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Anyone worried?

discsinthesky

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So, my question for forum members is: go all-in and, by that, I mean no backup vehicle or, be sensible, of course you keep a backup vehicle?
All in! We recently went down to one car (fortunate to live somewhere where bikes/ebikes provide sufficient backup. Hoping to be a one car family from here onward.
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OldEVGuy

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All in! We recently went down to one car (fortunate to live somewhere where bikes/ebikes provide sufficient backup. Hoping to be a one car family from here onward.
All in also! I sold my Mini Cooper S in June, that for the most part, was just sitting in the garage depreciating. We’re both retired, so it’s fairly easy to adjust to one vehicle. Having a JuiceBox 40 installed in the garage to prepare for the R1S, and take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit before the end of the year.
 

Frank Rast

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Keeping our 2012 Mini AWD Countryman
 

catmandew

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I haven't seen this mentioned, but it's encouraging that Rivians are designed for off-roading & they appear to be testing them for it. This should create good input for design adjustments, materials choices, and identification of manufacturing processes/steps that merit extra attention & QC before production ramps up. If Rivians are going to be good for off-roading, they should be even more reliable as daily drivers.

Another point of encouragement is that Rivian has hired a significant number of personnel from Detroit area vehicle & parts companies. This is conjecture, but I'd like to think Rivian is intelligently blending old-school know how with their new technologies. That would be in contrast with Tesla, who in certain respects has arguably pushed things too far (e.g., overly automated assembly, Falcon wing doors, etc) and has paid a price for it.

With respect to the evolution of batteries, if you thought that better batteries would be available in a year, would you wait? But then, wouldn't it be reasonable to think that even better batteries would be available in another year, etc? My thinking is to decide what is good enough (esp. range & recharge time), and buy when & what satisfies your specs.

Finally, with respect to teething pains & servicing convenience, I plan to keep another vehicle on hand for the first year or so of Rivian ownership just in case the Rivian needs to spend time away for tweaks/repairs.
 

Driveout

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There seems to some trepidation regarding battery tech and future obsolescence. The existing 21/700 cells are proven and Rivian has plans for reusing the cells for other forms of storage when their automotive life cycle is past. There is a quite good (it's a bit long however) interview on YouTube between Sandy Monroe and Jagdeep Singh regarding Quantumscape's solid state battery. We will always be behind the curve with tech, the next greatest pingle is already in the pipeline as we make our purchase. I've had my second thoughts with an unproven company and their inaugural rollout halo vehicle. I have committed to my configured R1T with the knowledge that retrofitting a new battery in 8 to 10 years is likely, the powertrain is likely robust enough to go a million miles or more. 1,000,000 miles at an average of 12,000 miles a year is 83 years, that's legacy great grandchildren territory. Fit and finish is truly a wildcard, I do hate rattles and squeaks.
 

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MIG

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Hey guys
I guess just the fear of purchasing and yet a few months later a new and improved battery comes out.
New/improved/affordable battery technology is the holy grail of electric vehicledom. It will not suddenly appear without notice. A company like Quantumscape got international headlines for baby steps in solid state battery development. So if you hear anything "a few months" after purchase it will still be years ahead of real-world applications.
 

ajdelange

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You may very well expect a "quantum" leap in vehicle performance within months if not years. It may be a while before Quantum Scape's solid state batteries are in Volkswagons but there is lots of other stuff in the pipeline and about to emerge. Best known of these is probably Telsa's tabless cell which will be going into their vehicles as soon as they can crank production up. If this concerns you wait but keep in mind that with rapidly advancing technology you may wind up waiting for a long time. Remember digital cameras an personal computers.
 

Sdvictor

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All in! We recently went down to one car (fortunate to live somewhere where bikes/ebikes provide sufficient backup. Hoping to be a one car family from here onward.
Gonna do 1 year with both cars once the rivian arrives. If it's sufficient, then we may sell our other car and keep the Rivian as a sole car. Cars are an expensive money pit, especially with depreciation. adding depreciation + insurance + fuel, etc, it can get pricey
 

txtravwill

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Ah well there are going to be some good improvements probably in the next 1-2 years with Tesla new larger tabless battery - less weight, more storage density, etc. as well as pouch style improvements for other makers.

BUT a huge chemistry improvement isn't going to occur until a solid breakthrough that can scale and be sold at a reasonable price. That is ~5 years away+ or more.

I think you just need to be comfortable with the range your buying, know it will degrade some over the years, and know it is less with driving situations. But know that 99.9% of the time if your just community and not on road trips your likely fine.
 

2021R1T

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One has to wonder what the battery upgrade path might be 5 years down the road. 500+ range 10 minute charge time. We are just scratching the surface.
 

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Gshenderson

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Hey guys
I guess just the fear of purchasing and yet a few months later a new and improved battery comes out.
Future advancements will always be “right around the corner”. If you wait for one, there will be another one “right around the corner” when that one is ready. If you want latest tech, you just need to resolve yourself to playing a perpetual game of leapfrog and getting a new truck every 3-5 years. Not unlike mobile phones - just add a few zeroes.
 

ajdelange

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One has to wonder what the battery upgrade path might be 5 years down the road. 500+ range 10 minute charge time. We are just scratching the surface.
500+ mile range will be here this year if the first CTs and Lucids roll out. Five minute charging? Probably not. That's 12C. Hyundi appears to be doing 2C so typical on the road trip charge times of 30 - 40 min will be down to 15 - 20 min. That's plenty fast enough for me.
 

Autolycus

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Future advancements will always be “right around the corner”. If you wait for one, there will be another one “right around the corner” when that one is ready. If you want latest tech, you just need to resolve yourself to playing a perpetual game of leapfrog and getting a new truck every 3-5 years. Not unlike mobile phones - just add a few zeroes.
While I generally agree with the sentiment of guaranteed obsolescence, there are clear leaps forward that are sometimes worth waiting on. We're not quite on the precipice of one right now though. Solid state batteries are probably still 5-10 years away from mass production and implementation in vehicles that you can actually buy. But if we were 1 year away from that point, you'd be a fool to buy a car with current batteries
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