Rivian CEO issues strong statement about people who purchase gas-powered cars: ‘Sort of like building a horse barn in 1910’::“I don’t think I would have believed it.”
It’s important to read the full quote from Rivian’s CEO before complaining about $75k electric trucks:
“I think the reality of buying a combustion-powered vehicle … is sort of like building a horse barn in 1910,” he said. “Imagine buying a Chevy Suburban in 2030 … what are you going to do with that … in 10 years?”
He’s comparing buying a Rivian truck with buying a Suburban, which has a base price of $57k for the lowest tier configuration (LS) and a $76k price on the High Country configuration.
It’s still a fair complaint though. What about those of us who can’t afford to spend $75,000 on a car?
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Proof that very few read the article
Fuck you! Not everyone can afford that shit asshole. Guess I can add another electric vehicle to the do not buy list if I can ever afford one.
Why get butthurt with a historically accurate statement? By 2030 you should not, in good faith and all things considered, buy an ICE vehicle at all, even today some EVs are already cheaper than their ICE counterparts.
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I’m not currently in the market for a truck and I don’t know much about Rivian. Now I know for sure, based on this alone, I will never buy a Rivian vehicle. I used to consider buying a Tesla as well, but won’t for similar reasons.
I wouldn’t go buying a VW, Ford, GM and probably others then for their penchant to kill or poison people for profit.
Forgive me, sire; I hadn’t $80,000 to spend on a luxury truck.
You fuck.
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A luxury truck with the ugliest headlights on a car today.
I love the front end of the Rivian.
I’m not even sure what my headlights look like. I never really see them.
And the fucking dangerous high front which is completely unnecessary on an electric car, why is it there. Not even the TESLA FUCKING CYBERTRUCK pulls that shit, say what you will about Tesla, but they understand how the differences between gas and electric cars can be taken advantage of.
Whenever I see these razor thin LED headlights on vehicles, my first thought is are those COB chips getting cooled properly?
It just comes across as very sus, a bit like form over function at the expense of headlight longevity
Those aren’t headlights
If you knew that he was referring to the purchase of a $80k Suburban in 2030 would that change your assessment?
I think you know very well I would never engage with this possibility as a means of self preservation. Good day sir!
So a $77-82k Suburban is good in your eyes then? How come? Why? Oh wait, you didn’t read the quote.
Just because he compared it to a suburban doesn’t mean that the Mitsubishi mirage and used Corollas aren’t a thing.
And sure the Chevy Bolt is 26k, but that’s still 5k more expensive than a new Corolla and has like half the range, and you can fuel the Corolla way faster.
Not with the $7500 federal tax credit, let alone (for CA) residents the tax rebate. It’s not for everyone yet but there’s plenty of people there Bolt is perfect for.
Source: bought one. Is great.
Same. Bolt owner checking in. It’s fucking awesome and was - to me and my family- the obvious choice. It’s not for everyone, but if you can afford it and your lifestyle allows for it, it’s an easy decision.
Slowly but surely EV’s will be the default choice. Prices will continue to fall, infrastructure will improve, and gas will get ridiculously expensive. The tide is changing.
Stupid out of touch billionaires.
Please pay for my apartment complex to install charger plugs in our garages then.
I’m totally onboard with EV’s, I just can’t have one right now.
If you just have a regular plug in the garage, it works. I thought that I would have to get a special outlet put in, but after plugging in at night for a couple months I realized there was no need. Figure about 5 miles per hour recharge. I have an older used Leaf that was relatively cheap.
I don’t have any electrical plugs in my garage. The best I can do is commandeering a 60 watt bulb socket with one of those adapters that turns it into a socket. Also, I don’t think the apartment complex is rigged up to charge tenants for the cost of running that bulb and garage door opening either. So they probably would be pissed if I started charging a full EV in there.
They won’t even notice. Unless you live in an electric supply desert, charging an EV 0-100% is ridiculously cheap.
