I changed my mind on Max Pack

[ssincl3]

I agree that the price difference is way too much for the minimal gains in range. I have 20” AT wheels…which I “need” and I tend to travel long roads trips and come across chargers that are broken and wish I could go another 20-30 miles to a better one. Many times just a few more miles could have made a big difference in charging deserts in some places. I’ve cut it close too many times with the large pack. Also did run out of range once because of a road/block detour and I only needed a few more miles to make it. So I would have gone max if it was available back then and will in the future.

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[ssincl3]

I agree that the price difference is way too much for the minimal gains in range. I have 20” AT wheels…which I “need” and I tend to travel long roads trips and come across chargers that are broken and wish I could go another 20-30 miles to a better one. Many times just a few more miles could have made a big difference in charging deserts in some places. I’ve cut it close too many times with the large pack. Also did run out of range once because of a road/block detour and I only needed a few more miles to make it. So I would have gone max if it was available back then and will in the future.

At the very least I can drive a little faster with the Max pack and use that added range to get there sooner. Or sometimes bad weather forces you to use 4x4 thus less range. Or being able to use onboard power without reservation while camping. Or make room for that vampire drain during cold weather.

 

[Mathme]

some people find value in the Max, some people don't. Just like some people find value in the Standard and some don't. I personally don't find the Max pack useful for my purposes. Could I use it? Sure. Is it worth the 10k to me? no.

That doesn't mean I'm going to Max Shame someone for their choice. I'm just glad they are using their Rivian to fit their needs.

 

[adam12]

As a new R1t max owner I will post my thoughts:
1) Yes overall the max has a marginal increase in range.
2) Driving habits like speed (eg exceeding ~70 mph), aggressive driving (such as racing to a stop, gunning throttle on starting use of highway assist, ambient temperature and desired interior temperature are larger factors in trip length than the additive "Max".
3) Likely the new access to Tesla network probably made the max superfluous (still need to experience this)
4) Context of driving (eg less than 5X 500 mi trips a year) makes the max superfluous
5) Adding cargo (eg roof top) or out of spec mods probably would make me want the max
6) Possibly the the range of the max will deteriorate faster than the conventional offerings

That being said I am still an enthusiastic Max owner, and not looking back with any regret. I own a Kia EV6 as well and the jump in range is palpable.

My zen statement for max would be-- know thyself when asking max or not.

 

[gordonrands]

This winter, I drove an ICE vehicle from Eastern PA to Banff, AB. After IL, my route took me through WI, MN and ND before crossing the border into Saskatchewan to Banff in Alberta. Finding a gas station was not terribly tough, but they were few and far between on some of the more remote stretches. Prudence dictated keeping a close eye on the map and the gas gauge, something that is mostly unnecessary for most long-distance ICE travel. There appeared to be very little in the way of electric charging along the route I took, and I suspect that in an EV, the same trip would be quite difficult, even with meticulous planning.

All of this is the long way of saying that we in North America are not quite there when it comes to EV's and long-distance driving. Things are changing, and quite rapidly, but my take is that trips to the more remote parts of the US, and certainly Canada, will be challenging for some time to come. This doesn't mean they are impossible, but they probably are impractical if you have time constraints.

The corollary to the above is that the charging challenge is identical in either a LR or Max Rivian. As @240vPlug notes, the Max provides "about an 8% increase in usable battery capacity over large pack." That slight increase in range could prove quite valuable in a trip to the more remote places on our continent. Or not. As he also sagely observes "Whether it's worth the upcharge is subjective."

I bought the max pack for this very reason. I plan to drive to Alaska and different places in Canada over the next few years and wanted to have as much range as I could possibly get for those few occasions when I really needed it. Plus I was a pre-March 22 order holder, so it didn't cost me $10K extra. Was it really the best choice? Maybe not, but I expect it to be the last vehicle I ever buy so decided to go for it.

 

[hgpayne]

I've been towing our camper with a Model X for 4 years. While it works great there have been occasions we needed to spend an extra night somewhere in between a big charger gap. I couldn't quite explore Kings Canyon because it took a good chunk of our juice to get there and there isn't any charging to get you back out other than what you brought. I wanted the Maximum range possible for towing our camper plus maximum exploration range after dropping the camper at a campground. I originally ordered the CyberTruck 500+ mile range but also reserved an R1T Max Pack as "backup." Turns out the CyberTruck came out with only about 1/2 that promised range so we got the Max Pack R1T on 21" for maximum range. I do not regret the decision at all. Sometimes in the past we were falling short by just 20 miles -- 20 more miles can be a game changer. I have that 20 + more. As a bonus the R1T is a much better explorer than our X due to its ability to off-road.

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