I bought a car with my fingerprint (sort of).
 

After saying no to being high in queue for next gen Tacoma and Land Cruiser I did the Rivian R2 preorder. It still fights with my inner cheapskate and I'm not committed.

My wife still wants a very nice station wagon. In the US that will have to be an Audi or Volvo now also powered by gasoline. An EV will compliment that. My wife says no to another van. The R2 looks neither tiny or huge with 300+ mile range. In addition to made in Normal, IL, the CEO seems reasonably normal.

There are probably 1.5 years to think about this. The lights are growing on me.

:)

https://images.hgmsites.net/hug/2023...00846786_h.jpg

Good job. I'm holding out for a bit more range before I commit. But it won't be too long.

Hmmm....
You strike me as someone who always makes very informed decisions. This one is certainly gutsy, considering that Rivian vehicles, from what I've read, don't score high on reliability, contain expensive parts and are regarded as some of the most complex EV vehicles on the market.
You must have come across these same reports.
On top of that, they've only been in business about 15 years. Do you live close to Normal, IL? :D
Not knockin' your move at all. Just curious about your decision making so that I can hopefully learn something that I'm missing.

There's no real commitment yet. My cousin's son is by coincidence a safety manager for them but I really did it for these reasons. 2 years will probably show them addressing quality or they might fail. We've done a lot of shopping and it really looks competitive. All I know about the company from that family connection is he's considered other well known employers worse.

Where I work there are Rivian, Tesla, Stellantis, GM and Ford in the fleet. It is completely dishonest to criticize the Rivian and Teslas without considering how bad and how often the others are.

I see the annual Consumer Reports car issue is out so will have fun looking at that soon.

Given the substandard performance of electric vehicles in the cold of this past winter in the Lower 48, it’s clearly going to take considerable time and technological advancements before EV’s will be practical cars in Alaska, where my family and I live. We routinely get cold snaps of minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit in Anchorage, and in Fairbanks where our daughter and her husband live, minus forty is not uncommon.

Plus there’s the issue of range: it’s about 350 miles between the two cities, with precious little in between in terms of charging infrastructure.

Hence my conclusion that EV’s remain impractical for Alaska for the foreseeable future.

People have them, I’ve seen Teslas and one Rivian truck in Anchorage. But I somehow doubt that they’re driving them up to Fairbanks during the winter.


Wade Hampton Miller

Station wagon? Does anybody even make station wagons anymore?

And don't post a picture of some SUV that's just called a "station wagon".



Or anybody worthy of carrying Ara Parseghian's athletic supporter, either.

Lots... you just can't get them in the USA. Estates, as they're called across the pond, are still very popular in Europe and other parts of the world, where they haven't adopted gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks so much.

Only a few Euro manufacturers are bothering to import wagons to the US, since they don't sell many. I have a BMW wagon I love, but they (and VW) stopped bringing them in a few years ago. AFAIK the only makes you can get a non-jacked-up wagon right now are Volvo, Audi and Mercedes.

Rav 4 LE. $33,000

Gas, not hybrid or electric.

No problems, no wait. Gets to the next red light just like the rest of the SUV's.

I've often wondered what someone might buy if they stole my phone and chopped off my thumb, maybe a few fingers, or even my face.

Well, not often...

Would "lifelock" cover that?

:D

Our last ever US VW wagon runs out of warranty and the fantastic 0% interest deal about when this Rivian comes out. The Audi and Volvo you can still get have fancy, reliability and price factors that we don't care for. Reliability and price cold mean we won't get the R2.

We get those as Toyota dealer loaners, have associates with them. They are good but I would buy another Outback first. The Outbacks center of gravity, traction and space are best for our needs. I drive off road a lot but also don't want a pickup or bigger SUV again. I will for sure watch for a next gen RAV4 too. It with the current Outback are getting aged and due for new generation models.

What I did is a placeholder as I wait for it and other new products to arrive. When the R2 is out a lot will be different in our family. The price still bothers me. We have become happy driving less expensive vehicles, spending in other ways, and I don't like traveling in vehicles that stand out.

I'm smiling because maybe this forum understands vehicles with same tires and about the same weight create same amounts of tire wear.

The ops director I report to used his face instead of finger because he was traveling. He drives the company's Rivian and plans for a loaded R2 to replace his wife's Tesla Model Y. He's not worried about Rivian quality not just from experience, but from issues with the Dodge/Ram, Jeep, GM and Ford stuff in the fleet. I confess I'm spoiled and concerned by our personal Toyotas and Subarus having been so problem free.

My pals and I have followed the hack possibilities if you're dead or without a finger. On a more serious note, everyone with an iPhone should in addition to have latest OS rev, enable the new lost phone feature.

You could always paint some eyebrows above the lights and attach some plastic fangs on the grill

And I wonder where there is a charging station/w street lights 300 miles into the woods :D

I'm not in the to me goofy mindset or wrong thinking some have to use wrong tools for the job. In other posts I've mentioned how I rent pickups, other trucks and trailers when needed. Just recently I rented a Jeep for 2000+ miles of mountain driving for $477.15. I just can't see choosing an EV to be much of a problem. Especially when no one will even see it for 1.5-2 years.

The Jeep rental does have me thinking about quality and reliability. The airport dude claimed we were its 2nd renter. The defroster often did not work and one speaker kept going on and off. Now I see there's a recall for the defroster. Come on Stellantis. You can't make a reliable defroster and sound system? Did I miss those being cutting edge new technology?

It will be fun to watch the time ahead and hope no troubles for the vehicles we have now.

I researched the Rivian a little as we have seen a lot of them on the road down here in TX. I have seen no fewer than 20 of them.

They are expensive, but that is an objective consideration. What bothered me more is the test drives done by Car and Driver, they came nowhere near the reported range. I am not talking 50 miles short, I am talking like 30-40% less than the reported range. With the size of the vehicle, that was not a surprise to me.

We have a Hyundia Kona EV for my wife, she loves it and gets over 300 miles range which is more than reported range. I am not telling you to buy one as it is much smaller than you are looking for, but to let you know we do have experience with electric vehicles. Even here in the one week of TX winter where it is in the twenties and thirties, her range drops at least 30 to 50 miles per charge as does turning on the heat.

Bottom line, do not count on getting the reported range as I promise you, you will be disappointed.

Just curious, those of you who are buying EVs do you install a charging station at your homes? If so, what does that add to the bottom line of these vehicles?