The Best Electric Car Ever Made - Rivian R1S Review

I have owned my all-electric Rivian R1T for about six months. I've been off-roading and rock-crawling and camping. It has been the adventure vehicle for me that they advertise it to be. But it's an electric truck and thus fairly niche. So enter this, the all-new Rivian R1S, an SUV that targets all of America. It's built with the same DNA and on the same platform as my truck and thus all of the marketing is this vehicle fording up streams and climbing mountains. But let's be honest here, how does it fare at Costco? And how do you fare when you hear about our sponsor, LTTStore.com? This is not a meme. Linus Sebastian is paying me actual human currency to talk about a few of my favorite LTT Store products. First up, we've got the backpack. This thing comes with a warranty and it's got a bunch of really, really nice features. It's one of those bags that doesn't feel or look that big, but you can just fit like unlimited things inside here. I've taken it camping. I've taken it on multiple airplanes and it's been fantastic. You've got a bunch of cavities for laptops and tablets and all the things you can think of. You've got a nice, single, huge compartment, which I feel most like laptop-focused bags don't have. And then you've got a nice front pocket that fits chargers, batteries, and other convenient things. The other thing I love from LTT Store is something they don't talk about that much, probably because only nerds want it, but I think it's pretty freaking awesome. That's the workshop jacket. Now, this thing is designed to be worn in workshops, and boy, does it do the task. This heavy canvas not only makes you really warm in a cold shop, but it is fire and it is water-resistant. Liquid, you pour it on this thing, it's like goodbye. Look at that. It just rolls right off. It's the best thing ever. I love that. It's got more pockets than you can think of. You can put tools in here and pens and holders. And do you know the best part about it? It dresses down. Or dresses up, I guess. So if you want to wear it just out on a night on the town, it doesn't look like a weird, nerdy workshop jacket. Oh, last thing I love. It has gussets. When you're reaching over into something, most workshop jackets, you're like, man, you're all constrained. No, this thing lets you breathe and move. It has gussets. What more could you want? LTTStore.com. If you were driving down the road and you saw one or both of these vehicles in your rearview mirror, you would be forgiven for mistaking one for the other. The S for the T, the T for the S. Because in reality, from the B-pillar forward, they are absolutely identical. Not just inside the cabin, driving it, but also the componentry underneath. It's not really until you get to the back of the R1T's short cab that you notice the differences. The R1S exchanges the very generously-sized four-and-a-half-foot truck bed for, well, a third row, an extended cab, and a powered liftgate, with an unpowered, manually-operated tailgate. In theory, this vehicle holds more people, maybe even more things, but it does so feeling smaller, because it quite literally is. The total vehicle length is about two feet shorter in R1S over R1T, and the wheelbase is 14 inches shorter. What this means is that the R1S feels a little bit more agile, it feels a little smaller, and it also has a narrower turning circle. Make no mistake, these cars are not small. They do not feel small. They are large vehicles that weigh over 6,000 pounds. But what we will discover is if the changes in the R1S are worth it, for the majority of people, they don't feel like they need to own a truck, or haul things, or do truck things. Can electric cars even do that, anyway? Now, before we talk the all-new third row, let's talk the redesigned second row. Watch your head. This pillar is very low to the ground. Ask me how I know. It hurts. Now, once you're inside the car, it's actually really comfortable. I am tall. I am 6'4", and you can tell that even though the driver right now is 6'1", I have several inches of leg space, and I have several inches of headroom. Where this is even better than the R1T is that you can actually adjust the seat position, laterally, and also your seat back position. I can recline like this, and it's very, very comfy. I could sit here for hours without any issues. It's way more comfortable than an airline seat. Now, that does come at the expense of some of your rear passenger comfort in that third row, but no big deal. They're probably just kids, right? So, I'm a little kid, and I want to get into the back. How do I do it? Well, there's just this easy little button I push. The seat back folds forward, and the entire chair slides. It's nice. I can climb in, no problem. The issues start when I want to put the seat back to its original position. This is something that even most adults will struggle with. Here's the thing. If you pull the seat back, which is what