At what point is the R1T outdated?

[Ladiver]

I love my Pixel 3. Still going strong and no complaints. Only issue is google end of lifed it, forcing users to upgrade or live without security patches. Such a waste.

As for cameras, my guess is they are taking the feed from the camera for whatever AI features they have, and then just display that on the screen. Typically the AI algorithms don't require as high resolution and thus you'd end up with a lower resolution. If this was a major issue, they could always pull the image in hd and downscale it for the AI after the split stream for display.

One interesting thing will be if auto makers follow suit and end of life vehicle updates, like the phone makers.

I love my Pixel 3 too. I did have to get a new phone, so my Pixel 3 became part of my drone controller. Works great for that!

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[SeaGeo]

To be totally honest, I'm more concerned about Rivian going under in the lifetime of the vehicle and not having many of the functions work if it's heavily reliant on their backend systems than I am about it becoming out dated.

 

[E.S.]

To be totally honest, I'm more concerned about Rivian going under in the lifetime of the vehicle and not having many of the functions work if it's heavily reliant on their backend systems than I am about it becoming out dated.

It's a legit concern. I mean, the early adopters of Tesla faced the same dilemma when the company first released their initial Roadster. No one knew what Tesla's future had in store. Rivian has it even more difficult as they not only dropped the gauntlet regarding the R1's, but that a few companies have responded back: "so are we. Bring it on!". This is yet another reason I haven't ordered my Rivian yet (first edition blues is a real thing, YO!) - I do not know what the future holds and it's been a challenging start for them. One thing is for sure, despite it all, I'm rooting for Rivian BIG time. I do want to see them succeed, but will alone does not sustain a company afloat.

 

[kizamybute']

I can't say I fully disagree with the OP on this one.

First, Rivian prototypes were revealed what, 10 or so years ago? The styling, while unique, I guess because I've been looking at images of it for years and years now, feels dated to me. It's not a bad looking truck by any means, but, certainly lacks the more aggressive styling cues found on most cars designed in the past 3 or so years.

The interface is mostly a carbon copy of Tesla's interface. The problem is, its a copy of Tesla's early interface. From reports, and hopefully software updates will improve it over time, but the interaction with the screen isn't the fastest. For those coming from ICE vehicles, probably will feel like a step forward. For those coming from recent Tesla's, it will certainly feel like a step back in time.

Tech changes on such a regular basis. Tesla finally slowed down, but for the first 8 or so years, there was a new a greatly improved version every 6-12 months. The tech on this car is based on designs from 8-10 years ago. As a new company, naturally it's taken a while for it to get to market. Other, more experienced companies, if they haven't already, will pass it by. The next 2-3 years are going to be focused just on getting vehicles built to satisfy existing orders. When will they start making significant updates? Tesla, never stopped. If Rivian follows the same path, a 2022 Rivian will have some notably outdated features within a year or two.

While the Rivian is still my first choice, this is one of the primary reasons it's not a complete slam dunk and why I'm willing to even consider other options. The F-150 feels a little more outdated than the Rivian. But, Ford has already stated a new version will be released in 2-3 years. The new version, combined with the Silverado, Hummer and any others that come to market will have notably superior features and capabilities, especially if Rivian is only focused on deliveries right now and is working on any updates yet.

Not saying it is certainly outdated, but has some aspects that aren't the most recent and has the potential to be the most outdated faster than any other products coming to market, with the exception of the F-150 Lightning

 

[the long way downunder]

I agree with your first statement, but actually strongly disagree with your 2nd. I was just in the same position, I had a 6 year old model X and I did feel it was kinda outdated, with every new software upgrade more and more "features" did not apply to me because of old outdated hardware. I just bought a new model X, still have the old one, and boy o boy it is night and day, in almost every single way. That is the issue with technology in cars now, only a few years makes a massive difference.

Many (most … all?) Tesla owners report the same reality check. I had a 2016 X P90D and a 2018 X P100DL and while the "old" '16 had "cool" features that Tesla quit to cut costs by "decontenting" (retractable decklid spoiler) and simple things like nice switches for the wing doors, cargo area cover, etc. The '18 demonstrated 3 or more years of refinement and the '22 Plaid is another significant step forward in performance and efficiency.
Rivian would do well to plan their product so as not to slowly deprecate early adopters and leave their vehicles behind. Tesla has tried to update for FSD, but otherwise, the hardware (electronics that cost maybe $200-500) are leaving these $100K "flagship" vehicles as "obsolete."

 

[electruck]

First, Rivian prototypes were revealed what, 10 or so years ago?

Ha, seems that way at this point but the reveal was at the end of November 2018 - just over 3 years ago.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Hopefully Biden's plan helps that, which is also a 5 year plan.

Personally I feel like the 150 kW minimum requirement I'm hearing about is too low. With EVs already on the market that can pull over 300 kW, and EVs coming out with such massive batteries that 150kW won't get an 80% charge in a full hour, it's definitely too low.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

The biggest areas where I feel the Truck seems outdated compared to modern EVs are:
1) Heat pump HVAC for added range. Make whatever excuses you want, but these have been around for a long time and really help in cold weather.
2) Camera quality. There is no precedent for substantially improving the image quality via software in a vehicle application so people should expect what you see to be what you get
3) No dash camera. Easy to say it will be added but not a certainty. A big omission for liability. Our Tesla's dash cam has literally saved us tens of thousands of dollars. Gear guard is a party trick and not meaningfully useful.
4) No streaming for LONG charging sessions.

