Watch Rivian R1T Electric Truck Tackle The Trans-America Trail

[Crissa]

That Zero finally finished the TAT.

https://advrider.com/f/threads/two-...n-electric-moto-coast-to-coast.1514716/page-7

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

Part 4 of MotorTrend taking Rivian on the Trans America Trail.





Lots of great rock trails.

At 4:47 they give a view of a Rivian remote charger.

Quote from 6:37:

As it compares to just normal off-roading, it's wildly different from the perspective of, you lack noise. So you have no feedback loop between how much power you're asking of the vehicle, and how much it's giving you if you're not already moving forward. So its been kind of cool to sit up on a rock. You've got the nose of the truck pointed up in the air, and you have to get going. And you just get deeper and deeper into that pedal. And just silence. And eventually, you might hear some squeal from the tires. Or things hitting the underside of the truck. Again, we've been asked to harass them so that's good. And just a surprising lack of banging things is the technical term I'll use. It has a flat underbody with just the battery and the floor. And then there are 4 holes cut into that underbody, and the wheels are poking out of it.

Lot's of good footage in this video.

I can't wait to take my CT to some of these locations.

 

[Ogre]

At 4:47 they give a view of a Rivian remote charger.

Imagine how much time it would take to visit every single Supercharger in the county. Or even 10%?

These guys probably hit half or more of the Rivian chargers along their route.

I know… not a fair comparison. Isn’t meant to be.

 

[FutureBoy]

Imagine how much time it would take to visit every single Supercharger in the county. Or even 10%?

These guys probably hit half or more of the Rivian chargers along their route.

I know… not a fair comparison. Isn’t meant to be.

I wonder if Tesla and Rivian will allow each other to cross-charge the other's vehicles. I know Tesla is opening up the charging network to other makers. From what I understand the maker would have to sign an agreement first? It would be nice though if Rivian would open its chargers too (at least to Tesla) so I could charge my CT at some of these remote locations.

 

[Ogre]

I wonder if Tesla and Rivian will allow each other to cross-charge the other's vehicles. I know Tesla is opening up the charging network to other makers. From what I understand the maker would have to sign an agreement first? It would be nice though if Rivian would open its chargers too (at least to Tesla) so I could charge my CT at some of these remote locations.

Some Rivian locations are Level 2 chargers and publicly available.

Apparently Rivian wants to do include charging as part of their Premium membership so they can establish a subscription revenue on top of their already high priced trucks.

If Tesla opens up charging I think they are just going to enable it via their app so no partnership or agreement needed.

 

[PointHope]

The https://www.autoblog.com/2021/09/29...lls-gate-moab-utah/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000618 going up Hells Gate, Utah is very impressive..

Especially impressive for a Bezos clown truck.

 

[Crissa]

Bezos doesn't run Rivian. He's not on the board, he's not an exec.

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

Part 5 of MotorTrend taking Rivian on the Trans America Trail. The final portion.





Quote at 3:26:

I'll be completely honest, I'm not the biggest EV fan. Now, that doesn't mean I think they're bad. I just say for personal tastes, what I like to drive, what I like to do with vehicles. I like vroom, vroom, boom, boom, all the sounds, all the revs, all the vibrations. I like a worse experience is what I'm saying. I fully admit. But outside of that, I absolutely realize and understand that EVs are the way forward. I've already accepted that. I've made peace with it. In the end, what I discovered, was one of the most fascinating, phenomenal vehicles I've driven in a long time.

I find myself completely the opposite as this guy. I like the power. I like the silence. I like the hidden ability. I don't like the sounds, the vroom, vroom, or the boom, boom. I like the better experience.

Quote at 6:34:

The electric vehicle is a new frontier. It's not, but it is. It's a frontier that we discovered many years ago. Matter of fact, in the beginning there in the teens, early teens, there were more electric vehicles than there were gas vehicles. It was easier to own and operate an electric vehicle than it was to operate a gas internal combustion vehicle. Considering that you often had to buy gas from a pharmacy. That's how you got it. You bought it in big ceramic jugs. That's how you bought your fuel. Electric vehicles were a lot easier to maintain, a lot easier to drive until finally there was a network of gas stations that came out. So, the idea of the electric vehicle has been with us for well over 100 years. But this Rivian and what's coming now, with a lot of these electric supercars, these electric trucks, these things aren't new, they're just trying to be perfected by companies that are starting to realize the value. And answering some of the market's needs and wants.

