What to expect going from a Tesla to a Rivian: my experience

[technerd]

I agree with most of what you're saying, particularly the jerkiness in the pedal, especially in sport mode. Tesla has that down, it's SO much smoother to drive.

I love my Rivian, only had it for a month, but I think it may become my favorite vehicle I've had, replacing my Tesla in that spot. It has a lot of little things that bug me, but I'm just amazed every day that I drive it, it's so much more luxurious than a Tesla, and being able to go from sport to all purpose and really have the driving dynamics change is freaking awesome.

But the charging infrastructure in America is still my biggest fear with owning a non-Tesla. I don't think at this point I'd recommend a Rivian to the majority of people I know. Rivian still has some growing pains, lack service centers nearby (In Philadelphia area, and Brooklyn is the closest SC) and the public chargers suck. For someone looking to get into their first EV, I'd probably still recommend a Tesla, even though I'm less of a fan of theirs with every passing day, they have done a lot of things right, just took them 15 years to get here, sure hope it doesn't take Rivian that long.

All that being said, knowing that they still have a long way to go to catch up to Tesla, but barring any big service issues, I'm probably in it for the long haul, even bought a couple hundred shares of stock.

Sponsored

 

[windblowlc]

It’s crazy how two people could have the same vehicle and come to hugely different conclusions about them. Like the power thing, that’s the reason I bought the truck and it is what I love most about it.

I also find sport mode with high regen to be the most accurate translation of my brain to what the vehicle does sensitivity wise out of anything I’ve ever driven. I feel connected to the vehicle in a way I don’t with any other. It’s effortless.

With that said I can see how someone would have an issue with jerkyness. I have absolutely no problem with it but today I had an itch on my leg as I was driving. Just the force of scratching my leg translating to the pedal was enough to feel some mild surging.

You know you have a responsive system when you can feel that. Personally I love that level of connection to my truck, but I can see how people might struggle modulating the throttle accurately enough to take advantage of that.

That's exactly how I feel, too. As an example, a lot of people get a throttle response controller such as Pedal Commander just to remove the acceleration lag from the gas pedal in their ICE vehicles. In the Rivian, I love the instant feedback I get from pushing the accelerator and get the immediate response from the 835 hp and 908 lb-ft. And driving in high regen mode allows one to maximize the one pedal driving experience, so sometimes the jerkiness is an exacted result. I don't mind that at all, and consider that a trait of a high-performing EV.