anyone catch the Bloomberg review?

[thedole]

I actually appreciated the article as a Bloomberg subscriber and trader. The part comparing the base price of the F-150 to the Rivian was definitely disingenuous as mentioned above. As for the rest of the article, I feel she is writing to the average Bloomberg news subscriber. What they really care about is how this company is going to justify being valued at $80B when it IPO's. if you want to build an $80B company you need to convince work truck people to buy your product or you aren't going to move the needle. So more than anything I took this as here is why you aren't quite there when it comes to beating the dominant truck makers. I think the R1T is perfect for the adventure seeker/lifestyle/off-road/sport truck buyer. I'm super excited about getting mine, but I'm not a truck guy for sure. I drive a Tacoma aka a Tiny Truck!

Sponsored

 

[Davethadog]

I think she just doesn't understand the market. Trying to compare it to a truck like a ram 2500 tradesmen was a bit baffling. Looks like she mostly reviews high end luxury cars for the financial class, maybe not the climber tech bro/broesses.

 

[wizardwings]

This is mildly funny:

An article about the author:

https://ritholtz.com/2020/02/mib-hannah-elliot/

Elliott describes how she does a new car review: she approaches each vehicle as blank slate, reading nothing about it beforehand — she does not want the “chatter” in her head when she drives a new supercar.

...​

According to Elliott, cars should fulfill what automakers promise, and often that “statement of intent” should be clear, it should do what it is intended to do, and at a price similar to its direct competitors.

Looks like she missed Rivian's "statement of intent" which, to me, is as clear as day.

 

[sierraskier]

As far as reviews go (opinions on the truck aside) probably one of the worst, least detailed, snarky, uninspiring reviews I've ever read. It's painfully obvious that she has very little knowledge or awareness of the market in which she's operating... or the Rivian intended target market. It's like the regular Bloomberg motor enthusiast couldn't make it, so they plucked the Travel & Food editor out of her day job to go to the Rivian launch event. Fails to mention even the most basic and fundamental things, like the R1T being THE FIRST ELECTRIC TRUCK ON THE MARKET and Rivian essentially creating a new category. A glass-half-empty, snarky Debbie Downer with zero vision....I bet she's super fun to hang out with

 

[DuckTruck]

I can hear her next review now. "Oh. My. God!!! The 2022 McLaren 720S Is. The. Worst. Family. Car. Ever!!!

"Noisy. Windy. Herky Jerky!!! No back seat!!! Helloooo!?!?! Cupholders?!?!? I don't see any! What. Were. They. Thinking!?!?!" ?‍

 

[DuckTruck]

As far as reviews go (opinions on the truck aside) probably one of the worst, least detailed, snarky, uninspiring reviews I've ever read. It's painfully obvious that she has very little knowledge or awareness of the market in which she's operating... or the Rivian intended target market. It's like the regular Bloomberg motor enthusiast couldn't make it, so they plucked the Travel & Food editor out of her day job to go to the Rivian launch event. Fails to mention even the most basic and fundamental things, like the R1T being THE FIRST ELECTRIC TRUCK ON THE MARKET and Rivian essentially creating a new category. A glass-half-empty, snarky Debbie Downer with zero vision....I bet she's super fun to hang out with

That's funny you mentioned "Travel & Food editor". Perhaps they misread "Launch event in Breckinridge" as "Lunch event in Breckinridge". Imagine their horror when they drove five miles of rocky roads and then saw their hosts pull the restaurant out from the belly of a pickup! ?

 

[atlastracer]

As far as reviews go (opinions on the truck aside) probably one of the worst, least detailed, snarky, uninspiring reviews I've ever read.

I also gave up quickly on the Electrek "walk around" video. They had the camera positioned away from the truck in a single spot. And kept blocking it as they pointed out and talked about interior features. I didn't even bother to look if they posted any other ones.

 

[Pherdnut]

It felt like less of a review and more of an opinion piece.

Being critical and outlining flaws is fine (and again, literally part of her job), but... it came off as a hit piece full of opinions and self aggrandization.

Reviews are opinion pieces. I once wrote reviews for a magazine with 400k subscribers at the time. It's still very important when writing any opinion piece, that you have a coherent point of view that appears to understand the actual target of your opinion, however.

 

[TessP100D]

Yep, seemed like he was more interested in finding reasons not to like the truck than to evaluate the truck for what it is.

There was a lot of negatives in that review but I can’t criticize the reviewer as he should point out all the good and bad.

