I had a Rivian R1T for a weekend

Great review.  I am hella jelly over the frunk and cargo tunnel. Just not a pickup kinda guy and certainly don’t have the cash for the Rivian SUV.

nice touch with the pop out bag/coat holder and usb charger ports in the seats.

@seaphil yep, hefty price point, but it truly is worth $85k, not the $20k additional markups tho! I fell in love with that truck only driving it for 3 days...

Want an R1S... do not need and R1S... but want an R1S... do NOT need an R1S... but WANT an R1S...

And so goes my daily argument with myself and so it will go until next June or July when my Rivian reservation comes up for delivery. Lol

@bayoubob I understand the struggle, where are you from? You have an R1S on reserve?

Posted by: @osrgarage

@bayoubob I understand the struggle, where are you from? You have an R1S on reserve?

I am in Houston. I have a reservation from Nov 2021 on an R1S so Adventure pricing at $77k with Ocean Coast interior and Forest Green vs $96k current pricing. Sigh. I could buy and resell and probably make $10k on it after all is said and done. Or I could just keep it. But I do not need an R1S (lol).

@bayoubob I am in the same boat.  I have a pre-price hike reservation.  Really like the R1S but it is just too big.  I was able to sit in one at the Venice Hub and it feels even bigger in person than in pictures.  I saw my first R1S in the wild yesterday at my kid's school drop off - need to find out which parent owns it.  My R1S reservation keeps getting delayed so figure I will have the One for a while by the time delivery rolls around to figure out what to do.

@osrgarage Nice review Jim! ?

GREAT REVIEW!  That is one ginormous FRUNK!  I also have an RS1 adventure reservation pre-price hike--assume we will get the "ONE" first and then will decide between the RS1, the Lucid Touring or the Extreme to sit in the driveway next to the "ONE".   

@nofrunk Yes, it is a pretty good size Frunk! Doug Demuro gave the R1S the highest Doug Score

@bayoubob So---what do you think.  As mentioned previously in addition to the "one" I have reservations (orders-non refundable deposits) on a Lucid Touring as well as the Rivian RS1--pricing for both pre increase (also have a second pre-order for a Fisker-- an Extreme).  I was notified late last week that I can now finalize my Lucid order but with the now required options for expedited delivery I am looking at about $110K (very expensive for this retiree), with delivery in 1-3 months and the RS1 ($85K) delivery showing  between July and September.  We are relocating from NY to San Diego in Late December with the ultimate plan to have no combustion engine vehicles and 2 Electric vehicles.  The other complicating factor is that I might come out of retirement to work for Lucid (I have a friend that is a corporate director for Lucid thats want me to come to work for them...   I truly love the lucid (i have driven it) but it just might be too fancy for me, while the RS1 (which I have never driven might be too big for me at this point in my life (I do currently drive a highlander and prior drove a sequoia.  On one hand if get the Lucid I know I will love it but also think I will regret not having a rivian...    eeeks any thoguhts would be very much appreciated

Posted by: @nofrunk

@bayoubob So---what do you think.  As mentioned previously in addition to the "one" I have reservations (orders-non refundable deposits) on a Lucid Touring as well as the Rivian RS1--pricing for both pre increase (also have a second pre-order for a Fisker-- an Extreme).  I was notified late last week that I can now finalize my Lucid order but with the now required options for expedited delivery I am looking at about $110K (very expensive for this retiree), with delivery in 1-3 months and the RS1 ($85K) delivery showing  between July and September.  We are relocating from NY to San Diego in Late December with the ultimate plan to have no combustion engine vehicles and 2 Electric vehicles.  The other complicating factor is that I might come out of retirement to work for Lucid (I have a friend that is a corporate director for Lucid thats want me to come to work for them...   I truly love the lucid (i have driven it) but it just might be too fancy for me, while the RS1 (which I have never driven might be too big for me at this point in my life (I do currently drive a highlander and prior drove a sequoia.  On one hand if get the Lucid I know I will love it but also think I will regret not having a rivian...    eeeks any thoguhts would be very much appreciated

We got the email on the Lucid last week as well. It is a terrific vehicle but near-term purchases required the extra for the high-end ADAS and sound system. We ordered it for my wife who likes the design, but I do not think we will go through with it. At the moment I do not think a $100k+ Sedan makes a lot of sense for us, not matter how nice. I would, fwiw, buy the Lucid over the competing Merc EQS or Taycan or Model S without a moment's hesitation. But it feels to me (just like the other ones mentioned) like a show-off vehicle. As you say, too fancy. Like you are trying to prove something to someone. I have always thought the big sedans were a bit much. Probably just a personal bias. Wife says it is very pretty, especially in red and silver. I cannot disagree.

