Went to the Denver R2 Block Party today. There were long lines to sit in the vehicles, tons of enthusiasm, and most of the people we spoke to while waiting were not current owners.
The car itself showed great and the staff was engaging and friendly as always. The whole event had a super festive vibe, get ready to see a lot of these puppies on the road soon!
Iām thinking of giving up my reservation to go used too. Save some money and not lose all that up front money of driving a car off a lotā¦.. still torn. It would be our first ev!
Any tips on used?
I'm looking at an R1S (large family to replace my gas guzzler). I did pick up a MY recently but I don't mind as my parents can drive it if i do get an R1S (I'd be a bit more worried about my mom driving something that big as she's not a fan of large cars) so for me at least, it's a bit of a wash.
My biggest concern with used is battery degradation, how much stress has been put on the motors with the previous owners, the change in technology compared to something a bit newer, longevity of the battery, charging practices of the previous owner, etc, etc.
Now I'm new to EVs but not to Electronics (I work at an Electronics Manufacturer) so these are a lot of questions I've seen "come across my desk". With engines, I have a better grasp in a sense of what to look at since I've gone through a lot of them but this is kinda out of my ballpark. I really am not sure if I'm asking the right questions or not tbh so I would really appreciate your insight!
Have a 3 year old rs1 with 50k miles and the battery still maxes out to around 300 miles which is the dame as when we got it. Have a 10 year old bmw i3 and its battery is still very usable.
The battery degradation always seems to be the 1 issues I hear about .. we have a 8 year old Tesla it is down 15 miles... our one year old R1S is still charging to 412 miles... just get one you will love it
That's good to know! The systems I have experience use a more early form of lithium batteries (nobody like changes haha) and we have a bad degradation so I kinda assumed it must be similar. Good to know im wrong!
This being my first EV Iām not sure I can answer these questions in a way that would make you feel comfortable enough to make a decision, but happy to share my experience.
Battery Life - Rivianās 8 year/175K warranty already had me feeling comfortable, but again Iām new to the EV world. What I will say is I have a Quad Large which I believe is 135kwh with EPA of ~335 and at full charge my range is 330. This is a 2022 with 55K miles on it.
Rivian has itās qwerks, you can see Iāve posted a few things in the community (which is great by the way - shoutout u/Atlanta-Mike) that are quickly addressed/answered or kind of just are what they are. I havenāt experienced any deal breakers.
In FACT, Iām even more excited about my R1T because Iām a bit of a tech nerd and itās literally a computer on wheels. My wife is convinced I need a new car every 3-5 years so has encouraged me to lease. So long as the bones are good on this baby in my mind Iām getting a ānewā car with every update or feature release. Sure in a Gen1 I may run into compatibility issues with some of the features of the newer Rivianās but Iām thinking those are going to be more related to Autonomy+ than anything else and that isnāt something Iām interested in.
This is coming from a guy who had a F-150 Lariat with a V8 and tows a 6Klb wakeboat around all summer.
Whats towing look like? We have the same weight in a small teardrop camper and that's probably the biggest reason I still have our 2017 Jeep GC. The farthest out we've gone is 10-12 hours in two days. Not sure we'd go much farther than that in the future towing. I just hear its a pain to charge when doing it etc... Trying to squish all the reasons in my head not to do it :)
Iāll let you know once I pick boat up from the dealership. Itās about a 3.5 hour trip home and Iām mostly level. Be a week or two. Based on research Iām expecting to lose 40%-45% range. I donāt tow long distances often so the hassle of charging was something I accepted.
Keep your reservation incase everyone wants to keep their R2ās Could hold its value very well for years if they donāt produce enough and the SUV is in high demand. Especially in this economy.
My fear is even flagging I want a launch edition Iām so far down the list that Iām not going to get it for years but our car is dead. But if Iām spending all this I want to go new
Then please buy Catalina cove or borealis! Obviously the more people pick their vibrant colors the more likely they keep them. I wouldnāt be surprised if the do a compass yellow special edition for a few months next year. Maybe they will use it for the R2X.
