Thoughts after Day 1 of R1S Ownership

[R1Sky Business]

If it stops raining long enough in Seattle for me to grab some decent videos/photos I'll do so and post them. I will say however that similar to other posters these things look better in person than they do in the photos. Best look I got prior to taking delivery was through the fence at the Seattle Service Center. Obviously heavy post decisional justification bias in play here but in my humble opinion the lines are really nice and the 'boxy' look is a really refreshing departure from the increasingly commoditized look of most EV's which has a softer, rounded look. Also like many others we vacillated on many colors before finally settling on the El Cap Granite. I will say that many of the colors also look really great in person, and totally different than online. The red looks nothing like the photos online when you see it in person. El Cap might be a bit 'plain' for some peoples taste but in person it's a really 'deep' grey with some nice 'flecking' that just doesn't show up in the photos. But will post some photos/videos shortly weather permitting.

I wouldn't mind videos in the rain

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[AaronTV]

22' wheels?! That's one helluva lift! How would you even get in that thing? Sorry, I couldn't resist

Glad you're enjoying the R1S so far. My wife and I love our R1T.

 

[PappaBolt]

If it stops raining long enough in Seattle for me to grab some decent videos/photos I'll do so and post them. I will say however that similar to other posters these things look better in person than they do in the photos. Best look I got prior to taking delivery was through the fence at the Seattle Service Center. Obviously heavy post decisional justification bias in play here but in my humble opinion the lines are really nice and the 'boxy' look is a really refreshing departure from the increasingly commoditized look of most EV's which has a softer, rounded look. Also like many others we vacillated on many colors before finally settling on the El Cap Granite. I will say that many of the colors also look really great in person, and totally different than online. The red looks nothing like the photos online when you see it in person. El Cap might be a bit 'plain' for some peoples taste but in person it's a really 'deep' grey with some nice 'flecking' that just doesn't show up in the photos. But will post some photos/videos shortly weather permitting.

Great to hear from another Seattlite with an R1S. Appreciate the first impressions. I may have missed it but what is your spec? Color, options

I took delivery Monday from the Bellevue SC. Looking forward to some quality time this weekend.

 

[Yossarian]

Great summary @rivianguy and congrats on your new ride.

We have Canvasback cargo and seat-back liners in our Telluride, and I can't recommend their products highly enough. Canvasback uses high-quality materials and the workmanship is first-rate. We obviously can't speak to the fitment on the R1S, but they fit our Telluride as if they were made at a Kia factory. The icing on the cake is that the company is great to deal with. I have no connection to the company, just a lot of respect for them and their products.

In conclusion: Pictures please!

 

[rivianguy]

Great to hear from another Seattlite with an R1S. Appreciate the first impressions. I may have missed it but what is your spec? Color, options

I took delivery Monday from the Bellevue SC. Looking forward to some quality time this weekend.

Nice ride Papa! We can high five each other if we pass by on the streets of Seattle. My config was R1S LE, 22" sport Brights, El Cap with underbody. Also got cargo racks etc. but those haven't arrived yet.

 

[rivianguy]

Great summary @rivianguy and congrats on your new ride.

We have Canvasback cargo and seat-back liners in our Telluride, and I can't recommend their products highly enough. Canvasback uses high-quality materials and the workmanship is first-rate. We obviously can't speak to the fitment on the R1S, but they fit our Telluride as if they were made at a Kia factory. The icing on the cake is that the company is great to deal with. I have no connection to the company, just a lot of respect for them and their products.

In conclusion: Pictures please!

I'll post a few photos later today, rain or shine. Been too busy actually driving the damn thing!

 

[PappaBolt]

My config was R1S LE, 22" sport Brights, El Cap with underbody. Also got cargo racks etc. but those haven't arrived yet.

Sweet ride! Looking forward to seeing you out there on the street. LMK what you think of the cargo racks. I’m also considering, along with cargo cover, compact spare, recovery boards and recovery kit.

 

[rivianguy]

Pics or it didn't happen!

