Random Thoughts on the First Year in My R1T

One year ago today I took delivery of my Canyon Red R1T with Ocean Coast interior. A year ago I was a little anxious about picking up my first EV – I really did not know what to expect. I had paid a lot of money for a truck that was built by a start-up company; plus, I had never even driven one. Over the past year the R1T has exceeded all my expectations – and I love the truck.

My guide, Pam, was amazing at helping me through the purchase process and continues to provide ongoing support. Purchasing a new vehicle (and an early adapter, at that) I expected to have some issues. The issues I have experienced have been minor and were quickly resolved by the service team. The service has been better than I experienced when buying cars from traditional dealers.

I have put 25,000 miles on my truck and taken 2 long road trips. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale in February and to Northeast Missouri in July. There seem to be plenty of chargers along the interstates, but you do need to plan ahead. I learned to always have a plan B when traveling since EA chargers are not always reliable. We try and stay in hotels that have chargers. There are some areas I have avoided because of a lack of fast chargers – specifically Myrtle Beach, SC and WV. Gaining access to the Supercharger network will be huge and I am looking forward to that. The charging infrastructure is definitely the weak link with EVs.

I drive mostly in all purpose mode and get about 320 range on a full charge. If I’m cruising on the interstate in good weather, I will use conserve mode – that will add another 30 miles or so of range. When I accelerate onto a highway entrance ramp my wife calls it “Airplane Mode”! My 21” road tires have held up well and I still have more that half the tread left – I expect to get 40,000 – 50,000 miles on the tires.

Most of my charging is at home with my Rivian home charger - I hard wired the charger on a 60-amp circuit and it has worked perfectly.

Towing our boat is no problem for the R1T – and the rear camera makes hitching the trailer easy. Towing cuts the range in half so I don’t recommend a lot of long-distance towing – at least with the current charging infrastructure.

While there are things about the R1T I would like changed I decided that I would adapt to what came in the truck. While I miss XM, I have learned to enjoy Spotify. I never used Car Play so I don’t miss it. The R1T NAV system has some quirks that drive me nuts sometimes, but I have learned to adapt, and it generally works pretty well. I really would like to see an odometer on the driver info screen. I was disappointed that the 12-volt outlet was removed from the frunk.

While the console charge pad is a weak spot I learned exactly where to place my phone so it will charge. Since I don’t have to charge often in the truck that has not been a problem – but I do keep a USB cable in the console just in case.

The gear tunnel really needs the shuttle to gain access to stuff stored in the tunnel and I am anxiously waiting for it to become available. I have had no problems with the tonneau cover, yet, but I hold my breath every time I push the button. I wish there was a step in the corner of the rear bumper so I could easily step into the bed.

I really want to get an electric cooler for the R1T but haven’t been able to figure out the best option. I would really like a cooler on a shuttle in the gear tunnel, so I am waiting for the gear tunnel shuttle. Most of the coolers I have looked at are too tall for the bed and with no 12-volt outlet in the frunk that is a no go. I don’t really want to use the back seat area for a cooler, but it could work.

I love the easy entry/exit and kneel. I am still getting used to all the storage spaces – sometimes I can’t remember where I put something – like the jack pucks. I did add running boards and they are a great help and I highly recommend them.

I am constantly getting stopped in parking lots by people asking about the truck – mostly they are genuinely interested and impressed. I made an info flyer that I hand out to people who are interested, and I always talk to them about the truck.

I like that Rivian sends periodic updates that actually improve the truck – so over the course of the year the R1T has just gotten better.

Deacon said:

The gear tunnel really needs the shuttle to gain access to stuff stored in the tunnel and I am anxiously waiting for it to become available.

Click to expand...

Someone in these forums had posted about a wheeled Dewalt toolbox/container, and that two of those fit in the tunnel, back to back.

I bought one in July thinking our Aug/Sep max pack was near (and we might get it in Oct!), so I have one, but no way of testing it.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-...opylene-Rolling-Tool-Box-DWST28100D/206463159

Great 1 year update!

I just renewed my XM subscription for a few hundred dollars. I've enjoyed it in my Volt (which I don't drive anymore). I still have hopes that XM (and maybe some other audio options) will become available sometime in the future. How about it Rivian?

That's a great real world review. Thank you very much for providing it.

Brian

It's crazy to me how you have the 21's and have 25k miles on them and still have good tread left meanwhile I have slicks at 16k. I guess you guys know I'm not lying when I say I use all 835 horses.

Thank you for the great 1 year summary.

