Sponsored

Seattle Rivian Event (photos, reactions). Blue R1T + more details revealed

skyote

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Threads
55
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
5,647
Location
Austin, TX
Vehicles
Jeeps, 2500HD Duramax, R1S Preorder (Dec 2018)
I like the lighter brighter blue, but will probably end up sticking with white.
Sponsored

 

timf

Well-Known Member
First Name
Tim
Joined
May 3, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
675
Reaction score
1,083
Location
Novi, MI
Vehicles
Rivian R1S
Clubs
 
I'm just glad to see exciting new colors. Coming from Tesla, I'm bored with their offerings and am looking for something totally different.
 

EyeOnRivian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Threads
40
Messages
491
Reaction score
435
Location
Chicagoland
Vehicles
Mach-E 4X, Mitsubishi Endeavor. Pre-order: R1S LE
Tesla's color offerings is a pretty low bar to compare against. To date Rivian's is not much better IMO. We've seen sliver, evergreen, white, flat gray and now this light blue. The word exciting does not come to mind. So far Rivian has not officially announced their production color offerings other than there will be 8 exterior colors and 3 interior available at launch. Here's hoping they surprise us with a much more robust exterior color selection.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rad

SEARivian

Active Member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
41
Reaction score
60
Location
Seattle
Vehicles
R1T - El Cap Granite, 20"AT Black
I attended the event and really enjoyed seeing the vehicles in person. I am firmly in the R1T camp, even moreso than I was before. It's beautiful in person and while I probably won't order the blue color we saw, I did like it and hard to gauge it from just photos.

I spent a little time talking with a couple people including a guy who said he was the chief engineer and someone who used to work at Tesla. Here are some tidbits I gathered that I haven't seen shared anywhere but forgive me if they have. It's hard now to keep track of all the info we have shared. I can't obviously validate some of these statements and I'm going off of memory so some of these statements are general and may not have all the detail that was shared with me:

Amazon Deal

- No concerns over production capacity given the Amazon deal because the Normal plant max capacity was around ~250K annually at full scale when Mitsubishi ran it. Should be plenty of room to fill demand.
- Amazon will deploy their new vehicles in a concentrated geographic area at first before rolling out nationwide but they haven't determined what location that will be just yet
- They expect Amazon vehicles to be working 12-16 hours a day so will need to likely be recharged throughout the day and need a dedicated charging infrastructure. It is likely that Rivian owners will be able to gain access to these locations when not in use so the Amazon deal will provide some direct benefit to owners
- The Amazon order was above and beyond their investment stake so doesn't sound like it was a package deal
- Amazon will likely outsource maintenance and support to Rivian which will give them a lot of great data since the vehicles will be used in all kinds of environments and presumably used and abused more than the average Rivian owner

Engineering

- The tank mode option is likely not practical in reality given the long wheelbase of the vehicles. It would put a ton of stress on certain parts of the vehicle.
- I hadn't heard this but I'm sure someone has said this, the platform the R1T and R1S are on will not become the R2T/R2S etc as they upgrade and improve the vehicles over time like car manufacturers do each model year. The 1 will always represent the size/model of skateboard that the R1T and S sit on. They will make improvements over time like any vehicle does and might call it 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 kind of like software. It wasn't clear to me if the models will truly be different over time hardware-wise or if upgrades are more software-based because a comment was made that initial owners will get to participate in upgraded features.
- There will be some assurance that first models rolling off the line will have some sort of warranty to repair/fix any teething issues they don't discover in testing.
- The person I talked to who worked for Tesla said he felt like Rivian is way more prepared and focused on quality to ensure their reputation starts on the right foot. Not saying this to mean Tesla is bad quality. The person just made it clear it feels very different from their time at Tesla, starting with RJ on down in terms of tone, etc.
- They looked into eliminating side mirrors to reduce drag but there are a lot of onerous regulations and some disagreement internally about how effective the eye is at looking at a screen vs. a mirror.
- Probably no surprise but the R1T is more aerodynamic with the bed cover closed.
- Talking with the engineer about how it drives made me more excited. He worked at McLaren previously and said he hasn't driven anything quite like a Rivian in that it handles and performs so well on the street and then transitions offroad and is just as capable. Still blows his mind because it's rare to find a vehicle that handles both environments with ease.

That's all I can think of for now but will add more if I can remember any.
 

SEARivian

Active Member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
41
Reaction score
60
Location
Seattle
Vehicles
R1T - El Cap Granite, 20"AT Black
Forgot one thing. We talked about the roll out kitchen in the R1T gear tunnel and Rivian was blown away by the positive feedback and excitement about it and everyone of course wants to know what else they will think of. They said a lot is in the works but nothing to reveal yet but expect similar levels of excitement. I did ask if the kitchen will be configured so it can be removed and installed and the answer was yes. I'm sure that was an obvious answer but I'm glad I confirmed that it won't have to be a permanent option if you want it.
 