most people do in most vehicles, it will only lock in its forward-most positions. This is insanity. No one would want to sit like this. So, what you've got to do is move the seat bottom with one or both hands, and it is really heavy. I cannot emphasize this. It is very, very heavy because it's spring-loaded. Once you slide that back, you've then got to use your other hand to recline the seat back into the first lock position, then move your hand to the handle, and then recline this to a reasonable position for someone to want to sit there. It's something that is completely impossible to do from the third row because, well, you can't reach your little arm through, and unfortunately, there is no pull string that allows you to do that on the 60-40 split. You can do it on the right side of the vehicle with the single chair, but on this side, no chance. It's confusing. Okay, this is gonna suck. Okay. Oh, it's not on back. Okay. Wow, this is miserable. If you were maybe five foot two, you could get away with sitting back here, but that's about it. Now, you might be thinking, well, hold on. The seat slates forwards and backwards. Maybe second-row passengers could sacrifice some comfort for the third row, and that's true, but remember when I said this first position would be insane for anyone to sit in? It's actually okay. It's reasonable, but if I put this in a position that would be tolerable for second-row passengers, I'm already borderline again, but remember, I'm six foot four, so there may be passengers that are five, six, five, seven with shorter second-row passengers that could get comfy in this configuration for this size of vehicle. It's really a shame that that's the problem because everything else back here is really comfortable, save for the fairly flat, not padded seat. I have a lot of headroom. I have my own air vent. It doesn't have its own zone of climate control. It shares whatever the second row is doing, but I've got USB-C. I've got a nice cup holder. I've got my own armrest. It's not bad. It's just tight. Oh, seatbelts, and by seatbelts, I mean car seats. There are ISOFIX points back here for every single one of the four chairs. There's not for the middle here, but everywhere else, you've got ISOFIX, and that's cool. However, this bolster, this wheel well is so huge, and then this threshold is so massive that getting a baby back there, even a toddler in a booster seat, you're not in for a good time. Plan on keeping your baby seats up here in the second row. Of course, with any third row, the question becomes how much of my precious cargo space is being taken up? Well, quite a bit, but you can actually do a very reasonably sized Costco haul in one of these vehicles. If you happen to need more space, well, you've still got that very spacious front trunk found on the R1T. With that and this combined, you're probably at the average cargo space of a full-size SUV, not a mid-size like this, which is very nice. But if for whatever reason you find yourself needing more room, the R1S is more than happy to accommodate. Like most SUVs, you can push this button or this button to release the second row with a mechanical latch. Goodbye. And you can, of course, release the third row too. However, it's not quite as easy. You've got to reach forward, pull this manual latch, and then shove the seat forward. Push forward, pull, shove. I've got long arms, so it's easy to reach, but if you're short, you might find yourself needing to kind of get onto the tailgate in order to do that. There is one thing that's a little less than desirable, however. The third row is not flush with the rest of the cargo area. Rivian did probably realize this was less than desirable, and they added a little lip here that you can take this cargo cover, place on top, and then slope down. It's not flat, but at least it's flat adjacent for you to be able to roll things up inside and climb inside and maybe even sleep. Because with the new Rivian camp mode that totally levels the vehicle, I've gotten a couple of viewer questions saying, hey, can you sleep inside here with the tailgate up and the liftgate down? Well, you can, and it's actually really comfortable. I think you'd have to be 6'6", maybe even 6'7", before you started to feel cramped in here. It's very spacious. It's quite wide. You can reasonably sleep two, maybe even two people and a dog. Child. Baby. Not three adults. If there's anywhere I can point to and say that's where they cost cut, it would be in returning folded flat seats to their home position. We've already talked about the second row. It's kind of annoying. It works mechanically, and it's a little heavy, but it's fine. Automatic second row seats are not common, even in ultra-luxury cars. What are becoming more increasingly common are automatically returning to home third row seats. Those are not present on the Rivian R1S. You've really got two options. You can pull the handle that locks them into position and unlocks