Donald Stanfield said:

It's crazy to me how you have the 21's and have 25k miles on them and still have good tread left meanwhile I have slicks at 16k. I guess you guys know I'm not lying when I say I use all 835 horses.

Click to expand...

My 22s only had 5/6 32 left after 8,000 miles…

DTown3011 said:

My 22s only had 5/6 32 left after 8,000 miles…

Click to expand...

Yeah, I read the OPs tire experience and it’s totally opposite of mine. My 21s won’t last 20k. No way.

Awesome write up and stay adventurous!

I have 21" as well with 8000 mile with plenty good life. If I get 25k out of that tires... damn... I will be so happy. By looking at the tires chances are it may. All-purpose mode 100% of the 8000 miles. No towing. No crazy accelerations except 2 or 3 times just for fun. Over with it already.. My 0 to 60 now is 7 to 9 seconds may be ???.

elfordon said:

Someone in these forums had posted about a wheeled Dewalt toolbox/container, and that two of those fit in the tunnel, back to back.

I bought one in July thinking our Aug/Sep max pack was near (and we might get it in Oct!), so I have one, but no way of testing it.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-...opylene-Rolling-Tool-Box-DWST28100D/206463159

Click to expand...

May have to check that out. Thanks.

Donald Stanfield said:

It's crazy to me how you have the 21's and have 25k miles on them and still have good tread left meanwhile I have slicks at 16k. I guess you guys know I'm not lying when I say I use all 835 horses.

Click to expand...

No off roading and I live in rural county. Two stoplights in the entire county, so most of my driving is light highway driving - no stop and go traffic.

Deacon said:

One year ago today I took delivery of my Canyon Red R1T with Ocean Coast interior. A year ago I was a little anxious about picking up my first EV – I really did not know what to expect. I had paid a lot of money for a truck that was built by a start-up company; plus, I had never even driven one. Over the past year the R1T has exceeded all my expectations – and I love the truck.

My guide, Pam, was amazing at helping me through the purchase process and continues to provide ongoing support. Purchasing a new vehicle (and an early adapter, at that) I expected to have some issues. The issues I have experienced have been minor and were quickly resolved by the service team. The service has been better than I experienced when buying cars from traditional dealers.

I have put 25,000 miles on my truck and taken 2 long road trips. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale in February and to Northeast Missouri in July. There seem to be plenty of chargers along the interstates, but you do need to plan ahead. I learned to always have a plan B when traveling since EA chargers are not always reliable. We try and stay in hotels that have chargers. There are some areas I have avoided because of a lack of fast chargers – specifically Myrtle Beach, SC and WV. Gaining access to the Supercharger network will be huge and I am looking forward to that. The charging infrastructure is definitely the weak link with EVs.

I drive mostly in all purpose mode and get about 320 range on a full charge. If I’m cruising on the interstate in good weather, I will use conserve mode – that will add another 30 miles or so of range. When I accelerate onto a highway entrance ramp my wife calls it “Airplane Mode”! My 21” road tires have held up well and I still have more that half the tread left – I expect to get 40,000 – 50,000 miles on the tires.

Most of my charging is at home with my Rivian home charger - I hard wired the charger on a 60-amp circuit and it has worked perfectly.

Towing our boat is no problem for the R1T – and the rear camera makes hitching the trailer easy. Towing cuts the range in half so I don’t recommend a lot of long-distance towing – at least with the current charging infrastructure.

While there are things about the R1T I would like changed I decided that I would adapt to what came in the truck. While I miss XM, I have learned to enjoy Spotify. I never used Car Play so I don’t miss it. The R1T NAV system has some quirks that drive me nuts sometimes, but I have learned to adapt, and it generally works pretty well. I really would like to see an odometer on the driver info screen. I was disappointed that the 12-volt outlet was removed from the frunk.

While the console charge pad is a weak spot I learned exactly where to place my phone so it will charge. Since I don’t have to charge often in the truck that has not been a problem – but I do keep a USB cable in the console just in case.

The gear tunnel really needs the shuttle to gain access to stuff stored in the tunnel and I am anxiously waiting for it to become available. I have had no problems with the tonneau cover, yet, but I hold my breath every time I push the button. I wish there was a step in the corner of the rear bumper so I could easily step into the bed.

I really want to get an electric cooler for the R1T but haven’t been able to figure out the best option. I would really like a cooler on a shuttle in the gear tunnel, so I am waiting for the gear tunnel shuttle. Most of the coolers I have looked at are too tall for the bed and with no 12-volt outlet in the frunk that is a no go. I don’t really want to use the back seat area for a cooler, but it could work.

