How Rivian’s CEO became the anti-Elon | Hacker News Reader

How Rivian’s CEO became the anti-Elon

ft.com

9 pointsjpm_sd24 comments

> The R1T explodes — and I mean explodes — down the pavement. We go from zero to well above 60 miles per hour in what seems like an instant. The G force feels tremendous. It’s too much raw power for me. I immediately feel nauseous, like I might pass out.

I was wondering what this speed may be and it seems like it’s between 3.1-3.3 seconds depending on the specific mode [0].

It’s surprising to see such lazy journalism in FT. This is certainly a fast time, but the Tesla s has been around for a while and they have a 2s time. Porsche Taycan has 2.4s.

So this description is more a failure of the reporter rather than a useful description of the truck’s capabilities.

[0] https://www.0-60specs.com/rivian/r1t-0-60-times/

Don't ever trust US publications with 0-60 times. They do those trials at quarter mile tracks.

There is barely any asphalt left there it's all tire rubble which increase the grip especially on launch.

The real data is from UK/DE magazines, they try on highways abandoned airstrips.

Going below 3.5s in 0-60 acceleration is like going past 225mph on pure speed. It can happen but all conditions have to align perfectly , hence it's not real world conditions.

Significant differences can be due to some publications using 1-foot rollout when recording times and others not using it.

There is nothing inaccurate about what you've quoted. It hurt your feelings the reporter did not mention a car you admire more? Seriously?

My feelings aren’t hurt and I don’t admire any of these cars.

The article wasted my time by making me research stuff that should be in the article.

It’s ok to criticize things you think are bad.

> It’s surprising to see such lazy journalism in FT. This is certainly a fast time, but the Tesla s has been around for a while and they have a 2s time. Porsche Taycan has 2.4s.

They seem to be writing about their personal experience. Whether or not faster vehicles exist is irrelevant to their description of their own experience. It’s also not a car like those you mentioned.

This is pretty common from writers and publications who are not usually focused on automobiles.

I think the personal experience is great. I called it lazy because it should have been coupled with reporting to investigate what the actual time was and put it in context.

I don’t think this is unique to cars and would have the same complaint if the reporter said “Holy mole the price of these carrots seems astronomical to me.” Without any research into the actual price.

FT usually has really good editors to improve stories like this.

If a reader has a likely question and the article doesn’t provide it, that’s usually lazy.

If you were looking to geek out over zero to sixty times as if they matter you are not the intended audience of this article. You really were completely off base expecting the article to indulge you. It appears in Financial Times, not Road and Track or something.

I’m not looking to geek out, I don’t really care about this stuff. I just want to know the reporter’s perspective in context.

The author presents this as something unusual, but it’s not. It’s the same 0-60 as a tesla model3. That’s pretty relevant info.

> The author presents this as something unusual, but it’s not.

That’s completely, ridiculously untrue.

I just saw a Rivian Truck in the wild while I was on vacation this last week. I was really surprised as I hadn't realized they were shipping yet. It was exciting to see it, as I've been interested in the 2nd generation of new EV companies (Basically companies founded to make EVs following Tesla's success, not historic Auto makers) and whether or not they have a product to ship. A former coworker of mine left our old-world automaker employer to work at Rivian. I was interested in pursuing something similar, but at the time it would've meant moving.

I just saw my first one yesterday, too. And right after binging Long Way Up. :)

Yea, I've started seeing them in NYC

https://archive.ph/w2Eke

At this point Tesla is winning the battery cell technology race as well, I don't see how Rivian with its luxury products can be even compared to it.

how the media are picturing rivian's ceo as anti-elon

again, fabricated competition

pre-order industry, never deliver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6zvvlrd-jw

i find this video interesting, i'm surprised it's still available, denounces issues, at the same time he promotes the problem in his videos ;)

on top of silencing foreign actors (EU-Asia), obviously!

Rivian have its own problems and growing pains that Tesla endured. if Rivian CEO is really anti Elon. he will done better but apparently not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au-JLrv39AU

I keep wondering when all of his lies will finally backfire, but it really seems like that's never gonna happen

Who and what are you referring to?

From the FT, a publication I respect and that normally does good research, this is very disappointing.

Looks like nothing more than a puff piece, and the critical questions around battery supply were not touched. Funny enough, it makes Rivian CEO look 'like' Elon Musk instead of the opposite.

Weird how Elon is in the spotlight in such a negative way all of a sudden.

All of a sudden?

'negatively' all of a sudden.

Indeed. One example from today's New York Times: "Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege (<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-so...>)

You know that the Times has overreached its agenda-pushing when commenters call the paper out, as they do in this case.

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