MY ACCELERATOR PEDAL BROKE OFF (in Rivian R1T)!!

[SASSquatch]

I don't see a problem with this - of course Rivian is giving preferential access to vehicles in cosideration for neutral to positive reviews. That's the way it works today in the online world, and that's the way it's always been. In the past, it was advertising contracts in automotive magazines in return for neutral to positive reviews. But in the past no one aired the dirty laundry - not so with today's click bait You Tube self promoters.

My problem is when people claim that they are a review outlet. If you are calling yourself a review outlet you have a responsibility to be fair and unbiased. If the very reason you have access is that you have promised to be neutral to positive - you can't be those things. You can be entertainment. You can be marketing. You can't be a serious review outlet.

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[jpal]

My question is why did the OP immediately run to YouTuber in question knowing that it was probably going to be a click-baity/negative article. Seems like the YouTuber had this content before it was posted in this forum - so did the OP proactively reach out to this YouTuber and sell the "scoop"?

 

[Ovfit]

Hello All.

I have been hesitant to post this story / incident in the forum as I'm not necessarily wanting to stir the negativity pot. Overall, I (like so many) have been largely satisfied and, frankly, impressed with my truck (after 3 weeks).

One week after delivery, I was stepping out of my truck at my office (very grateful that I was in my office parking lot and not on the road) and my toe (I wear a size 14 shoe) caught behind the accelerator pedal. This is NOT uncommon for me --depending on the shoes I'm wearing. My big toe (sole of my shoe) caught just the bottom corner of the pedal and, as I tried to step out, I felt it snag it -- but not with very much force or resistance. With just slight additional force, I pulled my right leg out and felt something give. I thought for a split second that there must just be a rubber cap on the pedal that I had "popped off" or something. But, when I looked down, I could not believe what I was seeing. The pedal had broken off right at the top where the "spring housing" screwed the pedal to the mechanism up under the kick panel.

I picked it up and realized that the spring housing which attaches the pedal to the truck is plastic (and obviously very brittle).

I contacted Rivian and - within 30 minutes - had a flat bed tow truck at my office taking the truck to the service center (Salt Lake City).

The very next morning, I got a call from Rivian letting me know my truck was ready to be picked up and that they were deeply sorry for the inconvenience.

There at definitely some positive elements which you can see from this -- the Rivian customer service team are very concerned and very prompt in their assistance and very much want us to be pleased.

** I am not certain whether they swapped my broken pedal for one on a truck which had not yet been delivered (this is what I assume occurred).

Anyway, you may come across a YouTuber reviewer covering this story this week. I want to make certain that I say that I am pleased with the truck overall. Yes, issues like this can be alarming as it is definitely a safety concern to some degree. Is the brake pedal attached in this same way and with similar / weak plastic? I'm not sure.

Hopefully this was just a fluke and the plastic may have been more brittle (hopefully) due to some manufacturing flaw when molding my pedal bracket.

Thought I would share this.

I also wear a size 14 shoe, but I’m sure by the time I get my truck (2023+) there will be a fix.

 

[therealhoff]

My question is why did the OP immediately run to YouTuber

I have this same question. If this happened to me, I would have contacted Rivian service as he did and let them deal with any notification and recall as needed. Hopefully "Throttle pedal broke off" is a serious enough defect that the service department would escalate to engineering the same day with the broken pedal and information necessary to make a priority safety determination and do the right thing. One thing the OP didn't mention (or I didn't pick up on) is previous behavior. If he has Sasquatch feet, was this the first time he ever snagged his foot on the pedal? Maybe his motion of egress tends to create lateral stress on the pedal on a regular basis and the plastic was ultimately fatigued. If you snagged your foot one time and it snapped, that's a huge problem. If you're a big guy and you jam your foot on the pedal with lateral force every time you get out of the truck, it's not good that the pedal broke away, but it also may be a case of a specific usage pattern that exacerbated a weak point.

 

[Khaneric]

I mean influencers and people with personal connections to executives being pushed to the front of the line isn't news because it happens in EVERY SINGLE INDUSTRY out there!

If you are so made about a couple people getting something before you that you will cancel your preorder, so be it, but i can tell you working in the concert ticket sales industry a long time ago, you may think you are at the front of the line, but you are MUCH closer to the back of it with all the insider stuff going on.

 

[HJP1]

I watched the utube video a few days ago and the reviewer did in my opinion try to sensationalize the fact that the peddle broke off. Glad to hear it did not happen while driving and no-one was injured.

 

[SASSquatch]

I mean influencers and people with personal connections to executives being pushed to the front of the line isn't news because it happens in EVERY SINGLE INDUSTRY out there!