Here is a photo for all you haters out there.

 

[TeslaDom]

I'll turn on the hate then


Your R1S Sucks.... because I have to wait a year for mine. Maybe if I write about how much it sucks, then people will cancel their orders and I'll get mine sooner.... wishful (evil) thinking???


As a side note how are the panel gaps?

 

[rivianguy]

I'll turn on the hate then


Your R1S Sucks.... because I have to wait a year for mine. Maybe if I write about how much it sucks, then people will cancel their orders and I'll get mine sooner.... wishful (evil) thinking???


As a side note how are the panel gaps?

It worked for me! I plan to go through the panels with a fine toothed comb over the next day or so and will report back if I see anything.

 

[Taco Corp]

"Stalks: I'm reasonably tech saavy but I would say one of the steeper learning curves in the first day is figuring out how to properly use the right and left stalks on steering wheel. Tons of important functionality on these packed into a small amount of real-estate. Definitely still learning here."

Just wait until you end up going somewhere where you have to rent a car with the normal ICE stalks. I found myself trying to shift from park with the stalk on a rental car an embarrassing amount of times in the week I was driving it around in Austin.

 

[Deacon]

If it stops raining long enough in Seattle for me to grab some decent videos/photos I'll do so and post them. I will say however that similar to other posters these things look better in person than they do in the photos. Best look I got prior to taking delivery was through the fence at the Seattle Service Center. Obviously heavy post decisional justification bias in play here but in my humble opinion the lines are really nice and the 'boxy' look is a really refreshing departure from the increasingly commoditized look of most EV's which has a softer, rounded look. Also like many others we vacillated on many colors before finally settling on the El Cap Granite. I will say that many of the colors also look really great in person, and totally different than online. The red looks nothing like the photos online when you see it in person. El Cap might be a bit 'plain' for some peoples taste but in person it's a really 'deep' grey with some nice 'flecking' that just doesn't show up in the photos. But will post some photos/videos shortly weather permitting.

I picked up my red r1t yesterday and agree - the color is much better in person. I really like it - I call it an earthy red - and there is a tint of orange to it. It started raining on my way home and I was really fumbling around trying to figure out how to get the wipers started - finally got them on auto and it went great. Thanks for the heads up about the compressor and the Alexa contacts. Feel like I am driving a spaceship! It is one awesome truck.

 

[japine]

Others have done a great job of providing detailed reviews of their vehicles so I won't attempt that here. Instead I'll just give a few thoughts for those who are still awaiting delivery.

Background
Took delivery of my R1S yesterday. LE, 22' Sport Brights w Underbody. First EV so my impressions are going to be flavored not only by Rivian but also EV ownership in general.

I'll start with "The Bad" (though not really bad, just stuff to be aware of)...

Air Compressor: Like some others on this forum the air compressor hose doesn't fit on the coupling due to cargo mounted coupling being too recessed. I strongly recommend that anyone taking delivery make this part of their inspection. Rivian has already scheduled an appointment to address this.

Touch Screen: A bit finicky in places, particularly in adjusting passenger side temperature. The 'activation zone' (at least in my unit) is a bit to the left of what the screen would indicate which can give you the impression that it isn't working (adjusting passenger temp up and down) but it's just offset to the left a bit.

Cooled Seats: I'm not entirely sure mine are working as intended. If they are it's pretty low power which is different than what I've read on some of the forums. Going to get this checked out and if you are taking delivery you might want to do this with your delivery specialist.
See update on AC below.

AC: Not overwhelming so far. Takes a fair bit for the cabin to cool down and I live in Seattle so it's not exactly the hottest place in the world. Also the 'vent' on the drivers side seems to be less responsive to the touch controls (positioning) than some of the other vents.
Update: Now that I'm more familiar with the climate controls I was able to make a few adjustments (activated a few vents which weren't on, also activated rear floor vents) and the cooling (both AC and cooling seats) are working much better.

