Rivian started doing demos of the R1S in the Bay Area. I got to do one a couple of weeks ago. Not very long, was a drive from San Bruno to Candlestick Park and back. Unfortunately I scheduled it late enough in the afternoon that the 101 was fairly full of cars, precluded doing much feel for hard acceleration. So not really enough to make a call yet - I'll need to do something longer whenever I get close to my spot in the line, to make the decision.
The size is great vs the Y. 50" to the back of the second row instead of 30. Comfortable seats. 3rd row actually useful. Tall view on the road, I've missed that since I traded in a Toy Truck in 1997. Suspension is definitely nicer over the rubble of a road at Candlestick. And the live adjustable height of the suspension is fun.
It is less polished. When I did a map test, that longer time to get a response is pretty apparent. I don't have the blind spot views when I use the turn signal, and no sensors telling me the inches to impact when doing parking. It does have a true 360 overhead camera, but I didn't think to look at that in practice, so not sure it replaces the other.
Acceleration should be equal to or faster than my MYP, but it didn't feel that way in the one chance I had to punch it. Didn't have the press back in the seat sensation, but I also didn't conduct this test in a very quantitative way. Will need to follow up on.
I hated the steering wheel unless it was set to performance. Very mushy, like the power steering on an Oldmobile. And at present, you can't change this setting separately- you must be in sport mode. That should be simple software improvement.
It will still come down to when I am on the delivery calendar. At that point, I can see what the resale on the Y is, how much better the CCS networks have gotten, and any incremental changes to the model. I did do the contract stunt that at least in theory locks in the 7500 credit under the old rules, so this would be a 72k purchase + taxes, DMV, so perhaps 10-12k more than the YP was. But in reality, in my two person household, it's a lux upgrade, not an essential one.
The size is great vs the Y. 50" to the back of the second row instead of 30. Comfortable seats. 3rd row actually useful. Tall view on the road, I've missed that since I traded in a Toy Truck in 1997. Suspension is definitely nicer over the rubble of a road at Candlestick. And the live adjustable height of the suspension is fun.
It is less polished. When I did a map test, that longer time to get a response is pretty apparent. I don't have the blind spot views when I use the turn signal, and no sensors telling me the inches to impact when doing parking. It does have a true 360 overhead camera, but I didn't think to look at that in practice, so not sure it replaces the other.
Acceleration should be equal to or faster than my MYP, but it didn't feel that way in the one chance I had to punch it. Didn't have the press back in the seat sensation, but I also didn't conduct this test in a very quantitative way. Will need to follow up on.
I hated the steering wheel unless it was set to performance. Very mushy, like the power steering on an Oldmobile. And at present, you can't change this setting separately- you must be in sport mode. That should be simple software improvement.
It will still come down to when I am on the delivery calendar. At that point, I can see what the resale on the Y is, how much better the CCS networks have gotten, and any incremental changes to the model. I did do the contract stunt that at least in theory locks in the 7500 credit under the old rules, so this would be a 72k purchase + taxes, DMV, so perhaps 10-12k more than the YP was. But in reality, in my two person household, it's a lux upgrade, not an essential one.
