RIVIAN VEGAN LEATHER - Car & Driver - March 2022

[SASSquatch]

I agree with the less than ideal branding, but for different reasons than the ones you cite. I actually think that "vegan" is right on point because there is no other word that can better communicate the idea that the product is animal free. Even an uninformed audience (as it relates to vehicles or materials) will know immediately what a vegan seat material means.

To your point about associating with an inferior product, I don't think the word vegan is the problem. It's the word "leather". That's the word that creates an expectation that it is supposed to be an animal product, and it goes downhill from there. If they had stuck with vegan and changed the second word (to I dunno, luxe or fabric or some non-animal sounding material) it would have worked a lot better IMO.

I dunno about that. When I see "vegan" I immediately think "nom-nom" because I expect whatever is being described is edible.

If I had to guess, there is a non-trivial portion of the population that doesn't know exactly what vegan means. However, most people would understand "Animal Free Leather" so that makes more sense to me.

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[SANZC02]

Back in ‘05, Mini used to call theirs leatherette. Look and feel was indistinguishable from leather, had the car for 6 years and held up really well.

The seats in the R1 feel just as good, I personally have no concerns about how they will hold up.

I think the Rivian interior is nicer than Tesla’s. I always thought the interior in my Model S was only OK for a $75k truck but would not like it in a $100k+ vehicle and those performance models had the same interior.

 

[Craigins]

This is strictly false.

The R1T/R1S will have a worse environmental impact than a smaller ICE vehicle. If you're really, truly buying a vehicle for eco reasons you should be buying a smaller ICE or hybrid. There are plenty of independent studies showing how current EVs are nowhere near as eco-friendly as advertised. Especially one with a massive, massive battery.

The point of EVs being eco-friendly is that should we continue down the path of electric vehicles they eventually can be. Specifically when we move away from Lithium batteries and when electricity is green in more locations. Most locations in the US use dirty electricity so plugging your car in isn't magically more eco-friendly than gas.

As for "vegan leather" it's convenient for being both cheaper and more marketable. Whether it's truly more eco-friendly depends on a lot of factors, obviously Rivian will say that it is but unless an independent study looks at it who knows.

If you're actually interested in the numbers, and not just trolling, check out

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scienc...hicles-which-are-greener-tickets-259744521857

An online webinar discussing this exact topic.

 

[ironpig]

Of course "Vegan leather" is a dumb term. It's like saying "electric internal combustion".

But it's unfortunately the only way companies feel like they can explain these things to buyers. It's like "Beyond Meat" or "Chik 'n" - transitional phrases until former meat eaters and leather buyers get used to new terms.

Rivian should hopefully come up with a new term that customers will embrace like Alcantara, but for now it's a marketing term that seems to get the desired response. But Alcantara has been around since the 70s and I don't remember really seeing it become desired or acceptable until seeing it in Porsche or a couple other luxury brands in the last 10-15 years.

 

[ironpig]

I dunno about that. When I see "vegan" I immediately think "nom-nom" because I expect whatever is being described is edible.

If I had to guess, there is a non-trivial portion of the population that doesn't know exactly what vegan means. However, most people would understand "Animal Free Leather" so that makes more sense to me.

I think you are right that "animal free" or "cruelty free" might be better descriptor. I always associate Vegan with a diet when I first hear the word also.

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