Sponsored

EyeOnRivian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Threads
40
Messages
491
Reaction score
435
Location
Chicagoland
Vehicles
Mach-E 4X, Mitsubishi Endeavor. Pre-order: R1S LE
Great event notes @SEARivian, thanks!

- They expect Amazon vehicles to be working 12-16 hours a day so will need to likely be recharged throughout the day and need a dedicated charging infrastructure. It is likely that Rivian owners will be able to gain access to these locations when not in use so the Amazon deal will provide some direct benefit to owners
Interesting idea. To expound on that a little, since Amazon doesn't expect the first batch (10k) vehicles to hit the road until 2022, and on top of that as you indicated in only concentrated geographic areas, I suspect it will be quite a few years before these chargers become widely available especially for long trips. (Similarly with the level 2 data that will be collected.) None the less, more charging locations is always good. Question will be, how much will Amazon charge to use them. Perhaps it will be free if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber? (wink-wink Amazon ;))

Forgot one thing. We talked about the roll out kitchen in the R1T gear tunnel and Rivian was blown away by the positive feedback and excitement about it and everyone of course wants to know what else they will think of. They said a lot is in the works but nothing to reveal yet but expect similar levels of excitement. I did ask if the kitchen will be configured so it can be removed and installed and the answer was yes. I'm sure that was an obvious answer but I'm glad I confirmed that it won't have to be a permanent option if you want it.
Good question to get confirmed. What would be nice is if they offer a scaled down pullout kitchen that,say, only uses half the gear tunnel. Benefits would be a lower price point (I'm assuming the full size pullout kitchen option won't be cheap) while keeping the other half available for storage (e.g. groceries, perhaps an OEM mini-fridge, etc).
 

Estolworthy

Active Member
First Name
Eric
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Threads
2
Messages
32
Reaction score
24
Location
Oxnard, CA
Vehicles
Infiniti and Kia
Occupation
LEO
I like the lighter brighter blue, but will probably end up sticking with white.
My concern with the white is the headlight and light bar will look yellow next to the white
 

aAlpine

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Threads
22
Messages
333
Reaction score
646
Location
Victoria, BC
Vehicles
Ioniq 5, 4Runner
In this full clip of RJ's talk, at 4:30 there's a video played including new short clips of the development process on what looks is a closed testing facility + a bit later photos of the 2 test vehicles in South America, which I think we saw in Atlanta already. Would love it for Rivian to post online that video + those wallpaper worthy photos! ;)

 

Sponsored

skyote

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Threads
55
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
5,647
Location
Austin, TX
Vehicles
Jeeps, 2500HD Duramax, R1S Preorder (Dec 2018)
My concern with the white is the headlight and light bar will look yellow next to the white
I had the same thought, but I think it looks fine.

Rivian R1T R1S Seattle Rivian Event (photos, reactions). Blue R1T + more details revealed RIVIAN1
 

hola29

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
246
Reaction score
266
Location
USA
Vehicles
R1S
Very exciting. I prefer the steel blue in the mocks on this site. A deep metallic blue would be my first choice. Excited to go to the SF event. One thing that I want to gauge is size. I was a little bummed that the smallest Rivian is over 200". Parking in the SF Bay Area, especially in the cities is a hassle. So much storage on these cars that is going to be empty frequently, seems like they could have easily cut a few inches here/there but that's probably a minority opinion :)
 

ElectricTrucking

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Threads
3
Messages
374
Reaction score
288
Location
USA
Vehicles
Porsche 911, Chevy Bolt
I'm sure if it was cut down to an extended cab it would make the 200" but then you would be pushing for a work truck and that isn't the purpose for most buyers. Take out the tunnel while you are at it and go to a single cab. We would end up with a true skate board. I lived in the east bay for 55 years and yes a pickup was a hindrance quit often.
 

skyote

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Threads
55
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
5,647
Location
Austin, TX
Vehicles
Jeeps, 2500HD Duramax, R1S Preorder (Dec 2018)
It will be fine. I drove a crew cab, 3/4 ton, 6.5 ft bed truck in a downtown environment for awhile.

There were parking garages where the truck was too tall, many very tight garages & normal or parallel spots, etc. It could be annoying, but it was always manageable.

Rivian is much smaller & won't have any of the height clearance issues, and is shorter than most other trucks.

Learn to back into parking spots...it can be necessary in longer vehicles.
 

hola29

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
246
Reaction score
266
Location
USA
Vehicles
R1S
I'm sure if it was cut down to an extended cab it would make the 200" but then you would be pushing for a work truck and that isn't the purpose for most buyers. Take out the tunnel while you are at it and go to a single cab. We would end up with a true skate board. I lived in the east bay for 55 years and yes a pickup was a hindrance quit often.
Sorry, I was talking about the R1S, the SUV...:). Excited to see it in person.
Sponsored

 
 




Top