2025 R1S Dual Max Pack - New owner initial review

[Phazor]

Coming from a 2022 Model X. Loved my Tesla, was my second X, just wanted to get back into a real SUV again - had an Escalade for 10 years before my first X.

Picked it up 1 week ago. No issues with gaps, scratches or any cosmetic complaints. Quality has been great overall. Love the interior. I find the seats much nicer and much more comfortable than the Tesla including the the lumbar support being superior. Appreciate the motorized frunk. Love the default height of the vehicle on stock 22 inch wheels and the height and ride comfort adjustability and options Not a huge fan of auto always auto-reengaging but I'm counting on them fixing that in the future.

The only significant complaint I have is the sound system, it's unacceptable as is and coming from Tesla which was best in class, it's a bit painful listening to the R1S (I have premium audio). It seems capable just poorly tuned. I'm optimistic it will improve in the future via a SW update. Not a major issue but I wish the driver profiles would synch to the music services, navigation addresses and history, etc... to be more personalized to the secondary driver versus tied to owner/primary driver. I'm sure it's coming. An minor irk is that under some AC settings theres a little vibration that can be felt on the touchscreen.

Completely different ride and feel from the Tesla but that's not bad. The Tesla feels like a low CG, stiff suspension, peppy sports car and the Rivian feels like what it is a big, heavy, comfortable, and capable SUV. That's what I wanted and it delivered. Very happy with the car. I look for excuses to drive it because I'm enjoying it so much.

Really excited for all the future SW updates and the new features and capabilities that will come with them especially Android casting support. Reminds me of the early years of SW updates with my first Tesla 7 years ago but Tesla's updates for my previous car have been few and far between in the past year other than autopilot improvements (however in their defense they are years ahead of Rivian so they don't necessarily need so many updates).

Installed:

• A locking safe in the center console - works great and was very easy to install. No drilling required.
• Gear guard storage drive
• Mirror tapped radar detector - no drilling required but courage required to pull off the cover and tap the leads.
• Accessory tray for open center storage area.
• Yellow tow hook silicon covers - for $10 why not

Pending install:

• Running boards
• Dark out emblems
• Chrome delete

I've been checking these forums daily since I ordered back in July and have learned so much from all of you sharing your stories, experiences, and advice. Just want to thank this community for your contributions, you've made all the difference in the experience.

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[Hereforthesnacks]

Congrats! But I don’t think Android Auto is coming any time soon

 

[Phazor]

Congrats! But I don’t think Android Auto is coming any time soon

You're right my mistake

 

[R1S-DMPerformance]

That's great!

My schedule delivery is for this coming Monday, Performance Dual Max.

I also have a Model X, it's a 2017. And as I have said many times to so many people, when my 2017 Model X can do more things as well as the same things but better than a 2024 F150 lightning, or 2025 Rivian, or Mercedes, BMW, VW, GM, it just shows you really how behind every single other car maker that is making EV's is lagging behind Tesla.

In any case, can you share some experiences with DC fast charging? Maybe compare it to your Model X, since it's a 2022 your Model X already charges much faster than mine. That is the biggest issue with mine, the slow charging....my sister just got a Model Y. We plugged into supercharger, she was at 20% I was at 60%. And that's 20% of 75kw and that's 60% of 100kw size batteries respectively, and we went to have dinner.
We didn't get half way dinner and her car got to 100%, I went to unplug it and park it, went back to continue dinner, we finished dinner, then she drove me to my car, I unplugged from the supercharger and I was still at 92% charging at 3kwh at a supercharger!

So, let me know how your R1S charges in comparison to the Model X.

Cheers!

 

[Phazor]

That's great!

My schedule delivery is for this coming Monday, Performance Dual Max.

I also have a Model X, it's a 2017. And as I have said many times to so many people, when my 2017 Model X can do more things as well as the same things but better than a 2024 F150 lightning, or 2025 Rivian, or Mercedes, BMW, VW, GM, it just shows you really how behind every single other car maker that is making EV's is lagging behind Tesla.

In any case, can you share some experiences with DC fast charging? Maybe compare it to your Model X, since it's a 2022 your Model X already charges much faster than mine. That is the biggest issue with mine, the slow charging....my sister just got a Model Y. We plugged into supercharger, she was at 20% I was at 60%. And that's 20% of 75kw and that's 60% of 100kw size batteries respectively, and we went to have dinner.
We didn't get half way dinner and her car got to 100%, I went to unplug it and park it, went back to continue dinner, we finished dinner, then she drove me to my car, I unplugged from the supercharger and I was still at 92% charging at 3kwh at a supercharger!

So, let me know how your R1S charges in comparison to the Model X.

Cheers!

I haven't DC fast charged yet, probably won't for a long time as I don't have any roadtrips coming up. It's a bigger battery than the X so it will take longer.

