EBEG
Well-Known Member
Other than my R1T, the only other electric car I have driven is the EV1. Our neighbor worked for the electric company in Phoenix (APS) and he had one as his company car.Hi. New here, but I have been around the EV community a while.
I come from a hot-rodding/street car building background. In the late 90's, I got entwined in GM's EV1 debacle, prompting me to focus my efforts more on electric transportation. I ended up working with and consulting with ZAP, ZEN, Sparrow, Barefoot, Zero, Brammo and others in the fledgling EV space. I founded and ran Grants Pass Electric Vehicles, which became the largest licensed EV dealership in the US. As Chinese Lithium cells became more available, I designed and built packs and BMSs for OEMs making the lithium leap.
If memory serves, it was circa 2005 when GM sued me because my BMS design was too close to thiers. It was not lost on us that GM did not make any EVs at that point, and had killed off the EV1 only a short time earlier. It was also relevant that my design, nor any similar design was used in the EV1. I of course did not have the horsepower to go up against GM in a patent fight, so there was that.
Grants Pass Electric Vehicles remained in business and provided early adopters a chance at an EV until the OEMs started producing "real" EVs in 2009.
I am retired, but continue to be an EV enthusiast, and these days I collect them. I still consult and take interesting design jobs. I hold reservations with Tesla, Chevrolet and GMC for EV trucks but was not an early reservation holder with Rivian. I have been impressed with Rivian's design and vision from the start, but mass producing a vehicle is far more difficult than most appreciate. Rivian has not made the leap Tesla did with the M3 into becoming a "real" car maker yet; but I am sure rooting for them!!
I had a reservation for a F150 Lightning, because I need a pickup. Then I got a look inside their pack design. Yikes, too many rookie mistakes in that design. That pack will suffer a lot of early failures due to hot-spotting with its sandwiched pouches and poor cooling.
Rivian, on the other hand, unabashedly copied Teslas packs. Smart. It is a proven design, and will last much longer all things being equal. Add the fact that the R1S is a gorgeous truck, and, well, here I am. They got my reservation money.
hi.
I remember it being very hot inside since the AC was terrible. It also had worse fit and finish inside than a '65 Mustang with an interior my 17 year-old buddy had installed himself. It was slow, but the initial torque burst was fun. It handled like an early '90s compact car carrying 5 adults. That said, it was still a fun experience.
Last year I saw one at the Peterson Museum. It was fun to tell my son about my experience with a museum piece!
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