astonius
Well-Known Member
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- #1
Context: I took delivery of my R1T on 6/14. Admittedly I haven't had a ton of time in the seat yet. My wife has driven it quite a bit more than I have, but I wanted to share my initial thoughts. We have owned a 2018 Range Rover Velar and a 2020 BMW X5 for the past two years. We have never owned or even driven an EV before the R1T, and we had never even seen an R1T in the flesh until ours pulled into the driveway on Tuesday.
Exterior
Very first impression: the overall dimensions are smaller than expected. It's not a small vehicle by any means, but I was expecting it to present larger than it does.
Rivian Blue is beautiful, even more-so in person. The paint has orange peel galore, but it is at least consistent. No other paint gripes, but I also don’t have a trained eye for paint quality.
Wheel choice was my most debated option, but for time and cost savings I stuck with the 21s. These wheels look great to my eye, even with the aero covers, but the tires look generic. I think the tire tread appearance has a much bigger impact on the overall presence of the truck than people realize, even more than the wheels. Not a big deal, just something I noticed compared to the 20s.
The power frunk is nice, though Ford and GM's implementations with the lower lift-over is certainly preferable. I do wish there was a way to set a max opening height. It is too tall to open in my garage as it would hit my overhead storage racks, and I'm worried about accidental opening. I tried stopping the hood manually with resistance, which worked, but it did try to fight me. Not sure if this is safe to do regularly.
The power tonneau seems great so far. It doesn’t sound bad to me. In fact I'd say it sounds pretty solid. I would expect stacking metal slats to make the noises it does. We'll see how it holds up over time.
The plastic cladding does not seem durable. There was already marring present on some pieces before I even stepped foot in the truck. I'd love to hear any suggestions for repair and protection here.
Interior
Initial material quality is overall solid. The "vegan" leather is quite convincing. It feels almost like the real thing to me. The microfiber headliner is a nice touch. I also appreciate the coated plastics in the interior. I hope they prove to be durable. My only knock is the wood trim, which looks nice but is way too rough. I guess it feels more natural that way, but you could seriously get splinters from it. I can't imagine how difficult it will be to clean. Also, once you see the creases near the gauge cluster you can’t unsee them (thanks Munro).
There's a big difference between having tons of storage and having useful storage. Unfortunately the R1T has the former. It's just not well-thought. The lack of a glove box isn’t a big deal, but after seeing the Munro tear down it’s not entirely clear why they omitted it. The gear tunnel is clever, but I’d honestly trade it for more cabin space and/or ingress room for the back doors. I also don’t understand why the gear tunnel walls are carpeted. They call it the “mud room” of the truck, yet carpet and water don't mix. The front under-seat storage is too small and shallow to be useful for much of anything. The rear under-seat storage is useless if you have a carseat installed. The center console is just a cavernous hole with zero organization. I don’t know what they were thinking with this layout. I'd much prefer better places to set small items like my wallet, sunglasses, etc and better cupholders. A simple dashboard tray would go a long way.
The door handles are very poorly positioned. They are way too low. If you sit up higher, like myself or my wife, it is very difficult to open them as the seat bottom is in the way. How they didn’t notice and address this is beyond me. If there’s any “dealbreaker” in the whole truck this honestly might be it. It might seem small, but it’s something you use every time you drive the truck, and it’s legitimately awful.
The key system is just asinine. I don’t want proximity unlock, and I don’t want to have to press a button on a fob, open an app on my phone, or touch a card to my door. I want to press a physical or capacitive switch on the truck, have the truck verify the key or phone is close, then unlock. Proximity behavior sounds great in theory, but in practice it tries to make too many assumptions about what you want to do. Often I’m just walking by my truck to do something else, and it unlocks and wakes up for no good reason. I really hope they offer some sort of retrofit capacitive touch sensor, at least for the driver door. Since the tailgate, tonneau, gear tunnel, and frunk all have buttons already they could easily implement the ideal behavior. Combined with the interior door handle issue, the person(s) making these entry/exit decisions needs to be fired yesterday.
The wireless charger does not work, at all. I tried numerous positions with my iPhone 13 Pro in an Apple leather case. It never registers. Completely useless. Works in my X5 without issue. I plan to do the MagSafe mod whenever it’s available.
