R3 looks like the perfect car for me

[Philip]

First, let me get this out in the open: I am not a “car person”. I don’t think I have ever wanted to buy any particular car before in my life. I’ve always thought of a car as a begrudgingly necessary tool. I hope to never own more than one car at a time. I don’t even like driving. And I think cars are generally bad for society.

Now that I’ve probably made everyone mad…

I am currently driving a 2018 Honda Fit. It is the best car I have owned so far, in my opinion. (Hey, stop laughing.) We are a dual income, no kids family. We both work from home, so no commutes. We bought the car new and after 6 years, it has less than 30k miles on it. We love to bicycle and we do errands around town by bicycle instead, whenever possible.

I could never understand why I would want to spend more than I need to on a car. What difference would it make? We would rather spend money on things we enjoy more. And we don’t want any more debt.

Our Fit spends almost all of its life with the back seats folded flat, which seemed like a magic trick the first time I saw it. Do you have any idea how hard is it to find a car that does that? Anyway, we almost never have any passengers other than us two, so the Fit has quite a lot of cargo space for our needs. I have fit more Ikea furniture than you would believe in this thing.

Aside from Ikea and Costco runs, the main thing the Fit does is ferry our bikes around. That’s right: we have an aftermarket trailer hitch, which I have pushed to the absolute limit on this poor little thing, in order to ferry our e-bikes all around Northern California for biking and hiking adventures (which we would love to do more of).

I have been saying for years that all I want is an electric version of the car I already have, but not only does Honda refuse to make that car, they even discontinued the ICE version of it (in the US, where I am). Insult upon injury!

We love the size of the Fit. We love how easy it is to maneuver through tight spaces and to park it. Fitting in the garage is also important, considering most of the space is taken up by bicycles. And we just don’t need or want anything bigger. My potential car spreadsheet has length as one of the primary criteria. Our Fit is 161 inches long… and it looks like the R3 is almost exactly the same!

We have absolutely no need for a larger car and I feel disgusted when I look at the grotesquerie of most EVs on the market today. (Tesla is another story, but a crazy CEO with a flagrant disregard for human safety, or even basic decency, is also a dealbreaker.)

I love the shape of the R3. The boxy frame perfectly appeals to my sense of practicality, in terms of fitting rectangular objects inside it. I absolutely despise the aggressive visual language of most modern car design, so I love that Rivian is willing to do something that’s not only different, but makes so much sense.

At this point, an OEM trailer hitch receiver is a hard requirement for us. It’s difficult enough to find a small EV, and even harder to find one that has a receiver available. My best friend is eTrailer.com, but if you put in the make and model of almost any EV on the market, they will come back with the only options rated at 5-star difficulty. That indicates to me that not only am I going to have a really hard time finding someone to install it for me (I’m not a car person, remember?), but they’re likely going to have to perform major surgery on my brand new automobile, which I don’t think I can stomach. I’d really rather just go OEM, which is why I’m happy to see this seems to be standard equipment on Rivians, unlike almost everyone else.

Sadly, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to use Rivian’s custom bike rack, although it does look cool. Our e-bikes have fenders, like almost all e-bikes do, and that style of rack does not work with fenders. Which makes it sort of a puzzling design, in my opinion, given the increasing popularity of e-bikes. But as long as the car has a standard receiver, I’ll be fine to keep using my Thule EasyFold XL.

Although not a dealbreaker, I do have a soft spot for the moonroof on my Fit (I have the EX trim). This is usually only available on higher-level trims, so I am secretly delighted that it comes standard on Rivians. (Secretly, because it breaks my “car is a tool and not to be enjoyed” rule.)

Oh, and I hate dealerships with a burning passion… (but who doesn’t?) So avoiding those is another anticipated bonus of the buying experience.

The only thing wrong with the R3, as far as I can tell, is the absence of CarPlay. I am quite happy with my CarPlay and I have never been happy with any other infotainment system. Also, I subscribe to Apple Music, and I absolutely refuse to switch.

I don’t need a fast car, and I have no interest in the R3X. I’m glad it exists for people who want it, I guess. Or rather, so that Rivian can benefit from its presumably higher margins. Just drive safely, please. You may find yourself passing me on my bike in the narrow, neglected “bike lane” that barely deserves being called that. Anyway, the standard model looks like it will do just fine for us.

In conclusion: The Rivian R3 looks like the almost-perfect Honda Fit replacement, which Honda should have made but probably was never going to. Not only that, but I have basically no other viable alternative, and it doesn't look like there will be one any time soon (at least in the US).

So… it’s going to be a long 3-4 years… but that’s okay. Hondas last forever, and ours has low mileage. We can wait, as much as I’d rather not! I just hope… y’know… that it actually happens.

Well, with nowhere else to direct my “shut up and take my money” energy, I went ahead and picked up some RIVN today. I very rarely buy individual stocks, but this one currently looks like a bargain (lol). At this point I would like to echo everyone else who has been begging Rivian to let us put down a deposit. Or at least sell me a scale model I can put on my desk or something.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my incoherent rambling. I guess I’ll be seeing you folks around!

I would love too see this R3 and R3X go into production by the end of the year. That would be Awesome!!!

