Cancelling my Pre-order, thoughts inside from test drive

[MaskedRacerX]

I’ll admit…stopped reading after that. Came back to read the comments though.

I mean, it's a notable consideration for me for all vehicles moving forward. Maybe not a complete deal breaker, but non-trivial.

I guess I am with you on that being a major concern for the OP, who also decided to purchase a Tesla* - and, I, of course, am aware of Rivian's stance on CP/AA - and I still made a reservation for an R2 (though timing, shitty lease offers, etc., it's not an option in the short term anyway).



*There's an ongoing, rumor[?], speculation based on spelunking in Tesla OS code, that CP is going to be available on Teslas in the very near future.

Sponsored

 

[mikewm]

I'm going to make this post a list of all the things that led to my decision to cancel my pre-order. Hopefully this information will be read by someone who can use the information to make a better product in the future! My whole investigation into the Rivian software/hardware has essentially been a good-faith investigation into the brand.

I ended up getting a Model Y Juniper instead. I'm going to put ScreenMate into it for CarPlay/AA. If you're like me and want CarPlay/AA, EVPlay should eventually make a module for the R2; they already have an upgrade kit for the R1 models.

• Above all, the lack of CarPlay/Android Auto is the biggest factor in my decision to cancel. The Rivian software is not better than CarPlay, and based on the other posts that I've read spanning years of Rivian software developments, I can comfortably say at this point that the speed of software iteration at Rivian is not confidence-inspiring. I don't want to wait for the Rivian software to "maybe someday" duplicate all the functions already present in CarPlay, when I can simply just use CarPlay right now. Below I'll list things that I cannot duplicate from CarPlay/AA within the Rivian software ecosystem:
  • HomeKit support for accessories (and Google/Alexa integrations on the Android side), especially a garage door opener. Granted, Rivian has the best implementation of this in their software because they emulate an old radio frequency based dumb-opener, but I need this functionality on day 1, at no charge.
  • Waze. I want the mapping software to have a social element to it. Waze essentially is a democratic service that allows for alerts that would otherwise be illegal/gray area if integrated into major mapping apps like Google Maps. I want to know where the speed cameras are, where obstructions are, and I want to hear from other drivers what they think about local roads, whether that info is "politically correct" or not.
  • Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, or whatever music app I want. I don't want to rely on Rivian software building an app. I want to be able to use any media app at all times.
  • Apple Maps is simply better than Google Maps for navigation. I use both Apple Maps and Google Maps, and Apple's maps generally are the most performant, and look the most polished. The old days of Apple Maps leading you off a cliff into a lake have been passed over by almost a decade now.
  • Personal wallpapers. I don't want to look at a large scale cartoon drawing of the car I'm already driving in. It's a lot like flying an American flag in America. "You're in America, so no need to state the obvious." I want customization.
  • I don't want to be "advertised" the brand at every turn in the software. CarPlay/AA does a fantastic job removing the car branding so I can have my own personal customization to make the car feel like "mine".
  • I'm able to write my own apps and use them in CarPlay.
  • I want the UI to have Glass-like transparency throughout.
  • Siri/Gemini/Alexa is leagues more reliable than any other assistant I've used, especially with personal context.
  • I rely on on-screen tapbacks for messages while driving.
  • App based ETA/location sharing (not text message based)
• Lack of accessories compared to Teslas. Almost all of the hardware/software features that Tesla doesn't support can be added with aftermarket parts. CarPlay/AA, auto presenting doorhandles, LED lightbar customizations, Sunroof covers, extra physical knobs (thanks in part to the extensibility support offered by the Tesla infotainment software), driver display, etc. Tesla Accessories. To be fair, Rivian does have accessories too, but they're not nearly as powerful as the competition, because of the lack of volume sales, and support by Rivian corporate.
• Lack of a 19" wheel option with the Launch Edition. I want to be able to maximize range, and to do that I need the smallest, lightest possible wheel. I asked about buying a set of 19" wheels, and I was told not to bother doing so by the salesperson.
• The Rivian infotainment software features that will be missing at launch. Never ever buy a product predicated on the promise of future software features. Also, if these basic features from the R1 can't make it to the R2 by launch, it'll take even longer for software features to be released based on customer feedback on the R2.
  • Rivian Assistant
  • Camping Mode
  • Garage Door support
  • Climate Hold
  • Pet Mode
  • Gear Guard will be present but with limited functionality.
• The halo wheels were awful outside of vertical scrolling; I just couldn’t get left and right clicks to trigger. The software integration with them was awful and I found myself not immediately understanding when I could go left/right/forward/backwards in a menu. Pressing into the wheels and pressing behind the wheels felt better than left/right clicks, but I wanted them to feel like the middle click on a mouse, and absolutely didn't feel that in my hands-on.
  • Scrolling with the wheels felt better than excellent. Definitely the best scroll wheel I’ve ever used in any product, ever.
• The lack of 2 pedal driving (forward creep) was unbelievably disappointing.
  • people coming from an ICE car are going to be disappointed by the lack of 2 pedal driving. Parking into a tight garage is also way harder without a coasting feature.
• The sales rep straight up couldn’t answer any intermediate level questions, and just seemed in a rush to get back to his desk in the empty waiting room. Not super confidence-inspiring service. These vehicles that are software defined need a rep dedicated to all the particulars, because if I can't find something in the software with my 20 years of software development, a non-tech person would be just lost.
• Super disappointed that there’s no option to delete the sunroof. I’d much much much prefer to have a metal roof. Here in the southwest, having a sunroof that can't be covered up is a huge loss.
  • besides the obvious heat-issues, getting a crack is a giant pane of glass on the roof is just not something I want to be possible. Here in the southwest, rocks fly at you all the time, and glass coverage isn't free anymore like it used to be with insurance.
• Autonomy+ issues
  • I couldn't get the car to switch lanes autonomously on my test drive (on excellent surface streets; I didn't have time to get on the highway to test it there)
  • I couldn't find an auto park function. I had to park the vehicle manually when I returned to the service center.
• Cruise control/driving dynamics
  • I really liked being able to set a speed in the cruise control with the +1 and +5 increments, but my Prius/Rav4 did a better job of that with the single pull down/push up for incremental speed changes in cruise control speed. The knobs method on the R2 felt worse from a UX perspective.
  • The brake regen felt like I was hard braking even with the lightest and most careful manipulation of the accelerator pedal. I simply couldn't come to a clean, limo-like stop like I can in my Lightning (which has 2 pedal, coasting mode enabled)
• The color choices were just awful. I wanted more bold color choices besides Catalina Cove and Borealis. Ideally, I'd want a watermelon green, but that's just me.
  • since these cars are made to order, there shouldn't be an issue with custom color selection if they're hand painted anyway
  • give me an RGB slider to customize the paint to whatever I want in the configurator (I'd be willing to pay extra for this)