Ride Height: For those of you who have shorter family members I will warn you that this vehicle sits pretty high, even at it's lowest settings. Not an issue for average sized folks but for shorter folks or people with dogs you may find that they have a bit of trouble accessing things at the bottom of the frunk, or jumping up (in the case of dogs) into the back.

Cargo liner: If you are living an active lifestyle or especially if you have dogs you'll probably want to get a cargo liner straight away. I purchased one from Canvasback who worked with an R1S owner in Minnesota to custom measure and design a solution. I didn't think I would need the lift gate cover but after seeing the vehicle I realize that I will. https://www.canvasback.com/rivian-r1s-cargo-liner.html Note: I am not an employee nor do I get kickbacks from Canvasback.

Stalks: I'm reasonably tech saavy but I would say one of the steeper learning curves in the first day is figuring out how to properly use the right and left stalks on steering wheel. Tons of important functionality on these packed into a small amount of real-estate. Definitely still learning here.

Seats: Like some others have said it would have been nice to see powered fold down on all the seats in the back. Not a deal breaker by any stretch but I can see this being a bit tedious over time.

Charging: I also have the Rivian charger installed at home. Seemed to work as advertised (plug and charge with no fuss) but I'm still figuring out what the different flashing/light ups etc. on the front charge bar mean. Might write more on this later.

Alexa: Excited about the prospects here but did have quite a few issues getting it to work properly, especially with phone calling. Be careful about importing all of your contacts from your phone as it appears as if Alexa can get confused quite easily if there are also 'Alexa specific' contacts with the same name.

Now here's "The Good"...

Performance: Hard to describe how good this is. Honestly I'm not the 'fanboy' type so I'm not going to gush but the drive of this vehicle is simply exceptional. The power, the handling, the visibility etc. is unlike anything I've ever experienced. This bullet point alone justifies the cost of the vehicle.

One foot driving: For those of you like me who are first time EV owners you are in for a treat. I have yet to use the brake and it will be difficult to go back to an ICE after this. Qualitative estimate would be 30% reduction in overall 'driver fatigue' from this alone.

Self-driving: My previous vehicle had adaptive cruise control so used to this. Did get a chance to try the full 'drivers assist' experience on the highway yesterday and it's the real deal. Definitely wouldn't crawl into the back and have a nap (nor would the vehicle let you) but it performed very well and I can see this being a huge asset on long road trips. Will be unbelievable when full autonomous comes online (game changer)

Range: Drove it a good chunk of the day yesterday (mostly city driving) and only managed to get it down to about 80% (took delivery at 100%). Really pleased with the range I'm seeing on the 22'

Charging: Nothing new to long time EV owners, but for a first timer like me it's really something to just plug in and be topped up at home. Was painless and fast (I think it took about 30 mins or something on my home charger). Really transformational if you grew up knowing nothing but ICE.

Size: There has been a lot written about the size of this vehicle. For reference my previous vehicle was an Acura MDX. From a driving perspective I find this vehicle very similar in terms of external dimensions (how it feels on the road). Internally however there seems to be significantly more room. I'm about 6'2 and the internal height of the vehicle is really nice. Tons of head room.

Lights: The 'strip' at the front of the vehicle is more than just cosmetic. When driving last night I'd say the road was lit about 40% better than with my previous vehicle. Really nice for eye fatigue.

Cameras: I find myself driving with the cameras active on the touch screen which gives you a tremendous amount of situational awareness of who is around you. This in addition to the great visibility of the vehicle and the blind spot detection gives you a pretty solid feeling of safety.

Sound System: Haven't seen a lot written about this, but the sound system is exceptional (at least from my experience) Really clear, immersive sound that traverses the mundane (cell phone calls) to the sublime (rocking out with your son to 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons

Service: Rivian called me not 30 minutes after my taking delivery to schedule a service appointment to get the Air Compressor housing fixed up. I've never seen that level of service from anyone, let alone an automotive dealer so hopefully that bodes well for the future, and future owners.

Overall a 12 out of 10 so far.

Others have done a great job of providing detailed reviews of their vehicles so I won't attempt that here. Instead I'll just give a few thoughts for those who are still awaiting delivery.

