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As an electrical automobile proprietor in Australia, I’ve at all times questioned what it’d be prefer to get behind the wheel of an enormous 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 search out some corners and see how sensible this massive SUV can be. We solely had a day with the automobile, so this shall be a extra condensed, transient 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 could 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 worth, 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 could 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 worth on the bottom and mid-spec Efficiency fashions.
There are a variety of further equipment you may as well 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 appears to be like fairly cool on the skin (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 useful 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 means of to a big transportable Bluetooth speaker that slots beneath the centre console have been thought-about. I cherished 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.
Similar to Tesla, a lot of the enjoyable options sit throughout the central 15.6-inch show. The show is sharp, very quick and simple to make use of. Every thing is logically positioned and constructed into the display screen 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. Homeowners as a substitute want to make use of aftermarket choices to attain this pretty fundamental performance.
Additionally disappointingly, Rivian dropped their partnership with Meridian and consequently speaker depend dropped to 18 audio system. Whereas it’s nonetheless an enormous speaker depend, 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 have 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 automobile from having the ability to go up or down as a part of a change in drive modes.
Outdoors 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 automobile for sleeping and the flexibility to manage battery use, exterior lighting and local weather whereas tenting. There was even a mode that will put the automobile right into a quiet mode in order to not disturb these tenting across the automobile.
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 note it doesn’t fold flat) and 2498L with the second and third rows folded. Along with these you’ll discover 314L of storage throughout the electronically managed and opening entrance boot and 144L within the rear bin beneath the cargo ground.
For such an enormous automobile they’ve been in a position to cram a heap of storage inside as many areas as they may discover, which is nice information.
What’s underneath 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 provides 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 an enormous 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 have been going to round 62mph (100km/h) and in addition have 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 larger than one thing like a Tesla Mannequin Y – granted, a Mannequin Y isn’t this measurement, this succesful off-road and doesn’t have seven seats in Australia; however I’m simply utilizing it as some extent of reference.
Throughout our time with the automobile the battery measurement additionally highlighted one of many massive points with wall charging within the US. The 120V electrical structure means the automobile can’t cost on the similar energy stage as we are able to in Australia.
The straightforward Ohm’s legislation 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 larger present, however not sufficient to beat the halving of voltage.
At one level once we tried to cost the automobile 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 observed 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 ‘delicate’ setting. Shifting that setting over to ‘stiff’ made the journey diabolically unhealthy.
Initially I believed the tyre pressures weren’t set accurately, however we double checked these. Quite a lot of it’s going to come all the way down to the automobile using on 21-inch alloy wheels, the smallest wheel measurement earlier than you progress to the chunkier all-terrain tyres.
In case you isolate the journey although, the remainder of the package deal is fairly respectable. 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 rather well. The steering is a bit obscure, however adequate for a automobile this measurement.
We didn’t get a lot of an opportunity to check out the Drive+ performance (Rivian’s terminology for Stage 2 autonomy), however the transient check we did on the freeway confirmed a excessive stage of confidence and an ease of use. Not like Tesla, Rivian makes use of a mixture of cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors for its fits of parking and autonomy expertise.
Talking of cameras, I used to be fairly stunned at how poor the digital camera high quality was for Gear Guard (Rivian’s camera-based safety system) and for the parking cameras. They have been low high quality and didn’t supply a substantial amount of element compared to different trendy 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 might crash over highway joins and modifications in elevation. It felt tremendous heavy by means 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 automobile that weighs this a lot – physics will at all times win once you attempt to really feel that a lot torque by means of 4 small patches of rubber.
In case you intend to drive the R1S off-road, it has some fairly meaty specs. We’re speaking a normal floor clearance of 203mm earlier than you jack the journey up – it may possibly then climb to 378mm.
Strategy 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 stop injury throughout restoration makes an attempt.
By way of precise driving vary and charging speeds, the 135kWh battery could be charged at a most DC charging velocity of 210kW with a median 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 in addition must be proven to construct high quality. However, fortunately, all of these items are comparatively straightforward to repair if you happen to rent the fitting individuals and pay sufficient consideration to them.
With these items addressed, Rivian has a fantastic trying automobile that’s constructed for an adventurer with an enormous household. There’s a smaller model of the R1S being revealed within the coming weeks and it’s more likely to present a extra progressive and sedate method to the system 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 ultimately – I might undoubtedly see an R1T in my future.
Click on the photographs for the total gallery
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