As an electrical automobile proprietor in Australia, I’ve at all times questioned what it’d be prefer to get behind the wheel of a giant adventure-focused EV.
Sadly we don’t get Rivians in Australia; however the alternative got here as much as lease a Rivian within the US, so we thought we’d give it a shot to see what it’s like.
We rented a 2024 Rivian R1S Journey quad-motor and headed for the hills to seek out some corners and see how sensible this large SUV could be. We solely had a day with the car, so this shall be a extra condensed, temporary model of our typical opinions.
How a lot does the Rivian R1S value?
Rivian sells a dual-cab ute known as the R1T and this seven-seat SUV known as the R1S. Each may be configured both as main freeway automobiles, or configured with all-terrain tyres and equipment for these with a extra adventurous bent.
Pricing for the R1S kicks off from US$74,900 (A$115,000) earlier than on-road prices and the quad-motor choice provides an additional US$8000 to the asking value, which comes out to US$92,000 (A$141,000) earlier than on-roads.
Whereas the mid-spec Efficiency dual-motor and entry-level dual-motor may be optioned with bigger battery packs, the top-spec model comes with a 135kWh battery. Optioning the 149kWh Max battery pack provides an additional US$19,100 to the asking value on the bottom and mid-spec Efficiency fashions.
There are a selection of extra equipment you too can choice, however the headline acts are non-standard paint at US$2500 and the all-terrain package deal for US$3600, which incorporates all-terrain tyres and underbody safety.
What’s the Rivian R1S like on the within?
Whereas the R1S seems to be fairly cool on the surface (styling, in fact, being subjective), it’s contained in the cabin the place they’ve hit the ball out of the park.
It’s futuristic, however minimalist and purposeful on the similar time. Rivian have saved it journey prepared, however included sufficient luxurious to make you are feeling higher about dropping about $150,000 on one.
Even intelligent options like hard-wearing elastic door pockets, by way of to a big moveable Bluetooth speaker that slots beneath the centre console have been thought-about. I liked the important thing too – it featured a rubber end, but additionally had a clip to connect to your pants – easy, however once more focussed on the journey sorts.
Identical to Tesla, many of the enjoyable options sit inside the central 15.6-inch show. The show is sharp, very quick and straightforward to make use of. All the things is logically positioned and constructed into the display are your entire audio streaming capabilities, satellite tv for pc navigation and connectivity options.
However disappointingly, you gained’t discover Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. House owners as an alternative want to make use of aftermarket choices to realize this pretty primary performance.
Additionally disappointingly, Rivian dropped their partnership with Meridian and consequently speaker rely dropped to 18 audio system. Whereas it’s nonetheless an enormous speaker rely, there’s no model seen and the audio high quality is fairly common for what must be a reasonably premium providing.
It was additionally disappointing to see the poor construct high quality. A number of the panels on our automobile had been misaligned and contained in the cabin you might hear creaking when pushing on some door surfaces or driving throughout uneven highway surfaces.
Our automobile additionally introduced a suspension air compressor overheat warning at one level that prevented the car from having the ability to go up or down as a part of a change in drive modes.
Exterior of this, the inside was properly introduced with open pore woodgrain alongside the dashboard, a stack of room in each the primary and second rows, together with a litany of USB connectivity and energy shops for vehicle-to-load performance.
Intelligent outside options included a camp mode that will stage the car for sleeping and the power to manage battery use, exterior lighting and local weather whereas tenting. There was even a mode that will put the car right into a quiet mode in order to not disturb these tenting across the car.
The third row was a bit cramped for adults, however there’s loads of room for youths and it was straightforward to climb into and out.
Adults can afford themselves barely extra knee room by sliding the second row ahead or dropping the centre portion of the second row for extra knee room. Again there you’ll additionally discover a storage bin, extra charging and air vents.
Cargo capability is available in at 498 litres behind the third row, 1331L with the third folded (take into accout it doesn’t fold flat) and 2498L with the second and third rows folded. Along with these you’ll discover 314L of storage inside the electronically managed and opening entrance boot and 144L within the rear bin beneath the cargo flooring.
For such a giant car they’ve been in a position to cram a heap of storage inside as many areas as they might discover, which is nice information.
What’s beneath the bonnet?
The R1S quad-motor makes use of 4 electrical motors – that’s one on every wheel.
One of these motor distribution not solely offers you granular torque management for situations like off-road driving, but additionally permits considerably ineffective capabilities like tank turns (which Rivian confirmed as a advertising and marketing stunt, however a operate you may’t truly use as a buyer).
