WSJ R1T Review

[echerod]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/2022-rivian-r1t-much-anticipated-still-a-work-in-progress-11639082802

Perhaps not such a bad thing that regular customer deliveries haven’t started, seems like there are still some QC issues to be addressed.

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[McMoo]

Any way to post it for those who don’t have a WSJ subscription?

 

[astonius]

YouTube: high-quality video reviews, ad-supported. Cost to watch: free.

WSJ: text and photos, also ad-supported. Cost to read: $8/mo.

Legacy media deserves to die.

 

[gd_r1t]

I was able to get behind the wall by Google searching the article title in quotation... i.e. "2022 Rivian R1T: Much Anticipated, Still a Work in Progress"

It prompted me to subscribe, and that after the first page load I'd need to pay $8/month to view again. But I could close out that message and view the article!

 

[Peter del Rio]

WSJ:

Put simply, the R1T’s own weight limits its ability to do serious work. With a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,532 pounds, the R1T qualifies as a heavy-duty truck, like a Ford Super Duty F-250. Yet its payload is 1,764 pounds, compared to the Ford’s maximum 4,500 pounds.

The problem may also be expressed as a matter of energy density. Fitted with the all-terrain Pirellis, the R1T has an unladen range of 267-283 miles. But if you hook up a horse trailer with a couple Percherons (11,000 pounds towing capacity) your range could easily be half that. What if it’s 10-below outside? You could always harness the horses to the front bumper, wherever that is.

Proof of concept is over, economies of scale begin and battery technology continues...

 

[Fred6v]

Dial up bing.com and enter article title in full, click on second search result--see article on full. Snarky review with a few useful comments abt product readiness. Some bit#hing abt truck weight and inability to haul ton of stuff without decrease in range. Misses the point that the intended buyer is not my carpenter or bricklayer, it's the guy that employs him (not a judgement, just a fact). They'll buy a Ford lightning or electric maverick when Ford delivers in 2023/4.

 

[Diddy123]

Key takeaways
-it’s heavy
-it’s inefficient
-the tonneau jammed
-bad panel gaps
-poor fit and finish
-UI froze twice and required hard reboots
-driver+ didn’t work

 

[electruck]

So nothing we didn't already know.

 

[yizzung]

YouTube: high-quality video reviews, ad-supported. Cost to watch: free.

WSJ: text and photos, also ad-supported. Cost to read: $8/mo.

Legacy media deserves to die.

LOL

 

[yizzung]

WSJ:

Put simply, the R1T’s own weight limits its ability to do serious work. With a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,532 pounds, the R1T qualifies as a heavy-duty truck, like a Ford Super Duty F-250. Yet its payload is 1,764 pounds, compared to the Ford’s maximum 4,500 pounds.

The problem may also be expressed as a matter of energy density. Fitted with the all-terrain Pirellis, the R1T has an unladen range of 267-283 miles. But if you hook up a horse trailer with a couple Percherons (11,000 pounds towing capacity) your range could easily be half that. What if it’s 10-below outside? You could always harness the horses to the front bumper, wherever that is.

Proof of concept is over, economies of scale begin and battery technology continues...

I don't know what's more hilarious. That the Wall Street Journal thinks that anybody reads the Wall Street Journal to decide which heavy duty truck to buy. Or that the Wall Street Journal thinks that people who tow trailers full of horses for a living actually read the Wall Street Journal at all.

 

[ads75]

So nothing we didn't already know.

Probably biggest takeaway is that traditional media are starting to get the opportunity to review units, possibly the same units that YouTubers and others have already used.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Some excerpts.

He’s not nearly as critical as you might think. He makes it clear at the end that this was a pre-production model he was driving. There was certainly a lot that he liked about the R1T.

Car Critics have a job. That job is to be critical. Most of the reviews we’ve seen have been tech bloggers. They’ve pointed to many of the same issues in pre-production vehicles. The Jalopnik review still strikes me has the best one and it points to many of the same issues.

The only things that are concerning to me is that tonneau cover. Again, a pre-production unit. I’d like to know more about the driving conditions for that range he got. Was that including his drive in the sand? He obviously drove it aggressively, as he should, but how did that go into his range guestimate?