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[Bee]

RJ on Munro was speaking to the buyer the OP is. He kind of dodged a question that was only half asked which is how big is this market of people who aren't normally excited by vehicles in this way?

I think the answer is it's kind of hitting on the early VW vibes. People didn't care about cars but they loved their bugs, Golfs and busses. RJ said it just capitilizes on the good feels and that's the closest thing I can fit.

It's a thing I'm not sure any US automaker has ever fully encapsulated post WWII. Various cars came close like the original Mustang or the Wrangler but that VW magic space?

That's what OP is feeling and that's what I think RJ is getting at. I think it can be quite a big market indeed. Go Rivian, go. (swear this has nothing to do with stock holdings )

 

[netantyl]

If you want to drive what my family loves to call a "shoe car" then go for it - but survivability is higher on our priority list.

There are (or there used to be) plenty of small cars with great crash ratings, but nobody pays attention to that. Consumers intuitively feel that “bigger = safer” and car companies leverage this fear as part of their marketing strategy. I guess it’s just a coincidence that bigger cars are also more profitable for them.

I reduce my risk by driving less.

 

[netantyl]

I also own a Honda Fit (2009), but it has 260,000 miles on it and it’s still going strong. I’ve had to replace the CV axles, brake pads, tires, windshield, etc. and there have been a few recalls, but overall it’s been an amazing car. I fit an entire IKEA couch in there once (disassembled) and I also hauled a mattress on the roof (after removing the antenna).

This is what I’m talking about. Fit owners know. People don’t believe us, but we know.

There was actually a Honda Fit EV, but it was a compliance car that was only sold in California. It had a range of only 82 miles! Totally useless in my opinion, especially in cold weather where your range usually drops by 40%.

I remember. It was ONLY available for lease, and after it was discontinued, Honda stopped renewing leases and took them all back, with no purchase option. It’s Honda’s own “GM EV1” story (see also, “Who Killed The Electric Car?”). I love my Fit, but it’s disgusting how all of the big car companies dragged their feet and did the literal bare minimum on EVs for so many years, until Tesla finally forced their hand. And now here we are... there's never been a worse time to buy a car in my lifetime. All I can do is wait and hope.

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

This is what I’m talking about. Fit owners know. People don’t believe us, but we know.



I remember. It was ONLY available for lease, and after it was discontinued, Honda stopped renewing leases and took them all back, with no purchase option. It’s Honda’s own “GM EV1” story (see also, “Who Killed The Electric Car?”). I love my Fit, but it’s disgusting how all of the big car companies dragged their feet and did the literal bare minimum on EVs for so many years, until Tesla finally forced their hand. And now here we are... there's never been a worse time to buy a car in my lifetime. All I can do is wait and hope.

I’ve seen ‘Who Killed the Electric Car’ and the follow-up ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’. Both great movies. They could even make another one based on all of the advancements in recent years.

Honda actually had a very early electric vehicle called the Honda EV Plus (1997). It was an experimental vehicle in Japan. It never took off. Strangely Japan is one of the countries that’s dragging its feet in regard to EVs despite Nissan’s massive head start. It’s a shame. We always think of Japan as being so technologically advanced, but they’re not (I lived there for 4 years.)

Fingers crossed that they’ll someday make an EV that the majority of the population can afford. I want something under $20K ideally or under $30K with the tax credit. Lower interest rates would be nice, too. Patience is a virtue.

 

[netantyl]

A small update: I test drove a Chevy Bolt EUV last night and it left me feeling depressed. The cruise control/lane keeping was bad compared to my Honda. These dinosaur car companies nickel and dime you on things that should be standard by now. With seats down, the vertical cargo space was at least a foot or two shorter than my Honda.

I also looked into the upcoming Volvo EX-30, which only has 31.9 cu ft cargo space compared to 52.7 in my Honda Fit. WTF.

No one makes a good small EV. I'm going to be waiting forever for the R3. Life is pain…

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

A small update: I test drove a Chevy Bolt EUV last night and it left me feeling depressed. The cruise control/lane keeping was bad compared to my Honda. These dinosaur car companies nickel and dime you on things that should be standard by now. With seats down, the vertical cargo space was at least a foot or two shorter than my Honda.

I also looked into the upcoming Volvo EX-30, which only has 31.9 cu ft cargo space compared to 52.7 in my Honda Fit. WTF.

No one makes a good small EV. I'm going to be waiting forever for the R3. Life is pain…

I own a Fit as well. I considered buying a used MINI Copper SE or even leasing one, but the trunk is so small even with the seats down. It also has a pretty abysmal range (114 miles) until the new one (200+ miles) gets built in the UK and imported to the US in 2027.

It’s a shame Honda can’t seem to make a decent EV to save their lives. First they made a compliance Honda Fit EV that only sold in California. Then they followed it up with the Honda e in Europe, which styling-wise was amazing, but again smacked of compliance with a range of around 100 miles and a giant price tag. It’s being discontinued due to poor sales.

Recently they came out with a small crossover in China and Europe called the e:Ny1. Apparently it sucks, too. And finally they’re releasing an SUV called the Prologue, which is just a GM Ultium skateboard with a Honda shell. Oh and they also made a concept car with Sony called Afeela. I feel that Honda is just a shell of its former self, especially when it comes to EVs. Hopefully they get their stuff together before it’s too late.

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