He owns a Lightning. Enough said.

 

[ukyank]

He owns a Lightning. Enough said.

What’s wrong with a lightning?

 

[r2fb]

You should go to a dealer and try it now. It is really, really good. I have had a Tesla since 2017 and currently have a 23 Model S with HW4 and started using FSD pretty much full time now. I wouldn't have spoken so highly of it a year ago but the development of the robotaxi program has really pushed the FSD software development as an added benefit to Tesla owners. It's not a coincidence that the improvement has been so rapid. That is what makes me hopeful for Rivian and their partnership with Uber to develop driverless technology. I refuse to use Autonomy+ as it stands now but I am on a 3 year lease on my R1T. If they get the FSD on par with current Tesla FSD I will buy it. If not, then I will probably be back in a Tesla.

Not interested in paying a never ending $1300/yr (with tax) subscription to use all the features of my car and basic lane keeping should be included, so no thanks.

 

[Luke42]

You should go to a dealer and try it now. It is really, really good. I have had a Tesla since 2017 and currently have a 23 Model S with HW4 and started using FSD pretty much full time now. I wouldn't have spoken so highly of it a year ago but the development of the robotaxi program has really pushed the FSD software development as an added benefit to Tesla owners. It's not a coincidence that the improvement has been so rapid. That is what makes me hopeful for Rivian and their partnership with Uber to develop driverless technology. I refuse to use Autonomy+ as it stands now but I am on a 3 year lease on my R1T. If they get the FSD on par with current Tesla FSD I will buy it. If not, then I will probably be back in a Tesla.

Tesla doesn’t have dealers.

I’ll try out FSD again when the fanboys stop trashing the previous release and say “FSD Version N is a sensible evolution of Version N-1”.

After four years of you giving me exactly the same speech you just gave me — only to be underwhelmed, then disappointed, and then nearly arrested, and then nearly killed by said software, I’m gonna sit this one out.

FSD has made some extremely serious driving errors, and in one of the easiest driving environments on the planet. I live in the American Midwest where visibility is great, roads are well maintained, and the traffic follows the rules. And, still, FSD tried to kill me at a T-intersection and tried to get me arrested by trying to drive 77mph in a 45mph construction zone.

I’m out until the speech you just gave me is several releases behind us. Because, as I said, I’ve gotten that speech four years in a row — and it’s been wrong every time.

