Photo: Rivian
On September 30, Edmunds reported a concerning issue with the Rivian R1T it bought for a long-term test. On September 28, Carrie Kim and Ryan ZumMallen were driving it on the 405 freeway close to Los Angeles when the electric pickup truck “experienced a sudden loss of power."
According to Edmunds, the R1T gave no warnings on the dashboard about a possible cause for losing power. The truck just stopped responding and eventually came to a halt in the middle of the freeway. The Edmunds employees tried to jab the accelerator pedal to check if the R1T would respond, and nothing happened.
The situation made Edmunds aware of an issue most Rivian customers must not have noticed so far: the pickup truck has no way for you to turn it on and off. You just enter the vehicle with the key and get going.
Kim and ZumMallen had no conventional way to restart the R1T in rush-hour traffic. They “put the R1T into park, locked and unlocked the car, and opened and closed the doors.” It is not clear exactly what did the trick, but the electric pickup truck eventually got back to work as if nothing had happened.
In its text about the incident, Edmunds said it contacted Rivian to understand what happened with the vehicle and warned other R1T drivers could experience something similar. Alistair Weaver, Edmunds's editor-in-chief, tweeted the story and shared that it could have happened with him and his kids onboard. A few hours later, the website simply erased the report.
We sent Weaver a message asking about the story on October 3 and are yet to hear from him. We’ll update this article as soon as he tells us more about what happened. Even if Edmunds realized it was a mistake on their part – which would explain taking the story down – the fact is that the lack of a start button may look modern and witty from a manufacturing point of view (a part that is not there is a component you do not have to pay). However, a situation such as that faced by Kim and ZumMallen may justify adding one as soon as possible.
The situation made Edmunds aware of an issue most Rivian customers must not have noticed so far: the pickup truck has no way for you to turn it on and off. You just enter the vehicle with the key and get going.
Kim and ZumMallen had no conventional way to restart the R1T in rush-hour traffic. They “put the R1T into park, locked and unlocked the car, and opened and closed the doors.” It is not clear exactly what did the trick, but the electric pickup truck eventually got back to work as if nothing had happened.
In its text about the incident, Edmunds said it contacted Rivian to understand what happened with the vehicle and warned other R1T drivers could experience something similar. Alistair Weaver, Edmunds's editor-in-chief, tweeted the story and shared that it could have happened with him and his kids onboard. A few hours later, the website simply erased the report.
We sent Weaver a message asking about the story on October 3 and are yet to hear from him. We’ll update this article as soon as he tells us more about what happened. Even if Edmunds realized it was a mistake on their part – which would explain taking the story down – the fact is that the lack of a start button may look modern and witty from a manufacturing point of view (a part that is not there is a component you do not have to pay). However, a situation such as that faced by Kim and ZumMallen may justify adding one as soon as possible.
This is why we spend a fortune buying and living with cars @edmunds . If this had happened with my kids onboard, or at high speed, it would have been doubly terrifying. https://t.co/fXgCgQqVdw
— weaveroncars (@AlistairWeaver) September 30, 2022
Google News