The seat ventilation impresses. I feel the movement of the air, and the air itself feels chilled. The X5 ventilation is totally useless. The Velar is pretty good but not amazing. Rivian is comparable to Ford, which is the best I’ve experienced.
The auto windows are so damn slow, and I don’t understand why. Manual window operation speed is adequate, but for some reason the auto operation is much slower.
The Meridian system is phenomenally clear, quite possibly the clearest I’ve ever heard. Our Velar has the upgraded Meridian as well, and it’s comparable, but I’d give the Rivian the edge so far. It beats the awful Harman Kardon system in the X5 hands down, no contest. I recall some saying they weren’t impressed with it in early reviews and mention they had the doors open at the time. When I first turned on the sound system it was pretty underwhelming, but we discovered my wife had left the back door ajar. Once she closed it the system came alive. This appears to be a feature. My delivery guide seemed surprised by it.
I don’t understand the point of the rear screen. Rear passengers don’t have their own climate zone, and the vents are manually operated. All they can do is turn on/off the vents and heated seats, and it’s not big enough or positioned well to house infotainment effectively in the future. Should’ve used that budget elsewhere.
The cameras are potato quality. I don’t understand why. Fingers crossed it's software, but something tells me it’s either poor quality modules or wiring.
I will miss some of the “luxury” features of the Velar/X5, like more seat adjustability, massage, heads-up display, comfort access, etc. Comfort access really needs to be added soon. It should not be this difficult to get in and out of the truck. All the parts are there, it’s just software, so there’s no reason not to add it. When I park and open the door the seat should back up/lower, the steering wheel should retract/raise, and the air suspension should go to the lowest height possible. When I sit down, shut my door, and press the brake it should go back to my profile settings. Also, why did they forego the A-pillar grab handle? I don’t want to put stress on the steering column just to get in the truck. The ceiling-mounted handle is not useful for ingress. Another clear miss.
Finally, the infotainment is, in a word: meh. So many sing its praises because it has a nice aesthetic and is quick to respond, which is great and appreciated, but that should not come at the cost of useful applications. Mapbox maps are nowhere near as good or up-to-date as Google’s. I don’t use Spotify or TuneIn (and won’t). The bluetooth player is super basic, as is phone integration. Rivian, please remove your heads from your asses and add CarPlay already. I also miss having a volume knob. The scroll wheel is not an adequate replacement.
Driving
The regen braking is very strong. I have barely touched the brakes beyond startup. Using standard setting so far. Both my wife and I dig it and the auto-hold. It’s like driving a big golf cart.
The accelerator pedal is quite firm, but the response is incredible. It’s also very precise. I haven’t found a great position to brace my heel, and in sport mode in particular the truck “bucks” because my foot is not stable, so I’m constantly lifting ever so slightly as the truck takes off, thus engaging regen. A coast mode might be nice, or at least a way to adjust pedal sensitivity.
The suspension is noticeably different between drive modes and ride heights, though it is a bit clunky. It also creaks quite a bit when changing heights. Not sure if this is normal.
Driver+ is a dud. Pre-mapped highways for lane centering is weak for a modern vehicle. Hoping this changes at some point. My three year old X5 has a superior ADAS system.
Other Stuff
I was expecting my first EV to be super quiet. Unfortunately I was disappointed to find that’s not the case. Yes, the powertrain is quiet, however the fans and A/C compressor are incredibly loud, both inside and outside the cabin. The fans also run constantly, even when parked in the garage and charging. I assume this has something to do with battery conditioning, but it’s non-stop and loud. Wind rush at higher speeds is also a bit more than expected. Isn’t the glass double-paned acoustic? Doesn’t seem like it. Velar and X5 both seem much quieter inside despite having gas engines.
I have a laundry list of minor quibbles with the build quality. This includes panel gaps, headlight alignment, the tailgate not dropping automatically, and a few others. I haven't reported them yet as I want to get an exhaustive list first. Fingers crossed service is receptive to these issues and addresses them.
While waiting for electrician availability I'm using 15A charging at home. It is tremendously slow, even slower than I expected. I appreciate the option, as it's better than nothing, but it is comparable to trickle charging.
