Rivian R1S Update: Boringly Reliable, Standard Pack Gone

The most reliable vehicle in my fleet is the one that never shows up on this channel. That’s my Rivian R1S, and I’m sitting in it right now at the San Bernardino Rivian Adventure Network, charging because I let it get low again. I only really come out here when the battery is low, since your referral codes give me free charging on the Adventure Network. So genuinely, thank you to everyone who used my code on a Rivian purchase. That’s one of the perks, and it’s why I keep showing up here.

Boring is the highest compliment I can give a car

People keep asking why the R1S barely appears in videos. The honest answer is that this car is boring, and I mean that as praise. No issues, no service saga, no drama to film. I lease it as our weekend car and pull out the seven seats only when we actually need them, so I’m not putting the kind of miles on it that generate stories.

Compare that to the rest of the fleet. The Cybertruck’s air suspension went out, and the last time the Model Y visited service it was for the screeching seats. Both of those are content. The R1S just works. It’s been with me a year now and it has easily been my least problematic vehicle. I got it for the seven seats and the extra size over our previous Model X, not for the driver assist, which still is not as good as Tesla’s. That was never the reason I bought a Rivian.

The standard pack R1S is gone

Here’s a piece of news I posted on social but never actually talked through: Rivian no longer sells the standard pack R1S. This was announced a few weeks, maybe a couple months, ago. I know a few people running the standard pack and they love it. It was a great introductory price point, a way into the R1S before the R2 arrives.

I couldn’t go standard pack myself, even at that price. I just drive too much and I don’t want to think about range. I run the large pack, and so far it has been great. If you were eyeing the standard pack as your entry into a Rivian, you can see where the lineup and pricing landed.

A quick EV range reality check

This ties into why I skipped the standard pack. One thing you have to realize with EVs: the advertised range is an estimate, and it’s measured at 100 percent charge. You see 300 miles, 325 miles, and you picture that as your everyday number. It isn’t.

For daily driving you’re going to sit between 70 and 80 percent, not 100. So take that 300 mile figure, subtract 20 percent, and you’ve already lost roughly 60 miles before you leave the driveway. Unless you have an LFP battery, which is designed to charge to 100 percent regularly, you’re living below the number on the window sticker. Keep that in mind when you compare EVs. The range is estimated, and it’s for a full battery you won’t actually be sitting on.

The new camera behind the channel

I got a new camera for the channel. I switched from the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 to the Insta360 Luna Ultra, and this is the first video I’ve shot on it. The big reason was the detachable monitor. As a solo creator with no camera person, framing myself and making adjustments mid-shoot is genuinely hard, and being able to pop the screen off to see what I’m doing solves that. I’ve got a DJI mic running into it for audio. You can see the full setup on the Insta360 Luna Ultra page if you’re curious. So far, it’s neat.

Events coming up

Two things worth putting on your calendar. First, the Toyo Tires Trail Pass camping trip is happening again in September. We went last year and it was a lot of fun. It also got cold, like 30-something degrees, and some of you commented that isn’t cold for California. That is cold, my friends. Register if you’re interested.

Second, the Zero Emissions Run to Las Vegas is back, and this year it’s earlier, September instead of October. That one is always a good time. If last year’s run is any indication, it’s worth the drive. We plan on going. I’m still deciding whether to bring the Cybertruck, the R1S, or hand one off to a friend and bring both.

The R2 question and a one-year review

Rivian sent me a survey on which R2 configuration I’m interested in, and I filled it out. But I’m holding to see whether they’ll repeat the kind of deal they gave me on the R1T lease, which they essentially cancelled out so I could get into this R1S. The full contract breakdown is here if you want to see what that actually looked like on paper. If a similar deal shows up, that changes the math.

Here’s the thing though: I don’t buy these vehicles for content. My YouTube revenue doesn’t come close to sustaining a fleet like this. I just have fun with the cars, hit record, and share the ownership experience. So I don’t feel any pressure to grab an R2 to make videos. I’m curious about it, but I’m genuinely happy with the R1S. I already have the Juniper.

I’m planning a one-year R1S review, so tell me what you want covered. Give me the specific stuff, efficiency, reliability, what broke and what didn’t. I’m also working on a summer reflection video covering May through July, which is going to be more personal, honestly a bit like therapy. A lot has happened these last couple of months and I want to share it.

So let me know: what should the one-year R1S review dig into? And be honest, is boring reliability enough to keep you in a car, or would the R2 still pull you away? Drop your thoughts in the comments.