3 Rivian R1T Issues Emerge After Only 10,000 Miles
The Rivian R1T did not have an easy path ahead of it as it debuted as the first electric pickup truck. There was no way it wouldn’t face mounds of scrutiny, objections, and even haters. But when the Rivian hit the road, people loved it. It is a creative, unique, powerful, and innovative platform that was created to please truck people. As much as all of these things are true, and they really are, some issues have started to emerge. Here are three problems with the Rivian R1T after driving for 10,000 miles.
Why is the Rivian R1T so expensive?
The Rivian R1T has changed prices a few times now. The 2023 Rivian R1T starts at $73,000. This is a lot of money for a pickup truck. However, that market has changed in the last few years to make a $73,000 truck seem somewhat normal. If you get the Rivian R1T fully loaded, you are looking at spending around $104,000.
Part of why the Rivian is so expensive is that it was built with mindset that anything a truck driver might need or want is there. The Rivian R1T has more features than you can shake a stick at. While this is awesome in many cases, it eventually turns into one of the sticking points for the new Rivian. Let’s take a look at what some of these issues can be.
The Rivian R1T has had some durability issues
JerryRigEverything is a massively popular YouTube channel where the host tests, builds, creates, and breaks a number of items from all markets. He drove his Rivian R1T for a year. According to his Rivian review video, he pushed the truck hard on his farm. He loaded the electric pickup truck with tons of soil, rocks, fertilizers, and other materials. He towed many heavy loads and spent plenty of time off-road. After a year and 10,000 miles on the clock, he found three things he “hates” about his Rivian R1T.
Before we get to the three issues highlighted in the video, the host of the film rapid fires some other smaller issues he has had. He doesn’t seem too upset about these first issues because most of them are small things that come with owning an early-production vehicle. Also, Rivian was quick to fix most of the issues under warranty.
At the top of the video, JerryRigEverything host, Zack Nelson, mentions that his Rivian has broken a few times. His list of issues includes things like the display for the compressor going out, which Rivian fixed. One of the shocks started behaving poorly. Nelson describes its defect as being “jittery” and had it replaced under warranty. The bed’s Tonneau cover is also broken with no fix yet. Furthermore, a plastic part of the tailgate came off while he was loading gravel.
Nelson understands that since his truck is only the 1,600th unit built; it was likely to have some growing pains.
The Rivian R1T has three main issues
Water in the door
The first problem he points out is that any time it rains or snows, he can hear water sloshing in the Rivian’s door. Granted, a car door getting water in it isn’t a big deal. It happens to most cars. This is why if you check your vehicle’s door, you’ll likely find a small drain hole in the bottom of the door. However, as the video shows, the drain holes are plugged in the Rivian R1T pickup. Even once he unplugged the drains, the water struggles to fully drain out of the door. Any time water gets trapped in your car, trouble will likely follow.
Plants growing in the undercarriage
Nelson is quick to announce that he uses his Rivian as a work truck. He doesn’t care that it’s luxurious; he makes a point to use it like a proper truck. As such, he uses his electric truck to haul soil, gravel, fertilizer, and other such agricultural materials.
At first he loved using the Rivian for these tasks because the bed and tailgate meet with an articulating piece that covers the gap between the two surfaces. Genius, right? Well, almost. This articulating piece lifts when the tailgate is lifted, and a space opens underneath that is oddly huge. Nelson realized one day that there was an alarming amount of soil, gravel, etc, collected in the undercarriage of the truck in a space he couldn’t access. While looking in the space with a flashlight, he found that there was so much soil down there that a small plant was growing inside of his truck.
The bed and tailgate piece is a great idea that has a fatal flaw. This is something we’d expect Rivian will (or maybe already has) fixed.
Electrocuted tape measure
For the last issue, Nelson makes the distinction that it isn’t as bad as the first two but that it is still pretty annoying. Again, Nelson explains that he uses his Rivan R1T as a work truck. Because of this, he often keeps various tools in the cab. One day he sat his tape measure down in the wireless charging tray. He immediately heard a crackling sound and realized that his truck was “charging” his tape measure. Due to the coiled tin tape, the charger *thought* that it must need charging and was sending an electrical current through it. Nelson noted that the tape didn’t have enough electricity to hurt him, but still, he felt unsettled by it.
Is the Rivian R1T a good pickup truck?
Despite these issues, Nelson still says that if he could go back in time, he would buy the Rivian again. He still believes it is the most capable truck on the market. He cites the power, speed, and utility of the Rivian R1T as making all the other issues worth it.
