What was once a dream has now taken the world by storm. Electric vehicles used to be a nice idea that if we ever figured out would help transform the planet. Now, it’s almost more uncommon to not see one of these cars driving along when you go out and about. One of the huge problems with electric cars when they were first released was the lack of public charging stations. If you had an electric car, you’d have to keep a close eye on your car’s battery level.

Once it got close to being empty, you’d have to go home and cut your plans short. These days, almost every parking lot has at least a few electric chargers somewhere. Another huge problem electric cars faced when they first came out was the cost. It was seen as a luxury item that most people wouldn’t be able to afford. Now, these cars are cheaper and can be purchased by the masses.

Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) is one of the companies that produces these electric cars. One thing that makes them interesting is they don’t make any cars that run on gas. They saw the future back in the late 2000s when this dream was first starting to come to fruition. One of the cars they make is the R1S. This car isn’t their best work, though. This is why you should avoid getting yourself into an R1S.

It Takes a Long Time to Charge

Most electric cars only need 12 hours at worst to get a full charge and go for 300+ miles. Not the R1S, though. If you go to a Level 1 charger, it can take 47 hours to get a charge. These are the most common charging stations for Rivian cars. You can find supercharger stations that will be quicker, but these are few and far between. If you get an electric car, you should expect a quicker charge to get where you need to.

It’s Not the Best Electric Vehicle on the Market

Rivian EDV connected to an electric charger.

Let’s be honest about Rivian. While it’s a great electric car brand, it’s not the best on the market. There are plenty of other car brands that you can expect to get better results from. It’s important to consider this because when you buy a car, you’re putting a lot of money down that you’re not going to see back. Cars should be reliable and last for a long time. The R1S hasn’t been proven to last the 10+ years you would want it to when you pay the type of money you have to for it.

They’re Very Expensive

Speaking of price, the upfront cost of an R1S is $78,000. One of the other problems is since they’re so new, not a lot of independent auto shops know how to work on this car. This means you’re going to have to take the car to a Rivian shop whenever you need something fixed. Rivian knows this and is going to charge you even more than they should just because they can. The world has become much more expensive over the last decade, which doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Instead of purchasing an expensive car that you aren’t sure will last that long, put that money towards something else.

Rivian Has Bad Customer Service

If you’re going to spend a lot of money on a car, $78,000 to be exact, you should expect to work with a company that has good customer service. Rivian is known for not having good customer service. The fact that they don’t prioritize this is shocking, given how much money people spend with them. You shouldn’t feel stressed about having to bring your car in for service or calling someone about a problem when you spend a lot of money. The expectation should be to be treated like gold, anything less is a disservice to you.

The Car Doesn’t Have a lot of Options

One of the coolest things about electric cars is the options it has, thanks to all of the technology in the car. The R1S doesn’t have that. Not only is there no upgrade in the car, but you can’t even access Apple CarPlay, or Android Auto, or have a big enough touch screen to use. Paying this much money for a car means you should have the basic basics that all new cars have.

The R1S had the potential to be one of the nicest SUVs on the market. They missed the bell by a lot. Hopefully, over time the car will see dramatic improvements that make it a draw to purchase. Until this happens, it’s best to stay away from this car and purchase something else. You’ll be happy you did in the long run.

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