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Comment by kjkjadksj | Hacker News Reader

Rivians are all over socal. I think there is a lot of demand in certain markets.

See them all the time around the greater Seattle area. The "certain market" is probably lots of extremely well paying jobs.

There are loads of Rivian in southwest Montana. No idea why. Way way more than Teslas.

Southwest Montana is full of California (and other) tech refugees with money. They've moved to a place they perceive they need a truck to happily live in, but aren't willing to buy a gas guzzler.

In NYC al the Amazon delivery trucks I see are purpose-built Rivians. And this is the hyper-frugal, penny-pinching Amazon.

They’re also a major investor in Rivian so there’s some circularity in that phenomenon.

Most of the Amazon delivery trucks I see are big trucks with Ryder on the side or electric cargo bikes with Prime on the side.

This is in Manhattan mostly below 60th St. though, that might be the difference?

Maybe these should property be called vans, not trucks. This is the only kind of four-wheel Amazon delivery vehicle I've seen through 2025: https://www.wglt.org/business-and-economy/2021-02-03/amazon-...

My observations are from lower Manhattan and various parts of Brooklyn.

they save amazon a ton of money. urban circular delivery circuits and stop-start braking make it brutal for gas and perfect for EVs.

The Lightning is the 10th-best-selling EV in California and the Rivian R1T is not even in the top 25. Rivian is also one of the handful of brands selling fewer vehicles so far in 2025 compared to 2024.

Yeah but the R1S is a better pavement princess anyway, and that does sell well.

I guess Mach-E beats even the R1S but they're not really the same kind of car. Ioniq 5 beats Mach E in CA, as does the MY.

I don't think the R1S and the F-150 should be compared because, on account of being registered as a commercial vehicle, the F-150 has noticeably higher operating costs.

my buddy sent me a video of him crawling some seriously sketchy trails in an R1T, I wouldn't describe those trucks as being "pavement princesses" or whatever

That's the point of the term pavement princess. They can be used in the way you describe. What makes them pavement princesses is that they aren't used in that way.

Wait until the R2 comes out for ~50% of the cost of an R1. They are the best EV out in terms of features and comfort and usability.

I would hope the most expensive EV is the best in terms of features and comfort and usability. If they can continue to be at 50% of the price is unknown.

I agree, they promised it to be ~50k so we will see. With the R1 Revisions where they reduced components and wiring I have hope!

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