R1S: First week review [Oregon]

[dinero]

After 1.5 years, I took delivery of an R1S just before Christmas! I was supposed to get it in Feb-March 2024, but I found one in the shop that was effectively the same, except for color, though given my previous choice was limestone and I wasn't happy to see the color IRL is much different than the design studio.

First, the config:

Color: Granite
Interior: Black w/ Dark Ash Wood
Motor: Performance Dual
Battery: Max pack
Wheels: 20" Black All Terrain

Delivery
Pretty straightforward. I went with Rivian Financial and Insurance for simplicity, they had the best rates and made it easy. When I ordered from the shop, the screen said "delivery estimate pending" for about two weeks. I finally got a hold of the guide, who told me it was in California, and making it's way up north to Oregon. That took 4 days, and I got a text from the service center that evening to schedule delivery for earliest 2 days later. I picked the earliest appointment and finished the checklist ASAP. Going with Rivian for the insurance and financing made it easy. The guide was initially sick so I didn't hear too much, but was communicative once we got in touch and answered questions as I was working through the pre-delivery items.

At the service center, the car was parked out front for our inspection. We walked around and found some little items to address, but overall it was nice. There were a couple small blemishes I was told to file a ticket for, and to return to the appointment. It took a little while longer than I expected as they tried to work out the blemishes. At any rate, after about an hour I was on my way.

The good
Overall I love it. What a great ride. My previous car was a 2010 FJ Cruiser that served me very well, so this was a major upgrade in technology. I'll keep this short because there's a lot of great things and I don't want to list out everything. Some highlights:

• The driving experience is fantastic, car is zippy and handles well.
• Build quality is great, then again for 100k+ it better be.
• A lot of really well thought out features, seems like when they designed it they really put a lot of thought into it.

The bad

• Battery estimates are way off in the wrong way. I'll start navigation to a destination the map says is say 20 miles away, and the estimate miles of battery left will be something like 30 miles less. It seems to be way less than the spec sheet, as well as what the car itself says. Granted it's December in Oregon, but I feel their estimates should be smarter than that given all the tech.
• Charging speeds are also pretty slow? I've charged twice at fast chargers (350 kW, 1 Electrify America and 1 EVgo). The first got 120 kW and the second 100 kW. I had done some pre-conditioning as I approached, otherwise I'm not sure why it was so slow? My impression was that they could charge at 200 kW. Once again perhaps it was cold? Whatever the case, it took longer than I'd expect.
• Public charging experience: more personal, but I'm waiting for a L2 charger install at home, so mainly relying on public chargers which as noted above are slow. I had another experience of going to a set of chargers (3 of 4 shown as Available) but that were freshly occupied on arrival... frustrating. I wish Rivian could integrate in charger availability better, half of them show "unknown availability" and require checking the charger specific app. Getting a fast charger at home seems like a necessity, especially considering costs which are 5-10x more expensive than overnight charging at home. Still, "filling up" a big R1S max pack is still much cheaper than filling up a similarly sized SUV (e.g. Escalade).
• GPS accuracy seems a bit off, which does matter a lot. When merging onto a freeway with lots of quick turns / exits, the map can show me on the frontage road and therefore hinder my ability to get to the right exit. Half the time it shows me driving through a row of buildings parallel to the road. Not good.
• Software integrations: Alexa? Amazon Music? Bleh. I'd much rather have Carplay / Android Auto, with Google Assistant, with Google Maps. I also use YouTube Music and have to play it through my phone. Using Alexa to play music points out that I'll needed to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for some ridiculous subscription fee.
• Also, the motor tends to give a high pitched whine at a halfway hold on the accelerator. Not sure if it was one off, but I noticed it this morning.

Overall
Super happy with it, what a beautiful car. I'm sure my charging experience will be a lot better once I get an L2 charger installed at home. Biggest nits are the software choices (e.g. no Google) and the poor GPS accuracy. Already thinking about my next car being a Rivian, very impressed.

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[SolartoEV]

What have your battery percentages been at for your DC fast charging? Lower numbers would only seem to make sense if you were higher in battery percentage

 

[Redline]

Its winter, range will struggle with spec est. Also, the car will learn how you drive and adjust those ranges. Give it time.

