Not arguing with your towing experience. But I think these are just fine for road trips. I drove my Rivian R1S from MN to Key West Florida through KY for a bourbon tour, his the Carolinas, Savanah GA and hugged the east coast of FL and back. It was an amazing trip. I would wake up each morning with a full 100% charge, drive for 4 hours, stop to charge, stretch my legs, bio brake, buy a drink and a snack (~half hour) and then do another 4 hours. In some occasions I might do 3 of these, but the whole point of the road trip was to stop and enjoy the sites along the way to the main destination. Doing a similar trip to the West coast next. No issues with the EA chargers i used, but Rivian will soon have access to the Tesla Supercharging network.
I did a few road trips, too, without towing that went decently well. I think my main frustration was with Electrify America more than the Rivian itself. Car was comfortable for long distances. Going to be awesome for owners once the tesla network is available.
Great honest review. Your comments on charging are spot on. I have a camper and went with F150 with the power boost and onboard generator so you can power the camper while boondocking. I’d like to own a R1T but don’t think I would sell it to replace my F150. Rivian looks like an awesome city truck for short trips.
Agreed. It’s all individual use case. For some EVs are the best option. For others it’s the worst option. Sounds like powerboost fits your use case well. I think it’ll be interesting to see how the Ramcharger does out in the wild. I can see that trying to play all use cases for trucks.
I hope their r2 and the r1 refresh addresses the bad choice they made with the body design in terms of repairability. Makes insurance costs extra absurd because of the silly cost of what should be simple fender bender type repairs.
100% on that. My repair ended up being $17k before insurance. Not as crazy as some people's stories but crazy regardless. Plus with the design in the back the bumper doesn't protect about 6" on each side of the rear end. Looks cool but not practical. All that said, I own fault for dinging it in the first place.
@@LifetimeShred Yeah, but shit happens to everyone, and it is meant to be taking into the woods and off road. Dings and dents accidentally caused by the owner (especially given things like the bumper issue) should be expected & planned for. When you don't have repair shops, designing for easy repairability should be paramount.
@@curtisbme Yeah I agree. Between the vehicle not fitting my future tow needs and then the crazy repair experience I was over it. I haven't written Rivian off permanently but not planning to buy another anytime soon.
Yeah I confirmed the trailer was level and since the surge lockout worked my best hypothesis is the regen breaking. Same trailer/boat on my now expedition doesn’t have the problem.
Come on, Rich, let Rivian have it! You were way too nice after the shit show they put you through on getting your truck repaired😁. Lots of 4-letter words were used if I remember correctly 😂
do you regret it now that the Tesla supercharger access is here? Just wondering because I'm getting a camper soon and with my R1T, I've mapped out routes and the superchargers are just everywhere so I'm no longer concerned!
For me, I don’t think I regret it for now. I think with the Tesla superchargers you’re still gonna have to unhitch every time you charge. That said for road trips without towing the Tesla superchargers are a game changer for sure. Would love to have an R3 for a daily driver when they come out. Right now I use a 16’ expedition for towing and am a manual VW Alltrack for daily usage.
I never ended up towing long distance due to the range constraints I mentioned. Based on the length of truck + boat I would have had to take the hitch off at almost all the electrify america locations I went to during ownership..
Not arguing with your towing experience. But I think these are just fine for road trips. I drove my Rivian R1S from MN to Key West Florida through KY for a bourbon tour, his the Carolinas, Savanah GA and hugged the east coast of FL and back. It was an amazing trip. I would wake up each morning with a full 100% charge, drive for 4 hours, stop to charge, stretch my legs, bio brake, buy a drink and a snack (~half hour) and then do another 4 hours. In some occasions I might do 3 of these, but the whole point of the road trip was to stop and enjoy the sites along the way to the main destination. Doing a similar trip to the West coast next. No issues with the EA chargers i used, but Rivian will soon have access to the Tesla Supercharging network.
