After a major retooling of its Illinois assembly plant, Rivian (RIVN)’s upgraded “second-generation” R1 vehicles are finally hitting showrooms. For a company with just two models – the R1T pickup and R1S SUV – these expensive products have to be nearly perfect to maintain sales momentum.
Rivian began delivering the R1T pickup in October 2021 and garnered praise almost immediately. The truck’s clean design, four-engine power, off-road capabilities and smooth driving dynamics made it the critics’ choice.
So expectations were high when Rivian launched an SUV based on the same platform as the truck in August 2022. But due to some ride and handling issues, the magic had somehow worn off. The second-generation version released now gives Rivian a second chance to get it right.
But the maker of adventure electric vehicles, which operate in the near-luxury segment and whose prices start at around $80,000, seems to have failed again – and the somewhat bumpy ride is to blame.
New updates
Let’s start with the positive aspects.
While the exterior of the updated Rivian R1 vehicles looks nearly identical to the previous generation, a lot has changed beneath the body of the new vehicles.
Rivian has developed its own dual motor, but the motors used in its four-motor setup will be replaced with new, more efficient and powerful motors, the company said. A new high-performance three-motor setup (with one motor in the front and two in the back) is also available for the R1S and R1T.
Rivian said it redesigned its Large and Max battery packs to reduce cost and weight while achieving a range of 330 and 420 miles, respectively – more range than similarly priced competitors.
New heat pumps, a “zonal” electrical architecture and a reduced number of control modules and wiring further reduce costs and increase efficiency, Rivian said.
But more importantly, Rivian said it will rework the R1S’s suspension and handling, resulting in a “smoother ride quality.” More on that later.
At the wheel
The Rivian R1S may look boxy, but it has soft edges in all the right places, giving the car an upscale, modern look. Not surprisingly, after just over two years on the market, Rivian didn’t feel the need to update the vehicle’s design, at least with the R1S.
Inside, the interior was comparable to luxury brands like BMW (BMWYY) and Audi (VWAGY) in terms of materials and finish, but less cluttered. And the car’s NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) characteristics were good. The interior was quiet, there were no creaks or rattles, and there wasn’t a lot of cheap plastic to detract from the quality of the interior.
Rivian’s front seats were well padded, but I would have appreciated more padding in the backrest and seating area.
The R1S test vehicle provided to me by Rivian was a high-performance version with two motors and a Max battery pack. This setup delivered 665 horsepower, a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 3.4 seconds, and a range of around 410 miles.
That horsepower figure is huge, but for a vehicle weighing around 7,000 pounds, it needs all the horsepower it can get. Acceleration was quick, but not as otherworldly as the quad-engine R1T that Yahoo Finance tested a few years ago (and we wouldn’t have expected it to be, given the quad-engine R1T’s nearly 1,000 horsepower output).
What was noticeable when accelerating? The clear weight shift to the rear, which pushes the front of the R1S upwards. While this happens in almost all vehicles when accelerating hard, it was more noticeable in the R1S.
This brings us to vehicle dynamics.
We, including my colleague Rick Newman, were unable to compare the first-generation R1S with the second-generation vehicle that was available to us. However, initial impressions while driving the R1S were mixed.
At lower speeds, the vehicle felt smooth and well-damped, as befits a luxury vehicle. But once you hit a bumpy road, the R1S became unsettled and the suspension kept the occupants bouncing for longer than was comfortable.
Additionally, the car felt spongy at times and the steering was a bit less direct than we would have liked.
Luke Lynch, Rivian’s head of vehicle dynamics, told Yahoo Finance that engineers focused on fixing some issues that affected the first-generation R1S. Lynch noted that the rear of the vehicle was heavier than the front, and this, combined with a shorter wheelbase than the R1T, created an imbalance that had to be addressed with adjustments to the suspension system and components.
That’s no easy task, and fixing these imbalances seems to be an ongoing process for Rivian. The good news: Because cars and electric vehicles are now so-called “software-defined vehicles,” Rivian can fix these issues with software updates that affect shock absorbers, air suspension settings, and the like.
Lynch suggested we drive at the standard or mid-range ride height rather than the lower setting, and set the suspension to firm rather than soft. (This can be done under the Vehicle Settings tab on the center console screen.) This improved the ride considerably, although we still felt a bit more “bounce” than we would have liked over bumps. But to be fair, it was better.
I suspect the 22-inch wheels and narrower all-season tires may not have helped either. Frankly, European automakers have built vehicles with sport or track suspension settings that are almost undrivable. Even so, a less aggressive setting usually offers users a more relaxed and composed ride.
However, for a vehicle that costs around $90,000 (our test model), these issues need to be addressed, and we expect that to happen.
The stakes are high. Rivian still has a lot of goodwill and a coolness factor (since it’s an anti-Tesla, it helps). But established automakers are still pushing ahead with the development of luxury electric SUVs and competing with the upstarts on capability and price.
These include the SUVs EQE and EQS from Mercedes (MBGAF), the BMW iX, the Audi Q8 e-tron and, among competitors, even the EV9 from Kia (000270.KS).
While the Rivian has the edge in some areas, the differences are narrowing and flaws like an uneven ride give the impression that the R1S is not the world-class car that Rivian fans expect it to be.
Still, the R1S’s driving issues don’t seem to be a factor in Rivian’s showrooms. The R1S’s sales are outpacing the R1T, even though the pickup is cheaper. According to Kelley Blue Book, Rivian sold 16,154 R1S SUVs versus 6,570 R1T trucks in the first half of 2024; a year ago, the numbers were 6,745 and 10,638, respectively.
Conclusion: Although the experience with Rivian is generally positive, the new R1S pales in comparison to its pickup brother in terms of driving dynamics, making it a harder sell in the highly competitive market of luxury electric SUVs.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and covers the automotive industry. You can follow him on X and further Instagram.
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