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Rivian Drive

JeffTepper

JeffTepper

Well-Known Member
I had the opportunity to drive a Launch Edition yesterday. Really nice truck. Regenerative braking (effectively a one pedal experience) took a little time to acclimate. And yes, it is crazy fast on the order of 0-60 in 3 seconds.
 
I believe the MSRP is about $75,000 plus delivery which is ironic as the owner picked it up at the factory in Normal, Illinois and drove it back himself !!
 
Didn't realize Rivian was delivering already. Their stock is tanking, the fact that they are delivering should be a boost (IMO). Pretty sure I'll buy a F150 electric one day...

Allen
 
Its now MotorTrend's TOTY

COTY is Lucid Air

Electric is here and useful.
 
Rivian may not be around for very long. They have taken several hits to their stock price. The first two items below could sink them…

1. Ford deciding not to use their electric platform for the F-150 and other electric trucks despite them having a major stake in Rivian

2. Amazon choosing Stellantis (Chryslers/Dodge/Jeep parent company) for their next electric delivery truck despite them having a major stake in

3. Rivian delaying delivery of trucks and delaying the launch of their SUV
 
The Ford thing is interesting. They were all in it seemed and destined to use the tech in their own F150. Maybe a case of keeping ones enemy close until the time to take them out or such. Be interesting to go back and review the whole timeline of that relationship and see if it looks any different in retrospect.
 
KBMWRS said:
Its now MotorTrend's TOTY

COTY is Lucid Air

Electric is here and useful.
Click to expand...
Electric is here only because it is being forced by government influencers. It is not exactly useful. Viability today is really limited. We are a LONG way from having the infrastructure to support it for the masses in every way. Electric grid has no chance of even a fraction of the entirety of vehicles going electric. There is next to ZERO national network of charging station availability. The actual vehicle tech is not ready for prime time either. Range is insufficient. Battery life is short not allowing for 2nd and 3rd ownerships scenarios. Battery replacement costs make it all but unlikely. It's not like the Segway but the hype sure is on par.
 
You are right on all counts.....so go tell ALL the manufacturers in the world they are doing it wrong.
A Motor Trend article concerning the demise of the ICE noted that studies have shown that world wide ICE vehicles will still be manufactured in in greater numbers for the next 50 years.
 
This is what's frustrating about it all. Manufacturers are going this direction because their respective governments are giving them no choice. Here in the US the only way to meet the mileage standards arbitrarily set (that must be met) require moving away from gas powered vehicles. Look at all the top selling cars/trucks here in the US. The consumer, by and large, is not demanding this change. The majority far from it. They want big, powerful rides that can accommodate their families and haul their junk across town, the state and the country.
The people hiding behind the idiots in charge are manipulating it all. Nothing new except this time they have targeted with deliberate focus, gas powered cars. So what if the country cannot support it. So what if the price point cannot be where it needs to be for the masses. So what if you actually use the AC or heater and all your trips aren't on flat (or even better down sloped) roads. They want to force us all to buy this new, evolving tech purportedly to save the planet. 'cause eventually all the energy needed to power it all will come from the forest of wind turbines spun off the vapor trails of fairy wings. All this natural gas, coal and nuclear electricity that provides these cars their "go" shouldn't be in the conversation. We should all pretend buying a Chevy Volt saves the world.
I'm not saying electric can't have a place. Just that it's all a mirage right now. We've got a long way to go to get there. Government can't solve the puzzle. Capitalism is the only thing that ever can. Let it happen naturally. A push is fine as those government dollars attract the capitalists attention. Just think this time they have put the cart before the horse.
 
When they make an electric truck that will tow my loaded trailer 700 miles without stopping to re-charge, that’s the day when I just might consider one. Until that day…Get off my weeds.


Mark
 
Electric vehicles will only support a portion of the transportation needs. Such requirements for tonnage and distance will still require ICE.
I agree with what Terry stated. He is right. But I also think that if we had NOT had such requirements dictated we would still be driving cars like our old Mustangs, chugging and banging away at 10mpg with most of the fuel going out the tailpipe. Today's car are so much better not because the manufacturers wanted to give it to us. Oh yes capitalism would have pushed them to make some changes but we wouldn't have 460hp car getting 22mpg over 5 years nor the safety features which has saved so many lives.

You know you're old when you can't accept change. Things were so much better when you were a kid. Well that was because you were a kid.
 
Let's not give the EPA boys too much credit here. Manufacturers absolutely give their customers what they want. They just have to do so within the constraints of what the government mandates. Competition drives improvements in the path retail sales dictates. Same in any industry. You think we have government to thank for 800 hp Dodge/Chrysler offerings in everything from a Challenger to a Jeep? You think Obama and the boys directed Ford to make Mel's ride?
The government also didn't drive safety features as much as public awareness did. Seat belts, air bags all of it came from manufacturer innovation. In part, to enhance safety but mainly to drive sales. Being the "safest" car on the road is a great moniker to drive sales.
Any industry will be guided and driven by the consumer. Period. They just have to operate under the often times burden of government intervention. Not saying the government requiring certain aspect in the name of public safety is a bad thing. Just that that interference is a hinderance or obstacle not a blessing
 
Although the long-haul infrastructure isn't there, there are still a lot of great applications for electric vehicles to make a big difference.

I think that a lot of us "car people" are blind to the fact that there are many, many people who never need to go more than even a hundred miles in one trip. We are part of the demographic that is used to driving everywhere, all the time, with no limit on distance. But I know several people who have never been further away from home than the beach - a 3 hour, 120ish mile drive away. For these people, battery capacity is simply not a factor at all, because they will never exceed it in a single trip.

Another great example would be the USPS trucks (or any local delivery truck). The mail trucks putter around on local routes every day but Sunday. They make a bajillion stops over the course of a fairly short (mileage-wise, not time-wise) trip - so as ICE vehicles they are very inefficient, but as EVs they would significantly reduce their footprint.

For many reasons I think the push for development in the EV market is a good idea. We have done really, really well on the ICE front with massively improved efficiency basically allowing us to have our cake and eat it too - we have huge horsepower AND great mileage (historically speaking, at least). Applying that research power to EV tech will help fill gaps in the market that are appropriate for EVs to fill in order to reduce our overall footprint. And although the infrastructure now is simply not there, consider how crazy fast we have made improvements only in the last 5-7 years. We aren't there yet, but that "yet" may end up being an even shorter amount of time than expected.

Furthermore, all of these tech improvements will give ICE vehicles a little more breathing room, at least in the States. Here, I think we all recognize that we need to reduce our carbon generation however possible, but we are operating within the constraints of a continent-sized nation with many long, long roads through remote areas, and extremely rural communities that will be dependent on the dino stuff for many decades to come. For us, pushing EVs to those who can use them - especially provided that our tech makes the expected huge leaps-and-bounds improvements in efficiency and production materials/methods - will be a real boon to others who will not have that option. There's a lot of ways that this could go, but I hope that reducing the pressure to decrease carbon usage - by overall massive improvement of the nation's fleet of vehicles - will then enable us to find an equilibrium where both types of vehicles exist, and where we will have the headroom to then start pushing other ideas for infrastructure improvements and new tech.

At any rate, to the original post point - I think the Rivian trucks are really cool, and I would love to see one in person. I have heard that they handle really nicely and are crazy cool to drive because of how insanely fast they are. Would be a neat thing to experience! You guys are lucky over in California to get to see all of the new stuff first.
 
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