Rivian R1T Two-Yr Possession Evaluation: Work Truck Weaknesses

The Rivian R1T is an excellent electrical truck. We already know that. For street journeys, adventuring, day by day driving and towing it is confirmed to be a incredible, snug companion. However whereas it’s the finest life-style truck ever constructed, it is probably not designed to be a heavy-duty work truck. YouTuber JerryRigEverything’s 22,000-mile possession evaluation reveals why. 

One instance is the notorious digital tonneau cowl, which Zack from JerryRigEverything wanted to have changed. His was the early design since his R1T was one of many first 2,000 vehicles constructed, and we already knew that was a faulty design. However he satisfied Rivian to let him doc the substitute course of, and it reveals how labor-intensive it’s to swap out what appears to be a comparatively delicate element. 

The excellent news is that Rivian’s new design must be higher, however we hope the subsequent Rivian truck will not require you to soften LockTite, take away the rear seats, and disassemble a lot of the mattress to be able to substitute it. 

Changing the tonneau cowl requires eradicating the rear seat and many of the mattress {hardware}.

In spite of everything, true work vehicles are a unique breed from on a regular basis pickups. Whereas client vehicles have to have the ability to haul heavy masses sometimes, work vehicles do nearly continually. Whereas customers hope for a truck that by no means breaks, fleet and work truck consumers deal with how shortly and cheaply they’ll repair issues as soon as they happen. Plus, they should know {that a} truck can deal with a whole lot of 1000’s of miles of hauling with out affected by it.

The Rivian wasn’t fairly designed with that purchaser in thoughts—for good cause, since EV vehicles are nonetheless dearer than inner combustion ones—however meaning sure parts aren’t fairly constructed for lifetime sturdiness or fast in-the-field fixes.

For instance, the Rivian’s has a foul behavior of trapping dust and particles. Zack notes that when hauling gravel, manure, dust and different gritty cargo issues are likely to get trapped between the mattress and the decrease aero cowl. Eradicating one panel was sufficient to shake out quite a lot of the grime, however he nonetheless needed to endure a manure bathe to be able to clear out the underside of the truck. One of many key benefits of hauling with a truck over an SUV is that you would be able to shortly rinse out the entire grime, and the Rivian trapping dust would shortly damage its attraction to hardcore mattress customers. It did not appear to be inflicting a difficulty the place it was, however given how a lot dust was trapped it could possibly’t be good to let it’s. 

Zack additionally needed to get his windshield changed and, like in lots of trendy vehicles, the method for the Rivian concerned eradicating sensors, eradicating trim and clearing away cowlings. It value $1800 on the Rivian Service Heart, which is not remarkable for a contemporary automobile, however hopefully, consumers haven’t got to make use of Rivian’s personal Service Facilities each time. Firms like Safelite can recalibrate the sensors on trendy Chevy and Ford vehicles for a fraction of what sellers cost. I’ve reached out to Rivian to see if that is potential with an R1T, as properly. 

The video additionally reveals a dent within the rear tailgate the place it hit a trailer ball. The gate would not have sufficient clearance over the tow hitch to dodge a tall ball, and so it’s going to drop down proper onto it. GMC and Chevy have an identical drawback with their “Multi Professional” and “Multi-Flex” tailgates which have ruined loads of tailgates. As with the Rivian, changing a fancy tailgate meeting is pricey, which is why you do not see quite a lot of sophisticated or low-hanging tailgates on work vehicles.  

The mark from the place the R1T’s tailgate hit the ball hitch. 

Lastly, his cost door has an alignment difficulty and would not shut flush. That is a core instance of the kind of mechanical overcomplication that do-it-yourself sorts and fleet house owners hate. I’ve lengthy believed that electronically activated cost doorways are a ineffective gimmick, and this reveals why. A dual-arm mechanical hinge is rarely going to must be recalibrated, and it isn’t going to fail. Introducing an additional electrical motor into such a key space strikes me as a step backward. 

It is an comprehensible one for Rivian’s target market. Zack is extremely blissful together with his truck, and although he is aware of he paid extra for an electrical truck he is loved the expertise far an excessive amount of to remorse it. He would not remorse buying and selling in his Tacoma for an R1T, and he prefers it to the entire different electrical vehicles in the marketplace. I agree with him. Not solely is an R1T my favourite electrical truck, but it surely’s additionally the automobile I might purchase if I had a clean test. However ideas about damaging its famously pricey-to-replace physique panels test my need to take one wheeling.

That is why I might like to see a true work truck variant of the R1T. Both for this technology or the subsequent one, the corporate might provide a de-contented truck with no energy cost door, much less sound and aero insulation underneath the mattress, a rubberized tailgate or one that will not open when a tall hitch is detected and a simplified mattress with no energy tonneu cowl.

Absolutely the corporate’s expertise producing Electrical Supply Vans (EDVs) for Amazon has given it extra concepts for commercial-grade vehicles, and that is essential. As a result of if we would like electrical vehicles to switch ICE vehicles, now we have to make them simply as simple to repair, hard-working and sturdy. 

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