Toward the end of 2018, an unknown company called Rivian made a big splash at the LA auto show with the introduction of their R1T and R1S electric pickup truck and SUV respectively. The fact that these vehicles are based on a 4 motor architecture and having impressive performance numbers with all the benefits of a fully electric vehicle, I was intrigued. Being that Rivian is also a brand new company with brand new products, I was also skeptical. I kept a close eye on the company via their social media and automotive news sources. In September of 2021, the first production R1Ts rolled off the assembly line. This just got real and I put in a reservation. At the time, they already had 50,000 pre-orders, so I expected to wait 2 – 3 years before I got one. This gives them plenty of time to work out the inevitable problems a new vehicle will experience.
The R1T will also fill a gap in our personal vehicle lineup that has been left open when we gave our F-150 pickup truck to our son when he went away to college. If you have been to this web site before, you already know about the camper vans we’ve built over the years. Our next camper van won’t be built until we can get a an electric van.
In August 2022, we got an email from Rivian inviting us to drive an R1T in Denver. By this time, we knew we were still a year or two away from getting our Rivian due to the configuration we had chosen. The key item being the Max Pack battery which offers the longest range, 400 miles. The Large Pack battery is the only one being delivered to date provides up to 314 miles of range. Anyway, we did the test drive and came away from that with a new level of excitement for the Rivian. We’ve been fortunate enough to have owned a number of very nice vehicles over the years, but this truck is something special. The performance and quality are amazing but there is something else about it that is hard to quantify but we both fell in love with this truck right away. Sue, who has never cared much about cars as long as they get her from point A to point B safely, came away from this demo saying that we NEEDED to have this truck ASAP.
When we got home from the demo, I went online and made the configuration changes to our reservation to remove the items that were delaying delivery. I spoke with Rivian’s customer service to ensure that I got the configuration correct and I did. They could not tell me how long the wait would be. 10 weeks later, I got a series of emails preparing us for delivery and 2 weeks after that we had our truck.
With the truck in our possession, we’re finding reasons and places to drive. Our expectations are being exceeded
The Rivian R1T is a fully-electric pickup truck that was first unveiled in 2018. It is known for its impressive performance, with a range of up to 400 miles on a single charge and the ability to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3 seconds. It also has a unique design and a variety of features that make it a versatile and capable vehicle.
For first-time electric vehicle owners, the transition from a gas-powered vehicle to an electric one can be exciting but also somewhat daunting. One of the biggest concerns for many people is the availability and reliability of charging stations. Fortunately, the Rivian R1T comes equipped with a charging port that is compatible with most public charging networks, making it easy to find a place to recharge. Additionally, the vehicle has a built-in navigation system that can help you find the nearest charging station and plan your route accordingly.
Another potential concern for first-time electric vehicle owners is the cost of ownership. While the initial purchase price of the Rivian R1T may be higher than that of a comparable gas-powered vehicle, the long-term savings on fuel and maintenance can make up for it. Electric vehicles require less frequent and less costly maintenance than gas-powered vehicles, and the cost of electricity is typically lower than the cost of gasoline.
Overall, purchasing a Rivian R1T as a first electric vehicle can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience. The vehicle’s impressive performance, versatility, and advanced features make it a compelling choice for those looking to make the switch to electric. With the increasing availability of charging stations and the potential long-term cost savings, the Rivian R1T is a viable and attractive option for first-time electric vehicle owners.
After just 5 days of ownership we decided to roll the dice take the Rivian on our upcoming road trip to Madison, Wisconsin to visit our sons who now live in that area. We gave ourselves a crash course on electric vehicle charging and gathered the recommended apps that include A Better Route Planner (ABRP), Plugshare, Electrify America, Shell Recharge and ChargePoint. ABRP was great with planning the stops, estimating the remaining charge we’d have remaining at each stop, and recommending how much charge to take on at each stop. Each of these parameters are configurable to your level of comfort. We generally found our R1T to be slightly more efficient than what ABRP estimated.
The next step is to use the PlugShare app to get closer to realtime status of the charging stations and also provide feedback to fellow EV travelers on how well the charging stations are working. This was very good for finding backup plans for each of the planned stops scheduled by the ABRP app. Then, once at each charging station, the charging station brand app was used to perform the charging…usually. There were instances where the app would not work with the charging station and we had use a credit card at the kiosk and sometimes the opposite. Other times, the charging stations failed to work altogether.
We had one instance where the charging station seemed to be working but the truck would not sync with the station. We made a call to Rivian support and they quickly had us back up and running with a reset.
The charging stations along I-76 and I-80 from Denver to Iowa City were frequent enough that there wasn’t much stress. However, once we turned north toward Madison at Iowa City, the direct current fast chargers (DCFC) were few and far between. We used the slower level 2 chargers when we could. Wisconsin generally seemed to be an electrical desert. Madison,WI showed 2 DCFCs but both were out of order when we were there. We continued to make do with the level 2 chargers we could find in the area during our visit. On the return trip from Madison, we used the hyper-miling technique of keeping speeds below 55mph and hanging in the draft of big trucks to stretch our range to get us back to Iowa City.
In the end, we really had no trouble but the stress of finding enough fast charging stations when off the main freeway corridor was enough that we will likely take our gas powered vehicles on road trips for the next year or two until the charging networks improve. The Rivian is our first choice for any local or semi-local driving and is truly a joy to drive. I look forward to Rivian releasing their R2 series vehicles in the next 2 – 3 years and will strongly consider replacing our gas powered car with another electric vehicle at that time.