Apparently the guys at The Fast Lane will not be reviewing the R1T. According to them they've reached out to Rivian numerous times and never heard back from them. They weren't even invited to the event in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Why The Fast Lane is NOT Reviewing the Rivian R1T
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I'd rather Rivian focus on allocation's and deliveries then supplying every YT'er with a truck to beatup.
As far as YTers go they are pretty fair in the reviews they do. Off-road and towing are major items they cover in regular reviews. These are things that many traditional reviewers don't cover very well. They have also done multiple EV reviews and driving tests that have been informative. Being Colorado-based I would have thought an event in Breck would have been a no-brainer for Rivian. I would agree to get some deliveries completed to the general public as a goal right now.
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Sorry First post but I also watched this just now. I like TFL and agree with @Roamtheworld about their review pedigree. However I think this is much adieu about nothing. Rivian chose to solely give access to Motor Trend to do the initial reviews as a quasi-PR Campaign prior to launch. Its fun to watch and informative, but this is not a review per se. If you dig a little deeper and jump around, think about it this way... Rivian is keeping their messaging about R1T and R1S completely within their sphere of control from not just a PR standpoint, but additionally from an investment standpoint. Rivian is backed by Amazon, Motor Trend and Discovery are also backed by Amazon... Soo, its likely that Rivian and Amazon are controlling the narrative about the products.
And before anyone jumps on me, I am a reservation holder so I'm not bashing Rivian or its investment groups. Personally I don't care that much about who gets to review what. What I care more about is seeing someone on this forum get their reservation and report back the good, the bad, and the ugly about their experience. Tesla owners are pretty transparent in their frustrations with build quality and service experiences, just as much as they praise the company, founder, and owners. I expect nothing less from a group like this.
And before anyone jumps on me, I am a reservation holder so I'm not bashing Rivian or its investment groups. Personally I don't care that much about who gets to review what. What I care more about is seeing someone on this forum get their reservation and report back the good, the bad, and the ugly about their experience. Tesla owners are pretty transparent in their frustrations with build quality and service experiences, just as much as they praise the company, founder, and owners. I expect nothing less from a group like this.
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Exactly. And if you had to appease every wanna be journalist on YouTube, you would have ZERO time for actual important stuff like customer deliveries. Nothing against the FastLane at all, but those guys need to get over themselves. They actually look more JV for calling out Rivian.
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Based on the various media that have had access to the Trucks, you have to propose some form of adventure or alternate use. Long Way Up, Rebelle Rally or Motor Trends cross America by backroad/trails. These are actual adventure/backcountry events. Saying, give us your truck first so we can spend 20 min on a trail or a couple hours with a highway towing test is really not what Rivian is trying to identify these vehicles with. Maybe try to do something different TFL....
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I liked the Motor Trend piece but most folks want to know the boring real world info too...isnt that where 95% of the use case lives?
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Yes, but every site out there will have that within a couple days of the first couple deliveries without Rivian even needing to be involved. They may even already be done and under a timed release. That happens in other industries all the time. Pretty sure the marketing department is far more interested in the Adventure image than the meat and potatoes stats for now since the meat and potatoes can be handled with a press release and having five trucks anywhere in the US with invitations sent to the big writers.
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All good points but personally I like and trust TFL so I'd like to get their take on the meat and potatoes.
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I like TFL too, I have watched a lot of the comparison and towing vids up there, but this "apology" seems a little more like putting the cart before the horse. If none of the other big press like Car and Driver, Consumer Reports, JD Power, Edmunds etc. haven't had it, not sure why they think they should have it without doing something to at least interest a marketing person.
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I don't think Rivian built the R1T to address "95% of all current driving use cases" either, more like the complete opposite. Which is why the extreme testing is so good. We should expect the truck to outperform all the table stakes / daily driver stuff based on way they have tested to date.
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Hahahahaha - You know you are on to something good (Rivian) when you have reviewers stating that they won't review, then review non-stop and keep making what appear to be groveling pleas to get their hands on a vehicle by showing dubious emails from rando pre-order customers. Desperation may be the new ultimate form of flattery for Rivian!
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