The Rivian R1T is a brilliant electric truck. We already know that. For road trips, adventuring, daily driving and towing it is confirmed to be a improbable, snug companion. However whereas it’s the finest life-style truck ever constructed, it is probably not designed to be a heavy-duty work truck. YouTuber JerryRigEverything’s 22,000-mile ownership review reveals why.
One instance is the infamous electronic tonneau cover, which Zack from JerryRigEverything wanted to have changed. His was the early design since his R1T was one of many first 2,000 vans constructed, and we already knew that was a faulty design. However he satisfied Rivian to let him doc the substitute course of, and it reveals how labor-intensive it’s to swap out what appears to be a comparatively delicate part.
Rivian Possession Evaluations
We have been following Rivian possession opinions for years, and house owners appear to like their vans. With nice vary, unbelievable off-road functionality, class-leading software program and, now, entry to Tesla Superchargers, the R1T is an unbelievable on a regular basis truck. However one ache level appears to floor loads: These vans are onerous to repair after they break.
The excellent news is that Rivian’s new design must be higher, however we hope the subsequent Rivian truck will not require you to soften LockTite, take away the rear seats, and disassemble a lot of the mattress to be able to change it.

Changing the tonneau cowl requires eradicating the rear seat and a lot of the mattress {hardware}.
In any case, true work vans are a unique breed from on a regular basis pickups. Whereas shopper vans have to have the ability to haul heavy hundreds sometimes, work vans do virtually continually. Whereas customers hope for a truck that by no means breaks, fleet and work truck patrons concentrate on how shortly and cheaply they will repair issues as soon as they happen. Plus, they should know {that a} truck can deal with tons of of hundreds of miles of hauling with out affected by it.
The Rivian wasn’t fairly designed with that purchaser in thoughts—for good cause, since EV vans are nonetheless costlier than inner combustion ones—however meaning sure elements aren’t fairly constructed for lifetime sturdiness or fast in-the-field fixes.
For instance, the Rivian’s has a foul behavior of trapping dust and particles. Zack notes that when hauling gravel, manure, dust and different gritty cargo issues are inclined to get trapped between the mattress and the decrease aero cowl. Eradicating one panel was sufficient to shake out loads of the grime, however he nonetheless needed to endure a manure bathe to be able to clear out the underside of the truck. One of many key benefits of hauling with a truck over an SUV is that you may shortly rinse out all the grime, and the Rivian trapping dust would shortly harm its attraction to hardcore mattress customers. It did not appear to be inflicting a problem the place it was, however given how a lot dust was trapped it may well’t be good to let it’s.
Zack additionally needed to get his windshield changed and, like in lots of trendy vehicles, the method for the Rivian concerned eradicating sensors, eradicating trim and clearing away cowlings. It price $1800 on the Rivian Service Middle, which is not exceptional for a contemporary automobile, however hopefully, patrons haven’t got to make use of Rivian’s personal Service Facilities each time. Corporations like Safelite can recalibrate the sensors on trendy Chevy and Ford vans for a fraction of what sellers cost. I’ve reached out to Rivian to see if that is attainable with an R1T, as effectively.
The video additionally reveals a dent within the rear tailgate the place it hit a trailer ball. The gate would not have sufficient clearance over the tow hitch to dodge a tall ball, and so it will drop down proper onto it. GMC and Chevy have an identical downside with their “Multi Professional” and “Multi-Flex” tailgates which have ruined plenty of tailgates. As with the Rivian, changing a posh tailgate meeting is dear, which is why you do not see loads of difficult or low-hanging tailgates on work vans.

The mark from the place the R1T’s tailgate hit the ball hitch.
Lastly, his cost door has an alignment subject and would not shut flush. That is a core instance of the kind of mechanical overcomplication that do-it-yourself sorts and fleet house owners hate. I’ve lengthy believed that electronically activated cost doorways are a ineffective gimmick, and this reveals why. A dual-arm mechanical hinge isn’t going to must be recalibrated, and it isn’t going to fail. Introducing an additional electrical motor into such a key space strikes me as a step backward.
It is an comprehensible one for Rivian’s target market. Zack is extremely pleased together with his truck, and although he is aware of he paid extra for an electrical truck he is loved the expertise far an excessive amount of to remorse it. He would not remorse buying and selling in his Tacoma for an R1T, and he prefers it to all the different electrical vans in the marketplace. I agree with him. Not solely is an R1T my favourite electrical truck, however it’s additionally the automobile I would purchase if I had a clean test. However ideas about damaging its famously pricey-to-replace physique panels test my want to take one wheeling.
That is why I would like to see a true work truck variant of the R1T. Both for this technology or the subsequent one, the corporate may provide a de-contented truck with no energy cost door, much less sound and aero insulation below the mattress, a rubberized tailgate or one that will not open when a tall hitch is detected and a simplified mattress with no energy tonneu cowl.
Certainly the corporate’s expertise producing Electrical Supply Vans (EDVs) for Amazon has given it extra concepts for commercial-grade vans, and that is essential. As a result of if we would like electrical vans to exchange ICE vans, we’ve got to make them simply as simple to repair, hard-working and sturdy.
Contact the creator: mack.hogan@insideevs.com.
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