All that said, I agree that the biggest issue is really the risk of the company going under. Six months ago, I was really encouraged that they seemed to actually be focused and on track to deliver a thoughtfully designed product to consumers. Since then, my confidence has substantially waned as I feel they are more concerned with juicing the IPO/stock price than actually getting hardware out there. Seems like a constant stream of:

-Delays with very poor customer communication
-Claiming employee trucks are deliveries when they are actually internal QA
-Building plush service and experience centers when there are no trucks to sell.
-Installing pointless level 2 chargers for optics
-Run a social media gestapo to protect the stock price
-Trying to build three different vehicles
-Working on new factories when there are no trucks to sell
-Released zero concrete information on the full charging curve
-No price adjustments despite rampant inflation and supply pressure

IMO, it would have been better for the company to have delivered a bunch of trucks that had a few build issues than this constant radio silence while they try to make everything perfect. Our family will be refunding and moving on if there are not several hundred actual customer deliveries by April. Apologies for the gloom.

 

[COdogman]

I agree with others that suggest almost every vehicle is outdated by the time it is released for sale. Things are just moving that fast in tech advances right now.

Will the early adopters of the F 150 Lightning feel screwed when Ford switches to their dedicated EV truck platform 3 years from now? Probably. Will early Silverado EV RST buyers feel screwed in 3-5 years when the prices come down and people realize they paid $108,000 for a Chevy? I think they will. My 2017 Tacoma was “outdated” when I bought it, but I knew that. I also knew the value holds so well on those that it won’t matter much.

With the R1T I think it is likely the battery pack will not be top of the line by the time most owners get theirs, but I don’t care. The overall package that I’m buying will still hold up over time in my opinion. Not too many trucks are that fast and capable, and that will look even better if Rivian releases less expensive 2 motor models or trucks with less fancy interiors. Plus, as others have pointed out, the charging infrastructure in this country is not good. Those new Ioniq 5/ EV6 owners will not be able to take full advantage of that 800v architecture at most of the places they charge right now.

This is what being an early adopter is IMHO - you pay more and what you bought might get passed by pretty quickly.

 

[KiloV]

I actually don't see range generally increasing much beyond 400 miles anytime soon for a lot of reasons.

Agreed. If better battery technology becomes available five years from now that would allow OEM's to pack 1000+ miles of range into a battery pack the size/weight of a R1 battery pack, I think the choice would be to offer a ~400-mile pack that was smaller and lighter, rather than maximizing range. The critical point of improvement is charging performance, rather than packing as many miles of range as you can in the vehicle's physical envelope. If you can charge up your shiny new solid state battery pack with another 400 miles of range in less than 10 minutes, why would you need 1000 miles of range?

 

[KiloV]

To be totally honest, I'm more concerned about Rivian going under in the lifetime of the vehicle and not having many of the functions work if it's heavily reliant on their backend systems than I am about it becoming out dated.

I think you've got another four or five years before you really need to worry about that. Rivian has adequate cash on hand to be both unprofitable and still solvent for that long. Now, will they be in business fifteen years from now? The old crystal ball is a bit hazy on the answer to that question. I'm optimistic though.

 

[E.S.]

If you can charge up your shiny new solid state battery pack with another 400 miles of range in less than 10 minutes, why would you need 1000 miles of range?

Because people in general are scht00pid. They rather have and not need, than need and never face wanting it. Give someone the option of 400 miles vs. 1k miles and most will consider the 1k miles just cause it's available and lessens range anxiety (key word here, a n x i e t y).

 

[moosehead]

Hopefully, that is the case long after it hits the driveway.

While there may be certain tech and battery improvements advanced by then, some of which cannot be OTA or otherwise upgraded, the utility should be more than valuable for some years.

If not, then whatever we are saving in terms of running carbon footprint, will be squashed by a large expensive piece of machinery kicked to the curb.

As example, our 40 year old Waggy has been modified with certain upgrades like EFI, discs, rebult block, led headlamps, larger functional side mirrors, bt stereo and whatnot. While she kills a lot of dinosaurs, she is a joy to drive.

 

[Craigins]

Because people in general are scht00pid. They rather have and not need, than need and never face wanting it. Give someone the option of 400 miles vs. 1k miles and most will consider the 1k miles just cause it's available and lessens range anxiety (key word here, a n x i e t y).

By the time we have 1k batteries, the charging infrastructure will be built out, and range anxiety won't be a thing.

That's like saying i have range anxiety in my prius c, driving 360 miles and getting about 250 mi per tank. I just stop twice to fill up.

 

[ajdelange]

The 400 vs 800 requires infrastructure upgrades to make full use of it. Hence it won't be outdated until the charging infrastructure is greatly improved.

Any charger which meets HPC-350 must be able to deliver up to 920V. This includes the EA 350kW chargers currently out there.

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