I love the easy entry/exit and kneel. I am still getting used to all the storage spaces – sometimes I can’t remember where I put something – like the jack pucks. I did add running boards and they are a great help and I highly recommend them.

I am constantly getting stopped in parking lots by people asking about the truck – mostly they are genuinely interested and impressed. I made an info flyer that I hand out to people who are interested, and I always talk to them about the truck.

I like that Rivian sends periodic updates that actually improve the truck – so over the course of the year the R1T has just gotten better.

Click to expand...

Can we see some pictures?

DTown3011 said:

My 22s only had 5/6 32 left after 8,000 miles…

Click to expand...

I got exactly 15k out of my 22s, I could have stretched it a bit longer but I picked up 2 nails at 14.5k and wasn't chancing any repairs

I met you at the Hillsborough, NC, Electrify America Charger about 10 days ago. I was in the green R1T from Missouri and you told me about your trip to the Kirksville area. I just got back to Missouri this weekend after a 2700 mile trip to the Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina area for work. Charging went fine except I had to take about a 100 mile longer route each way to avoid the lack of fast chargers in southern West Virginia.

I am also nearly at one year since my purchase, have a couple of weeks to go. I'm at just under 10,000 miles.

I agree with all your comments, my truck has been almost problem free (minor issue with automatic hood function not closing that was solved by a mobile tech visit - while waiting on them just switched to manual closing). I also would like to have Sirius XM, but it's not a big loss.

Regarding the gear tunnel shuttle, when I have items that end up in the middle of the tunnel, I just grab the rubber mat and pull it out to the point where I can access what is sitting on it. I had to do that when I got back from the trip out east as I had the gear tunnel full of soil samples in bags from various farms I had visited.

Electrify America has been pretty good, but I did run into an issue once in Lincoln Nebraska where none of the three chargers was working, which created an issue where I had to backtrack to another fast charger an hour away. I agree with you that the charging network is still a bit of a weak link that will delay some people from adopting electric vehicles, so it will be great to have access to the Tesla network and have additional stations built out through the Inflation Reduction Act in the next few days. I charged at Rivian chargers in Virginia four times on my trip and it was really a pleasant experience to pull up, plug in, and know it would work without fiddling with credit card or phone app, plus the Rivian chargers were faster than Electrify America. I was the only vehicle charging at those chargers (Waynesboro and Roanoke, VA) the four times I charged.

You commented on having a bit of anxiety about getting an expensive vehicle from a startup company, and I felt the same way. Despite a lot of enthusiasm for the company and electric vehicles, I really questioned whether I was doing the right thing in buying the truck, but am glad I did. It's definitely been the best vehicle I've ever owned (in my 60s now). My favorite features:

- Very quiet operation, such a change from loud V8 work trucks I had in the past and even my V6 and V4 Hondas and Toyota SUVs

- Smooth power, very easy to merge into traffic on interstates and get away from erratic drivers.

- Versatility in storage options between the gear tunnel, frunk, rear seat and truck bed and under bed storage.

- Comfortable seats

- Safety features and driver assist (yes, it's only on certain highways but seems to work on most interstates and makes long drives easier).

- Efficiency. Although I had some trucks through my workplace in the past, I never bought one for personal use because of the poor gas mileage even though I do a lot of landscaping and a truck would have been handy all these years. It's nice now to have an electric truck that gets the equivalent of 70 mpg.

- It's really nice to not have to stop at gas stations, I nearly always charge at home which takes about 5 seconds to plug in as I exit my truck and walk in the house.

- The lack of required maintenance is not only a cost saver but a time saver, it's really nice not to have to go sit at a dealer and wait multiple hours to get my vehicle back. The one mobile service I had in my home driveway was very convenient.

- While some have complained about the navigation, I have found it to be very good, often comparing it to Apple Maps through my phone. Sometimes they have slight route differences but almost always the same arrival time. I love the big "aerial" view of the landscape I am driving through, seeing the mountains, hills, lakes and rivers, it's almost like flying at a low level over the landscape while driving the truck (yes, I avoid staring at the screen while driving, but it's fun to glance at the image when traffic is light or stopped at a light).

- I have read the issues various people have had with their trucks, but mine has been pretty flawless for this first year, well built, reliable, and performs extremely well. My only slight complaint is the HVAC system could be better, which has been discussed at length on this forum.

- I agree that the over the air updates are nice, like getting a new model year truck, and I look forward to further improvements through the software.

- Overall, I'm very pleased with the truck and impressed with the efforts of Rivian as a startup company. RJ Scaringe is a commendable CEO and I look forward to seeing what they make next!