I have outdoor parking :/
I like the idea of electric cars, may purchase one, but they don’t make sense for everyone at this point. The infrastructure isn’t there, they’re very expensive, the range isn’t practical for some, and many of the choices are unreliable. I applaud those who can make them work, but they’re not for everyone yet.
Range really isn’t a big deal. Pretty much any car will get you from one charger to the next, the question is how long you’ll have to wait to charge. On most cars, 30 minutes of charging will give you a couple hours of driving. Keeping in mind that you can leave home on a full charge and arrive at your destination on nearly nothing, charging overnight, it’s not bad at all.
Oh, and check Plugshare. You’d be surprised how many DC fast chargers are out there. You’ve probably passed by some and not even noticed. There are a few deserts out there (looking at you, Wyoming) but they’re building up FAST. A year ago there was a 135-mile stretch kinda near me without anything along the way. Now there are two on that stretch.
Um…does the CEO know that horses are still a thing and that horse barns (aka stables) are still in use? Also, the invention of the automobile didn’t instantly displace the horse. It was well into the 1920s before they became a regular sight.
Also…there’s lots of reasons to buy gas-powered cars these days. For one, not everyone lives in a home where they can install the necessary charger, so you’d always be on the “hunt” for charging stations, and fuel cars are generally cheaper at this time. Once we see the market flooded with EV cars, the prices will come down and fuel cars will no longer be the norm, but we’re likely a decade or more away from that.
I get what the CEO is trying to say, but it’s still incredibly tone-deaf.
Also the recharge times are still a deal breaker for anyone who fancies a road trip every once in a while.
If your road trips are only once in a while, you easily make up for it in saved time not doing weekly fill-ups.
What, you don’t like spending a quarter of your road trip waiting for “fuel”?
I spent under an hour charging on a 8 hour drive. I barely had time to pee or eat before the car was ready. Have you road-tripped an EV?
No, I don’t have 80k to spend on a “maybe I won’t be too worse off”
My Chevy Bolt cost less than half that, and that was new with most of the bells and whistles. I drove over 200 miles on a single charge yesterday. Longer road trips are doable with a tiny bit of planning and multitasking. When you’re charging, do all the things you do on a road trip anyway: take a leak, grab a snack, give your mind a quick break.
My car is also the 2nd worst major EV for road trips (after the Nissan Leaf). The Volkswagen ID.4, for example, is a little more than half your $80K number and charges about 2-3x faster than the Bolt.
It’s also pretty awesome to not have to go to gas stations as part of your ~weekly routine because you charge at home and it costs next to nothing.
it was a rental car lol
though you’d be surprised to learn there’s EVs under $80k! not that anyone can afford new cars anyway.
I can very much recommend a dacia spring. I think this is one of the most affordable way of transportation. But I live in Switzerland, we have a great charging network and our distances aren’t to far. After paying 5500 CHF upfront, i pay monthly 200 CHF for power and leasing fee (170 + 30). After 3 years I can buy it for 10000 CHF or just give it back. Buying the car directly is about 20000 CHF. Just make sure that you order fast charging as well.
I bought a used Leaf for $11K about 5 years ago. Best car purchase I’ve ever made. I still have a ICE vehicle for road trips, but man do I like the way electric engines produce power!
Used EVs can be a great deal! I’ve had my eyes out for a good deal on a leaf for ages, but not many pop up in my rural area.
8 hour drive averaging 50mph(to be conservative and easy math) for 8 hours is 400 miles. What EV can go that far?
Assuming you charged before you left
Charged midway
Charged when you got there
You charged three times for an hour? Even not counting the first charge, you’ll absolutely need the last when you get there. That’s a min 2 hours charging for an 8 hour trip or about 25%.
there’s a couple EVs that can go that far. I rented a Tesla Model Y Long Range, which cannot. I did not leave with a full charge and didn’t arrive with one either. You don’t need to.
