Two Rivian engineers are supposedly investigating the truck and accident site to understand why.
Imagine financing over $67,500 and waiting two years for your new electric truck just for you to roll it on its side driving on relatively tame-looking farmland.
That’s the unfortunate reality of one Rivian R1T owner who, after taking his electric truck off the beaten path on what looks like some fairly flat farmland, managed to roll it on its side in, what he describes as, “an unexpected thing.”
He shared his unfortunate experience on the Rivian Automotive Fans forum warning Rivian R1T owners that these electric trucks may “roll easier than you’d expect.”
Check out a screenshot of his post below.
Here’s what his caption says verbatim.
“Can’t say much about this situation yet but just wanted to warn everyone that these trucks will roll easier than you’d expect them to.”
“It was such an unexpected thing one Thanksgiving afternoon that I didn’t even bother with my seatbelt on the parent’s farm. Rolled (driver, roof, passenger) and the airbags kept me inside the truck.”
“Thankfully, no major injuries, zero alcohol involved, zero “hey y’all watch this.”
“Just be careful out there folks! And, I’m so bummed about the whole thing, 2+ years just for this.”
Rivians, Teslas, and modern electric cars in general are known for their low center of gravity thanks to a slab of batteries that makes up the majority of an EV’s lower half.
In that regards, all other truck chassis and suspension being equal (in the same ballpark,) these Rivians would be harder to roll.
That being said we obviously don’t have the whole story with some important details (perhaps on purpose?) missing.
Rivians, like Teslsas, have Event Data Recording capabilities which, according to Rivian Forums, seems to be switched on and accessible by Rivian employees if the Rivian owner gives prior consent.
If this Rivian owner did give consent prior to this accident that, obviously, may shed light on what exactly happened.
In the meantime, the owner did link to the North Carolina auction yard holding his salvaged R1T before it heads to auction in two days.
The damage looks consistent with a low-speed roll.
It honestly looks like a talented auto body collision repair person could, after investing a lot of time and effort into the damage, make this Rivian R1T look like nothing ever happened to it.
They’d have to win it at a reasonable price and the crash worthiness after the repairs is questionable but, if you want a Rivian R1T Launch Edition this week, this auction might be your only option.
How do you think this guy rolled his Rivian?
Do you think he was taking it off some farm jumps like Ken Block?
Let me know your .02 in the comments below.
I think he had it in off-road mode (high ground clearance position) and tried to do a brodie. As he was losing control he steered in the wrong direction, causing it to catch, tuck under and roll.