The Rivian R1T is a brand-new all-electric truck competing against some of the biggest names in the auto industry. It has already made a name for itself. That being said, it’s not all good news for the startup EV automaker, as the R1T has had many issues both behind the scenes and on the road. Here’s a look at just some of the problems a Rivian R1T owner encountered, including something breaking after just 1,500 miles. 

The Rivian R1T has had a lot of production issues 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) and the supply chain shortages have impacted major corporations and regular people alike, and Rivian was no exception. Rivian was hit so hard that the company slashed its predicted production output for 2022 in half. The company expected to make 50,000 cars this year, but that prediction was trimmed down to 25,000 units.

Like other automakers, the root cause of this production problem is mainly in the supply chain. This isn’t even the first production issue related to supply chain problems for Rivian. Earlier, the EV startup delayed a minority of R1T orders into 2023. Those Rivians had the optional 180-kWh battery pack, and due to supply chain problems, the company thought it would be better to focus on the standard version of the truck. 

The R1T is the first production car from Rivian, and unfortunately for the California-based automaker, Rivian customers have also experienced some issues with their car. A YouTuber named Jerry Rig Everything got his hands on an R1T, and according to InsideEVs, something broke after just 1,500 miles. 

Something on the Rivian R1T broke after just 1,500 miles for one customer

The good news for Rivian is that the something that broke wasn’t anything major. It was the R1T’s automatic tonneau cover. The tonneau cover still opens, but it seems to get stuck when you try to close it. Jerry Rig Everything says in his video that something probably got caught in the gear mechanism that opens and closes the cover, though he’s not sure what.

To be fair to Rivian, this minor issue occurred after Jerry Rig Everything drove his Rivian for 1,500 miles while doing “real-world truck stuff.” That said, this broken automatic tonneau cover wasn’t the only problem that arose after two months of driving the truck.

Other things that the Rivian R1T customer complained about

One of the downsides of EVs is that, while something like the R1T is rated to tow thousands of pounds of stuff, the extra weight will decrease the car’s efficiency, and that’ll also mean that it’ll lower the car’s range. This will happen to regular cars too, but seeing an EV’s range start to drop may make some people uncomfortable. 

For example, according to InsideEVs, Jerry Rig Everything hooked his R1T up to a 5,000-pound horse trailer, and while towing it around, the R1T’s range dropped to about 150 miles. Since the R1T has a standard range of about 314 miles, this means that the horse trailer cut the R1T’s range number in half. Another minor issue happened with the R1T’s window.

It got hit by a rock chip, and has an estimated cost of $1,600 to repair. Getting hit with a rock chip is normal, but the $1,600 price tag can be steep for many folks. There were more minor issues too, such as the R1T not having proper truck info on its dashboard display, the roof racks being loud, and the doors not being easy to close.