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SeaGeo

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Rivian R1T R1S Rants and Raves after 2 months of Rivian R1T ownership [DISCLAIMER: Unauthorized feedback from non-owner] 1641764412651


As a note, the manual implies that the truck does perform battery conditioning. Though it's not clear about if it heats the battery, cools it, or both. By default I'd assume both.
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r1t_kev

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Panel gaps and non-working rear climate control isn’t proprietary info when these deliveries are being counted by the manufacturer as customer deliveries.
Think its fair to say anyone adamant or passionate employee deliveries should count as customer deliveries had incentive to do so.
Calling these "customer deliveries" when they were really "employee deliveries" is a bit disingenuous, so I can see where the indignation comes from.

Proprietary or not, they apparently don't want employees sharing information from their early products - that doesn't seem unreasonable or unusual.
 

Cosmacelf

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Proprietary or not, they apparently don't want employees sharing information from their early products - that doesn't seem unreasonable or unusual.
Right. I actually cannot recall ever seeing an early employee delivery Tesla get this kind of treatment and I've been a TMC forum member for the Model X, 3, and Y rollouts. Almost by definition, employee early delivery vehicles are going to have problems. So writing a "review" based on such a vehicle isn't useful or fair. You might as well be knocking a prototype.
 

the long way downunder

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With respect, this has been covered ad nauseam in the relevant threads. I (and I’m sure others) have no desire to rehash it here.
perhaps you could point to one or more "relevant" threads?
 

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gombater

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There are a lot of reasons about the licensing and implementation issues that others can explain better, but a big reason is possibility for future revenue streams.

All these companies want to control the ecosystem for multiple reasons, but one of the big ones is selling you apps in the future. Think Tesla App Store or Rivian App Store. If you use CarPlay, Apple gets the revenue from the paid apps you buy in their App Store. Right now if you buy something like a GPS Overlanding app through the apple App Store on your phone and use it through CarPlay, Apple gets a piece of the revenue and Rivian gets nothing. If Rivian or Tesla can sell the app to you through their App Store they get that percentage that Apple would have taken.
I think there is another simpler reason as well. Last 50 years autos/mobile machines make the majority of their profit from spare parts/aftermarket... to compete against low labor country product and less components to break, you need a new business model - services.
my employer makes much more profit from 30 years of parts then they do first sale... but that model is dying and they know it. With electrification, I new model is needed, focusing on services growth, autonomous operation, etc... things you can charge annual subscriptions for.
 

intimidator

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Some real concerns there. I can only hope the R1T/R1S doesn't go the way of the iPace.. immense early hype, excellent all around car, completely crippled by poor range/charging/software.

Whenever a company says "oh we'll just OTA fix it!" my immediate reaction is "if it's that easy to fix, why'd you sell it broken?"

Also just could be a lemon. I hate to say it but I fully expect 5-15% of LE R1T/R1S cars to be lemon or near lemon status. It's a pretty consistent problem with EVs. See Mach E, Polestar, Taycan, iPace, eTron, etc etc..
Can you imagine if you wait 3 years, or more, to get your Rivian and then when you take delivery it has significant problems.

Man, that would be heart breaking. I am pulling for Rivian all the way, but I can see Ford and Chevy doing okay with their EV pickup trucks. They have the experience mass producing vehicles. IMO it will show in their roll outs. i.e. fewer initial problems.
 

intimidator

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I think there is another simpler reason as well. Last 50 years autos/mobile machines make the majority of their profit from spare parts/aftermarket... to compete against low labor country product and less components to break, you need a new business model - services.
my employer makes much more profit from 30 years of parts then they do first sale... but that model is dying and they know it. With electrification, I new model is needed, focusing on services growth, autonomous operation, etc... things you can charge annual subscriptions for.
The dealers are going to be under a lot of pressure.

The manufacturers will not leave much on the table for the dealers to dip into as far as subscriptions go.

And honestly, the average guy or gal resists committing to monthly subscriptions, and sure aren't accustom to doing that for their car.
 

