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Why are you buying your Rivian?

Doublemfarms

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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.
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Coast2Coast

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I've always been attracted to rugged, reliable, versatile and economical vehicles and, for the last 30 years, I've only driven Toyotas beginning with a 1990 Land Cruiser and continuing on with a Tundra, 4Runner, Tacoma and two Prii. I see Rivian as continuing, even upgrading my Toyota preference for rugged, reliable, versatile and economic vehicles. If a vehicle is designed to handle off-road and on-road challenges equally well, it has to be rugged, reliable and versatile.

Plus, as you say, Rivians look good. In short, I'm more interested in durability, versatility and good design than performance. But I also like helping with the transition to more sustainable transportation. The motor vehicle industry is probably the largest industry in the world in terms of employment, so whatever can be done to reduce emissions in producing, distributing and actually using vehicles is a very good thing.
 

UP Finn

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I like the performance and looks of the R1T and R1S. I like that they're going to be a unique vehicle. My motivation has nothing to do with climate change.

I'm never going to take it camping or up to a ski lodge. I'm going to drive it every day with my dog in the back seat. The marketing pitch of an "adventure vehicle" does nothing for me. I'm just an average joe who wants a good vehicle.

And I have time to change my mind. There are many new vehicles coming to market in the next few years.
 

Jemel

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I had a 4Runner for a few years and absolutely adored the versatility and terrain conquering abilities. While I never took it off road, I did have to trudge through some nasty Northeast blizzards, and that thing never let me down.

Unfortunately, as my career has advanced, so too has the distance of my commute. It became way too much a hassle having to refuel 2-3 times per week. So I ended up with a Model 3. While I love the Tesla and it’s fantastic driving dynamics I miss the versatility and go-anywhere abilities of the 4Runner.

The R1S looks like a perfect blend of the two. Added bonuses of refueling at home, saving money on said fuel (in spite of living in a state with one of the highest electricity rates in the nation), and doing the environment some good.

I’m (im)patiently waiting for what sounds like my dream vehicle. Only time will tell if it truly is that, but with Rivian’s apparent focus on engineering and getting things right, I have faith it will be!
 

Shinobu's Smile

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At first, I was planning on changing my Subaru BRZ for a Model 3, but just as I was getting ready to get my ducks in a row and go for a test drive, Rivian started to become more solid. Then I got it in my head that instead of changing my BRZ (which I absolutely love driving), I can change my 2010 Toyota Tacoma (which was my first love but is more about utility). This route started to make more and more sense to me since my Tacoma was my daily driver and the 17mpg is starting to annoy me. Yes I'm one of those people, but here in South Florida, the amount of times I've almost been merged into when I drive the coupe, is scary high so I prefer to drive something a little more visible. Not because I need the capabilities, but because I'm accounting for the shitastic drivers around me.

So to answer your question about why I'm buying one, I guess its not so much about wanting an adventurer vehicle, as much as the following ramblings:
- Less maintenance (No more oil, belt, spark plug, etc)
- No need for gas (not that I cant afford it, but I hate having to stop for gas once a week. The idea of "gassing up" in my garage or at work is mind blowing for me)
- Lower carbon foot print
- Capabilities similar to or better than my Tacoma 4x4 (Not that I've ever offroaded in it, but I have however used it to pull 5+ tree stumps out of the ground on my and family properties, used it to drive on branch covered/semi-flooded streets after hurricanes, picked up various landscaping/carpentry supplies/appliances, roof mounted my kayak and all sorts of other things I cant do in my 2-seater.)
- Traditional looking vehicles (I love what Tesla has done to the industry but I just want a truck/SUV that looks normal
- Fits in my garage (Pending on the R1T front of wheel to front of bumper measurement)

First and foremost, I don't want to give any of my money to the major vehicle manufacturers. I think they have gotten super lazy. They keep raising prices but don't offer anything to justify the increased cost. I do realize these Rivian's are much more expensive than ICE equivalents, but the capabilities and features account for that. I view these ICE manufacturers being entirely marketing/profit driven and slowly out of touch. How is it that these electric start-ups can do something while begging for money that these multi-conglomerate ICE manufacturers can't?
I'd just rather give my money to a company that is headed by an Engineer that is principle driven, if any of this makes sense.
 

