TFL goes hands on with Rivian R1T

[Max]

^@Max, you're going to see TL's 7 days of flogging the Rivian. Seems like a worthwhile third-party test.

The IG is the real deal for high altitude tow test. 9k' elevation to 11k' elevation in 8 miles. A few high speed curves for added pucker factor. The downhill version of the IG has two runaway truck ramps that were blasted out of granite walls. Throw in Moab trails, and a 350-mile road trip from Denver to Moab with a ton of elevation gains and losses and a yet to be filled out EV charging network along I-70. Since this is live we should also get a decent colder temp checks. Ram TRX supposedly does 0-60 in 3.7 sec, likely not that at any altitude.

Should be worth tuning in the next week. Could care less about any prior drama, just want to see some real world feedback.

Absolutely. I watch these guys all the time and very interested in real world tests they do. It was just a poor judgement on my part to watch this live since it was targeted to those new to Rivian. I assumed it was suppose to cover everything and you know what they say about assumptions.

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[RideAlong]

Cringeworthy. On. So. Many. Levels.

 

[ads75]

TFL did whine a lot in the past when they weren't invited to the press events in Colorado, but most auto outlets weren't. One thing that concerned that event all of those reviews that came out at that time was that most weren't auto reviewers, they seemed like they were tech/Tesla/EV only reviewers, they had little ICE interest. Most of them had never been off roading, so it's easier to impress them on a first off road trip. I wasn't familiar with most of them, I usually watch Doug/Alex on Autos/Throttle House/Straight Pipes/Edmunds/Motor Trend/The Smoking Tire/some TFL/Redline. I am looking forward to TFLs evaluations of the R1T, but its one outlet, and unless something is drastically different, I don't expect to change my mind. TFL does have some good coverage, and some nonsense, but I think they could (or should) edit some of their videos down time wise, sometimes they just go on and on (and I know YouTube likes the longer videos/longer watch times). I just hope TFL points out when they do the tow test, they point out ICE loses efficiency also, and it would be fair for them to compare gas fill vs charge times also. Also looking forward to their range tests, in Colorado, in the winter.

 

[Trekkie]

I was pretty annoyed when they did the super whine fest and trashed other youtube people because they didn't get the invite to the CO event a few months ago. I used to watch the there stuff a lot and really enjoyed their EV tests as they were super real world and their scoring made it real.

Then the Rivian thing came and they whined like children.

That said I'll give this a watch.

 

[Cavalryscout18]

I hope they are able to look past their bias against Rivian in order to give it a fair review...

I have my doubts.

I think they were just a little butt-hurt for being ignored initially. But just like the hot girl who ignores you, as soon as she turn her attention to you, all is forgiven. I thought they did a pretty fair review overall. Looking forward to their more in-depth videos on it.

 

[Cavalryscout18]

They are going to say that is was good, but not as good as the Silverado EV might be… someday.

Are you referring to the video when they were comparing the actual R1T with the hypothetical Silverado from late 2023 (if the world hasn’t ended yet) and were giving GM point on stuff they claimed? That was a pretty dumb video, IMO. “Rivian tows 11,000 pounds but Silverado claims they will eventually have a version that will tow 20,000 pounds so give the win to Silverado ?.” I stopped watching then.

 

[Cavalryscout18]

I was pretty annoyed when they did the super whine fest and trashed other youtube people because they didn't get the invite to the CO event a few months ago. I used to watch the there stuff a lot and really enjoyed their EV tests as they were super real world and their scoring made it real.

Then the Rivian thing came and they whined like children.

That said I'll give this a watch.

I thought their whining was a little much but then I saw some of the people who were invited to the event instead of them; some people had like 5,000 views on their videos from the event and we’re not vehicle people. Felt like Rivian may have tried to give some small channels a chance to grow; car company for the little people. Inviting people like jerryrigeverything over TFL made sense but then when I saw the smaller channels it could understand why TFL was upset given that they had made a few videos of the Rivian with hundreds of thousands of views up to that point and the event was in Colorado and they were not invited. Still no need for whining but I got it now.

