CyberTruck vs Rivian on Battery Tech?

[BigE]

I had initial ordered a Rivian R1T until Tesla announced the CyberTruck. CyberTruck just seems like such a great overall, do everything vehicle for less money and better performance. I'm still pulling for Rivian and hope they are successful, but just wondering, can a New company like Rivian that has never built anything, come out of the gate and have equal or better Battery technology than Tesla?

Advertisement

 

[TyPope]

I had initial ordered a Rivian R1T until Tesla announced the CyberTruck. CyberTruck just seems like such a great overall, do everything vehicle for less money and better performance. I'm still pulling for Rivian and hope they are successful, but just wondering, can a New company like Rivian that has never built anything, come out of the gate and have equal or better Battery technology than Tesla?

It's possible. I mean, if a bridge maker makes the best wooden bridge known to man and nobody can get close to making as strong a bridge he makes, all it takes is for someone to discover steel...

 

[mrbulk]

I had initial ordered a Rivian R1T until Tesla announced the CyberTruck. CyberTruck just seems like such a great overall, do everything vehicle for less money and better performance. I'm still pulling for Rivian and hope they are successful, but just wondering, can a New company like Rivian that has never built anything, come out of the gate and have equal or better Battery technology than Tesla?

Yes, if they buy their batteries from CATL in China...

 

[Balthezor]

I'm curious, how do other EV compete with Tesla when they don't have a substantial supercharging network. Just curious how their future owners will deal with that. Would take at least an hour to charge at a normal charger.

To me that is the most important part of buying a Tesla. You can take it on trips. I guess it would be fine if the owner of Rivian would never use it for trips and only for work. That really limits them though.

 

[Mini2nut]

The Supercharging network is a huge competitive advantage for Tesla. They started installing them very early on, approximately 8 years ago in 2012. Plus they have a fairly vast service center with mobile techs added into the mix.

It must kill Tesla to use ICE vehicles for their mobile technicians. I thought an electric van was on the horizon until they revealed the Cybertruck.

 

[Balthezor]

I had initial ordered a Rivian R1T until Tesla announced the CyberTruck. CyberTruck just seems like such a great overall, do everything vehicle for less money and better performance. I'm still pulling for Rivian and hope they are successful, but just wondering, can a New company like Rivian that has never built anything, come out of the gate and have equal or better Battery technology than Tesla?

Generally curious. How would you plan a trip with a Rivian? An non-supercharger would be like 3 hours to charge?

 

[BigE]

Yes, if they buy their batteries from CATL in China...

Rivian has not yet publicly, that I can find, say who their source for batteries will be. Several articles state LG Chem. We also know LG Chem is building a new factory in Ohio to support GM. I guess we will known more once Battery Day gets here, hopefully in September. My guess is Tesla will jump ahead even more vs competition given their experience in building batteries, work with Jeff Dahn and others.

 

[BigE]

Generally curious. How would you plan a trip with a Rivian? An non-supercharger would be like 3 hours to charge?

That's exactly why I canceled my Rivian order and placed a CyberTruck order when it was announced .

 

[Mini2nut]

I wish Rivian the the best but I believe the RT1 is doomed from the start. No Supercharging network and a fugly looking exterior.

 

[ajdelange]

I'm curious, how do other EV compete with Tesla when they don't have a substantial supercharging network. Just curious how their future owners will deal with that. Would take at least an hour to charge at a normal charger.

Generally curious. How would you plan a trip with a Rivian? An non-supercharger would be like 3 hours to charge?

You do it the same way you do with a Tesla: go to ABRP and tell it where you want to go to and where from. The difference is that you deselect Tesla Super Chargers and select CCS chargers instead. I just drove up to Canada from the DC metro area. The route takes me up 95 as far as the Garden State parkway, then a jog on 17 over to the NY thruway as far as Troy, then across NY/VT to Brattlenboro then up the interstate to the Canadian border. We have been doing it this way since well before we got the Tesla as it avoids NY metro, Conn and Mass. There is a SC on Route 17 so that was our first stop (43 min). There is another one in Brattleboro. That was our second stop (39 min) for a total of 1:22 spent charging. Drive time was 10:40. Total time 12:02

I put the same trip into ABRP for the R1T. It has me stop once for charging at the Walmart in Newburg, NY and etimates 43 minutes for that charge. Driving time it has as 10:59. As it's basically the same distance with the differences being in how far the Walmart is off the Thruway as opposed to how far the SC is off Rte I91, I'm going to assume that I must have been a little heavy footed and use the same drive time: 10:40. That would make the R1T time 11:23 - quicker than with the Tesla with the reason being that one charge could be omitted. The R1T is a 400 mile vehicle. The Tesla 350. I'll note that this EA charger is fairly new (October 2019) so that the last time I did this excercise the Rivian trip was not so convenient as it is now. The message being that the non Tesla network is improving every day.

Suggest you try some trips of your own with ABRP.

 

[ajdelange]

I wish Rivian the the best but I believe the RT1 is doomed from the start. No Supercharging network, wheel hub motors that add complexity and unsprung weight, fugly looking exterior, etc.

See No. 10 RE charging.

The Rivians do not have hub motors.

The Rivians have Baroque classic beauty compared to the CT.

 

[Sirfun]

I wish Rivian the the best but I believe the RT1 is doomed from the start. No Supercharging network, wheel hub motors that add complexity and unsprung weight, fugly looking exterior, etc.

I believe the Lordstown trucks, are who uses hub motors.

 

[cyberhunter]

The Rivian is a nice truck. I equate the R1T to a Tacoma. It appears to be a very capable light pickup that can haul and tow some, but it’s main purpose in life is adventuring travel. The CT is akin to a Raptor but with 3/4 ton truck work capabilities. If I didn’t need to tow long distance and wanted to spend more, the Rivian is a nice alternative. The issue Rivian will have is that the electric Hummer supposedly will be coming out and be direct competition. The CT is set aside from any direct competition as of right now.

I saw the TFL off-road guys drooling over the Ram TRX because of its hellcat engine and off-road suspension etc. It looks and sounds amazing. All I could think is these guys are drooling over that engine but they aren’t drooling over all the torque and torque vectoring that the CT will have. The TRX will come out and be in 3rd place immediately from a capability standpoint because of these electric trucks As long as Tesla Rivian GMC etc do the suspension right.

 

[ajdelange]

That's exactly why I canceled my Rivian order [no Super Charger network] and placed a CyberTruck order when it was announced .

Pity you didn't research it first! With the Tesla it's pretty much get in the car and go, watch the fuel gauge and charge when necessary - practically like ICE. From what I can see of the EA/EVgo/CircuitElectric/GreenPoint... network they are getting awfully close. Check it out on ABRP.

In a previous post I compared a real trip in an X with the same trip as anticipated with an R1T and found the R1T trip to be shorter (but with a CT it would be the same). Those trips were planned to get to the destination with as few stops as possible. Another approach, which is easier on bladder and battery, is to tell ABRP to limit charges to 70 or 80%. You will stop more often but will actually spend less time charging and have more opportunities to get snacks, hit the loo etc.

 

[lawdog]

The Rivians have Baroque classic beauty compared to the CT.

hmmm, not sure i agree with that. it looks like a Nissan Juke or a Nissan Cube