I charged 3 times on the way up the coast, for 15, 10, and 20 minutes. The last one was was only longer because I ran into target to get something.
That’s… 9%.
What car takes an hour to charge?? I used to have a Chevy Bolt, the slowest charging EV you can buy. and it didn’t take an hour.
Go play around with A Better Route Planner if you want to see that assuming 3 hours of charging for an eight hour trip is ridiculous.
Edit: 50mph on the highway is laughable, I was going 80-85mph. It’s a bit over a 500mi drive.
That makes sense. I forgot they charge a lot faster when low and assumed a full charge. I’ve only ever driven a Tesla model 3 once on a business trip. Mostly city driving so no long trips.
Agreed, it’s also true that used combustion engine cars can be a great value.
Selling $80k electric cars and making comments like this is sort of like saying ‘let them eat cake’ in 1780
Those trucks/SUVs weigh 8500lbs. Since there is no fuel tax being collected, these monsters are destroying the roads and not contributing to their upkeep. My city is passing laws to significantly increase the registration on these vehicles, according to their annual mileage. I’m all for going electric, but an 8500lb truck is not helping the environment.
2023 F150 weighs between 4,021 to 5,740 lbs, just as a reference point. All electric vehicles weigh significantly more than their ICE counterparts
This is true, but fuel taxes are very low. Most states that are charging an EV “road maintenance fee” (with whatever phrasing they select) are charging way more than an ICE vehicle would contribute in fuel taxes. And while it is true that BEVs are heavier than ICE vehicles, all else held equal, and that road wear and tear is strongly dependent on weight… as I recall reading, the overwhelming majority of road wear and tear is the result of freight trucks and similar vehicles.
I’m all for going electric, but an 8500lb truck is not helping the environment.
The issue here isn’t that it’s an EV in this case. It’s that it’s a truck. I’d wager than >95% of people buying trucks in the US would be perfectly served by a four door sedan or comparable sized vehicle. Trucks have largely become expensive vanity items to act as an external signal of a person’s cultural identity. Contractors and similar that actually use a truck for truck purposes still exist, but they’re comically outnumbered by people buying trucks for no good reason.
My conservative neighbor drives an F-150 (~5,500 lbs) and his wife drives a Tahoe (~5,800 lbs). But he had the gall to complain to me last week about the weight of my Model Y (4,400 lbs). It’s amazing what a little bit of oil and gas propaganda has been able to accomplish.
I don’t think it’s propaganda that EVs are heavy as shit for their size. Automakers are really upfront on that fact. You trying to call it propaganda illustrates your bad faith argument. You’re misusing that word and diluting the meaning.
4400 vs 5800 isn’t much of a difference, considering the sizes of the vehicles you listed. You are essentially driving a midsize truck but without the utility of a truck. Your neighbor has two trucks to your one. The top trim Tacoma weighs the same as your lower tier Tesla. Tesla Model X Standard Range comes in at 5,185 pounds.
I think we can both agree your vehicle is extremely heavy for being a small, low/mid tier passenger vehicle. Some Teslas are not eligible for the $7500 tax credit because they weigh so much.
I like how you can’t respond to this. It really hammers home my argument and calling you on your bullshit. Thank you for the votes, because that means I know you read the comment but have no idea how to respond!
My city doesn’t allow big trucks on our roads. The wear and tear of roads is heavily dependent on weight, as you and I both stated. Weighing 3500lbs more (the weight of a Toyota Camry) than even the largest personal vehicle is a problem which I hope they solve soon.
I’m not sure why people think it’s propaganda that EVs weigh 1.5x or more than a standard sedan. It’s a fact, and it’s easy to find information. The tech crowd wants to call anything that hurts their opinion bullshit, but they refuse to look it up. It’s right there on the manufacturers’ websites. I sincerely doubt the owners of Rivian or Tesla are in on some government “propaganda” to lower their own sales.