 

[RivianBowerbird]

I posted about her in the review thread, but I'll post it here. TlR? She's a narcissistic hipster with a pretentious as-hell former fashion designer vintage car collector boyfriend and she has ridden his coattails into the car scene.


The Bloomberg writer is Hannah Elliott. She's a generally obnoxious fairly knowledgeable heroin-chic gadly in the LA car scene for whom only the retro and aged is pure and "cool" - kind of like herself. She wears silver plated razor blades around her neck as jewelry and has a wardrobe of obscure band t-shirts. Her partner is Magnus Walker who is a former fashion designer and retro car collector. He makes self-serious and very pretentious videos on various older cars for Hagerty. Yes he has cool cars, but he looks like a homeless man and he hasn't updated his look in ages. I can assure you that Hannah Elliott has never done a hard day's work in her life and so her focus on trucks as work vehicles is almost as sad as it is trollish. She did point out some problems in her writeup which were perhaps concerning. But surely that will be fixed in production.

 

[Deleted member 3282]

I totally agree, reading other people’s opinion of her piece on the other thread youd think she was marching RJ off to the Electric chair. After reading it this morning, found it pretty solid, and she’s not wrong in much of her ‘challenges’. If you are not typically an early adopter, you may want wait on the commit (and allow me to move up in the cue…).

Agree. Reviewer didn’t really put what Rivian has done with the R1T in context. I think if Rivian was marketing the R1T as a “work” truck, I would agree more with the overall assessment of the truck. Or perhaps the reviewer assumes all trucks are work trucks? If so, that’s an incorrect assumption.

 

[Deleted member 3282]

I posted about her in the review thread, but I'll post it here. TlR? She's a narcissistic hipster with a pretentious as-hell former fashion designer vintage car collector boyfriend and she has ridden his coattails into the car scene.


The Bloomberg writer is Hannah Elliott. She's a generally obnoxious fairly knowledgeable heroin-chic gadly in the LA car scene for whom only the retro and aged is pure and "cool" - kind of like herself. She wears silver plated razor blades around her neck as jewelry and has a wardrobe of obscure band t-shirts. Her partner is Magnus Walker who is a former fashion designer and retro car collector. He makes self-serious and very pretentious videos on various older cars for Hagerty. Yes he has cool cars, but he looks like a homeless man and he hasn't updated his look in ages. I can assure you that Hannah Elliott has never done a hard day's work in her life and so her focus on trucks as work vehicles is almost as sad as it is trollish. She did point out some problems in her writeup which were perhaps concerning. But surely that will be fixed in production.

I’m fine with Hannah being Hannah, but whoever sent her to review the R1T didn’t do their homework nor, more importantly, their job. Bads on them in my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 3282]

I actually appreciated the article as a Bloomberg subscriber and trader. The part comparing the base price of the F-150 to the Rivian was definitely disingenuous as mentioned above. As for the rest of the article, I feel she is writing to the average Bloomberg news subscriber. What they really care about is how this company is going to justify being valued at $80B when it IPO's. if you want to build an $80B company you need to convince work truck people to buy your product or you aren't going to move the needle. So more than anything I took this as here is why you aren't quite there when it comes to beating the dominant truck makers. I think the R1T is perfect for the adventure seeker/lifestyle/off-road/sport truck buyer. I'm super excited about getting mine, but I'm not a truck guy for sure. I drive a Tacoma aka a Tiny Truck!

I kind of disagree with you. A Bloomberg reader/investor would be better served to understand the market Rivian is targeting with the R1T and it’s NOT the work F-150 market. And that the R1T is just one of many vehicles in Rivian’s pipeline. With the R1T, Rivian has a chance to show Bloomberg readers that it can target a market, build a great product, and execute with mass production and excellent service. The R1T is Rivian‘a “handshake” with consumes AND investors.

 

[Deleted member 3282]

I kind of disagree with you. A Bloomberg reader/investor would be better served to understand the market Rivian is targeting with the R1T and it’s NOT the work F-150 market. And that the R1T is just one of many vehicles in Rivian’s pipeline. With the R1T, Rivian has a chance to show Bloomberg readers that it can target a market, build a great product, and execute with mass production and excellent service. The R1T is Rivian‘a “handshake” with consumes AND investors.

And Hannah didn’t seem to grok any of that.

 

[crashmtb]

And Hannah didn’t seem to grok any of that.

It could have been a one paragraph article:
”imagine if Patagonia made a truck. I think it’s dumb becsuse it’s not a work truck. Bentley took me to better locales. My editor made me come here. I want to go home.“

Sponsored