Will R1 preorders delivered in mid-2023 be materially different?

[AllInev]

Do you think the R1 preorder vehicles delivered in mid-2023 will be materially different/improved in any way from those delivered in late-2021? If so, in what way(s) --e.g., different battery tech, new power tonneau, better cameras, faster CPU, etc.

Or do you expect to see the same 2021 vintage parts used in the preorders delivered in mid-2023?

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[fotoflux]

In 2 years, there will certainly be revised parts, some for better reliability, some for cost savings. There will also be newer features like different battery sizes, for sure

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Aside from the obvious software updates that will be iterative for the entire life of the vehicle, I think there is potential for a few changes that would benefit vehicles made later than the launch edition:

900v battery architecture that RJ has hinted can be done relatively easily but won't be available at launch

Better cameras (if the camera issues are hardware related and not software)

Motors made internally instead of provided by Bosch (although I'd expect them to be so close in specs as to be indistinguishable)

Potential options for removable roof available

Potential options for a smaller battery (105 kwh / 250 mile range)

 

[SeaGeo]

900v battery architecture that RJ has hinted can be done relatively easily but won't be available at launch

Sort of. It depends if they go all the way and have a full 900v system like Hyundai or Lucid, or if they treat the pack like two packs and have 800/900v for charging only. The former has more performance improvements, but is not nearly as easy to implement as it effects more than just the battery pack.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Sort of. It depends if they go all the way and have a full 900v system like Hyundai or Lucid, or if they treat the pack like two packs and have 800/900v for charging only. The former has more performance improvements, but is not nearly as easy to implement as it effects more than just the battery pack.

They way RJ described it, it sounds like it's just a change to the way the batteries are connected (series vs parallel) but they haven't tested it thoroughly enough to go into vehicles today. Then again that was several years ago.

Regardless, another 12 months of testing and it's possible they make the switch. Or it's even possible they already have the new architecture greenlit but have to work their way through all of the legacy packs before they start going into vehicles. It's also possible that they will make the 900v architecture an add on option that you have to pay for initially.

 

[Rhidan]

No.

 

[SeaGeo]

They way RJ described it, it sounds like it's just a change to the way the batteries are connected (series vs parallel) but they haven't tested it thoroughly enough to go into vehicles today. Then again that was several years ago.

Regardless, another 12 months of testing and it's possible they make the switch. Or it's even possible they already have the new architecture greenlit but have to work their way through all of the legacy packs before they start going into vehicles. It's also possible that they will make the 900v architecture an add on option that you have to pay for initially.

Agreed. I don't disagree with you, just pointing out that they may decide not to take the "easy" route for whatever reason.

My understanding is that approach was mostly because of a lack of components for the higher voltage. For all we know they may have tossed it in the garbage bin and will make a full switch when they roll out motors that are designed in-house to try and gain some efficiency in the system by minimizing current draw.

 

[Redline]

Yes

 

[Fred6v]

Would be awesome if Rivian adopts LiFPo battery architecture by then. Better charging and longer lasting cells.

 

[AxelR]

Maybe this is the right thread for this.
What about a heat pump? I recently read that the R1 don’t have one. Is that correct?

 

[fotoflux]

No.

Yes

There's your answer.

 

[Redline]

Haha, simply my opinion, but in that amount of time, there will be some improvements.

 

[AllInev]

Do you think the R1 preorder vehicles delivered in mid-2023 will be materially different/improved in any way from those delivered in late-2021? If so, in what way(s) --e.g., different battery tech, new power tonneau, better cameras, faster CPU, etc.

Or do you expect to see the same 2021 vintage parts used in the preorders delivered in mid-2023?

To answer my own question, I don't think there will be material or significant changes unless those changes would improve production output and/or are needed to correct major flaws.

As a public company, Rivian is (and will continue to be) under tremendous short-term pressure to "prove" they can mass produce vehicles. One effect of that might be them stock piling as many parts as possible to minimize bottlenecks which, in turn, means 2021 parts (chips, cameras, etc) going into 2023 vehicles.

If I'm right (which I hope I'm not!) then those of us waiting another 12-18 months for our R1 won't see major improvements in our vehicles from those delivered in late 2021.

I'll qualify all of that (above) with the fact that I have NO factory or mass-production experience, so that's why I'm reaching out to learn what you all think and know.

 

[fotoflux]

To answer my own question, I don't think there will be material or significant changes unless those changes would improve production output and/or are needed to correct major flaws.

As a public company, Rivian is (and will continue to be) under tremendous short-term pressure to "prove" they can mass produce vehicles. One effect of that might be them stock piling as many parts as possible to minimize bottlenecks which, in turn, means 2021 parts (chips, cameras, etc) going into 2023 vehicles.

If I'm right (which I hope I'm not!) then those of us waiting another 12-18 months for our R1 won't see major improvements in our vehicles from those delivered in late 2021.

I'll qualify all of that (above) with the fact that I have NO factory or mass-production experience, so that's why I'm reaching out to learn what you all think and know.

Yeah, they already announced a small and max battery pack option that is not currently available. They also mentioned a removable roof for the R1T. If those things aren't released by 2023, I'd be surprised.

out of curiosity, I did a google search for Model S updates over the years... there were more than a few material updates from 2012-2014: https://tesla-info.com/blog/tesla-model-history.php

 

[sub]

I think they will implement a bunch of small changes over the next few years.

All of those small changes may add up to a much better vehicle, but I do not think there will be any big changes like adding a heat pump or switching to a completely different battery/motor design.

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