WrekEE

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Can you imagine if you wait 3 years, or more, to get your Rivian and then when you take delivery it has significant problems.

Man, that would be heart breaking. I am pulling for Rivian all the way, but I can see Ford and Chevy doing okay with their EV pickup trucks. They have the experience mass producing vehicles. IMO it will show in their roll outs. i.e. fewer initial problems.
Owning 2 Fords and all the issues that we have had with our 2017 Raptor and 2019 Expedition. I don't know how you can say that Ford and Chevy doing "Ok" with their EV pickups.

I also have a Jeep Wrangler 4xe. Its been a awful mess, been left stranded. Anytime you have anything with new technologies... they will send it out and have lots of recalls with the new models.
 

svet-am

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Calling these "customer deliveries" when they were really "employee deliveries" is a bit disingenuous, so I can see where the indignation comes from.

Proprietary or not, they apparently don't want employees sharing information from their early products - that doesn't seem unreasonable or unusual.
I will call out myself here. When the deliveries started, I was among those who said that employee deliveries were still deliveries. Now we're learning that the employee deliveries are on a special internal-only OTA feed? That doesn't sit well with me and I no longer count those as valid customer deliveries because these trucks aren't having the same experience that any other customer would.

Related, it also makes we me curious about any "special configuration" the R1T that Doug DeMuro drove had since the forum sleuths determined he was using Brian Gase's truck.
 

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Cosmacelf

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but I can see Ford and Chevy doing okay with their EV pickup trucks. They have the experience mass producing vehicles. IMO it will show in their roll outs. i.e. fewer initial problems.
What the heck are you talking about? Haven’t you noticed that all GM Bolt batteries have been recalled for destructive fires? Ford and Chevy will have as steep a learning curve in EVs as everyone else.
 

Lil'Dave

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I currently own two 2013 Chevy Volts that my kids drive. Each has over 130K on them. They can easily beat the EPA range when temps are above 40 degrees. I drove a 2012 and a 2016 Volt to nearly 100K with no issues. We've had a few minor repairs done on the 13's but my overall experience with GM and their batteries has been good. The dealers have been servicing Volts/Bolts for years so I would be confident buying a GM EV.

I'm hoping all the extra time Rivian is taking will result in a solid product release. I prefer the specs/price of the Rivian but have the Silverado as a backup.
 

SeaGeo

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What the heck are you talking about? Haven’t you noticed that all GM Bolt batteries have been recalled for destructive fires? Ford and Chevy will have as steep a learning curve in EVs as everyone else.
The bolt issue was a manufacturing defect by LG. No GM. It's fun to pick on GM, but they didn't make those cells.
 

SeaGeo

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I will call out myself here. When the deliveries started, I was among those who said that employee deliveries were still deliveries. Now we're learning that the employee deliveries are on a special internal-only OTA feed? That doesn't sit well with me and I no longer count those as valid customer deliveries because these trucks aren't having the same experience that any other customer would.

Related, it also makes we me curious about any "special configuration" the R1T that Doug DeMuro drove had since the forum sleuths determined he was using Brian Gase's truck.
No different than any other pretense review basically. It's not like it had added features in it.
 

Cavalryscout18

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It’s true that it was an LG battery but I don’t think GM gets a pass on that since this is part of their chosen process; “it’s LGs fault” is fine for lawyers but at the end of the day, they had to recall all Bolts because of a risk of them spontaneously bursting into flames while charging. I don’t think that all of the owners who want their money back and GM says no are blaming LG. This is creating a huge headache for GM as In Q4’21, they sold 25 Bolts and 1 Hummer. But as we know, this is their first attempt at full EV and it seems like even legacy automakers are not impervious to botching their first attempt. They will learn and get better but I don’t think any manufacture will get it right without some growing pains first. I agree that Rivian will probably have a little more of a learning curve but I would not bet that the Lighting/Hummer will be all smooth sailing from the get-go.
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