them. Reach with your arm, and if you're 6'3", 6'2", you'll probably be fine. Or you can climb in through the cargo area and then pull the handle, pull the seat up, and then the headrest up. This is not ideal for anyone that isn't pretty tall. Again, in the mid $70,000 to $80,000 price segment, third row automatic seats are becoming standard, not even an option. This car is about $100,000. It really should be here, and it's not convenient to do manually. Luckily, safe for this one exception, cost-cutting is not going to be something you'll find pretty much anywhere else on the R1S. Now, you do lose the gear tunnel in favor of a third row, but everything else that the truck has, you've got here. You've got the Bluetooth cam speaker. You've got the indoor flashlight. You've got loads of power options. Two 120-volt 15-amp AC outlets. You've got three 12-volt DC barrel plugs, capable of 180 watts each. You've got eight USB-C PD plugs located throughout the entire cabin. You've got an air compressor. It's not in a bed. It's in the back of the cargo area, but this is fantastic for blowing up balls, for blowing up bicycle tires, and of course, the tires on the vehicle itself. Because when you're going off-roading, you can air down, and then when you get back on pavement, you air back up. It's a great idea. You've also got these cool little cargo hooks, which are adjustable, and allow you to, well, strap things down that you've got hanging out the back of your tailgate. There's even, on the second row, a ski and lumber pass-through, which has a very clever design, wherein there's this little peg that pops out to lock the seat back in. When you drop that, it folds back to get out of the way, and then represents itself when you're closing the seat. It's really, really clever. Now, I did get a question from a viewer asking if you could transport 4x8 sheet goods, and the answer is, kind of, but not really. Unfortunately, the design is such that it's only 4 feet wide right here, not down here. What this means is that in order to fit a sheet, you've basically got to have the tailgate up, and when the tailgate is up, the liftgate can't go down. The liftgate actually can't go down anyways, because it locks into the tailgate, so this would just be rattling around in the back. So, could you fit a 4x8 sheet? Yeah, but you'd have to have this open, you'd have to have this up, and you wouldn't really be able to use the cargo tie-down points. You're probably sticking to 2x4s instead of 4x8s. If you're willing to shell out 450 extra shekels, you can get a blow-up spare that fits in the cargo area. Now, it's not the full-size spare that you get on the R1T, but it's better than nothing. You can inflate it to 60 psi using the onboard compressor, which is handy. It looks absolutely ridiculous when you put it on the vehicle, because it is so small, and it's limited to 50 miles per hour maximum. Again, this is just for emergency uses only, but it's better than having to call roadside support, which is what you'll find on a lot of nicer SUVs that don't make room for any spare whatsoever. Now, the scissor jack that it comes with sucks. Don't ever use this. I got a flat in my R1T, and it took me nearly an hour to lift my vehicle up, because it is so heavy to spin that thing. Go to Harbor Freight. Spend $130 on an air hydraulic jack. You've got an onboard compressor. Your life will be way better. I also spent $40 on these little aluminum lifting pucks. Now, the Rivian comes with a plastic one, but I don't think it's very good. It's designed to be used with the scissor jack. This vehicle can only be lifted from a couple of different points because of the battery pack. You can't puncture it. That's just like a Tesla. But where Rivian goes even further than Tesla is that the entire underside of the vehicle is covered in plastic, even the lifting points. And so to get access to anything, you need a pry tool or a screwdriver. And I have been leaving the LTTStore.com screwdriver in my car. I've had a screwdriver in my car for a couple of years now, but the reason I love the LTTStore one is that it's got a lot of different bits. It ratchets so nicely. And yeah, I've been using this everywhere in my car, at home, in the office. I've got three of them, and I have two more on order. I bought them. They didn't even pay me to talk about this part, but this is such a fantastic screwdriver with a hand feel, and it's good. Just go buy it or don't. I don't care. They didn't pay for this part of the video. Driving on regular pavement in all-purpose mode feels excellent. Now, it will get better or slightly worse dependent on your wheel and tire selection. In my truck, I'm running on the 20-inch ATs. They feel like truck wheels, and it feels trucky. I'm running on the 22-inch tires and wheels on the R1S, and this feels excellent. It is very softly sprung. It's not quite as harsh as what you get from most performance-oriented SUVs like the BMW X5 or the