Reddit Ask MotorTrend Anything (AMA) about their R1T Adventure! [Friday 9/24, 9-11am PT]

[brianmartin]

there was a lot of great information in that thread. i take back my somewhat snarky comments about motor trend

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[protamine]

Thats me. Double nut punch of downvotes and the R1S news. Can read it both ways. I'm hopeful for a December release but realistically thinking february or march at this point. EIther way it'd be for the 2023 SUV OTY as it definitely wont hit the Nov testing window.

 

[kommonplace]

Thats me. Double nut punch of downvotes and the R1S news. Can read it both ways. I'm hopeful for a December release but realistically thinking february or march at this point. EIther way it'd be for the 2023 SUV OTY as it definitely wont hit the Nov testing window.

I upvoted you back to neutral ground.

Their later responses clarified that "next year" means "the next year of SUV of the Year" awards. SUVOTY was decided in August, and they didn't have the R1S available then. Presumably in August 2022, they'll have one to test and it will be eligible.

Truck of the Year isn't decided until October, so the R1T made the cut.

 

[Dark-Fx]

They said that sometimes the L2 chargers wouldn't get them a full charge overnight. I wonder if the reason Rivian isn't putting faster chargers in the truck is because it's rare right now that a public charger is faster than 32A. If the onboard was 80 and you had 80 at home, it might catch you by surprise on a trip when you are used to it being a 0-100% overnight charge every time. It's especially going to be a concern for the Max Pack vehicles.

 

[johnbro23]

I found this interesting…

Charging from 20-80% in 30 min with a 135kwh pack is an average of 162kw. That’s already way better than my experience with Tesla Superchargers- I only get >150kw for charging up to 25% full. If Rivian is capable of a peak rate 57% higher than what they’re doing now (300/190) then theoretical future avg charging speed from 20-80% is 200-250kw range depending on whether they’re holding back charge rate across the whole curve or just the beginning. Tesla has historically held back more at the beginning of the curve, if Rivian does he same it’ll be closer to 200kw. Still awesome

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

They said that sometimes the L2 chargers wouldn't get them a full charge overnight. I wonder if the reason Rivian isn't putting faster chargers in the truck is because it's rare right now that a public charger is faster than 32A. If the onboard was 80 and you had 80 at home, it might catch you by surprise on a trip when you are used to it being a 0-100% overnight charge every time. It's especially going to be a concern for the Max Pack vehicles.

I think it's a matter of cost and balance. The number of people who need L2 charging faster than 11.5kW at home is small. For most people, 11.5kW L2 is more than sufficient, and DCFC is more compelling when traveling.

You want to deliver a broad feature set at a competitive price (while allowing for profit), and that often means prioritizing the "95%" use case over the remaining 5%. The extra cost and weight of faster onboard chargers that few would benefit from is better "spent" in other areas.

 

[crashmtb]

....and also according to the Rivian R1S configuration page for quite some time: "Deliveries begin January 2022."

In related news, I just realized it’s OCTOBER next week. How the hell did that happen? It’s 2022 in a matter of weeks, still no flying cars. But at least an electric spaceship of a truck

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