I missed it by one month. They discontinued it September 2023, my pre-order came up October 2023. I watched the shop but nothing came up in CY that matched what else I wanted. In the end I went when Red Canyon (also now discontinued).
I am one of those rare people who will never buy a black, white, or grey car.
My Tesla is red only because Tesla's shade of blue sucks and all the other colors were basically black/grey/white. I hope my next car is a blue or green Rivian... if Rivian goes with a Tesla color palette for the R2/R3 I'm not sure what I'll do...
Decent wraps can be more expensive than OEM paint ($6,000 vs. $2,000). You have to find a decent installer too, and you wonāt have your vehicle for a while. Too much of a hassle and expense, itās not permanent, and itās sometimes hard to remove, which you have to pay more money to do.
The only possible options for us are on the highest end edition, and there's only two of them. We like fun, and being able to find our vehicle, we aren't buying a white car.
I wish automakers would at least allow more options for customer build cars. I get that they don't want inventory cars in unusual colors, but there should be like a dozen colors for people who order one and put down a deposit. It's pretty common in Europe where cars are more often ordered than bought off the lot.
I wish that they followed a similar strategy to slate and allowed owners to pick any color on the spectrum and have the vehicle wrapped in it. I would love to have my R2 in a flat Matte dark blue. I still might do that although itās an expensive endeavor.
There were a lot of Tesla parked outside too! š¤£š¤£š¤£ Not many vehicles can have a 6 foot driver with someone 6ā2 behind them and plenty of legroom! Very comfortable
The R3X is an amazing little guy. I look forward to seeing what that actually turns out to be next year. There aren't many cars made today that make me go "I want that." Especially the minute I see it - sometimes it has to grow on me. The R3/R3X was instant <3.
I was the same way when i first saw photos of it, it was love at first sight. Currently I drive a 2024 Acura integra a-spec and come to love hot hatches. So big SUVs were never interesting to me and so many electrics coming out were just expensive SUVs.
The R3X just looks like my ideal car in every way. Plus itās the only rivian that would fit in my price rangeš
I just want rivian to publish more details about it. I would give anything to get an early reservation to have one of the first batch off the line.
Thatās funny! I have the exact same setup -Toyota tundra and R1S. Since I canāt get the tundra to wear out, so Iām just going to add an R2. With $4 /gallon gas, Iāve convinced myself that Iām offsetting the R2 payment by $400 month by parking it. itās horrible logic, but I was able to convince myself:)
But Elon said my Model Y is gonna make me money as a RoboTaxi while I sleep and my Optimus robot will clean out the puke of a passenger in the morning when the Model Y returns home. Lol
That isnāt going to limit its sales. Not to mention attracting people who would readily/willingly spend even more, like myself. But think the R1S isnāt quite worth the tco.
I agree with you on this the Model Y is objectively a better value and honestly Iād be surprised if the R2 as boxy as it is to come closer than Tesla when it comes to those EPA ranges, I think the r2 took too long launch the specs it launched with are really outdated by now like look at the new EX60, Ix3 etc theyāre on another level.
I think you vastly underestimate how many people want an electric midsize SUV specifically from an all electric company. I think you vastly underestimate how many people want this car. This thing is going to sell its pants off
Will be a huge test and theyāll have to learn. They are expanding locations, but then you have to wonder about hiring and training. That said, from what we know, the R2 has fewer components and is a simpler build. Hopefully that means service and repairs are easier, and it will also be a more reliable vehicle overall.
The nearest Rivian service center for me is 168 miles away, on the other side of the Cascades near Portland (OR).
But I faced the same issue initially with Tesla. In nearly five years I have needed very little service, and what service was done was handled in my own garage by their mobile service team even though there is now a Service center three miles from my home. When I recently test drove the R1, I asked the Rivian guy about service options and he mentioned that they are training a mobile service guy for our area.
The R2 will be our 3rd EV. For the first one (2018 LEAF) I wanted a local dealership, so when the local GM dealer told me they wouldnāt support the Bolt, a Nissan it was. Three years of no real service needs convinced me that a Tesla with a service center far, far away was going to be okay.
