Rivian Tops '23 JD Powers Rankings Among 'Premium Battery Electric Vehicles'

The News Has Us More Excited Than Ever to Receive Ours

We not only have a Rivian R1T on order, but we also own a few shares of Rivian stock.

Rivian R1T courtesy of Rivian

We were excited to see the news of Rivian receiving the JD Powers Award for the premium battery electric vehicle category for 2023.

In its announcement, JD Powers says, “In its first year of eligibility, the Rivian R1T ranks highest overall with a satisfaction score of 794 (on a 1,000-point scale). Owners have high levels of satisfaction with the driving enjoyment and interior/exterior styling factors.”

The coolest part of the announcement for us is about towing. The Rivian drivers who tow with their trucks like them more than those who don’t. They were built for the job!

JD Powers says, “Satisfaction with driving range is higher among owners who have towed (635) than among those who have not towed (617), and satisfaction with accuracy of stated range also is higher (707 vs. 680, respectively).”

Here’s the remarkable thing about this. We don’t have a Rivian yet because we’re waiting for the company to build trucks with bigger batteries and extended range. Can you imagine how happy we’re going to be with ours?

JD Powers attributes the surprising data point to the idea that Rivian has done a good job explaining how towing reduces range. While that may be part of the equation, they’re missing the big picture. Rivians tow well.

What do we mean by that? Rivians can tow up to 11,000 pounds. A base model Ford F-150 with a 3.3 liter V6 engine is physically larger—wider, taller and longer—than a Rivian but tows much less. That big truck only pulls 5,000 pounds. (To be fair, a properly equipped F-150 can tow 14,000 pounds.)

Not only can it tow a lot, but Rivian owners also love the towing features. We previously shared some insights about Rivian towing, including this quote from Car & Driver that summarizes what we hear perfectly:

Fortunately, describing how the Rivian pulls a trailer can be summed up with one word: fabulous. It never feels sluggish off the line or when passing thanks to the four motors and their prodigious torque. When slowing down, the regenerative braking feels natural. Plus, we didn't detect a hint of trailer sway, which is greatly a function of how the trailer is loaded, but we didn't even feel so much as a tug from crosswind.

Rivian is garnering lots of awards, not just this one. The R1T recently earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+. The truck was awarded MotorTrend Truck of the Year for 2021. It also won the Edmunds Top Rated Editors’ Choice award.

So, as our excitement builds, the same question comes to our mind as yours: “When will your Rivian arrive?”

We haven’t had a meaningful update in about 60 days. The latest information from the company said to expect delivery in summer 2023. This week, the company announced that production for 2023 could approach 20 percent lower than projected at the end of 2022.

If the lower production number pushed our vehicle delivery back 20 percent of a year, that would be about ten weeks later than “summer 2023.” That said, our model with the big battery will be part of delivering lower-cost, dual-motor vehicles that could better qualify for the Federal $7,500 tax credit. I suspect that will be a production priority to protect demand.

If that is the case, Rivian could be on schedule for summer 2023. In our minds, we’ve always tried to think September when we hear summer. The final answer to the big question is we don’t know when the truck will come, but we are more excited than ever to get it!