I expect the Ocean will be immensely practical for me, offering a nice balance between efficiency, space, performance, and range, all at a very reasonable price point ($62k after the tax credit). The R1S is something I will still likely buy though my reservation is showing Oct - Dec '23 for delivery. Again, at $72k, it is a very compelling purchase for what you get. Honestly none of the other vehicles we have on order look interesting enough to go through with (Silverado, Blazer, Lyriq, already pulled the plug on VinFast). I have more or less written off all of those to replace our other Model 3.

If I were moving to San Diego, the electricity usage would give me pause. The R1S, even with the 21" wheels, scarfs down like 400 w/h per mile. On my current electricity bill that is 4 cents a mile, but if i recall correctly that would be more like 10 cents a mile in SD. It also underscores my single biggest hesitation with the R1S: slow charging on road trips. The big battery and modest speed means looong stops. I find that super frustrating. I have gotten used to my Model 3 LR RWD over the past four+ years and I consider that a sort of minimum performance benchmark.

So my current thinking is to take delivery of the One in (I expect) April / May. See how we like it. If we love it, move forward with our second Ocean reservation in June (we have the XT reserved with the non-refundable binding contract) or plan for the R1S instead. We will also see how the CyberTruck looks. My wife also likes that one a lot (I know, could not be less Lucid-like if you tried, I cannot explain). If I do not like the One for one reason or another, we will hold on to it until the Rivian arrives and send it on its way. 

All of which brings me to the big wildcard: Tesla. Elon could easily lure us back into the Tesla universe by (a) introducing the RWD model Y with 350+ miles of range and a lower price point and / or (b) announcing that he will port our FSD subscription to the next Tesla we buy at low/no charge. I mention this because it would likely pull me back to Tesla but also to illustrate how simple it will be for Tesla to respond to the competition once supply & demand begins to balance. RWD versions of the Y/3 with a $5k price cut will create huge competitive pressure on others (especially since Tesla is getting at least 50% of the tax credit and maybe more). 

@bayoubob Thanks for the detailed and thorough thought process.  Yes Electricity charges in SD are high but I am having solar with Tesla storage batteries installed so I should be able to charge some overnight for "free".   Like you the thought of a second "ocean" is real(an extreme like you with the $250 committed) but wife is thinking we should not have two start-up vehicles from the same manufacturer and it looks like the "one" will be hers---she kicked the BMW i4 to the curb for the "one", she saw it Brooklyn and really liked it.  Do you have any real info on Rivian charging times?  I will need to do some research on that.  I think the Teslas are nice but everyone has one--and I like to drive less popular vehicles (but at the same time I do have a highlander-lol). I was at the SD airport a few weeks ago waiting for a friend to pick me up in the white "3" in the 10 minutes I waited for them 9 white tesla 3s passed me.  Just to common for me, the Fisker, Lucid and Rivian will be somewhat rare at least for the near future.   Do you know if you can proceed with the Lucid order without committing more money at this time and if you (well me) do/does can you still cancel with only the $1K loss?

thanks

Posted by: @nofrunk

@bayoubob Thanks for the detailed and thorough thought process.  Yes Electricity charges in SD are high but I am having solar with Tesla storage batteries installed so I should be able to charge some overnight for "free".   Like you the thought of a second "ocean" is real(an extreme like you with the $250 committed) but wife is thinking we should not have two start-up vehicles from the same manufacturer and it looks like the "one" will be hers---she kicked the BMW i4 to the curb for the "one", she saw it Brooklyn and really liked it.  Do you have any real info on Rivian charging times?  I will need to do some research on that.  I think the Teslas are nice but everyone has one--and I like to drive less popular vehicles (but at the same time I do have a highlander-lol). I was at the SD airport a few weeks ago waiting for a friend to pick me up in the white "3" in the 10 minutes I waited for them 9 white tesla 3s passed me.  Just to common for me, the Fisker, Lucid and Rivian will be somewhat rare at least for the near future.   Do you know if you can proceed with the Lucid order without committing more money at this time and if you (well me) do/does can you still cancel with only the $1K loss?

thanks

LOL I think my One may end up in Wife's garage as well. As I read the Lucid stuff (could be wrong probably need to call that Carol N. woman who keeps sending us emails) if you convert to an order you are 100% locked. I did not move my $1k to non-refundable during the big IRA dash so I do not know. (We move Rivian and two fiskers but not the Lucid).

FWIW, re the start-up vehicles: we went through that same thought when we locked the model 3s at a time when many were warning of an impending Tesla bankruptcy. In the end I figured the worst case is that we would have an unusual collector vehicle (ala the Fisker Karma) and flip it to the collector's market after a few years. 

@bayoubob thanks!  where are you located?   I texted the women I have been "speaking to" and her response was basically that the $1K is the only commitment and that if I select options I would not be forced to take delivery or pay anything else.  Last week she said if you select all the options for early delivery we could have the car as early as month from now and if we excluded some we would be looking at 3 months plus or minus.  I might finalize leaving out the pro sound (2900) or picking the interior that is not available to Q1.  Will make a decision in the AM after I speak to my wife----thanks again.  When do you lock in for the "one".   I don't lock until 3/6/23