 

[Guy]

I thought their whining was a little much but then I saw some of the people who were invited to the event instead of them; some people had like 5,000 views on their videos from the event and we’re not vehicle people. Felt like Rivian may have tried to give some small channels a chance to grow; car company for the little people. Inviting people like jerryrigeverything over TFL made sense but then when I saw the smaller channels it could understand why TFL was upset given that they had made a few videos of the Rivian with hundreds of thousands of views up to that point and the event was in Colorado and they were not invited. Still no need for whining but I got it now.

Rivian invited some small channel from the UK (Transport evolved or something like that). Since they are not and will not be in the UK for some time this seemed pointless. They had limited slots available and seemed a waste to invite this small UK outfit.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

I was in Colorado years ago for a Rivian appreciation event where Roman and TFL crew were there. These were customer appreciation events and him and his crew were just all over the place domineering over the vehicles and he's not a pleasant person to interact with. Don't think most of the people/staff/customers cared much for him.

Honestly I feel that how they conducted themselves at that event was the nail in their coffin.

They were guests just like everyone else, but they acted like they owned the place. Not classy at all.

That's shitty.

I revisited the video while I was watching Long Way Up and noticed their crew (guy with the brown hat) was also there, you can see them in the background of a few of TFL's shots.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Are you referring to the video when they were comparing the actual R1T with the hypothetical Silverado from late 2023 (if the world hasn’t ended yet) and were giving GM point on stuff they claimed? That was a pretty dumb video, IMO. “Rivian tows 11,000 pounds but Silverado claims they will eventually have a version that will tow 20,000 pounds so give the win to Silverado ?.” I stopped watching then.

Yeah, the range comparison part also clinched it for me.

Rivian tows 11k, Silverado might have a 20k towing version, Give them the point.

Rivian also has a 400 mile version, but its not being sold to customers, so give the point to silverado.

Those two WTF moments for me had me exiting their video. That said, you could see the excitement they had after having spent time with Brian etc going over the Rivian, and also having the Rivian in their hands.

I am genuinely excited to see their videos from this week and likely subsequent followup video thereafter. I'm hoping they regret hastily cancelling their preorder the other day after this.

 

[Diddy123]

I think they were just a little butt-hurt for being ignored initially. But just like the hot girl who ignores you, as soon as she turn her attention to you, all is forgiven. I thought they did a pretty fair review overall. Looking forward to their more in-depth videos on it.

I refuse to accept the idea that any hot girls ever ignored me. In my mind, it never happened.

Credit where credit is due. They seem to have put there issues with Rivian behind them, and are giving the truck a fair shake, which is all I was hoping for.

 

[DaveA]

Is the feature where the light bars light up slowly from left to right something that can be turned on and off in settings? Each time they unlocked it to hear the "tweet" sound the light bar just flashed instead. Just assuming its configurable since @Iwantatesla showed it in a video.

 

[SeaGeo]

Rivian invited some small channel from the UK (Transport evolved or something like that). Since they are not and will not be in the UK for some time this seemed pointless. They had limited slots available and seemed a waste to invite this small UK outfit.

They're from the pacific northwest and have about 150,000 youtube subs on a channel focused on cleaber transportation.

 

[AllInev]

Rivian invited some small channel from the UK (Transport evolved or something like that). Since they are not and will not be in the UK for some time this seemed pointless. They had limited slots available and seemed a waste to invite this small UK outfit.

I think Transport Evolved (https://www.youtube.com/c/transportevolved) is actually based somewhere in the PNW (Washington or Oregon). Sure, they have accents, but they live in the US and have been covering the EV world for years now.

 

[drhnbtx]

I believe TFL wasnt invited to the Colorado press event because TFL hasn't always cooperated with release embargos. Given Rivians desire to control information releases, that just made sense to me.

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