Hard to say goodbye!

[Zoidz]

Sorry to hear about this event, thankfully the Rivian protected her and she is OK.

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[PappaBolt]

I’m so sorry this happened to your wife and that you were far away at the time. Scary for sure. That truck driver is a terrible human. It’s easy to loose faith in humanity when something like this happens. But the fact the people stopped to assist and be witnesses restores some hope for the good we have in us. I’n glad she is ok.

it sounds like your Rivian performed valiantly and all the safety features kept this from being much worse. That would have me signing up for a replacement aa soon as possible.

 

[Cascadian]

As with previous comments the incident should be recorded and saved . I have never plugged in a drive and my son discovered an “incident “ of mine saved , when I drifted my S in a ski area parking lot ;-)

I would contact Rivian support to help retrieve that data.

 

[ozziegt]

If you want a hybrid option and need a large 3 row SUV, the Lexus TX or GX are good options. Will cost less than the R1S as well.

 

[TexasBob]

Glad she is okay. I am in Houston as well, understand and appreciate the charging desert in East Texas as soon as you get north of I-10! The new Supercharger in Livingston is a huge help for me when going out to Jasper area.

A few thoughts on the next vehicle:
1) R1S Dual Motor 21" wheel is going to give you a meaningful bump in range vs your current (I assume quad 22) setup. Available in the shop for immediate delivery in Houston +/-
2) We bought a Model S LR late last year ($74k) and it is getting a solid 350 miles on the road.

I sold my previous R1S (long story) but am picking up a DM R1T today. I am counting on the Supercharger network to meet my needs in East TX when I drive there in the future.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Glad she is okay.. maybe she can lease her next vehicle and come back when the R2 is ready. By then charging infrastructure should be better. Also, things like 800v should make it faster to charge. We love our R1S, but right now I'm sitting with a suspension issue, that is disengaging most of the safety features of the vehicle. I won't let my wife drive it, until it gets fixed by the SC. We will see when they can get it in.

 

[Tahoe Man]

I agree with codogman, do what is best.

Personally I think there's too much us vs them mentality in the EV/ice world. Either one will work, enjoy the experience regardless. Glad nobody got hurt.

 

[DuoRivian]

So the truck was on coming towards her on her side of the road? Glad no injuries.

 

[lefkonj]

Glad she is ok and the Rivian did what it is supposed to do, protect the passengers first and foremost.

I understand all this concern about Tesla chargers but my 1 week experience in a Model3 in Atlanta yielded the same charging frustration as with EA and the like. I don't think opening up the Tesla stations to non-Tesla's will make anything better, the opposite is more likely. More users equals more damage to cables, chargers, connectors.

 

[edman007]

As with previous comments the incident should be recorded and saved . I have never plugged in a drive and my son discovered an “incident “ of mine saved , when I drifted my S in a ski area parking lot ;-)

I would contact Rivian support to help retrieve that data.

Yup, if the drive wasn't recording it shouldn't matter, incidents will still record even if the drive disconnected, but they would be saved in the vehicle. Bring a jump box and you can probably jump the car and download it (assuming the screen still comes on).

 

[timgradywy]

Glad she's OK.

R1S max pack with 21" would help with range anxiety if you have any other combo now.

The Volvo XC90 Recharge is a really nice plug-in hybrid. My wife had one before going all electric. My dad liked it enough he traded in his Escalade on one. Safety on these is also very good.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

TLDR;;

RIP Led Tasso (The name of our R1S, for Ted Lasso fans, this pays homage to the more agressive, angry version of Ted - somewhat how we felt with the performance of the R1S, just a beast).

So, first let me start with everyone is ok with no injuries and no other vehicles damaged. With that, let me start. My wife was on a longer drive that requires 99-100% of battery to get round trip we take this every few weeks to visit her parents in a small east Texas town. There is only 1 charger along the route, and it is very hit or miss, so if we keep it calm and drive in conserve, her R1S will make the trip with a few miles remaining. Not really for the faint of heart, but definitely doable.

Fast forward to last week, my wife was driving home at night at highway speeds when an 18 wheeler came over on top of her. As she went to swerve, her front wheel struck an unusual curb on the small bridge she was crossing, blowing out both driver side tires. Effectively causing her to lose control. and spinning out in the grass median and slamming into the center divider. All of the side curtain airbags went off, but the front air bags did not deploy. Looking at the damage after the event, cannot tell what is broken yet, insurance has initially told us it will be totaled, but still pending final outcome. Of course, all of this happened while I was literally half way around the world on a business trip.

