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Thoughts on seeing a Rivian in person for the first time....

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bajadahl

bajadahl

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Alan, so size-wise, closer to a Honda Ridgeline than an F-150?
It looks "beefier" than a Ridgeline for sure but I wouldn't confuse it with a Full Size F150 either. My stance is this.... It looks closer to a Full Size Truck than it does to a Ridgeline.... That is until you look in the bed with the tailgate up.... There is no getting around the fact that it has a very small bed. However, I think they make up for the small bed somewhat with the interesting way the tailgate extends when it is folded down. I would have no trouble taking this to Home Depot and getting some 8' lumber with the tailgate down.

I already discussed that I didn't spend much time looking at the interior but I would describe the cab area as very full size.

I think if you are looking for interior comparison it is much closer to F150 and bed comparison it is closer to the Ridgeline. And if you compare specs that about where it ends up somewhere in the middle between thee Ridgeline and F150.
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Thanks for all the detailed info, @bajadahl !! I got the chance to meet the same team you did, Monday night out on South Congress. Like you, I experienced the awkwardness of taking any detailed photos and wanted to respect their wishes. Once I told them I was a Launch Edition Preorder holder, they opened up and were more eager to chat and share the excitement of the truck! I got to ask them several questions and poke around the exterior and interior of the truck, like you did.

Some thoughts from my interaction with the team...

I asked a few questions about Launch Green specifically and they let me know that the final color has not been decided, as of yet. They have a few iterations with a flat green, grey green and a brownish-green that they're still deciding on... which is why we haven't seen a picture of it yet ;).

The LA Silver has a slight blue undertone that was striking in person and is different from any other silver that traditional OEMs have out today. I am not a silver fan, either, but it impressed me. They also said the Canyon Red looks best on the R1S and the Yellow is actually one of their surprise favorites on the truck.

I also confirmed with them that the yellow clips with the door pocket inserts in the configurator will be in the production trucks, not the mesh we've seen in the pre-production vehicles.

The key fob is also a cool piece, as it has the built in carabiner with the buttons arranged in a circular shape. When they unlocked the vehicle, the lights front and rear do the very similar dance that you see on the Audi E-trons today, the door handles pop out from their flush position (all 4 door handles have illumination underneath) and the Rivian Puddle Light shows. When locking the vehicle, the door handles have an almost mechanical sound to them and shut pretty quickly and securely. We had a Range Rover Velar in our house for a few years and those door handles (when they worked) were electronic and did not feel as secure as the Rivian's did.

Approaching the vehicle, you do feel it is taller and bigger than expected, give the size of the wheel/tire combo. They confirmed that the off-road 20s will not come with the carbon-fiber (or any material) inserts from the 2018 LA Autoshow debut. The 21s will have the removable inserts.

The inside of the truck feels as luxurious as the configurator and the cabin size feels a slight degree smaller than the F150/Ram/Chevy 1500 crew cabins. The materials all felt top notch and the microfiber headliner looked excellent in the Forest Edge interior.

They also demonstrated that the roof racks are lockable via a key, which I know was a question thats been thrown around. The doors to the gear tunnel require a press of the button on the bed rail and then a hand to open the panel from the body of the truck.

The 20in off-road rims/tires (non-black) do have a two-tone grey and silver appearance to them thats different that the configurator and more noticeable in person.

On this particular truck, the gear tunnel doors did have a ribbed plastic on them that was different from the Chilewich mats we've seen in earlier iterations and different from the flush panels with no inserts from the Wyoming video. They didn't confirm if this new ribbed plastic would be production or not...
 

azbill

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Patiently waiting to see when they will show up in Phoenix, hopefully that is on the short list. I have seen the Hummer in person, and the bed size is as good or better than my current GMC Sierra. That is why I changed my Rivian to the R1S. My brother in-law has a Ridgeline, and that bed size is a bit small for me.
 
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bajadahl

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I got the chance to meet the same team you did, Monday night out on South Congress.
I would have much preferred to meet them on South Congress.... lol I felt I was interrupting a formal event down at the Capitol... but maybe that's more about me.... As it was I was just trying to be extra respectful of the event and back away anytime a group of lawmakers walked up but they did include me in the conversation from time to time which was really cool. I showed one of Representatives a picture of the expected the RAN charging network when he asked about it.... LOL- I was the only one with a picture of the map readily available on my phone..... Dang lobbyists were slipping! lol
 
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bajadahl

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Patiently waiting to see when they will show up in Phoenix, hopefully that is on the short list. I have seen the Hummer in person, and the bed size is as good or better than my current GMC Sierra. That is why I changed my Rivian to the R1S. My brother in-law has a Ridgeline, and that bed size is a bit small for me.
I have some more pictures of the bed from my DSLR that I am about to post... Also, You should keep an eye out over the next week... They are taking IH10 back to LA and I would expect they'll stop in Phoenix at least for a bit.
 

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I would have much preferred to meet them on South Congress.... lol I felt I was interrupting a formal event down at the Capitol... but maybe that's more about me.... As it was I was just trying to be extra respectful of the event and back away anytime a group of lawmakers walked up but they did include me in the conversation from time to time which was really cool. I showed one of Representatives a picture of the expected the RAN charging network when he asked about it.... LOL- I was the only one with a picture of the map readily available on my phone..... Dang lobbyists were slipping! lol
Haha I totally understand that! I admitted to them that I saw the truck posted on South Congress and decided to drive over to see if it was still there...which it was.