If you are so made about a couple people getting something before you that you will cancel your preorder, so be it, but i can tell you working in the concert ticket sales industry a long time ago, you may think you are at the front of the line, but you are MUCH closer to the back of it with all the insider stuff going on.

I think the YouTuber in question was more responding to the fact that he was told he had to be neutral or positive or he wouldn't get continued access to events.

If that is true - and that is a big if - then I would have reacted in a similar way. You can't call yourself a journalist or a reviewer if you can't actually give people the truth because you've agreed to only cover the positive/neutral elements of a review.

You can do that if you want people to view your content as marketing, or entertainment, but if you want to be conducting fair reviews or trying to be an actual journalist, you have to have integrity.

 

[kevinR1Tx2R1Sx1]

Hello All.

I have been hesitant to post this story / incident in the forum as I'm not necessarily wanting to stir the negativity pot. Overall, I (like so many) have been largely satisfied and, frankly, impressed with my truck (after 3 weeks).

One week after delivery, I was stepping out of my truck at my office (very grateful that I was in my office parking lot and not on the road) and my toe (I wear a size 14 shoe) caught behind the accelerator pedal. This is NOT uncommon for me --depending on the shoes I'm wearing. My big toe (sole of my shoe) caught just the bottom corner of the pedal and, as I tried to step out, I felt it snag it -- but not with very much force or resistance. With just slight additional force, I pulled my right leg out and felt something give. I thought for a split second that there must just be a rubber cap on the pedal that I had "popped off" or something. But, when I looked down, I could not believe what I was seeing. The pedal had broken off right at the top where the "spring housing" screwed the pedal to the mechanism up under the kick panel.

I picked it up and realized that the spring housing which attaches the pedal to the truck is plastic (and obviously very brittle).

I contacted Rivian and - within 30 minutes - had a flat bed tow truck at my office taking the truck to the service center (Salt Lake City).

The very next morning, I got a call from Rivian letting me know my truck was ready to be picked up and that they were deeply sorry for the inconvenience.

There at definitely some positive elements which you can see from this -- the Rivian customer service team are very concerned and very prompt in their assistance and very much want us to be pleased.

** I am not certain whether they swapped my broken pedal for one on a truck which had not yet been delivered (this is what I assume occurred).

Anyway, you may come across a YouTuber reviewer covering this story this week. I want to make certain that I say that I am pleased with the truck overall. Yes, issues like this can be alarming as it is definitely a safety concern to some degree. Is the brake pedal attached in this same way and with similar / weak plastic? I'm not sure.

Hopefully this was just a fluke and the plastic may have been more brittle (hopefully) due to some manufacturing flaw when molding my pedal bracket.

Thought I would share this.

Wow!! What an incredible feature!! Instead of shredding your ACL, the pedal releases exactly as it was designed to do!! You should be thankful, my friend. This is analogous to the invention of a sheer bolt on a piece of farming equipment or the release on a ski binding. How they could have ever figured out this was a risk is beyond me. They must have used a computer simulation with various heights, weights, shoe sizes, and footwear. I assume this is standard on all trim levels since it is a safety feature.

 

[Gsxr150]

Here is the thing though. In the video below (starts playing at the moment he discusses access to Rivian events) he makes it clear that Rivian has told him if he isn't covering Rivian in a positive light, his access is getting cut off and he wasn't granted a review R1T. He also says he personally knows influencers who have been prioritized over reservation holders.

Clearly he has an axe to grind with Rivian, and he is invariably biased against them. However, his treatment from Rivian reinforces the perspective that the OutofSpec Kyles and others who have gotten preferential treatment, pricing, and access, are incapable of being unbiased and are more than likely going to get cut off like this poor bastard did if they don't cover Rivian positively.

Which makes all of that content marketing and promotion. This guy was denied because he was unwilling to stuff marketing down our throats even though he has twice the subscriber base than, for example OutofSpec - who not only got access but got a Launch Rivian with Launch pricing. What does that tell you?

Not a good look from Rivian, especially considering that they have already gotten overwhelmingly positive coverage from REAL automotive journalists and publications AND they have overwhelming demand.

This to me is naive and inexperienced leadership decision making and that is what concerns me right now - not a single accelerator pedal mishap.

Fair assessment, for sure. For me personally, I stopped watching OutofSpec Kyle when he budged in line. Lost all respect for that guy as well. He's not big enough to jump ahead in line.

 

[TheSasquatch]

Wow!! What an incredible feature!! Instead of shredding your ACL, the pedal releases exactly as it was designed to do!! You should be thankful, my friend. This is analogous to the invention of a sheer bolt on a piece of farming equipment or the release on a ski binding. How they could have ever figured out this was a risk is beyond me. They must have used a computer simulation with various heights, weights, shoe sizes, and footwear. I assume this is standard on all trim levels since it is a safety feature.

