Out of Spec Kyle takes factory delivery of cheapest R1S on sale

[ACDC]

Kyle Oconnor (Out of Spec) just posted this morning --

Here it is! I bought the cheapest Rivian R1S on sale to put my money where my mouth is

I keep saying the Rivian options list gets very expensive, very quickly, and the standard car is all you need!

Over the next few months we’ll find out if their base offering is more than acceptable for most drivers.

Looking forward to this! Enjoy the delivery experience below

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[comtns]

I've been happy with my base model R1S. Adequate range, even in the mountains of Colorado, waaaay more acceleration than I need, even uphill, I prefer LFP for a few reasons (environmental, longevity, increased safety). It'll be interesting to hear Out of Spec's take as they get more experience with it.

 

[DuoRivians]

I have been on a number of camping trips, adventures off the grid, where my large pack was just enough. These trips wouldn’t have been possible with a standard pack.

 

[zefram47]

I have been on a number of camping trips, adventures off the grid, where my large pack was just enough. These trips wouldn’t have been possible with a standard pack.

Yeah, towing trips probably not either. I've had to charge to over 90% on my 131 kWh Large pack a couple times to make it to the next charger while towing before in the mountain west.

 

[CharonPDX]

Can't wait to see the charge curve testing, and especially in cold Colorado winter - wait, crap.

 

[PaythePiper]

I have been on a number of camping trips, adventures off the grid, where my large pack was just enough. These trips wouldn’t have been possible with a standard pack.

Lol I was thinking the same thing except climbing the mountain from PHx to flagstaff needs a max pack . Unless I wanted to stop twice on a 3 hr trip…

 

[CampfireWisdom]

I’d go LFP myself… stoked to see the curve, too.

 

[lefkonj]

I am sure Kyle will have several hour long videos complaining how Rivian Driver+ isn't Tesla FSD and how the charging is blah blah blah, but he loves his Rivian.

 

[DuoRivian]

Sounds like he bought it with his own money, paid the publicly available price and didn’t line jump so all is good this time.

 

[Golfer04]

Kyle said adequate for "most people". Most people don't camp in the mountains and also don't tow with their SUV. 70 percent of pickup trucks never tow anything number would be higher in SUVs.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

I am sure Kyle will have several hour long videos complaining how Rivian Driver+ isn't Tesla FSD and how the charging is blah blah blah, but he loves his Rivian.

Would you rather he lie about it or ignore it? As much as I think he really needs to learn to edit videos down to a size normal human beings will watch (especially since most are just regurgitation of the same points over and over), I do respect that he provides balanced reviews. Driver+ isn't Tesla FSD and the charging thermal regulation isn't good on most Gen 2 vehicles. The latter is one core reason he is purchasing the base with LFP battery - to test whether its charging performance is better (which he hypothesizes it is).

That's honestly the best thing about Rivian knee-capping the referral credits given to these folks - they're more likely to give balanced reviews, which I appreciate as a consumer. It provides Rivian or the community absolutely no long-term benefit to bury their head in the sand and ignore problems. That is the reason a lot of folks are critical - because Rivian has always invited it as a company and responded to suggestions for improvement. We all would have worse vehicles if it weren't for a healthy amount of criticism in the community.

 

[BigSkies]

The biggest difference is the range.

However, most families own two cars, and only use one car for long road trips. The standard pack is more than sufficient if the Rivian isn't the road trip vehicle. It's even sufficient for most any day-trip, or shorter road trip.

Many people will still want the added range of the large or max pack. But the standard pack is more than sufficient for many.

 

[waitingonanr1s]

The biggest difference is the range.

However, most families own two cars, and only use one car for long road trips. The standard pack is more than sufficient if the Rivian isn't the road trip vehicle. It's even sufficient for most any day-trip, or shorter road trip.

Many people will still want the added range of the large or max pack. But the standard pack is more than sufficient for many.

This is the reason he wants to test it. I think his argument may very well be that even for road trips (towing excluded), the standard is superior (even with an extra stop factored in to an average road trip) due to less time spent at chargers (faster speeds due to better thermal regulation). But in reality, I think you're right, that for families a larger battery is better since even if the battery is done charging in 20 min every time, how often is a family really able to execute any stop in that amount of time?

I don't have a family travelling with me, but I know by the time I walk my dogs, go to the bathroom, and/or grab some food - my max pack is usually charged past what I need at any particular stop. I rarely find myself just sitting there waiting on the car to charge, except on those very last stops of a long driving day, usually very late at night.

 

[BigSkies]

This is the reason he wants to test it. I think his argument may very well be that even for road trips (towing excluded), the standard is superior (even with an extra stop factored in to an average road trip) due to less time spent at chargers (faster speeds due to better thermal regulation). But in reality, I think you're right, that for families a larger battery is better since even if the battery is done charging in 20 min every time, how often is a family really able to execute any stop in that amount of time?

I don't have a family travelling with me, but I know by the time I walk my dogs, go to the bathroom, and/or grab some food - my max pack is usually charged past what I need at any particular stop. I rarely find myself just sitting there waiting on the car to charge, except on those very last stops of a long driving day, usually very late at night.

My large pack (original quad) is just about right for longer road trips. I've done Colorado to California a few times, as well as some back-country camping through Colorado and Utah.

Roughly 500-600 miles per day is about right for the large pack when driving with kids. I could do more, but that's about all I want to do with them including bathroom stops, a longer lunch stop, etc.

However, I'm at the upper end of road-tripping in my neighborhood. Most of my neighbors fly for anything more than about 500 miles. They commonly drive up to the mountains and ski. But most ski resorts can be done round-trip on a single charge. Some of the farther ones would need no more than a single top-up, even on the standard pack.

 

[CampfireWisdom]

The biggest difference is the range.

However, most families own two cars, and only use one car for long road trips. The standard pack is more than sufficient if the Rivian isn't the road trip vehicle. It's even sufficient for most any day-trip, or shorter road trip.

Many people will still want the added range of the large or max pack. But the standard pack is more than sufficient for many.

Personally, I’m a tall dude who needs to stop and stretch AT LEAST every couple of hours which has made me a ‘stop and smell the roses’ type of road-tripper. I love taking my time and soaking up the gems along the way. Also, I won’t be towing but maybe a RTT down the line.

So, for me, the range is fine.

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