Regarding charging, those could be issues with those sites. I've seen 200kwh with mine Rivian multiple times.

 

[dinero]

What have your battery percentages been at for your DC fast charging? Lower numbers would only seem to make sense if you were higher in battery percentage

35% first, 20% second

 

[COdogman]

Regarding the expected range, what specifically are you getting vs. what you expected? The AT 20's don't get the same range as 21s for example. You also have to factor in how you drive, the temps where you are, and the terrain.

I have found the range to be better than expected and I definitely don't drive to conserve unless it's a road trip.

 

[dinero]

Regarding the expected range, what specifically are you getting vs. what you expected? The AT 20's don't get the same range as 21s for example. You also have to factor in how you drive, the temps where you are, and the terrain.

I have found the range to be better than expected and I definitely don't drive to conserve unless it's a road trip.

It's 70-80% of the expected range. I've charged a total of 90% and gotten 186 miles of that. Aside from a few rapid takeoffs I've been fairly vanilla in all purpose mode.

 

[lefkonj]

Public charging is always somewhat of a challenge. I have hit 350kw units and got 80 or sometimes 210 or 180. The funny thing is on Saturday I plugged into one that stated it was 150 but was hitting 175 on both the charger and the R1S. You get used to it.

I live by the 25% rule, when I am at 25-30% battery I go charge, period end of story.

 

[LivingInKaos]

Howdy neighbor....
The range estimates in nav have been very conservative since about 2 update ago. Going into winter months they adjusted the algorithms based on temperature averages and such. You will find come spring they will adjust them again to compensate. It's better to tell you a lower number and you come out ahead then to have you sitting dead at the side of the road.

Charging speeds, you will find this vary. When you are under 50% you will be able to get around the 200kw mark as long as the battery is at optimal temp (70f) and as long as the charger is not derating you because of shared output. That will depend on what chargers you go to. EVgo uses a split charging, so if someone else is there on an accompanying head, you'll get lower rates.

As for the Rivian nav showing available chargers (3/4 kind of thing) they don't get active feedback from a few companies. Sadly for Oregon, it's a lot of them- EA being one. This is something that will get better with time.

Something to do if you haven't already, download the Plugshare app. It's a valuable asset when researching chargers ahead of arrival as far as functionality. You can see from other user check ins whether a charger is giving slow output a lot, broken, etc. This is highly crucial when planning a larger trip. Also the A Better Route Planner app is a good one to have for trip planning.

Just my two cents. If you haven't already looked, we have a Portland Rivian Club which can be found here, Facebook and Rivian Stories at the moment. Have a website in progress.

 

[dinero]

Here's an example of the range issue. From Portland to Madras is 119.5 miles. I have 282 miles of charge. I should arrive with 162.5 miles, but the trip planner says I'll arrive with 113 miles. In reality, I feel like I'd arrive with less.

I understand it's cold, there's mountains, etc, but that's a pretty big difference. It's like this for shorter fairly flat trips too. WTF?

Also just noticed a bug, it should give the arrival time in Madras (~7 pm) but gives the current time.

 

[ElGuapo]

Love my S, hate the nav. It’s almost always longer than Waze and takes the most circuitous and odd route. Totally oblivious to traffic, etc.

Charging - like folks said above. It also just takes a lot of energy to move 7,100lbs. Charging is never going to be as fast a Tesla for that reason alone. Efficiency.

 

[LivingInKaos]

Here's an example of the range issue. From Portland to Madras is 119.5 miles. I have 282 miles of charge. I should arrive with 162.5 miles, but the trip planner says I'll arrive with 113 miles. In reality, I feel like I'd arrive with less.

I understand it's cold, there's mountains, etc, but that's a pretty big difference. It's like this for shorter fairly flat trips too. WTF?

Also just noticed a bug, it should give the arrival time in Madras (~7 pm) but gives the current time.

Like I said, they've adjusted the algorithm. It is a bit off for most, but not all. Also, don't get caught in just subtracting the distance from your remaining. That will get you in trouble when doing any positive elevation driving. ABRP for the Madras trip estimates appx 144mi of usage for my setup which would have me arrive with 138mi left. Right now, my truck is getting worse than normal efficiency and the current estimates given by the truck are almost spot on for me (which is terrible).

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