（Cover image source: Kirsten Korosec）
In mid-September, Rivian’s first model, the R1T pickup truck, started mass production, and many foreign websites have a “First drive” of the R1T in these days. I will summarize these reviews and provide the original article links at the end of this article. You can have a fresh look.
Electrek
- Charging
Seth Weintraub of Electrek was able to achieve plug-and-play charging at the EA 350kW charging station, and the actual charging power can reach 145 kW when the vehicle battery is at 50% charge (with a battery pack of 135 kWh). The official introduction states that when the power is below 15%, it can provide 225 kWh of power, and after using Rivian’s own charging pile and updated software, the maximum can reach 250 kW.
- “Camp Kitchen” Kit
Weintraub believes that the “Camp Kitchen” kit is worth it, although this function costs $5,000 and is not cheap, it’s convenient to easily enjoy home-cooked meals in many places.
Currently, the battery cells come from Samsung’s factory in South Korea, and Rivian assembles them in the Normal factory.
Weintraub also summarized the advantages and disadvantages of this test drive of R1T.
Advantages:
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The front compartment is regular and flat;
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The electric charging cover is opened and closed automatically;
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The door handles are flat;
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Currently using open-source maps from a supplier, there will be self-drawn maps later, which may be subdivided into off-road routes;
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Amazon Alexa voice will be available through OTA later (after all, it is also a major investor);
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The upcoming perception system of 12 cameras and Lidar can achieve level 3 assisted driving capability. The recognition of multiple types of perception fusion methods is helpful for off-road perception.
Disadvantages:
- The map dragging response is slow.- Although the central control car system currently does not have CarPlay/Android Auto, it is hardware enabled and can theoretically be added later.
The Verge
Mitchell Clark believes that the R1T does not have to worry about the complexity of various gears like ICE off-road vehicles, and the four-motor four-wheel drive performs very well at high altitudes. The central armrest is huge and convenient to use.
The perception hardware of Rivian R1T’s advanced driving assistance includes 10 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 5 millimeter-wave radars, named Driver+ system and become a standard configuration, which can perform functions such as lane-changing warning, and will be upgraded to the navigation function of some highways through OTA.
Clark thinks that the experience of the doors opened by electricity (front cabin, cargo bin, charging lid) is good, but the vehicle currently does not have a “tank turn” feature.
Finally, Clark even outlined the user profile for Rivian:
Rivian is going after the types of people who buy Subarus and Land Rovers, rather than Power Wagons.
TechCrunch
Kirsten Korosec’s observation of the R1T is relatively detailed.
There are four ways to enter the vehicle: mobile application, keychain with carabiner-style lock, credit card-like key and bracelet.
After the equipment channel is opened, other small items can be placed in the compartment.
The vehicle retains many physical function buttons or levers, such as the windshield wiper lever, volume keys on the steering wheel, voice assistant, and track change key.
Corosack discovered a detail problem. During the difficult off-road process, when you want to adjust the wind direction quickly, you need to enter the secondary menu through touch control, which is not very convenient.
Although the 10 cameras will record abnormal situations when the vehicle is parked, they will not actively send them to the owner’s mobile phone, but will be stored locally first.
In conclusion
After reading the preliminary test drives of several foreign colleagues on Rivian R1T, I feel that R1T basically meets my expectations. It is indeed a “exploration toy” for the American middle class. I have combed Rivian’s history, products and other dimensions in this article about the company’s pure electric pickup, which will begin delivery next month. Interested friends can go and read it. Below 👇🏻 are links to the test drives of R1T by the above three foreign colleagues.
🔗 Source: Electrek; The Verge; Tech Crunch.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.