I appreciate the votes. That proves you read the comment but have no idea how to respond, because you can’t.
If you read the article you’d see that he said that in the context of buying a Chevy Suburban in 2030. Suburbans start at $77k, so I don’t think his comment is that out of line.
That context is great, but I haven’t seen any articles about the Chevy CEO saying such astoundingly tone deaf shit. 🤔 maybe the price isn’t what’s inflammatory.
It’s not, of course it’s not.
But we know that legacy Reddit users never even bothered to read the articles anyway. Hurray! I missed-- not.
Wait wait wait, you mean theres more to this story than the title?
Shooketh.
I usually dont bother to read articles, because they are seo garbage. I glance at top comments written by true people to verify info instead
Yeah but it’s still a fair comment because the cars are too expensive for anyone to buy The battery compared to another car that’s too expensive to buy doesn’t really make any difference.
Because the thing about expensive gas powered cars is there’s also not expensive gas powered cars. So he’s comparing expensive electric cars to variable price gas powered cars.
CEO of a product ridiculing a competitor’s product? I’m shocked, shocked!
It’s called a stable. And if you keep horses then yes you need to build one.
How many of us keep horses?
Severely depends on where you live. It’s very common in many areas of my state. Many farms have horses. Many people keep horses at other locations than their house, but still it needs a stable. Just because you don’t personally know people with horses in no capacity means it’s not something people still do
I don’t drive a lot any more now that I work from home…but if I purchased an electric vehicle, the batteries (arguably one of the most expensive components of the vehicle) are slowly degrading whether I drive it or not, and I would either have to throw away the whole car or replace the extremely expensive batteries as early as 10 years (assuming the company who built it still exists). If I buy a gas-powered car instead, there is not a significant expensive component on it that starts totally degrading over time whether I used it or not…except the 12v battery under the hood that I have to replace every 5 to 7 years.
That Rivian CEO is suffering from affluenza and seems to think people are made of money.
Got a battery powered van with a wheelchair ramp? No?
OK then.
I’d bet the conversion companies could almost as easily convert the phev Pacifica as the gas only Pacifica.
Yes, people already have modded wheelchair ramps for the F-150 and model Y. It can be done, it has be done, it will continue to be done.
Probably best to avoid these new tech-car companies if all their CEOs are going to do is just shoot off bad takes. Says a lot about the company culture IMO ☹️
Just leave people to buy whatever they want to, and importantly, whatever they can afford.
As much as I like electric cars, it’s not affordable or sustainable to splash 10k every 10 years on a new battery. If I buy a combustion engine vehicle, I don’t need to replace the engine/[insert heavy and expensive component here] every decade or less, assuming good maintenance.
Teslas are very good at looking after their batteries, but those are expensive. Nissan Leafs (older models/2010s) are cheaper, but they have no active battery cooling system to thermally protect the batteries, so you’ll probably be replacing those more frequently.
10k every 10 years vs ? a new car every 10 years?
For that cost, the owner is likely to just purchase a new car IMO.
There’s probably going to be very little interest on the secondhand market for a BEV with most of it’s range gone, and a battery replacement due. Most of these may end up being parted out and scrapped, rather than reused like older combustion engine cars are, despite the pollution they produce.
Edit: rewrite response
Old comment
Ideally, no car.
Realistically, any reliable older used compact car/sedan, that will cost you far less (just maintenance wise, not considering taxes, insurance, fuel etc, since maintenance would be the closest analog to the battery replacement labor and cost IMO) over the same period of time, and will likely keep on getting you from A to B for 10 years and more, with no gradual reduction in range inherent to a BEV, and no environmental issues trying to dispose of a massive lithium battery (unless a bulk grid energy storage firm buys it from you).
They’re both rubbish options environmentally speaking IMO, but a used combustion vehicle is far cheaper to obtain and maintain for the end user, and can generally be kept running and sold onwards to others until it’s totaled, without any of the many owners needing to worry about replacing a battery.