Background
Took delivery of my R1S yesterday. LE, 22' Sport Brights w Underbody. First EV so my impressions are going to be flavored not only by Rivian but also EV ownership in general.

I'll start with "The Bad" (though not really bad, just stuff to be aware of)...

Air Compressor: Like some others on this forum the air compressor hose doesn't fit on the coupling due to cargo mounted coupling being too recessed. I strongly recommend that anyone taking delivery make this part of their inspection. Rivian has already scheduled an appointment to address this.

Touch Screen: A bit finicky in places, particularly in adjusting passenger side temperature. The 'activation zone' (at least in my unit) is a bit to the left of what the screen would indicate which can give you the impression that it isn't working (adjusting passenger temp up and down) but it's just offset to the left a bit.

Cooled Seats: I'm not entirely sure mine are working as intended. If they are it's pretty low power which is different than what I've read on some of the forums. Going to get this checked out and if you are taking delivery you might want to do this with your delivery specialist.
See update on AC below.

AC: Not overwhelming so far. Takes a fair bit for the cabin to cool down and I live in Seattle so it's not exactly the hottest place in the world. Also the 'vent' on the drivers side seems to be less responsive to the touch controls (positioning) than some of the other vents.
Update: Now that I'm more familiar with the climate controls I was able to make a few adjustments (activated a few vents which weren't on, also activated rear floor vents) and the cooling (both AC and cooling seats) are working much better.

Ride Height: For those of you who have shorter family members I will warn you that this vehicle sits pretty high, even at it's lowest settings. Not an issue for average sized folks but for shorter folks or people with dogs you may find that they have a bit of trouble accessing things at the bottom of the frunk, or jumping up (in the case of dogs) into the back.

Cargo liner: If you are living an active lifestyle or especially if you have dogs you'll probably want to get a cargo liner straight away. I purchased one from Canvasback who worked with an R1S owner in Minnesota to custom measure and design a solution. I didn't think I would need the lift gate cover but after seeing the vehicle I realize that I will. https://www.canvasback.com/rivian-r1s-cargo-liner.html Note: I am not an employee nor do I get kickbacks from Canvasback.

Stalks: I'm reasonably tech saavy but I would say one of the steeper learning curves in the first day is figuring out how to properly use the right and left stalks on steering wheel. Tons of important functionality on these packed into a small amount of real-estate. Definitely still learning here.

Seats: Like some others have said it would have been nice to see powered fold down on all the seats in the back. Not a deal breaker by any stretch but I can see this being a bit tedious over time.

Charging: I also have the Rivian charger installed at home. Seemed to work as advertised (plug and charge with no fuss) but I'm still figuring out what the different flashing/light ups etc. on the front charge bar mean. Might write more on this later.

Alexa: Excited about the prospects here but did have quite a few issues getting it to work properly, especially with phone calling. Be careful about importing all of your contacts from your phone as it appears as if Alexa can get confused quite easily if there are also 'Alexa specific' contacts with the same name.

Now here's "The Good"...

Performance: Hard to describe how good this is. Honestly I'm not the 'fanboy' type so I'm not going to gush but the drive of this vehicle is simply exceptional. The power, the handling, the visibility etc. is unlike anything I've ever experienced. This bullet point alone justifies the cost of the vehicle.

One foot driving: For those of you like me who are first time EV owners you are in for a treat. I have yet to use the brake and it will be difficult to go back to an ICE after this. Qualitative estimate would be 30% reduction in overall 'driver fatigue' from this alone.

Self-driving: My previous vehicle had adaptive cruise control so used to this. Did get a chance to try the full 'drivers assist' experience on the highway yesterday and it's the real deal. Definitely wouldn't crawl into the back and have a nap (nor would the vehicle let you) but it performed very well and I can see this being a huge asset on long road trips. Will be unbelievable when full autonomous comes online (game changer)

Range: Drove it a good chunk of the day yesterday (mostly city driving) and only managed to get it down to about 80% (took delivery at 100%). Really pleased with the range I'm seeing on the 22'

Charging: Nothing new to long time EV owners, but for a first timer like me it's really something to just plug in and be topped up at home. Was painless and fast (I think it took about 30 mins or something on my home charger). Really transformational if you grew up knowing nothing but ICE.