This sounds like the market has had a pent up demand for something that only EVs could provide but that the automakers are just now starting to do the work to fulfill that demand. I'd argue though that the market had no idea it wanted anything that EVs provide. People (the overall market) were just completely unaware of the EV possibilities. Till Tesla came along and educated the masses. Made them salivate for EVs in ways that they never knew was possible. It was only then that the automakers started to even partially try to address these new market needs. Not that MotorTrend is willing to give Tesla any credit or anything.

Quote at 8:25:

There's genuinely nothing else like it. This is going to be a very interesting segment that the Rivian is kind of creating. It is a premium tweener size EV super truck. The thing blew my mind. The range is... It taught me that you don't really genuinely need more than 300 miles if you are taking it easy and you are willing to plan a little bit on your route. I am so excited to see what comes next. It's going to be genuinely incredible. I just had the best time with this thing.

I'll give the Rivian credit for, in many ways, creating the EV super truck segment. I think the market became aware of this kind of vehicle with the announcement of the Cybertruck. But Rivian had been developing its truck for many years before that. And right now it is leading the charge in demonstrating what the truck can do. So for many people in the market, the Rivian is currently the vehicle to compare everything else to. I don't think it will always be the standard. But for now, yes, it is.

I would disagree about the 300 miles of range though. This trip was made in Rivians but there were multiple support vehicles. Rivian drivers came along for the trip and helped along the way. Plus Rivian had put in Rivian specific chargers at certain points. Now, if I was taking my family and was towing a trailer, there is a much greater need for more range. But for the current state of things, I'll accept that the 300 miles is enough to enable many of the off-road scenarios that people want to enjoy.

Quote at 9:31:

This trip certainly gave me a larger respect for electric vehicles. I was, before, I was under the belief that there was very few electric cars or vehicles that have any sort of character remotely close to even an OK gas car. Just because of the innate differences between gas and electric powertrain. If you were somebody like, or are somebody like I was, with EVs, go try Rivian. Or don't! If you don't like the Rivian, who cares. Go drive a... go drive a Tesla. Go drive a Taycan. I know they're expensive. But I'm just saying get out there. Try them out. You might surprise yourself. Maybe you'll confirm your bias'. Give it time. The automotive enthusiasts world is not ending. There is still hope for doing what you love with cars in the near future.

Not sure if he meant to make it sound like Tesla is an expensive vehicle there. I get that the Taycan is. And from my perspective, the Rivian is also expensive. The way the quote is worded though, I would disagree on the small point of Tesla in that I don't see Tesla's as expensive. Especially in comparison to a Rivian.

Quote at 10:18:

Just because the way we power our vehicles is changing, doesn't mean the things we like to do has to go away. I love to travel off-road. I love to go on road trips. I love to explore. Never once in the last 5000 some odd miles ran out of charge. We never once had trouble finding a charger. We had trouble with charger issues sure, but. This was quite painless in all honesty. I think it speaks a lot to the electric vehicle technology as it is today. And where it is going in the future. I do know that the future is scary for a lot of people who love driving combustion engines as I do. But I don't think we need to necessarily shy away from it. Because it can be quite cool, and quite the experience.

Interesting that they had charger issues along the way. I didn't see anything about that in the videos other than this quote. But it makes me think that they should have been more out in the open about charging and what kind of issues were encountered.

----------------------------

LOL. And after all of these videos, it ends with a clip where The Rivian got stuck in the sand on the beach. Took using maxtracks, letting air out of the tires, a bunch of people pushing it, and advice from Rivian drivers to get off the beach. Culminating in the quote:

Thank god! That sucked.

Way to end a very positive review series with a not very subtle dig.