I did a few road trips, too, without towing that went decently well. I think my main frustration was with Electrify America more than the Rivian itself. Car was comfortable for long distances. Going to be awesome for owners once the tesla network is available.
Yea my doggies are loving the quick charging breaks every couple hours…you can tell they arent so stoved up by the time we get to our destination
Great info! Sorry about the fender bender, sucks dealing with this stuff.
@@wake_mann agreed! The non traditional car companies need to work on their service capabilities, but that’s a good reason to be in a GM truck.
@@LifetimeShred yes, this is one of the reasons I went for it, because GM is a big company with lots of support.
Very helpful thanks. Driving my 2023 Rivian R1T and planning to get a boat this Spring.
Nice. Yeah if you’re in that 100-120 mile round trip use case they’re pretty awesome and you’ll save a lot on fuel.
Yea thats what I am planning to do in town with a horse trailer
Great honest review. Your comments on charging are spot on. I have a camper and went with F150 with the power boost and onboard generator so you can power the camper while boondocking. I’d like to own a R1T but don’t think I would sell it to replace my F150. Rivian looks like an awesome city truck for short trips.
Agreed. It’s all individual use case. For some EVs are the best option. For others it’s the worst option. Sounds like powerboost fits your use case well. I think it’ll be interesting to see how the Ramcharger does out in the wild. I can see that trying to play all use cases for trucks.
I hope their r2 and the r1 refresh addresses the bad choice they made with the body design in terms of repairability. Makes insurance costs extra absurd because of the silly cost of what should be simple fender bender type repairs.
100% on that. My repair ended up being $17k before insurance. Not as crazy as some people's stories but crazy regardless. Plus with the design in the back the bumper doesn't protect about 6" on each side of the rear end. Looks cool but not practical. All that said, I own fault for dinging it in the first place.
@@LifetimeShred Yeah, but shit happens to everyone, and it is meant to be taking into the woods and off road. Dings and dents accidentally caused by the owner (especially given things like the bumper issue) should be expected & planned for. When you don't have repair shops, designing for easy repairability should be paramount.
@@curtisbme Yeah I agree. Between the vehicle not fitting my future tow needs and then the crazy repair experience I was over it. I haven't written Rivian off permanently but not planning to buy another anytime soon.
Most surprising thing is the regenerative breaking conflicting with the surge breaks while on the highway. Good to know.
Yeah I confirmed the trailer was level and since the surge lockout worked my best hypothesis is the regen breaking. Same trailer/boat on my now expedition doesn’t have the problem.
Come on, Rich, let Rivian have it! You were way too nice after the shit show they put you through on getting your truck repaired😁. Lots of 4-letter words were used if I remember correctly 😂
@@ryanshimabukuro3283 I had to work through my stages of grief haha
yeah, my take is, surge brakes are a bad idea unless you have no other option.
@@paulbram2 agreed. Next trailer I have will not have them. Might get the current trailer converted if I keep my Axis for the long haul.
Thanks super helpful video. What truck did you replace the Rivian with?
Thanks. I ended up going to an SUV. Ford Expedition with HD Tow package.
do you regret it now that the Tesla supercharger access is here? Just wondering because I'm getting a camper soon and with my R1T, I've mapped out routes and the superchargers are just everywhere so I'm no longer concerned!
For me, I don’t think I regret it for now. I think with the Tesla superchargers you’re still gonna have to unhitch every time you charge. That said for road trips without towing the Tesla superchargers are a game changer for sure. Would love to have an R3 for a daily driver when they come out. Right now I use a 16’ expedition for towing and am a manual VW Alltrack for daily usage.
On road trips did you have to unhitch to charge much?
I never ended up towing long distance due to the range constraints I mentioned. Based on the length of truck + boat I would have had to take the hitch off at almost all the electrify america locations I went to during ownership..
Stop banging on the table or take the mic off the table.
@@gleem1751 sorry about audio quality. Just filming off a gopro but lesson learned