Rivian R1T first crash ?

[Autolycus]

FWIW, I suspect the most likely answer is that this is an "unintended acceleration" issue. Even if I'm right, whether it was driver-initiated (i.e. hit the accelerator by mistake) or not is still an outstanding question.

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[Speedrye]

FWIW, I suspect the most likely answer is that this is an "unintended acceleration" issue. Even if I'm right, whether it was driver-initiated (i.e. hit the accelerator by mistake) or not is still an outstanding question.

With Ford providing some funding for Rivian, maybe the Mustang slipped a little DNA into the R1T and it was just trying to hit some pedestrians on the sidewalk.

 

[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

 

[Sully151]

I live about 15 minutes from where the crash occurred. I thought about driving by on my way to work to have a look around. We aren’t seeing the whole picture, just the end results.

 

[Friscorays]

Bummer about March 1, 2022.

 

[RivianXpress]

He needed a charge - immediately!

And heard there was a Level 2 in that parking lot...??

 

[Brian Goodwin]

The predictable result of giving average people a vehicle that will go 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Reminds me of Porsche EV video below. Instant acceleration is not for everyone....especially when just the slightest push on the wrong pedal can wipe out several cars.

 

[Tatnai]

Jalopnik reached out to Rivian about the crash and received this (expected) reply:

UPDATE: We got a response from Rivian:

“A Rivian-owned prototype vehicle was involved in an accident near our Irvine facility yesterday. The Rivian employee at the wheel was uninjured, and the accident’s cause was driver error. All safety features performed as intended.”

https://jalopnik.com/the-first-rivian-r1t-crash-has-happened-and-its-a-weird-1847730167

 

[Pherdnut]

The predictable result of giving average people a vehicle that will go 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Reminds me of Porsche EV video below. Instant acceleration is not for everyone....especially when just the slightest push on the wrong pedal can wipe out several cars.

I'm not sure cars are for that driver.

 

[KeithPleas]

Jalopnik had a piece on this - and Rivian's response:

UPDATE: We got a response from Rivian:​

“A Rivian-owned prototype vehicle was involved in an accident near our Irvine facility yesterday. The Rivian employee at the wheel was uninjured, and the accident’s cause was driver error. All safety features performed as intended.”

 

[Brian Goodwin]

Can we take bets on the employee getting fired?

They should call me for training their employees how to actually performance drive. I have been racing for decades and teaching high performance and survival driving skills for decades, the CHP was sending us their cadets when they flunked their driving tests so we could fix their skills, have also trained fireman how to handle the big rigs on wet skidpads at the limit, etc. Just handing over the keys to something that goes instantly so fast has predictable results in the absence of some driver training. The instant acceleration of EV is a new beast to learn, any employee that gets keys should first start on closed course training and work on vehicle control at the limit BEFORE being allowed to drive something this fast on the street. Frankly, they should do like Porsche and offer a "Rivian Driver Experience" so folks can get some wheel time and instruction on a closed course before they take delivery.....would likely save a bunch of early unnecessary 'crash' learning.

That's the 'Porsche Experience Center LA', in pic below (click linked text for video) which is not that far from Rivian in Irvine. They have road and off-road experiences there. Super easy for Rivian to go look at what they could do to help buyers get ready....and keep their employees from causing million dollar claims.

 

[carl]

Can we take bets on the employee getting fired?

They should call me for training their employees how to actually performance drive. I have been racing for decades and teaching high performance driving for decades, the CHP was sending us their cadets when they flunked aggressive driving so we could fix their skills, have also trained fireman how to handle the big rigs on wet skidpads at the limit, etc. Just handing over the keys to something that goes instantly so fast has predictable results in the absence of some driver training. The instant acceleration of EV is a new beast to learn, any employee that gets keys should first start on closed course training and work on vehicle control at the limit BEFORE being allowed to drive something this fast on the street. Frankly, they should do like Porsche and offer a "Rivian Driver Experience" so folks can get some wheel time and instruction on a closed course before they take delivery.....would likely save a bunch of early unnecessary 'crash' learning.

Totally agree with this! I could easily see someone new, or more likely a friend, wanting to "rev the engine" thinking that's possible and off they go.
The other thing that would be easy for any of the EVs to implement would be some sort of performance limitations by default when the GPS sees it's in a neighborhood/driveway/parking lot for example, so if you do accidentally floor-it to get up over that curb like you have to do in some ICE cars.

 

[TessP100D]

Sorry. Not funny. Tiger was seriously hurt in his crash, so even though it’s tempting, lets not drop that low and make fun of somebody’s unfortunate accident.

 

[boneil1]

I am so happy that Rivian has quickly responded to the crash and not let speculation and the media make their own story, unlike Tesla.

 

[protamine]

Can we take bets on the employee getting fired?

50:50. As long as it was a true accident, I'd say not. Could be bad optics. If the guy was drinking, playing on phone, driving too fast then yes.

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