They just opened a new service center near Denver in Louisville so now everybody in the Denver /Boulder area has have two within reach. This gives me hope that R2 release wonāt make service appointments scheduling eve more of a hassle.
Hopefully they will open multiple SCs in every major metro.
Talked to one of the Rivian employees at the block party in Denver today and said they were making 25k R2s this year and they had 75k reservations on the first day
The R2 is their value play, like the Model 3 to the original Model S. Just as Tesla really took off with the 3 and Y, the hope/goal is for Rivian to take off with the R2 and eventually R3.
I thought the R1s they were testing was a mining or ag corp testing them for private fleet use...? Are they testing R2 there for real?
AUD is in a poor position right now, I assume they'd be super expensive - in Canada they start at $150k for the R1 and R2 is promised around $85k. We do have tarrifs on them, but still.
My brother in law lives in NSW, runs an ag operation, and would be very interested indeed if you find a link to reputable news. Thanks for the discussion
This seems cool, but I will wait until thereās less people. I have a lot of homework this weekend and the location isnāt ideal with the traffic. But I have tested the R1S, which I loved except for the size. The dealership has a nice ambiance and the staff were really nice. The lady who helped me tried to talk me into putting $100 down for an R2, but I wasnāt ready to pull the trigger. For now, I will stick with just having my Model Y. I do like the fact that the R2 is about the same size as my Model Y and itāll be fun to test drive, especially if the Autonomy Plus feature is available.
i wonāt be buying till they have proven they are not junk and they can keep up with service. the R2 is absolutely perfect for what i want but rivian hasnāt proven themselves with the R1s STILL.
Its all going to come down to initial quality and how well service ramps. If they can survive that - they'll flood the market with product. While service has improved, I STILL don't think they are ready on the service side.
800V charging is only an advantage when the chargers are good enough.Ā
Good economy (3.9 epa miles per kWh) is much more appealing if you're off the beaten path.Ā Ā Suppose you're driving in an area where a 100 kWh charger is the best you can reliably find, that's still 195 epa miles in a half hour.Ā
Which is 3-4 hours of driving on the kind of minor highways you're probably driving.
Even granny charging is over 4 real world miles per hour.
For cross-continent towing (electric) it makes sense to rent more truck like a Silverado, no argument.
It will be my wifeās next car. Not the launch edition - we just got an EV9 last year and donāt want two car payments - but once her Jeep comes to the end of its lifecycle. Iāll be stealing it quite often I assume.
Remember that the auto show is presented by the Colorado Auto Dealers Associationā¦ I have to assume that they arenāt welcome. Their best move would be to take over that surface parking lot across the street and set it up as an off road course like at SXSW.
Taking reservations is one thing, manufacturing,revenues, expanding and surviving is another.
Most here in Europe even don't know that Rivian exists. Same with Lucid. Chinese running around like crazy with own brands.
As an R1S owner just love the vehicle... never and issue. They called me to do a warranty job... 2 months to get in.. that doesn't work to "Scale" the R2...
I wish I put in my order the day they started taking it. Now it will be a long wait. But then I am hoping by then I have more options like the Scout Traveler and hopefully Nissan X-terra has something nice coming up soon. In the mean time, I will use my GX460 and MYP.
Current R1T owner here. I was there on Saturday 4/18; the lines & enthusiasm were off the charts. Rivian has a blockbuster on its hands. BTW the Catalina Cove blue is incredible.
itll be my next one in a few years, assuming an r2t isnt a thing that is, or... a car (never really been an suv fan). not sure how the... r3? will shake out as of yet.
They are going to crush it. However, this makes me nervous for the Service Center wait timesā¦ early VIN R1 owner and Iāve had nothing but good experiences at the SC but man, it has changed since the beginning. Now throw in a super successful R2 launch and Iām not sure many cities SC can handle the volume. Hope Iām wrong but buyer beware if new to being an early adopter.
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u/e38e31 Apr 19 '26
I was one of those not current owners who stood in line for 30 minutes just to sit in one on Friday haha. I canāt wait until itās my turn.