Lots of battery warnings went off, car shut off, nothing usable. Could not open the frunk, center console, hatch, etc. Only the door handles on the driver side are extended. Fast forward a bit over a week after I returned and was able to access the vehicle. No power at all to the vehicle. I was able to get the frunk open after hunting for the manual release which is not labled or easy to find (which I guess is really good for safety/security, but sucked for laying on the ground in the salvage yard searching). I had to break the center console to get it to open and recover the flash drive, which brings me to my next issue. Flash drive stopped recoring back in December, with no footage since 12/30. Very disappointed as there was plenty of capacity on the drive, nothing told me it was disconnected, just seems like it just stopped recording, so no ability to go after the truck's insurance since they had not stopped and no one got the plate information. Only good news is there were witnesses who stopped, she was clearly not at fault, but still a hit on the insurance. Good news for me is I had added new car replacement to my coverage policy as my price was at the pre price increase prices. Looking forward to the battle over value with the insurance company.

Now I am searching for the replacement. She had been a Tesla driver prior to the Rivian. She was an early adopter of the Model Y. Her big complaint on the Rivian is the charging infrastructure. In her Tesla, she never had an issue with road trips on her own. With a customer site visit in San Antonio or Austin, visiting our Daughter in Ft Worth, she was fully comfortable taking the trip by herself. With the Rivian, she has been very frustrated as the charging stations are hit an miss causing unnecessary angst and frustration.

She is trying to decide if she just goes back to an ICE vehicle so she is not beholden to a state of charge when she might need to make a long trip last minute as her parents are aging. Tesla is a good car, but not sure she wants another Model Y as they are everywhere (we never had an issue with build quality, our Model Y was solid). If we are not doing another Rivian, she is not a fan of going to any CCS vehicle. We are also both concerned about when Tesla network opens up, what issues are we going to see at Tesla stations? I witness ignorance at every CCS location I stop at with highly uneducated drivers. To be fair, Tesla has many of the same, but i feel the software helps lead people to better understand what to expect. And, just pulling up, plugging in and it working 99+% of the time with no need for an app/credit card/etc is far simpler.

We are a majority EV family with 3 out of 4 of our cars being EVs (My wife's Rivian R1S, Model Y my daughter inherited when the R1S was delivered, and my F150 Lighting), so we are all in. But, I see why there is a slow down in adoption. I am a fan and understand the additional planning, but when you reach plan C for a drive and still have to wait an hour to add 10 miles of range to make it home because it is 35 outside, I question if it is all worth it.

Did not intend to rant for so long. If you read this far, I advise you to get off the forum and go drive your Rivian, we never know how long they will be with us and every moment is precious.

Made it to the end. Glad your wife is ok, shitty situation and dealing with insurance is always the icing on the steaming cake...

With respect to your drivecam comment, I had a similar issue with my thumb drive. It doesn't come up with a notification, but I noticed it was having a issue because the drivecam icon would be dim and crossed out occasionally. I ended up tossing the USB in favor of a SanDisk Extreme SSD so far so good, and far more snappy on the main display for playback.

PS
Currently in my Rivian on a ferry back home, so I can both read your thread and enjoy my Rivian! Win win.

PPS
What's in my console... Well, pulled out the baby bottle and bib to get the photo, but
- Car insurance
- GoPro battery chargwr
- waterproof travel playing cards
- Cards I picked up from Huangshan when I was there
- A&W coupons... If you know... You know!
- Pens and chargers

Pretty proud it isn't a total cluster fuck personally

 

[Flypony53]

I'm glad to hear your wife is fine.

The charging infrastructure isn't good around here unless you own a Tesla, I completely agree.

I have two thoughts: Rivian is likely getting access to the Tesla SC network prior to the end of summer. I don't know your exact route but this might completely eliminate that issue.

The second part is on safety. I'm not saying other vehicles wouldn't haven't protected your wife but do you think it's possible she could have been seriously injured if she had been in an ice SUV?

It's a consideration that we definitely keep in mind when it comes to car shopping now.

definitely has been my concern on ICE. We just took the drive again today to go see her parents (in my Lightning). Saw where she hit, an ICE would have rolled most definitely after striking the curb and sliding through the ditch afterward. The Center of gravity on these cars are so much better overall.

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