not care. But all cars I saw (and you can also see it on youtube - every demo of R1x will show you that the steering wheel is several degrees left when driving straight).

I am still not sure if this is by design or not. When driving on a perfectly flat surface it is 1 degree to the left. On regular roads, it is more like 3-5 degrees due to the road slope. I have an alignment appointment in 2 weeks, but I really do not think they will address it. I guess the main question here is - how is the tire wearing - If it is even - the problem is in the design of the steering wheel, which seems to be too light for this vehicle. If wearing is not even - it is alignment

3. External alignments - many small issues, but after Tesla I stopped caring about this at all.

overall - no real stopper issues with my r1t

I have none of these issues with my R1S.

 

[shap]

I have none of these issues with my R1S.

Well, I am glad for you!

AC issue is a design issue, and all cars share the same AC design for now. Your tolerance to noise, or ambient temperature is what defines if you see this or not. IMHO

As for the steering wheel - probably the same - I talked to my friend with R1T and he said there is no issue with alignment. Went to drive his car - same 1-3 degree misalignment of the steering wheel. He is not registering this at all.

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