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ajdelange

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I'd been driving my first BEV (X100D) for only a few weeks when I "discovered" Rivian. I was, at that point, already a BEV fanatic. When I saw 400 mi range I jumped. The X has a working range of about 240 mi (10 - 90% SoC) and the big battery R1T is 80 miles more than that! So the headlights look funny. Other than that the Rivians are really nice looking vehicles and the headlights grow on you (just as the wedge of cheese look of certain other trucks does).

Some 14 months later 400 mi EPA range isn't that outstanding any more. The new X has 351, the 3 I think 390 and the CT 500. But the Rivians are still nice looking vehicles, the torque vectoring of the 4 motors appeals to this geeky engineer and I always figure if I don't like it I can trade it in on something I prefer.

As amazed as I am by Tesla and as much as I want them to continue to succeed I don't want them to dominate the industry. It seems that Tesla and Rivian are currently the only two companies that understand how to manufacture and market BEVs. Though we don't really know much about how Rivian will sell and service their vehicles it's going to be more like the way Tesla does than the way Audi and Volkswagen do. As Tesla sales and service have not been all beer and skittles I want to see how Rivian does at this. And, of course, I want to see how they handle charging.

My views on global warming aren't exactly politically correct but I certainly agree that reduction of green house gas emissions can't hurt and in discussions I always enjoy being able to say "Oh, yes but I drive a BEV and charge it from the sun." That said if you look at the percentage of fuel used by the transportation sector (I think it's about 28%), the amount used by the electric generation industry (I think it's about the same) and realize that when the former goes down the other goes up its clear that BEVs only help the situation to the extent that renewable electricity comes on line at the same rate or faster than BEV growth. But then when you look at BEV penetration (1%?) it's pretty clear that my decision to buy a BEV isn't going to have much of an effect on the future of the earth's environment. Thus this aspect of the decision to buy a Rivian is totally insignificant relative to the expectation that I will enjoy driving it (if I can find places to charge it).
 

Lil'O Annie

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Want one because: we're farmers and must have off-road pickups, we're wildlife photographers and need a quiet vehicle that can get us into the back country, and after driving electric for over 3 years now in my little Bolt EV I'm totally convinced that EV's a flat out better than ICEs for so many reasons.
 

JackA

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We operate forestry land with as much battery powered equipment as we can. The project is 150 miles from our home with the last two miles being very unimproved logging cuts/cat tracks. We only dreamed of making the trip in our EV. We were considering an option of finding someone willing to let us park the car at their place and driving our Polaris Ranger EV from there to the property. While still working on the logistics of that, we found out about the R1S, placed an order and are now just waiting. After visiting the Rivian event last April at the NY Car Show we are now really impatiently waiting! Our plan is to do some Electric Drive Overlanding too.
 

Coast2Coast

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This is obviously a very small sample, but with 8 responses logged into this thread, I count only 0.5 responses that say they're buying a Rivian for outdoor adventuring. I'm counting the wildlife photographers as the half vote. (The other half was for farming & off-roading, not adventuring.)

The other 7.5 responses are all over the place in terms of reasons why they're interested, but on and off road capabilities, performance, lower maintenance and fueling costs, lower carbon footprint, and a better value, defined in any number of ways, relative to an ICE vehicle are notable.
Perhaps Rivian should widen its target audience. Outdoor adventuring is only part of the appeal. I suspect Rivian already knows this, but once a marketing course is set, it's often difficult to re-calibrate. Yet, I believe a re-calibration will become necessary. The Amazon and Lincoln vehicles are obviously not for outdoor adventuring. The interest in a rally model is another indication. And our small sample of 8 responses.