They were laughing with (maybe at) me at how much excitement I had for their truck and that I had tracked them down via twitter and waited for their return to pepper them with questions haha. The team was awesome though! They were eager to open the truck up and show me around, which was exciting! They were discussing the various reactions they get from people who aren't familiar with their company. Favorite question: "What is that truck? Its a Rivian. Who makes Rivian? Well, Rivian makes Rivian...."

All in all, they were a super down to earth team who shared the considerable excitement I did for looking at their R1T that was parked outside of Hopdoddy Burgers at 9pm at night on a Monday haha
 

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Thank you to @bajadahl for the write up! Between you and @Jsidell it sounded like a awesome time. I know this is beating a dead horse but with so many details still "unknown" or at least unknown to public did anyone ask if they thought they would meet their June Deadline for delivery of R1Ts ?
 

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It looks "beefier" than a Ridgeline for sure but I wouldn't confuse it with a Full Size F150 either. My stance is this.... It looks closer to a Full Size Truck than it does to a Ridgeline.... That is until you look in the bed with the tailgate up.... There is no getting around the fact that it has a very small bed. However, I think they make up for the small bed somewhat with the interesting way the tailgate extends when it is folded down. I would have no trouble taking this to Home Depot and getting some 8' lumber with the tailgate down.

I already discussed that I didn't spend much time looking at the interior but I would describe the cab area as very full size.

I think if you are looking for interior comparison it is much closer to F150 and bed comparison it is closer to the Ridgeline. And if you compare specs that about where it ends up somewhere in the middle between thee Ridgeline and F150.
That's what I was hoping you would say. I've compared all the specs many times over, but seeing in the flesh is sometimes different. At the LA Launch, if I recall, RJ had said what you have described, that the cab would be close to a full-size truck, but in a slightly smaller overall package. This will be my wife's next daily driver, so I think it will fit exactly what we are looking for.
 
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bajadahl

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Thank you to @bajadahl for the write up! Between you and @Jsidell it sounded like a awesome time. I know this is beating a dead horse but with so many details still "unknown" or at least unknown to public did anyone ask if they thought they would meet their June Deadline for delivery of R1Ts ?
With all the people walking around and not being exactly sure who all were lobbyists and who were lawmakers I chose not to ask any questions I felt might paint a negative picture. I did hear when a representative asked about deliveries the answer given was "later this year...." I wanted to blurt out JUNE.... but I thought better of it and let Rivian do all the talking.
 

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That is until you look in the bed with the tailgate up.... There is no getting around the fact that it has a very small bed. However, I think they make up for the small bed somewhat with the interesting way the tailgate extends when it is folded down. I would have no trouble taking this to Home Depot and getting some 8' lumber with the tailgate down.
Just as a reference, I have a Silverado with 6.5 foot bed. i also have a relatively small toolbox that sits below the bed rails. My bed length with the toolbox and tailgate closed is 59". length with tailgate open, 83"
I have had the toolbox for the 8yrs I've owned the truck and have never removed it. So I have had about the same size "bed space" as the R1T. I intend to use the gear tunnel/under rear seat storage to store my tools! (minus the gallon of motor oil)
 

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I already discussed that I didn't spend much time looking at the interior but I would describe the cab area as very full size.
At the LA Launch, if I recall, RJ had said what you have described, that the cab would be close to a full-size truck, but in a slightly smaller overall package.
Talking top the team in New York and Seattle, their target size for the cab was smack in the middle between an F-150 SuperCrew and a SuperCab. I have friends who have both sizes of cab and can say with confidence that the R1T seems to be a great size. I am 6'2" and feel the SuperCrew has more than enough room, but the SuperCab is a bit cramped. The R1T seems to be in the Goldilocks Zone from my perspective.
 

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On the bed/hinge system. This is what Rivian CS sent me back in December. "The 180-degree tailgate introduced substantial cost and complexity that we didn't feel created enough customer value. In the absence of that feature, we developed a gooseneck hinge system that slides out as the tailgate lowers, extending the bed floor to 84 inches with the tailgate down. This helped us to create a sturdier tailgate which allows for additional usable bed space!"

Thanks for the time you put into sharing your experience!
I wonder if they are going to have a bed extender cage attachment much like Dodge offers with the RamBox system. Something like this is really necessary if you want to utilize the tailgate as bed space.

Image in case you don't know what I am talking about - I have this system on my current short-box RAM and it is very useful.

Rivian R1T R1S Thoughts on seeing a Rivian in person for the first time.... 1599844576953_2977191_l
 
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bajadahl

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I wonder if they are going to have a bed extender cage attachment much like Dodge offers with the RamBox system.
If they don't there is going to be a huge aftermarket opportunity for someone..... This tailgate is begging for a bed extender!
 

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Thanks bajadahl and Jsidell! I'm glad you both got to see the truck.

The extra-long tailgate seems like a nice intentional design choice. They went with a relatively small bed to limit the overall size of the vehicle while maximizing the cab space. They are making up for the relatively short bed with the extended tailgate (and likely a bed extender accessory), on the less frequent occasions when you need to load up something longer than six feet. One question for the guide will be whether there is any weight restriction (both stationary and while driving) on the tailgate since it extends further from the bed.

I also think the extended tailgate will provide more utility when using the tailgate as a table. Most people will probably not use the tailgate for work space, but that's added space when using it as a trail table or tailgating.
 
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