I'm so sorry but you're very misinformed sir. Remember, it was me who broke the pedal off. I'm well aware of what took place. If there were video footage of what occurred, so many of you would have very different comments than the negativity you're attempting to convey here.
As has been stated in no uncertain terms, I merely stepped out of my truck and the tip of my rubber sole on my shoe caught the corner of the pedal. It was such minor force that, when i heard the thump of the pedal falling, I had thought it must've been a rubber pedal cover or something. Stepping out of your car (NOT YANKING, KICKING, TUGGING, JERKING, CRANKING, SWINGING, or OTHERWISE FORCING IN ANY WAY) will not shred your ACL good friend.

The internet is a very difficult place with much freedom for public spin. I can appreciate that in certain instances. This, however, I assumed would take-on much of what is happening here merely because of the disbelief for what actually happened (which, of course, I had as well when it occurred).

The only plausible explanation is the exact awkward angle with which my toe pushed against it hit a weak-point in the plastic spring housing.

I hope anyone who reads this will think twice and process what is being said before spending time trying to re-tell a story which they were not a part of.

That said, Rivian has expressed the appropriate concern and is communicating with me on the incident and there are ongoing R&D investigations which I am happy to be a part of.

 

[R1Tom]

I'm so sorry but you're very misinformed sir. Remember, it was me who broke the pedal off. I'm well aware of what took place. If there were video footage of what occurred, so many of you would have very different comments than the negativity you're attempting to convey here.
As has been stated in no uncertain terms, I merely stepped out of my truck and the tip of my rubber sole on my shoe caught the corner of the pedal. It was such minor force that, when i heard the thump of the pedal falling, I had thought it must've been a rubber pedal cover or something. Stepping out of your car (NOT YANKING, KICKING, TUGGING, JERKING, CRANKING, SWINGING, or OTHERWISE FORCING IN ANY WAY) will not shred your ACL good friend.

The internet is a very difficult place with much freedom for public spin. I can appreciate that in certain instances. This, however, I assumed would take-on much of what is happening here merely because of the disbelief for what actually happened (which, of course, I had as well when it occurred).

The only plausible explanation is the exact awkward angle with which my toe pushed against it hit a weak-point in the plastic spring housing.

I hope anyone who reads this will think twice and process what is being said before spending time trying to re-tell a story which they were not a part of.

That said, Rivian has expressed the appropriate concern and is communicating with me on the incident and there are ongoing R&D investigations which I am happy to be a part of.

If this had been how it was approached from the beginning and not with the sensationalism journalism on YouTube, then maybe...just maybe....what you are seeing in how people are reacting on the internet...might have been a bit different.

 

[kevinR1Tx2R1Sx1]

I'm so sorry but you're very misinformed sir. Remember, it was me who broke the pedal off. I'm well aware of what took place. If there were video footage of what occurred, so many of you would have very different comments than the negativity you're attempting to convey here.
As has been stated in no uncertain terms, I merely stepped out of my truck and the tip of my rubber sole on my shoe caught the corner of the pedal. It was such minor force that, when i heard the thump of the pedal falling, I had thought it must've been a rubber pedal cover or something. Stepping out of your car (NOT YANKING, KICKING, TUGGING, JERKING, CRANKING, SWINGING, or OTHERWISE FORCING IN ANY WAY) will not shred your ACL good friend.

The internet is a very difficult place with much freedom for public spin. I can appreciate that in certain instances. This, however, I assumed would take-on much of what is happening here merely because of the disbelief for what actually happened (which, of course, I had as well when it occurred).

The only plausible explanation is the exact awkward angle with which my toe pushed against it hit a weak-point in the plastic spring housing.

I hope anyone who reads this will think twice and process what is being said before spending time trying to re-tell a story which they were not a part of.

That said, Rivian has expressed the appropriate concern and is communicating with me on the incident and there are ongoing R&D investigations which I am happy to be a part of.

I was just trying to bring some levity to the situation. I am glad you were not hurt and am sorry you are having to deal with this. I am happy to hear that the Rivian team has been attentive. I hope you are back on the road soon. Meanwhile, I will put a few extra miles on my Rivian to ensure the earth stays in its proper orbit.

 

[redantpile]

Maybe those who have access to the vehicle could inspect that part for wear or damage. Check out this video 4 minutes in, for example. Hard to tell from the video how much actual wear there is on that plastic. It could be nothing.

 

[opnwide]

 

[opnwide]

So @TheSasquatch did you get your pedal fixed yet or what’s the deal here?

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