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Why are you buying your Rivian?

Pherdnut

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Wife and I have wanted a truck for twenty years, but wife said no way she would buy that much gas. Currently having a midlife crisis and wanting a sports car for that get-up-and-go. Have also wanted to go electric, but it was not really functional for the distances we were driving (200-300 mile trips) and the amount of backwoods driving we do to get to trailheads and the like. Rivian checks all the boxes. Wife rolls her eyes now when anyone asks me to talk about this truck because they just walked into the lecture hall.
I happily refer to my R1T preorder as my "midlife crisis."
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ajdelange

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That's a pretty decent sized [(just installed 14.1 Kw solar array last year)] array for a domestic setup, shouldn't be any issues charging an EV with that!
Don't be so sure. I have a 13.9 kW array and it has never produced that much power. It has produced 95% of that but only for a couple of minutes around apparent noon near the solstice (I've been getting 12.6 from it around noon the last couple of days). Such is the nature of solar. Keep in mind that your Rivian will pull 11.5 kW when it is charging. This is what a charging recent charging session using that 13.9 kW system looked like with the car only pulling 7 kW on a sunny day.

Rivian R1T R1S Why are you buying your Rivian? Untitled 3

People tend to have unrealistic expectations about solar. Yes, it covers half my electric bill and that's great but it does have its limitations. I live in a mesic mid latitude location (Virginia) so clearly there are places where more sun is available in the course of a year but there are also places where there is less.
 
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OldEVGuy

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I chose not to do a poll here because I’d like for people to not be confined to only a few answers.

I’m very curious as to the different reasons members here have chosen to buy a Rivian or are at least seriously considering it?

I’ll go first and say that in Feb of 19 my cousin sent me a link to Rivian and within 30 minutes I had put down a deposit.

I was very impressed with looks, acceleration and their vision for what the R1T would be. My motivation has nothing to do with climate change or not having to pay for gas or whatever else. Just strictly the idea of this is new, neat, and fast. Also, I think if there was a black out feature it would be the ultimate night time hog hunting vehicle.

To be clear, I’m not throwing rocks at the idea of saving the planet nor do I want this to be political in anyway but I am very curious as to the motivation of most buyers. I look forward to reading the answers.

Again, please don’t make this thread something it’s not and make it political.
Here’s an interesting read I found from a company called
E Source. The article is titled: “Need to Identify EV Buyers? Try a personality test.“

https://www.esource.com/430201dkjl/need-identify-ev-buyers-try-personality-test
 

Coast2Coast

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OLDEVGUY, thanks for the E Source link on EV buyer personality. As the article's graph shows but doesn't discuss, there's a gap between so-called early adopters and the early majority. The gap represents 2 obstacles to overcome before products become mainstream: technology driving an industry must become standardized, and costs/prices must come down. The two are interrelated.

We're getting there, but we're not there on either count. Next week is Tesla battery day and while I doubt anything remarkable will be announced, Tesla will announce, as others have, that battery costs are coming down. But we're not yet at $100/kWh, the battery holy grail, and may not get there for a while. Until costs/prices come down, a function of standardization and scale, BEV trucks will be expensive and the transition to an early majority will take a while.

In the meantime, a personality profile of reservation holders for Rivian, CT, and Lordstown or Bollinger would be fun. That one might shake out pretty clearly. Once Ford and GM enter the picture, however, buyer personalities will become clouded with a host of factors, such as service and warranty issues and brand loyalty. By the time that happens, we may be ready to bridge the gap between early adopters and the early majority.
 

JeremyMKE

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I placed my preorder because I think the Rivian can replace my M5 and my Truck without giving up the requirements and versatility those vehicles provide.

Speed and handling are key for day to day driving, I love a drivers car. My M5 is really my daily driver until winter hits and its pretty unsafe and it gets stored for the winter.

As a homeowner family man the truck is a great winter and gear hauler as needed. Street racer trucks have fallen out of favor so I don't have a lot of options that aren't custom builds. The variable ride height is really intriguing to me to deal with snow and be stable at speed in good road conditions. I also want two sets of tires and wheels, winter/offroad and summer.

Not to be discounted is that the Rivian will be different, not as unique as the cybertruck but that just seems impractical for my situation. Having a unique look is becoming rare in automotive design these days and I am excited that the Rivian has a singularity to it. Autonomous driving would be huge for me, pre-Pandemic I was making a 90 mile trek to Ohare airport 2-3 times a month and it would be fabulous to let the truck take me home after a long flight or relax with a coffee on the way in the moring.

If the Rivian disappoints with mediocre financing, service, or option offerings, I will likely get a Model S, or PERHAPS a Raptor. Ideal for me, would be a relatively attractive lease or subscription option so I can upgrade after a few years as they figure out inevitable production woes.
 

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Moonjock

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I'm a truck guy, I'm looking to replace my 2002 Avalanche. I don't need to tow much and I'm excited about the idea of a high performance EV truck. The AWD will come in handy with our 300 inch average snowfall.
 

tscanjr

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I placed my preorder because I think the Rivian can replace my M5 and my Truck without giving up the requirements and versatility those vehicles provide.

Speed and handling are key for day to day driving, I love a drivers car. My M5 is really my daily driver until winter hits and its pretty unsafe and it gets stored for the winter.

As a homeowner family man the truck is a great winter and gear hauler as needed. Street racer trucks have fallen out of favor so I don't have a lot of options that aren't custom builds. The variable ride height is really intriguing to me to deal with snow and be stable at speed in good road conditions. I also want two sets of tires and wheels, winter/offroad and summer.

Not to be discounted is that the Rivian will be different, not as unique as the cybertruck but that just seems impractical for my situation. Having a unique look is becoming rare in automotive design these days and I am excited that the Rivian has a singularity to it. Autonomous driving would be huge for me, pre-Pandemic I was making a 90 mile trek to Ohare airport 2-3 times a month and it would be fabulous to let the truck take me home after a long flight or relax with a coffee on the way in the moring.

If the Rivian disappoints with mediocre financing, service, or option offerings, I will likely get a Model S, or PERHAPS a Raptor. Ideal for me, would be a relatively attractive lease or subscription option so I can upgrade after a few years as they figure out inevitable production woes.
you sold me
 

JeremyMKE

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you sold me
I have managed Tech Sales teams most of my career and tech extroverts tend to have similar perspectives on the balance of fun and practicality. ;)
 

skyote

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I have managed Tech Sales teams most of my career and tech extroverts tend to have similar perspectives on the balance of fun and practicality. ;)
There's a healthy contingent of tech folks here, for sure. And yes, fun/specs/performance are probably the main draw...which we justify with practicality.
 

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skyote

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Do those two words belong in the same sentence?
Yes, we exist! I also know some engineer extroverts, even in non-tech/"traditional" engineering roles. Now I'm curious, do you consider yourself introvert or extrovert @ajdelange ?
 

ajdelange

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I'll have to go ask my wife.

As I recall the definitions are something like this:

Introverted Engineer: Looks at his feet when talking to you.
Extroverted Engineer: Looks at your feet when talking to you.
 

JeremyMKE

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For sure they exist, hard to come by. I made a career finding them!
 

Babbuino

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Guy explains 4x4 dif vs IWD
 
 




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