Porsche Cayenne, but it's not so vague and fluffy like a Genesis GV80, for example, that it feels like you have no wheel feedback, no road feel. It's nice. Now, you will get some noise in the cabin, and that is, frankly, just wind noise. I wouldn't say that it's particularly better or worse than any other non-Porsche German vehicle. BMW's probably got a slight edge, but it really comes down to the fact that there just is no other noise other than wind, and so that's what you will naturally hear. But it feels good, the cabin is nice, and it drives, frankly, like a dream. Oh, and it's fast. And when you put it in sport mode and disable stability control, this car is just unruly fast. It has got 835 horsepower, making 908 pound-feet of torque. This 7,000-pound vehicle gets up to speed like it's a feather. Now, when you get into turns, the vehicle dynamics will start to reveal that this car is a very heavy car. Now, make no mistake, it feels a lot lighter than it is. That's thanks to the hydraulically cross-linked suspension, of course, the individual motors that apply torque vectoring to compensate for oversteer and understeer. But no matter what kind of wizardry you try to achieve, this vehicle is going to feel large because it is. It's no Porsche Cayenne in a canyon, but the fact that we're even comparing them should be a miracle because this vehicle weighs over one ton more than the Porsche. And when you put your foot down, it smokes it. It is unruly fast. Oh, I love this car. And despite its weight, you can throw the back out of it if you punch out of a corner. You ready? Here we go. It should not be legal to have this much fun. Well, it's not. Rivian is comprised of many Tesla engineers, and it shows the moment that you try to enable their Lane Keep Assist software, which is the exact same as Tesla's, a double press of the drive stock. The Lane Keep Assist software is good. It keeps you inside the lane. It doesn't perform lane changes yet, although that is alleged to be coming. And there's a really nice hardware suite. You've Right now there's just a capacitive sensor. So rather than have to wiggle the wheel like you do in a Tesla, you just gently press, which is nice. You've got corner radars, a forward radar and cameras all around the vehicle's perimeter. It frankly reminds me of Tesla autopilot circa 2018, wherein it works, but don't expect it to perform miracles. It doesn't really even like handling junctions. It'll do it if I force it to, but it doesn't prefer to. And that's really where this thing is different from autopilot is that there is one big exception. It can only work on map roads. If the road has not been mapped by Rivian, it will not function. This is a very large departure from Tesla autopilot. And frankly, one that I would accept if the lane keeping was perfect, but it's not autopilot has a big leg up still. And when it's time to peel off the pavement, you put it in off-road all-terrain that puts it at its second highest suspension articulation, and it makes things very soft and soft. They are now, look, it doesn't feel like we're on asphalt, but given that this is a fairly poorly maintained road and we're going 40 miles an hour, it's shocking, especially considering that we are using the 22 inch wheels, wheels, frankly, very ill suited for this job. When you have the 20 inch eighties, like I have on my R1T, you can go a lot more aggressive with it. You can, uh, start climbing up stuff and you can really climb up a bunch of stuff. Now you're not going to out Jeep a Rubicon because you have independent front suspension still, but you can certainly hang with the Broncos of the world. And it does a very, very nice job because you've got a motor on each wheel that gives you independent, uh, variable torque vectoring. There's no lockers. There's really no skill involved at all. You just push the go pedal and it goes. Now the hardcore off-roaders may dismiss electric vehicles for that reason, but I think that it's a great reason to own one. If it encourages you to take your car where you've never taken other cars to be in nature, how is that not a good buy? It's awesome. Is the Rivian R1S a better people mover than a Cadillac Escalade? No, it isn't. Is it better in the canyons than a Porsche Cayenne? It's not. Is it better off-roading than a Jeep Wrangler? No, not that either. Probably better than a Ford or Bronco, but not better than a Jeep Wrangler. But it does all three of those things, and not only does it do them, but it does them well, really well, better than any singular car can do those three tasks. It is truly a one-car car. It's the best electric vehicle I've ever driven, and it's frankly not close, and it's one of the best cars I've ever driven, period, in history. If this is the first that Rivian has to offer, things are looking really, really bright, and I can't wait to see what they do next. I love my R1T, and I'm pretty sure if you get one, you'll love it too. Stay snazzy.