These 4 motors supply a mixed 623kW of energy and 1231Nm of torque. It’s a completely stupendous quantity of grunt. You can also’t deny how heavy this factor is with a 135kWh battery and 4 electrical motors. It suggestions the scales at round 3200kg – that’s earlier than you and the household sit inside it. That additionally means a giant turning circle of 13.2 metres.
However with 4 motors comes cracking acceleration. It’ll do 0-60mph (0-97km/h) in simply 3.0 seconds. Our testing delivered a 0-100km/h time of round 3.7 seconds – so slightly off the declare, however we had been going to round 62mph (100km/h) and likewise had been testing with a decrease battery stage, which impacts straight-line acceleration efficiency.
Mixed vitality economic system comes out to 33.5kWh/100km, which is round 100 per cent increased than one thing like a Tesla Mannequin Y – granted, a Mannequin Y isn’t this dimension, this succesful off-road and doesn’t have seven seats in Australia; however I’m simply utilizing it as a degree of reference.
Throughout our time with the automobile the battery dimension additionally highlighted one of many large points with wall charging within the US. The 120V electrical structure means the car can’t cost on the similar energy stage as we will in Australia.
The straightforward Ohm’s regulation for a DC circuit states that energy is voltage multiplied by present. By halving the facility, you additionally halve the facility output. Within the case of US energy circuits they run at a barely increased present, however not sufficient to beat the halving of voltage.
At one level once we tried to cost the car from a home energy socket, it confirmed a charging time of round 150 hours or equal to 6 days. There was an additional saga with public charging, however we’ll cowl that in additional element in a future video.
How does the Rivian R1S drive?
One of many first issues I seen once we drove away from the rental place in Los Angeles was how poorly tuned the journey was. It crashed over minor imperfections and was very busy – and this was within the ‘smooth’ setting. Transferring that setting over to ‘stiff’ made the journey diabolically dangerous.
Initially I believed the tyre pressures weren’t set appropriately, however we double checked these. Lots of it’ll come right down to the car driving on 21-inch alloy wheels, the smallest wheel dimension earlier than you progress to the chunkier all-terrain tyres.
Should you isolate the journey although, the remainder of the package deal is fairly first rate. Acceleration is subsequent stage – no matter which drive mode you’re in. Simply punch the throttle and it throws you again into the seat like a small sports activities automobile.
The regen is nice and it additionally has a single-pedal driving mode that works very well. The steering is a bit obscure, however ok for a car this dimension.
We didn’t get a lot of an opportunity to check out the Drive+ performance (Rivian’s terminology for Degree 2 autonomy), however the temporary check we did on the freeway confirmed a excessive stage of confidence and an ease of use. In contrast to Tesla, Rivian makes use of a mixture of cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors for its fits of parking and autonomy know-how.
Talking of cameras, I used to be fairly stunned at how poor the digicam high quality was for Gear Guard (Rivian’s camera-based safety system) and for the parking cameras. They had been low high quality and didn’t supply a substantial amount of element compared to different fashionable automobiles available on the market.
We discovered a pleasant mountain highway to stretch the R1S’s legs and it actually exacerbated the poor journey. Because the velocity picked up it will crash over highway joins and adjustments in elevation. It felt tremendous heavy by way of corners and the brakes didn’t ship a substantial amount of confidence.
There’s solely a lot you are able to do with a car that weighs this a lot – physics will at all times win whenever you try to really feel that a lot torque by way of 4 small patches of rubber.
Should you intend to drive the R1S off-road, it has some fairly meaty specs. We’re speaking a regular floor clearance of 203mm earlier than you jack the journey up – it could actually then climb to 378mm.
Method and departure angles are 35.6 and 34.3 levels respectively, whereas wading depth is an insane 1084mm. There are additionally rated restoration factors with rubber backs to forestall injury throughout restoration makes an attempt.
By way of precise driving vary and charging speeds, the 135kWh battery may be charged at a most DC charging velocity of 210kW with a mean 125kW cost velocity. AC charging can happen over three phases at as much as 11.5kW.
On this specification there’s a claimed 516km of driving vary (321 miles).
CarExpert’s Tackle the Rivian R1S
So this was solely a brief drive within the Rivian R1S, nevertheless it confirmed the model nonetheless has a bit of labor to do.
The journey wants enchancment, as does the dealing with and steering. Consideration and likewise must be proven to construct high quality. However, fortunately, all of this stuff are comparatively straightforward to repair if you happen to rent the best individuals and pay sufficient consideration to them.
With this stuff addressed, Rivian has a terrific trying car that’s constructed for an adventurer with a giant household. There’s a smaller model of the R1S being revealed within the coming weeks and it’s prone to present a extra progressive and sedate method to the formulation on supply with the R1S and we’re excited to see what that’s like.
We’d additionally like to see these on sale in Australia finally – I might undoubtedly see an R1T in my future.
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