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Auto industry journalist and editor not impressed

EyeOnRivian

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Jens Meiners final got around to posting for autox.com his impressions of the vehicles at the New York and Shanghai auto shows - "The US and China face off again – but this time it’s the battle of the auto shows!"

The little he had to say about the Rivian EVs was not much. None the less, I thought I would share it here (BTW the article does have a comment section ;) ).

"I was less impressed with the other attention-grabbing electric at the New York auto show, the vaunted Rivian SUV and pick-up truck. With a massive financial tailwind provided by Amazon and government subsidies for reviving a defunct Chrysler-Mitsubishi plant, Rivian wants to capture the hopeful EV market with a line-up of pickup trucks and SUVs. Yet the prototypes shown in New York seemed unfinished, and the cargo space of their pickup truck barely qualifies as ‘mid-size.’ Post-show, we hear that Ford is teaming up with Rivian to build EVs. I call that outsourcing and controlling risk, and it makes me remember Ford’s failed investment in the Norwegian Think brand of EVs."

Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinion, if anything I encourage it as it usually is beneficial to all assuming it's done respectfully and with value, though his comment of unfinished IMO provides little value due to a lack of detail. There are those who are not crazy about the Rivian EV front ends / headlight setup, even from those who are fans, even pre-order holders, of Rivian. Public opinion/feedback can only help Rivian and their potential customers ... and perhaps this is my roundabout way to encourage that.

At any rate, I'm curious if anyone here shares Jens' impression that the Rivian prototypes are unfinished.

Personally, I think he's looking for ICE vehicle attributes on an EV which typical lean slightly towards a more cleaner, less detailed look (ala aerodynamics) that he's interpreting as unfinished ... or perhaps he simply isn't a fan of Rivian and making up excuses.
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Hmp10

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The first two sentences of Meiners' comments connote a bias against Rivian somewhat independent of the product itself: "vaunted", "massive financial tailwind", "government subsidies". I wasn't too surprised to read on to find his dismissive comments about the truck, his caustic cynicism about outsourcing and risk control, and his jibe about failed Ford joint ventures (which have little to do with Rivian, which will get its product to market with or without Ford).

As with any auto press writer's take, you are just getting one person's opinion -- and in this case a person who appears to nurse some grudge against the company as a business organization. The fact that the auto press's reaction to Rivian in general has been heavily net positive is probably the more reliable takeaway.
 

DocTwinkie

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I wouldn’t call the unfinished though they do lack some polish. If you notice in vids when they show the tailgate he often has to help get it going to drop. It’s a near production prototype though. Overall the fit and finish appears quite good though we haven’t gotten to touch it.
 

Electric Rivilution

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It's really rather silly and IMO self-serving to come out so critical against CONCEPTS. Concepts are not meant to represent production level quality. Heck, some concepts can't even roll out to the show floor without being pushed out by human beings. To expect fit and finish to be final on vehicles that aren't actual customer cars is just expecting too much.
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