 

[NTinkle]

That's great!

My schedule delivery is for this coming Monday, Performance Dual Max.

I also have a Model X, it's a 2017. And as I have said many times to so many people, when my 2017 Model X can do more things as well as the same things but better than a 2024 F150 lightning, or 2025 Rivian, or Mercedes, BMW, VW, GM, it just shows you really how behind every single other car maker that is making EV's is lagging behind Tesla.

In any case, can you share some experiences with DC fast charging? Maybe compare it to your Model X, since it's a 2022 your Model X already charges much faster than mine. That is the biggest issue with mine, the slow charging....my sister just got a Model Y. We plugged into supercharger, she was at 20% I was at 60%. And that's 20% of 75kw and that's 60% of 100kw size batteries respectively, and we went to have dinner.
We didn't get half way dinner and her car got to 100%, I went to unplug it and park it, went back to continue dinner, we finished dinner, then she drove me to my car, I unplugged from the supercharger and I was still at 92% charging at 3kwh at a supercharger!

So, let me know how your R1S charges in comparison to the Model X.

Cheers!

I had a Model Y, so not direct comparison, but I have Supercharged my '25 R1S DM a couple of times. As said above, bigger battery, so takes longer, And while it doesn't charge 250 like the MY, it holds a higher charge deeper into the pack. If you're a 5-50% and speed to next charger for another 5-50%, the Tesla charges much faster. But to 80%? It's much closer as the R1S is still pulling pretty well, and not bad to 90%, if needed. Plus you get the longer leg on the first trip due to more range. I find it a really good travel vehicle so far, but not a lot of experience tripping yet.

 

[runningdenver]

That's great!

My schedule delivery is for this coming Monday, Performance Dual Max.

I also have a Model X, it's a 2017. And as I have said many times to so many people, when my 2017 Model X can do more things as well as the same things but better than a 2024 F150 lightning, or 2025 Rivian, or Mercedes, BMW, VW, GM, it just shows you really how behind every single other car maker that is making EV's is lagging behind Tesla.

In any case, can you share some experiences with DC fast charging? Maybe compare it to your Model X, since it's a 2022 your Model X already charges much faster than mine. That is the biggest issue with mine, the slow charging....my sister just got a Model Y. We plugged into supercharger, she was at 20% I was at 60%. And that's 20% of 75kw and that's 60% of 100kw size batteries respectively, and we went to have dinner.
We didn't get half way dinner and her car got to 100%, I went to unplug it and park it, went back to continue dinner, we finished dinner, then she drove me to my car, I unplugged from the supercharger and I was still at 92% charging at 3kwh at a supercharger!

So, let me know how your R1S charges in comparison to the Model X.

Cheers!

It's a bigger vehicle with bigger battery, so will charge slower.

I take a little issue with the '2017 Model X can do more things as well as the same things better than a 2025 Rivian'... I also came from Tesla, and yes - it's a nice car. Notice I say car - it's not a real SUV. It's fine on the road, but have you ever tried taking it off road - even on a jeep trail ? It's miserable. Range predictions suck in the tesla if you drive it over 65mph. And what about storage - I had to move an 85 inch hydrow rowing machine this spring - easy - push the button in the trunk, all rear seats folded flat, and it fit easily. I doubt it would in the X. 3 full rows of seats, plus a good size trunk, it's more practical for us with kids and dogs than the X. My quad is also far better in the snow than my tesla, and the vehicle looks ALOT better imo. The tesla is a fat beetle.

The biggest advantage of tesla was the charging network, but now we have access to that too. I bet change your tune once you're driving your R1. It'll feel bigger / more like a truck at first, but you soon get used to that. And bonus - you'll no longer have to cringe each time your douche nozzle ceo stays something dumb !

Welcome to the family !

 

[R1S-DMPerformance]

Thanks for everyone's input.

I have 182k miles on my 2017 model x, i have charged thousands of times on tesla superchargers and I have done multiple cross country trips, San Diego to New York and so on.

When I said "charging faster" I don't refer to the time, as the time is a function of the charging rate, how high can the charging rate go and then the size of the battery.

From tesla engineering team, they explained that when charging a battery it is very much like a parking lot. When it's empty you can quickly find parking, and so when a battery is empty electrons can quickly find a place to stack. As the parking lot fills up it will take you longer to find a spot to park and therefore the rate at which the parking lot continues to fill up slows, and so does the charging of a battery slows down as the battery gets closer to being full.

Well, the larger the battery actually the faster it should charge in overall time spent charging and in the power intake it can take.

So just because the rivian has a larger battery it doesn't mean that because of that it should charge slower than a model x.

Just like the GMs with 200kwh+ batteries, those puppies charger at 350kw. Far faster than any tesla.