Size: There has been a lot written about the size of this vehicle. For reference my previous vehicle was an Acura MDX. From a driving perspective I find this vehicle very similar in terms of external dimensions (how it feels on the road). Internally however there seems to be significantly more room. I'm about 6'2 and the internal height of the vehicle is really nice. Tons of head room.

Lights: The 'strip' at the front of the vehicle is more than just cosmetic. When driving last night I'd say the road was lit about 40% better than with my previous vehicle. Really nice for eye fatigue.

Cameras: I find myself driving with the cameras active on the touch screen which gives you a tremendous amount of situational awareness of who is around you. This in addition to the great visibility of the vehicle and the blind spot detection gives you a pretty solid feeling of safety.

Sound System: Haven't seen a lot written about this, but the sound system is exceptional (at least from my experience) Really clear, immersive sound that traverses the mundane (cell phone calls) to the sublime (rocking out with your son to 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons

Service: Rivian called me not 30 minutes after my taking delivery to schedule a service appointment to get the Air Compressor housing fixed up. I've never seen that level of service from anyone, let alone an automotive dealer so hopefully that bodes well for the future, and future owners.

Overall a 12 out of 10 so far.

Fantastic Review Rivian Guy. I am not sure you are aware of this feature (I was never shown) but to the left and right of the scroll buttons on the steering wheel you will find rubber buttons that can be pressed. Long hold the left side (on the left of the scroll wheel) for a few seconds and you will get a few screens on your display. Mine has tire pressure, map and music if memory serves. I have noticed most people had no idea those were a thing.

Johnny

 

[japine]

Fantastic Review Rivian Guy. I am not sure you are aware of this feature (I was never shown) but to the left and right of the scroll buttons on the steering wheel you will find rubber buttons that can be pressed. Long hold the left side (on the left of the scroll wheel) for a few seconds and you will get a few screens on your display. Mine has tire pressure, map and music if memory serves. I have noticed most people had no idea those were a thing.

Johnny

 

[Chgroth]

Others have done a great job of providing detailed reviews of their vehicles so I won't attempt that here. Instead I'll just give a few thoughts for those who are still awaiting delivery.

Background
Took delivery of my R1S yesterday. LE, 22' Sport Brights w Underbody. First EV so my impressions are going to be flavored not only by Rivian but also EV ownership in general.

I'll start with "The Bad" (though not really bad, just stuff to be aware of)...

Air Compressor: Like some others on this forum the air compressor hose doesn't fit on the coupling due to cargo mounted coupling being too recessed. I strongly recommend that anyone taking delivery make this part of their inspection. Rivian has already scheduled an appointment to address this.

Touch Screen: A bit finicky in places, particularly in adjusting passenger side temperature. The 'activation zone' (at least in my unit) is a bit to the left of what the screen would indicate which can give you the impression that it isn't working (adjusting passenger temp up and down) but it's just offset to the left a bit.

Cooled Seats: I'm not entirely sure mine are working as intended. If they are it's pretty low power which is different than what I've read on some of the forums. Going to get this checked out and if you are taking delivery you might want to do this with your delivery specialist.
See update on AC below.

AC: Not overwhelming so far. Takes a fair bit for the cabin to cool down and I live in Seattle so it's not exactly the hottest place in the world. Also the 'vent' on the drivers side seems to be less responsive to the touch controls (positioning) than some of the other vents.
Update: Now that I'm more familiar with the climate controls I was able to make a few adjustments (activated a few vents which weren't on, also activated rear floor vents) and the cooling (both AC and cooling seats) are working much better.

