American YouTuber Jenna Ezarik recently posted a new video giving us our first look at the Rivian R1S all-electric SUV.
Rivian delivered the first production units of the R1S to its CEO and CFO back in December of last year. Customer deliveries were delayed, but are expected to begin in June.
The company loaned an R1S Launch Edition to Ezarik, who put it to the test on a road trip from Los Angeles to Yosemite. Ezarik’s loaner was El Cap Granite, but the R1S is also available in Launch Green, Rivian Blue, Glacier White, Compass Yellow, Red Canyon, Limestone, Midnight, Forest Green, and L.A. Silver.
The Launch Edition trim features a quad motor all-wheel drive (AWD) configuration with up to 316 miles of range. The YouTuber only had to stop twice to charge during the six-hour journey, and both instances were top-ups rather than full charging sessions.
Ezarik raved about the road feel of the electric SUV and the software, which at this point in time is still pre-production. She said the infotainment software wasn’t laggy at all and offered good contextual suggestions like charging stops along the trip.
The R1S lets drivers adjust the vehicle’s ground clearance between 9.5 inches and 15 inches to adapt to the terrain.
Rivian’s all-electric SUV offering is also equipped with a front camera, which Ezarik found really useful on the fairly large and high R1S. The YouTuber was especially impressed with how much cargo space the R1S offers.
The front trunk (or “frunk”) of the R1S, in particular, is pretty spacious, with Ezarik noting that her sister, fellow YouTuber Justine Ezarik (known as “iJustine”), was able to easily fit inside it.
Rivian recently found itself in hot water after the electric automaker increased prices by up to 25% in March due to the climbing costs of raw materials and production. The price hikes even extended to reservation holders, but Rivian ultimately rolled back to the original prices for pre-orders after significant pushback.
