My 1000 mile, almost 4 week review

[Scoiatael]

TLDR; Usually only drive 7k miles a year. Did 1k miles in less than 4 weeks. Great truck.

Driving: 9/10
Overall the R1T is very fun and easy to drive. Transitioning from my Model Y to the R1T was pretty easy. I started with standard regeneration and now I drive with high regeneration. Probably 80% of my driving is on the freeway, so the harder regeneration is more useful to me. I pretty much just drive in all purpose mode, except to park I switch to sport mode. Overall a very quiet ride, but I'm deducting one point because if the wind hits the driver door at a certain angle, I will hear whistling. It does not happen too often though.

Overall Fit and Finish: 8/10
I have not found any issue with paint or panel gaps. Everything inside seems to be nearly perfect as well. Only thing I'm deducting points for is the tonneau cover sounds like it will break at any moment. Luckily it still works fine though.

Sound System: No Rating
The sound system sounds better than my Model Y, but half the time I drive I have it turned off. So not really qualified to score the sound system. One thing to note is my FM radio stopped working yesterday. Haven't tried it today, but might do a soft reboot the next time I drive to see if that fixes it.

Driver+: 5/10
Rivian has a very good foundation for Driver+, but it still needs a lot of work. It seems to favor pavement color over the actual lines on the road. What I mean by this, is there are sections of the freeway where patchwork has been done, so the color of the pavement is different. There is one section where the lines are clearly visible, but the color of the pavement makes it look like the left lane is moving into the right lane. Driver+ will ignore the lines and attempt to go into the right lane. There are other instances where the lines are clearly visible, but the R1T will start to ping pong in the lane due to differences in pavement color. I've pretty much learned which parts of my route I can use Driver+ and which parts I should just keep it off. Autopilot on the Model Y never had any issues at all on this route.

On the otherhand, Driver+ has been nearly flawless for me at night. I'm assuming because its darker it doesn't notice the different shades in the pavement, and only follows the lane markers. I still have a firm grip on the steering wheel in curves, but have not had to take over at night.

DC Fast Charging: No Rating
I've gone to DC Faster Chargers twice, just to try it out, and I've had no issues. Both times it started charging within 30 seconds, and both were EA chargers. I will likely be doing a 500 mile trip, each way, later this year. I will have a better sense of how reliable it is at that point. One thing to note though is I was checking plugshare this weekend, and at a lot of the charging stops I would need to make, 2 out of the 4 chargers were down. People were obviously frustrated and there was a line of cars to charge. I'm hoping that the Kettleman City RAN chargers are up and running in a few months. That would definitely reduce some of the anxiety.

Service: 0/10
Service so far has been non existent for me. I was given the wrong keycards at delivery, and filed a service ticket that day. My guide assured me a quick turnaround, but then there was silence for 2.5 weeks. Rivian service finally called me and told me there was a plan on place to resolve the issue, but they still have not scheduled me to get it fixed. Its been almost 4 weeks now. I can't imagine how much worse it would be right now if there was not a part shortage and Rivian was pumping out vehicles at a faster rate. Luckily I've had nothing major happen yet, but if something does happen, its going to be a painfully long wait.

Some random final thoughts:

• Vampire drain is still a concern. I'm losing 3.4 kWh to 3.9 kWh a day.
• Efficiency seems pretty good. I'm usually driving between 70 and 80 mph, and its usually at 2 kW/mi or a little above.
• Parking the R1T is not that much more difficult than my Model Y. The 360 degree camera is really useful for parking spaces that are angled.
• Phone as a key is pretty inconsistent, and I take the key fob everywhere I go right now. I'll likely switch to PAAK and Keycards once my keycards are fixed.
• Would I buy the R1T at the current price? I'd have to say no. I think the truck is worth the $76k I payed, even a bit higher than that. I would not pay $91k for it, which would be the current price for the same build.
• Rivian needs more service centers, but that is one of the growing pains that will be around for a while. Tesla still hasn't managed to figure that out either, though its better than it was a few years ago, at least in my area.
• Easily the best buying process I've had. I'd even say it was better than Tesla's. Picking up the truck from the service center was seamless and the 8 steps were easy as well. Unlike Tesla, they do not low ball you on trade in values.
• 4 weeks, still waiting for my all weather floor mats.
• I do not regret choosing the R1T over the F150 Lightning.

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[mgc0216]

100% agree with pretty much everything you wrote and your scoring (although I've never heard the whistling noise on the driver's side).

 

[DJG]

One thing I'll say on the Service and parts....they should do a better job of communicating, but contrary to what a lot of other shops do, they won't even schedule an appointment or even communicate a service plan until all necessary parts are in hand. Other shops I've experienced lately won't even order parts until you bring the vehicle in, so I can appreciate they want to limit the time out of service. Also, parts shortages are likely affecting service as much as they are manufacturing. I'm nearing a month post service requests with no plan or timeline yet, but I'm also suffering from having only one SC in the entire state of TX currently. The next closest is probably Denver, so they are both a) funneling a lot of deliveries and b) servicing a lot of vehicles right now.

What something is worth is obviously very subjective, as there are certainly a lot of people that wouldn't pay $90k for any vehicle, period. However, for me, if money were no object, I personally believe the R1T is the most capable and well rounded vehicle ever made (three primary areas of off road capability, on road performance capability and comfort), and it's not even close. And for that reason, I'd pay $90k for an R1T before I'd pay $90k for a 911, Rolls Royce or Bugatti (profiteering ability aside). However, many people only care about one of those three things, and if that's the case, there are better options for all three, some for less money.

There are many details still in need of improvement (mostly related to daily life), but when you step back and take stock of what is there at a core vehicle level, it has no rival. Turn off the map, turn off the infotainment, and just drive... Admittedly, part of that is simply the clear advantages an electric powertrain offers, because if you asked me what was number two, it would probably be the Lightning (reportedly a little more comfortable, but lower scores in off road and on road dynamics).

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