Yet these limitations must be weighed against the zillion things the R1T does better. Sheesh. Compared to the R1T a conventional pickup feels like Cugnot’s steam engine. This machine can quietly huck itself to 60 mph in 3 seconds (3.2 with the all-terrain tires) and then it gets fast. On asphalt or gravel, from 60 to 90 mph, it can haul off like a spooked tuna. Its most casual exertion will leave Dodge Challenger drivers with an expression like their cigar just exploded.

This same machine can also climb a 45-degree grade and wade through 3 feet of water. Most pickups can do that trick only once.

Gliding along, singing its song, the R1T feels strangely light and heavy, like an aluminum anvil. The isolation against wind and tire noise is excellent. The cabin is spacious and comfortable, full of sophisticated grace notes, including the ash wood treatment on the dash and doors, steering wheel and console, a species of tree found only in ritzy Scandinavian forests. The upholstery is 100% vegan leather, made from only the finest vegans. The sky pours in through a large panoramic roof.

Not gonna lie, I chuckled.. ?

The Rivian’s UX lives mostly on the 16-inch center touch screen. The graphics do have a disconcerting resemblance to Tesla’s animated interface—particularly what’s called the real-time vehicle visualization, picturing you and the cars around you. I’m told an over-the-air (OTA) update will make Rivian’s graphics more distinctive.

The company insisted I give the R1T a good thrashing. So ordered, I drove to my favorite sandy wasteland, outside Fort Bragg, N.C., where I could let it off the chain. Pausing on the crest of a high and ugly berm, I tapped on the screen to raise the suspension to 11.3 inches and select “Rally” drive mode. These algorithms unlock more of the R1T’s tail-swinging exuberance. Then I gave it the business.

Later, while the R1T casually carved dramatic Ss and figure-eights through the knee-deep sand like a Baja trophy truck, spitting 30-foot roostertails, it occurred to me, “This will work.”

But sometimes it didn’t. The motorized cargo-bed tonneau jammed in its tracks. The impressive touch screen went impressively inert, twice, requiring hard reboots. The suspension calibration needed an OTA tweak to account for the unsprung weight of the all-terrain tire package. Ours was often chattery. The highway-driver assistance system abandoned ship, as well.

Remember when analysts went ape over Tesla Model 3’s misaligned body panels? Our Rivian had a few, for much the same reason: Aluminum body panels have a tendency to spring back, to move slightly after stamping. The caulking around the Rivian’s rear glass was kludgy, as was the hemming of the hatches’ exterior panels.

Does that mean they can’t build them straight? Not at all. Dialing in the robotic processes of stamping, painting, door-hanging, window-glazing and assembly is the whole point of what is called—or what used to be called—the production dress rehearsal before Job 1.

Before Tesla, civilians would have never seen so pre a production unit. It was routine to crush them. Before Tesla introduced OTA updates, a vehicle’s firmware and software could not be changed without a trip to the dealership. With OTA, fixes and features can be successively updated. This capacity for revision was one of the reasons Tesla’s rush-to-market strategy succeeded.

Now it’s the new Normal.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Really quite exhausted by the constant complaints about EV range. If you drive a vehicle hard, they are naturally going to use more energy than if you drove at a consistent pace like you would for a long trip. If you can get within 5/10% of the EPA combined range at a consistent 70 mph in good weather, that should be adequate for determining if the vehicle is going to work for you.

 

[LoneStar]

Without a doubt my favorite line - and something I will repeat countless times to anyone that joins a ride in my R1T

" The upholstery is 100% vegan leather, made from only the finest vegans."

 

[Blur1t]

Some excerpts.

He’s not nearly as critical as you might think. He makes it clear at the end that this was a pre-production model he was driving. There was certainly a lot that he liked about the R1T.

Car Critics have a job. That job is to be critical. Most of the reviews we’ve seen have been tech bloggers. They’ve pointed to many of the same issues in pre-production vehicles. The Jalopnik review still strikes me has the best one and it points to many of the same issues.

The only things that are concerning to me is that tonneau cover. Again, a pre-production unit. I’d like to know more about the driving conditions for that range he got. Was that including his drive in the sand? He obviously drove it aggressively, as he should, but how did that go into his range guestimate?





Not gonna lie, I chuckled.. ?

Me too their sense of humor I find lures me in. “Most pickups only can achieve that once” after picking up their bumper off the ground behind them… ?

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