Final Thoughts
Overall this is a good first effort from a fledgling manufacturer. I think at $75-80k it's a fantastic bargain. At $92k (which I paid for this one) it's not quite as compelling. I haven't decided yet if I intend to keep it long-term, but I'll continue to give it a fair shake over the next few weeks.
Exterior
Very first impression: the overall dimensions are smaller than expected. It's not a small vehicle by any means, but I was expecting it to present larger than it does.
Rivian Blue is beautiful, even more-so in person. The paint has orange peel galore, but it is at least consistent. No other paint gripes, but I also don’t have a trained eye for paint quality.
Wheel choice was my most debated option, but for time and cost savings I stuck with the 21s. These wheels look great to my eye, even with the aero covers, but the tires look generic. I think the tire tread appearance has a much bigger impact on the overall presence of the truck than people realize, even more than the wheels. Not a big deal, just something I noticed compared to the 20s.
The power frunk is nice, though Ford and GM's implementations with the lower lift-over is certainly preferable. I do wish there was a way to set a max opening height. It is too tall to open in my garage as it would hit my overhead storage racks, and I'm worried about accidental opening. I tried stopping the hood manually with resistance, which worked, but it did try to fight me. Not sure if this is safe to do regularly.
The power tonneau seems great so far. It doesn’t sound bad to me. In fact I'd say it sounds pretty solid. I would expect stacking metal slats to make the noises it does. We'll see how it holds up over time.
The plastic cladding does not seem durable. There was already marring present on some pieces before I even stepped foot in the truck. I'd love to hear any suggestions for repair and protection here.
Interior
Initial material quality is overall solid. The "vegan" leather is quite convincing. It feels almost like the real thing to me. The microfiber headliner is a nice touch. I also appreciate the coated plastics in the interior. I hope they prove to be durable. My only knock is the wood trim, which looks nice but is way too rough. I guess it feels more natural that way, but you could seriously get splinters from it. I can't imagine how difficult it will be to clean. Also, once you see the creases near the gauge cluster you can’t unsee them (thanks Munro).
There's a big difference between having tons of storage and having useful storage. Unfortunately the R1T has the former. It's just not well-thought. The lack of a glove box isn’t a big deal, but after seeing the Munro tear down it’s not entirely clear why they omitted it. The gear tunnel is clever, but I’d honestly trade it for more cabin space and/or ingress room for the back doors. I also don’t understand why the gear tunnel walls are carpeted. They call it the “mud room” of the truck, yet carpet and water don't mix. The front under-seat storage is too small and shallow to be useful for much of anything. The rear under-seat storage is useless if you have a carseat installed. The center console is just a cavernous hole with zero organization. I don’t know what they were thinking with this layout. I'd much prefer better places to set small items like my wallet, sunglasses, etc and better cupholders. A simple dashboard tray would go a long way.
The door handles are very poorly positioned. They are way too low. If you sit up higher, like myself or my wife, it is very difficult to open them as the seat bottom is in the way. How they didn’t notice and address this is beyond me. If there’s any “dealbreaker” in the whole truck this honestly might be it. It might seem small, but it’s something you use every time you drive the truck, and it’s legitimately awful.
The key system is just asinine. I don’t want proximity unlock, and I don’t want to have to press a button on a fob, open an app on my phone, or touch a card to my door. I want to press a physical or capacitive switch on the truck, have the truck verify the key or phone is close, then unlock. Proximity behavior sounds great in theory, but in practice it tries to make too many assumptions about what you want to do. Often I’m just walking by my truck to do something else, and it unlocks and wakes up for no good reason. I really hope they offer some sort of retrofit capacitive touch sensor, at least for the driver door. Since the tailgate, tonneau, gear tunnel, and frunk all have buttons already they could easily implement the ideal behavior. Combined with the interior door handle issue, the person(s) making these entry/exit decisions needs to be fired yesterday.
The wireless charger does not work, at all. I tried numerous positions with my iPhone 13 Pro in an Apple leather case. It never registers. Completely useless. Works in my X5 without issue. I plan to do the MagSafe mod whenever it’s available.
The seat ventilation impresses. I feel the movement of the air, and the air itself feels chilled. The X5 ventilation is totally useless. The Velar is pretty good but not amazing. Rivian is comparable to Ford, which is the best I’ve experienced.