All of this suggests the market is much wider than Rivian has publicly admitted though, in private, I suspect RJ and many others have much larger ambitions. Who doesn't want fun, fast, reliable, practical and more sustainable transportation? No one.
 

Shinobu's Smile

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This is obviously a very small sample, but with 8 responses logged into this thread, I count only 0.5 responses that say they're buying a Rivian for outdoor adventuring. I'm counting the wildlife photographers as the half vote. (The other half was for farming & off-roading, not adventuring.)

The other 7.5 responses are all over the place in terms of reasons why they're interested, but on and off road capabilities, performance, lower maintenance and fueling costs, lower carbon footprint, and a better value, defined in any number of ways, relative to an ICE vehicle are notable.
Perhaps Rivian should widen its target audience. Outdoor adventuring is only part of the appeal. I suspect Rivian already knows this, but once a marketing course is set, it's often difficult to re-calibrate. Yet, I believe a re-calibration will become necessary. The Amazon and Lincoln vehicles are obviously not for outdoor adventuring. The interest in a rally model is another indication. And our small sample of 8 responses.

All of this suggests the market is much wider than Rivian has publicly admitted though, in private, I suspect RJ and many others have much larger ambitions. Who doesn't want fun, fast, reliable, practical and more sustainable transportation? No one.
Well, Land Rover is targeted to the same kind of "adventurer" but most of actual customer base use it for soccer practice. I think its probably always good to market to the specialty audience to showcase the capabilities knowing full well, the typical customer will never use that. It doesnt make sense to market innovation in a dull boring way which is how the average user will use it. All truck commercials and most SUV commercials showcase offroading anyway. I think Rivian strategy is appropriate.
 

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JackA

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Well, Land Rover is targeted to the same kind of "adventurer" but most of actual customer base use it for soccer practice. I think its probably always good to market to the specialty audience to showcase the capabilities knowing full well, the typical customer will never use that. It doesnt make sense to market innovation in a dull boring way which is how the average user will use it. All truck commercials and most SUV commercials showcase offroading anyway. I think Rivian strategy is appropriate.
Seems that advertising is always about what "could be" Ford is marketing the Explorer as the ultimate adventure machine. With $5,000 to $10,000 of upgrades it might be; the stock vehicle is really setup for Mall Cruising. Much of automotive advertising is focused on getting out of the city and adventuring around in the great out of doors. Sadly; most of those vehicles including Jeep brand will never get off a paved road.
 

EyeOnRivian

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Perhaps Rivian should widen its target audience. Outdoor adventuring is only part of the appeal. I suspect Rivian already knows this, but once a marketing course is set, it's often difficult to re-calibrate. Yet, I believe a re-calibration will become necessary. The Amazon and Lincoln vehicles are obviously not for outdoor adventuring. The interest in a rally model is another indication. And our small sample of 8 responses.

All of this suggests the market is much wider than Rivian has publicly admitted though, in private, I suspect RJ and many others have much larger ambitions. Who doesn't want fun, fast, reliable, practical and more sustainable transportation? No one.
Possibly, and I would agree but I think an important question, which you postulated Mark in another thread, needs to be answered first - "Does Rivian want to be a low volume/high margin or high volume/low margin producer?" We can speculate all we want but until Rivian answers or gives some clearer indicators on there long-term sales model, only then do I think IMHO we can "advise" on what their marketing strategy should or should not be.
 

N8DFetzer

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Dustin-
I was at the Los Angeles Auto show when this vehicle premiered. They had the entire SkateBoard Chassis hanging vertically on display. It was like seeing something manifest from my own imagination. If I were to design and build a car today, it wouldn't be far off from Rivian's approach. A motor at each wheel, modular batteries and a built in air compressor for the ride are all elements I've doodle out or wrote down one time or another.
 
 




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