Ride Height: For those of you who have shorter family members I will warn you that this vehicle sits pretty high, even at it's lowest settings. Not an issue for average sized folks but for shorter folks or people with dogs you may find that they have a bit of trouble accessing things at the bottom of the frunk, or jumping up (in the case of dogs) into the back.

Cargo liner: If you are living an active lifestyle or especially if you have dogs you'll probably want to get a cargo liner straight away. I purchased one from Canvasback who worked with an R1S owner in Minnesota to custom measure and design a solution. I didn't think I would need the lift gate cover but after seeing the vehicle I realize that I will. https://www.canvasback.com/rivian-r1s-cargo-liner.html Note: I am not an employee nor do I get kickbacks from Canvasback.

Stalks: I'm reasonably tech saavy but I would say one of the steeper learning curves in the first day is figuring out how to properly use the right and left stalks on steering wheel. Tons of important functionality on these packed into a small amount of real-estate. Definitely still learning here.

Seats: Like some others have said it would have been nice to see powered fold down on all the seats in the back. Not a deal breaker by any stretch but I can see this being a bit tedious over time.

Charging: I also have the Rivian charger installed at home. Seemed to work as advertised (plug and charge with no fuss) but I'm still figuring out what the different flashing/light ups etc. on the front charge bar mean. Might write more on this later.

Alexa: Excited about the prospects here but did have quite a few issues getting it to work properly, especially with phone calling. Be careful about importing all of your contacts from your phone as it appears as if Alexa can get confused quite easily if there are also 'Alexa specific' contacts with the same name.

Now here's "The Good"...

Performance: Hard to describe how good this is. Honestly I'm not the 'fanboy' type so I'm not going to gush but the drive of this vehicle is simply exceptional. The power, the handling, the visibility etc. is unlike anything I've ever experienced. This bullet point alone justifies the cost of the vehicle.

One foot driving: For those of you like me who are first time EV owners you are in for a treat. I have yet to use the brake and it will be difficult to go back to an ICE after this. Qualitative estimate would be 30% reduction in overall 'driver fatigue' from this alone.

Self-driving: My previous vehicle had adaptive cruise control so used to this. Did get a chance to try the full 'drivers assist' experience on the highway yesterday and it's the real deal. Definitely wouldn't crawl into the back and have a nap (nor would the vehicle let you) but it performed very well and I can see this being a huge asset on long road trips. Will be unbelievable when full autonomous comes online (game changer)

Range: Drove it a good chunk of the day yesterday (mostly city driving) and only managed to get it down to about 80% (took delivery at 100%). Really pleased with the range I'm seeing on the 22'

Charging: Nothing new to long time EV owners, but for a first timer like me it's really something to just plug in and be topped up at home. Was painless and fast (I think it took about 30 mins or something on my home charger). Really transformational if you grew up knowing nothing but ICE.

Size: There has been a lot written about the size of this vehicle. For reference my previous vehicle was an Acura MDX. From a driving perspective I find this vehicle very similar in terms of external dimensions (how it feels on the road). Internally however there seems to be significantly more room. I'm about 6'2 and the internal height of the vehicle is really nice. Tons of head room.

Lights: The 'strip' at the front of the vehicle is more than just cosmetic. When driving last night I'd say the road was lit about 40% better than with my previous vehicle. Really nice for eye fatigue.

Cameras: I find myself driving with the cameras active on the touch screen which gives you a tremendous amount of situational awareness of who is around you. This in addition to the great visibility of the vehicle and the blind spot detection gives you a pretty solid feeling of safety.

Sound System: Haven't seen a lot written about this, but the sound system is exceptional (at least from my experience) Really clear, immersive sound that traverses the mundane (cell phone calls) to the sublime (rocking out with your son to 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons

Service: Rivian called me not 30 minutes after my taking delivery to schedule a service appointment to get the Air Compressor housing fixed up. I've never seen that level of service from anyone, let alone an automotive dealer so hopefully that bodes well for the future, and future owners.

Overall a 12 out of 10 so far.

Thanks for the detailed review. Good info for the inspection. Going on 3 years and still waiting patiently.

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