Rivian R1T first crash ?

[mindstormsguy]

The Rivian took more damage than you all seem to think, it's just hidden.

Look at the buckling at the back half of the fender above the wheel well. And look at the plastic trim at the bottom of the door interfering with the fender. There's is likely major frame damage here. It's just not obvious denting at the *front* of the car. This is probably way more expensive damage. It looks like the whole front end has pushed back as a solid piece.

I still want one, but it doesn't look great here.

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[jjswan33]

Was he braking or accelerating? That grass clump that is sticking up looks like he may have been accelerating. Wouldn't it be leaning in the opposite direction if he was braking? And, would there be skid marks on the sidewalk if braking? Just asking.

It better have been braking. Otherwise the automatic collision mitigation malfunctioned.

 

[staples]

Policeman to driver: "what's the make and model of the vehicle"

Driver: "it's a Rivian R1T"

Policeman: "ok, and what's the make"

Driver: "Rivian"

Policeman: "I got that part, but who makes it"

Driver: "Rivian...."

Policeman: "ok wiseguy turn around and place your hands on the vehicle."

This is the same conversation I have with most everybody that sees me charging my motorcycle:

"That's electric?"
"Yes."
"Who makes it?"
"Zero."
"Is it a BMW?"
"No. Zero Motorcycles. They've been around for a decade...<incoherent grumblings>..."

Back on topic:
I wonder if they are going to say anything to the media or their customers about this incident.

In any case this might make the first mile events a bit more interesting. Anybody want to accept the challenge to do more on their test track? ?

 

[Zoidz]

Was he braking or accelerating? That grass clump that is sticking up looks like he may have been accelerating. Wouldn't it be leaning in the opposite direction if he was braking? And, would there be skid marks on the sidewalk if braking? Just asking.

I'm seeing something somewhat different. Antilock brakes try to prevent wheel lock up, which is what makes skid marks. And if you look closely at the sidewalk, there is a dark streak, presumable from the tires attempting to slow the vehicle. So it's not surprising to me that there are no distinct skid marks on the concrete.

To me, the truck was moving pretty quicky (as evidenced by the damage to the other cars and the "debris field" in the grass) and was unstable/bouncing after it left the road. It took a pretty significant shock to break those parts off at that point. The grass on the right side adjacent to the sidewalk is all but undesturbed, like that side of the truck was "flying" a bit. Then the clump of grass was ripped up by the braking of the tire and bouncing as the weight came down, and clumped the grass forward a few inches from its original location. It's anybody's guess, but that's what I see.

 

[dleewla]

How heavy does a car have to be to inflict that much damage to other cars while only incurring minor damage to itself?

Oh yeah, the Rivian is heavy AF. I wouldn't be surprised if its at least 50% heavier than that Explorer.

 

[SANZC02]

The Rivian took more damage than you all seem to think, it's just hidden.

Look at the buckling at the back half of the fender above the wheel well. And look at the plastic trim at the bottom of the door interfering with the fender. There's is likely major frame damage here. It's just not obvious denting at the *front* of the car. This is probably way more expensive damage. It looks like the whole front end has pushed back as a solid piece.

I still want one, but it doesn't look great here.

I’m not surprised, it knocked a 4000 lb Edge completely out of that parking space after destroying the front end of it.

Edit: might be a Ford Explorer, they are closer to 5000 lbs.

 

[DuckTruck]

I'm a car guy, a people guy, and an insurance guy. As such, I hope no one was hurt and that the vehicles are all easily repaired.

That said, I have to admit that the Rivian Guy in me is pleased to see that the R1T looks like it survived the encounter in fairly good shape. If there's a silver lining, it's that the R1T came out in way better shape than the two (unoccupied?) parked cars.

I see speculation that the tie-rod on the left side may have broken. It appears this thing took one hell of a shot to the left front as it hit the curb before going somewhat airborne and taking out the hedge and the other two cars. I'm not sure I'm seeing evidence that the tie-rod is broken, as we can't see the right front wheel to see if it's turned-in to the left as well.

That initial shot to the curb must have been hard enough to knock the hood ornament off and to the left (as pointed out by @Lil'O Annie), as well as leaving a plastic lower front trim panel piece just into the ivy at the end of the yard on the left side. I'm guessing that curb-strike probably gave everyone inside a pretty good jolt.

Still hoping everyone came out of it O.K

 

[Ladiver]

In any case this might make the first mile events a bit more interesting. Anybody want to accept the challenge to do more on their test track? ?

 

[dleewla]

I'm seeing something somewhat different. Antilock brakes try to prevent wheel lock up, which is what makes skid marks. And if you look closely at the sidewalk, there is a dark streak, presumable from the tires attempting to slow the vehicle. So it's not surprising to me that there are no distinct skid marks on the concrete.

To me, the truck was moving pretty quicky (as evidenced by the damage to the other cars and the "debris field" in the grass) and was unstable/bouncing after it left the road. It took a pretty significant shock to break those parts off at that point. The grass on the right side adjacent to the sidewalk is all but undesturbed, like that side of the truck was "flying" a bit. Then the clump of grass was ripped up by the braking of the tire and bouncing as the weight came down, and clumped the grass forward a few inches from its original location. It's anybody's guess, but that's what I see.

I'm continually amazed what detective work folks on the Internet can do. Seriously, if there are any unsolved crimes, lets post it here. It'll get solved in 2 days. ?️‍

Jokes aside, I do hope this is driver error. I'd hate to hear it was a mechanical or software failure that caused the crash.

 

[dleewla]

Can you recall a vehicle before its been released?

 

[SANZC02]

I'm continually amazed what detective work folks on the Internet can do. Seriously, if there are any unsolved crimes, lets post it here. It'll get solved in 2 days. ?️‍

Jokes aside, I do hope this is driver error. I'd hate to hear it was a mechanical or software failure that caused the crash.

I’d be surprised if it was anything other than a simple accident. There are so many of these out there driving around doing 10s of thousands of miles, if it was an issue we probably would have heard about it by now.

The good news is with all of the monitoring they are doing on these test machines, it won’t be hard for them to pinpoint the cause.

 

[Craigins]

Clearly preproduction testing of the Rivian insurance.

 

[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

 

[carl]

Looks like there is at least one camera in the area on the corner of the building to the north east of the turn. If it was pointing at the entrance of the parking lot it's next to, this would all be on "tape" somewhere. I'm sure they'll be getting a call from the NHTSA tomorrow.

Like everyone has said, really hope this was just an unfortunate traffic situation and hope everyone was OK, but I'm sure the driver will have a tough time sleeping the next few days.

 

[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

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