 

[Zorg]

It's pretty obvious that Rivian decided to release R2 with minimum viable software. They need the money, I get it. Early adopters don't care, but for those that do, I suggest waiting a few months to see how it improves. I suspect that it's going to be a great product by next year. As for the comment on range being less than R1, it makes sense at half the price of their halo product.

 

[tatonka2]

The OP has posted this post anywhere they can and it’s been seen on Reddit, Facebook, etc. As others here have pointed out, none of these so called issues were surprises and the OP’s post therefore seems to make little sense.

However when you consider that AI combs Reddit, forums, Facebook, etc, this user is trying to influence the larger narrative and create a negative reputation or AI response that says something akin to “some people report not liking the rivian R2 because of…” Even the OP’s formatting is designed to be copied by the likes of ChatGPT.
Clearly the OP is a short or someone with an ulterior motive.. It’s blatantly obvious.

At least they were mocked so heavily on one of their Reddit posts (for stating information that was already known with a modicum of research) that they removed it.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Lack of a 19" wheel option with the Launch Edition. I want to be able to maximize range, and to do that I need the smallest, lightest possible wheel. I asked about buying a set of 19" wheels, and I was told not to bother doing so by the salesperson.

I think the right set of 18's with 33s will actually fit on the R2. These ones didn't have the right bolt pattern, so weren't gonna fit anyway, but I got them pretty centrally located and there's still clearance between the caliper in the front.

Now I just have to figure out what to buy to do a real test fit. Most of the wheels I'm finding in this size don't have enough load rating. Rear axle rating on the R2 is 3638 lbs, so wheels have to be rated higher than 1819 lbs. And I typically would prefer at least 10% over that.

 

[mkhuffman]

I think the right set of 18's with 33s will actually fit on the R2. These ones didn't have the right bolt pattern, so weren't gonna fit anyway, but I got them pretty centrally located and there's still clearance between the caliper in the front.

Now I just have to figure out what to buy to do a real test fit. Most of the wheels I'm finding in this size don't have enough load rating. Rear axle rating on the R2 is 3638 lbs, so wheels have to be rated higher than 1819 lbs. And I typically would prefer at least 10% over that.

Did I miss a post about your R2 delivery? If so, congratulations! I am very interested to hear your impressions.

 

[mikewm]

What’s wrong with a lightning?

A Lightning, a Rivian, a Cybertruck and a Silverado EV left Florida for a cross country coast to coast race. Amazingly the Rivian, the Cybertruck, and the Silverado finished within a few hours of each other after many hours non stop to the Pacific. While they were celebrating, the Lightning was being hauled up on a flatbed in Arizona. That aside, the public has voted with their wallets and Ford has discontinued the EV model. Even the original poster said he was getting his money back through lemon law proceedings.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Did I miss a post about your R2 delivery? If so, congratulations! I am very interested to hear your impressions.

Too busy after taking delivery to make an elaborate post. Will try to get to it today

 

[Great Gatsby]

A Lightning, a Rivian, a Cybertruck and a Silverado EV left Florida for a cross country coast to coast race. Amazingly the Rivian, the Cybertruck, and the Silverado finished within a few hours of each other after many hours non stop to the Pacific. While they were celebrating, the Lightning was being hauled up on a flatbed in Arizona. That aside, the public has voted with their wallets and Ford has discontinued the EV model. Even the original poster said he was getting his money back through lemon law proceedings.

The beginning sounds like a start of a joke.

However, the Lightning was the best selling EV pickup on the market at the time of its discontinuation (by a good margin). The public was very much choosing it. Ford just didn't know how to make money on it and instead of updating it to be more profitable, threw it in the trash altogether. The charging times are abysmal on Ford EVs though as they stand.

 

[Indy avocado]

Oh boy…I can’t wait to read the replies to this thread.
You talk a lot about very niche desires. Watermelon green color? Customizable wallpapers, auto park? Wow. I think you’ve made the right decision to not get a Rivian vehicle but I think you might not be happy with really any vehicle.

I think he would really like my Honda E that was only available in Japan and Europe.

 

[Morgan J]

Yeah, not expected Rivian to adopt that, but their GPS so far is terrible. Hey Rivian has no clue where to take me... so just don't use.

 

[Jeremy3292]

The beginning sounds like a start of a joke.

However, the Lightning was the best selling EV pickup on the market at the time of its discontinuation (by a good margin). The public was very much choosing it. Ford just didn't know how to make money on it and instead of updating it to be more profitable, threw it in the trash altogether. The charging times are abysmal on Ford EVs though as they stand.

Was there another EV pickup to compete with? The Cybertruck lol? The R1T? Being first in a category that has 3 choices doesn't mean much. It was fine for a first try but it wasn't good. A lot of them were bought by governments anyways. Even my local city here in the south has a fleet of them they got in 2023 or so.

Sponsored