The auto windows are so damn slow, and I don’t understand why. Manual window operation speed is adequate, but for some reason the auto operation is much slower.
The Meridian system is phenomenally clear, quite possibly the clearest I’ve ever heard. Our Velar has the upgraded Meridian as well, and it’s comparable, but I’d give the Rivian the edge so far. It beats the awful Harman Kardon system in the X5 hands down, no contest. I recall some saying they weren’t impressed with it in early reviews and mention they had the doors open at the time. When I first turned on the sound system it was pretty underwhelming, but we discovered my wife had left the back door ajar. Once she closed it the system came alive. This appears to be a feature. My delivery guide seemed surprised by it.
I don’t understand the point of the rear screen. Rear passengers don’t have their own climate zone, and the vents are manually operated. All they can do is turn on/off the vents and heated seats, and it’s not big enough or positioned well to house infotainment effectively in the future. Should’ve used that budget elsewhere.
The cameras are potato quality. I don’t understand why. Fingers crossed it's software, but something tells me it’s either poor quality modules or wiring.
I will miss some of the “luxury” features of the Velar/X5, like more seat adjustability, massage, heads-up display, comfort access, etc. Comfort access really needs to be added soon. It should not be this difficult to get in and out of the truck. All the parts are there, it’s just software, so there’s no reason not to add it. When I park and open the door the seat should back up/lower, the steering wheel should retract/raise, and the air suspension should go to the lowest height possible. When I sit down, shut my door, and press the brake it should go back to my profile settings. Also, why did they forego the A-pillar grab handle? I don’t want to put stress on the steering column just to get in the truck. The ceiling-mounted handle is not useful for ingress. Another clear miss.
Finally, the infotainment is, in a word: meh. So many sing its praises because it has a nice aesthetic and is quick to respond, which is great and appreciated, but that should not come at the cost of useful applications. Mapbox maps are nowhere near as good or up-to-date as Google’s. I don’t use Spotify or TuneIn (and won’t). The bluetooth player is super basic, as is phone integration. Rivian, please remove your heads from your asses and add CarPlay already. I also miss having a volume knob. The scroll wheel is not an adequate replacement.
Driving
The regen braking is very strong. I have barely touched the brakes beyond startup. Using standard setting so far. Both my wife and I dig it and the auto-hold. It’s like driving a big golf cart.
The accelerator pedal is quite firm, but the response is incredible. It’s also very precise. I haven’t found a great position to brace my heel, and in sport mode in particular the truck “bucks” because my foot is not stable, so I’m constantly lifting ever so slightly as the truck takes off, thus engaging regen. A coast mode might be nice, or at least a way to adjust pedal sensitivity.
The suspension is noticeably different between drive modes and ride heights, though it is a bit clunky. It also creaks quite a bit when changing heights. Not sure if this is normal.
Driver+ is a dud. Pre-mapped highways for lane centering is weak for a modern vehicle. Hoping this changes at some point. My three year old X5 has a superior ADAS system.
Other Stuff
I was expecting my first EV to be super quiet. Unfortunately I was disappointed to find that’s not the case. Yes, the powertrain is quiet, however the fans and A/C compressor are incredibly loud, both inside and outside the cabin. The fans also run constantly, even when parked in the garage and charging. I assume this has something to do with battery conditioning, but it’s non-stop and loud. Wind rush at higher speeds is also a bit more than expected. Isn’t the glass double-paned acoustic? Doesn’t seem like it. Velar and X5 both seem much quieter inside despite having gas engines.
I have a laundry list of minor quibbles with the build quality. This includes panel gaps, headlight alignment, the tailgate not dropping automatically, and a few others. I haven't reported them yet as I want to get an exhaustive list first. Fingers crossed service is receptive to these issues and addresses them.
While waiting for electrician availability I'm using 15A charging at home. It is tremendously slow, even slower than I expected. I appreciate the option, as it's better than nothing, but it is comparable to trickle charging.
Final Thoughts
Overall this is a good first effort from a fledgling manufacturer. I think at $75-80k it's a fantastic bargain. At $92k (which I paid for this one) it's not quite as compelling. I haven't decided yet if I intend to keep it long-term, but I'll continue to give it a fair shake over the next few weeks.
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