The rivians should really charge close to 300kw if you just make the simple comparison above. But of course it is more complicated than that.


Currently my model x 2017 has a top charging rate of 178kwh, and may I remind everyone that model x 2016 to 2020 were all capped for years at 120kwh max charging rates. Once the 2021 refresh happened and the new ones could charge at 250kwh, they sent an update to open up our older vehicles and increase the max to around 180kwh.
Maybe two weeks ago, I got surprised as it was the first time I have ever seen my model x hit 192kwh, yes for 0.5 seconds albeit lol.

If a 2017 model x with no hardware modifications could have its charging rate increased by that much. I would say the rivian CEO probably didn't know what he was doing if the rivians couldn't have their charging rates increased too. Specially on the largest battery packs. Our rivians should be charging at 300kwh.

 

[Phazor]

I've read that Rivian plans to deliver an OTA update that gets the charging rate up to 300kw, is that true?

 

[R1S-DMPerformance]

I've read that Rivian plans to deliver an OTA update that gets the charging rate up to 300kw, is that true?

That would be the right thing to do.

 

[NTinkle]

I went back and compared the '25 R!S max pack to the '22 Model Y at 70% on the same supercharger - R1S pulling 138, the MY pulling 71. The Tesla drops below 100 kW at about 55%.

The Tesla is faster charging, but as I said earlier, the deeper you go, the faster the Riv catches up.

 

[NTinkle]

Coming from a 2022 Model X. Loved my Tesla, was my second X, just wanted to get back into a real SUV again - had an Escalade for 10 years before my first X.

Picked it up 1 week ago. No issues with gaps, scratches or any cosmetic complaints. Quality has been great overall. Love the interior. I find the seats much nicer and much more comfortable than the Tesla including the the lumbar support being superior. Appreciate the motorized frunk. Love the default height of the vehicle on stock 22 inch wheels and the height and ride comfort adjustability and options Not a huge fan of auto always auto-reengaging but I'm counting on them fixing that in the future.

The only significant complaint I have is the sound system, it's unacceptable as is and coming from Tesla which was best in class, it's a bit painful listening to the R1S (I have premium audio). It seems capable just poorly tuned. I'm optimistic it will improve in the future via a SW update. Not a major issue but I wish the driver profiles would synch to the music services, navigation addresses and history, etc... to be more personalized to the secondary driver versus tied to owner/primary driver. I'm sure it's coming. An minor irk is that under some AC settings theres a little vibration that can be felt on the touchscreen.

Completely different ride and feel from the Tesla but that's not bad. The Tesla feels like a low CG, stiff suspension, peppy sports car and the Rivian feels like what it is a big, heavy, comfortable, and capable SUV. That's what I wanted and it delivered. Very happy with the car. I look for excuses to drive it because I'm enjoying it so much.

Really excited for all the future SW updates and the new features and capabilities that will come with them especially Android casting support. Reminds me of the early years of SW updates with my first Tesla 7 years ago but Tesla's updates for my previous car have been few and far between in the past year other than autopilot improvements (however in their defense they are years ahead of Rivian so they don't necessarily need so many updates).

Installed:

• A locking safe in the center console - works great and was very easy to install. No drilling required.
• Gear guard storage drive
• Mirror tapped radar detector - no drilling required but courage required to pull off the cover and tap the leads.
• Accessory tray for open center storage area.
• Yellow tow hook silicon covers - for $10 why not

Pending install:

• Running boards
• Dark out emblems
• Chrome delete

I've been checking these forums daily since I ordered back in July and have learned so much from all of you sharing your stories, experiences, and advice. Just want to thank this community for your contributions, you've made all the difference in the experience.

Would you mind posting a link to the accessories? I'm having a hard time finding well reviewed accessories on the '25's, and some of the accessories don't cross over. TIA!

 

[SeaGeo]

I've read that Rivian plans to deliver an OTA update that gets the charging rate up to 300kw, is that true?

no.

 

[TomServo2112]

I've read that Rivian plans to deliver an OTA update that gets the charging rate up to 300kw, is that true?

I don't believe that's possible given the 400v architecture. It would need to draw 700amps to get to 300. What I could see (or would like to see) is potentially adjusting the charging curve to allow higher charge rates for longer.

 

[Phazor]

Would you mind posting a link to the accessories? I'm having a hard time finding well reviewed accessories on the '25's, and some of the accessories don't cross over. TIA!

Here you go:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6BDN25X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VLJB2DC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNYGSDPX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7V91LNL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082V1245P?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNLLTVQY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125769087553
https://evsportline.com/collections...ers-for-rivian-r1t-r1s?variant=43117833486476
https://a2zevshop.com/collections/charging-adapters/products/nacs-ccs1?variant=43186507579592

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