Tacoma Vs. Rivian

It’s pretty similar to MGM in my opinion. A solid third choice for me behind the two greens after seeing it in person.

 

A Ford Lightning parked next to me today. I think it’s the first one I’ve seen in the wild.

 

I saw one at work yesterday.

 

The Lightning is interesting because it can be compared to the regular F-150. The Lightning is faster, makes more torque. I'm not sure where that torque and speed can be useful? The IRS probably rides much smoother than a F-150 with leaf springs, but those are pretty smooth for a truck to begin with.

I can't see what the Lightning does better than a conventional F-150. Then there's the price, which isn't alot more than a Limmited trim, if you can get a Lightning at MSRP.

I don't think I'd buy a Ford truck above a Lariat trim anyway. I guess the Lighting sells itself, but how does a Ford sell a Lightning to a F-150 buyer?

 

If any of you are looking for an economical truck to run look into a Frontier. I just had a rental for a week in Florida. I was averaging 27 mpg highway and the range was saying 566 miles when topped off. That’s 10 mpg better than my Tacoma. That’s insane. The truck has plenty of power and is pretty quick too. This was just a 2WD truck so a 4WD is probably a little lower mpg but still WTF is Toyota doing wrong?

 

I haven't driven the 3.8 yet, but I've been looking at the 22/23 Frontiers. King Cab S, don't want the power driver seat. I could do with out PST, and would opt for no tech pkg, which seems to be a standard option. Transmission is built in Japan FWIW.

Edit

Nissan should also add the sand color to S & SV models.

 

The one that I just rented was a 4 door SV. I put about 350 miles on it and liked it a lot. I had a PROX as a rental earlier in the year which has a much nicer interior, tires, etc. That trip was just on side roads so I never noticed how good the gas mileage was. A PRO4X will probably be my next truck unless something better comes out.

 

Pro 4X looks the best, King Cab would be nice might not looks a good but I wouldn't care. I wouldn't mind seeing the midnight pkg on the SV king Cab just to get LED headlights.

The Nissan dose not off road as well as Toyota, lock to lock steering radius isn't as good, and some other things, but for a on the road truck Frontier might not be that bad. Pricing is commensurate to Tacoma, with Nissan being slightly higher than Tacoma. Well optioned Frontier SV fog lights $ tow pkg has a slightly higher MSRP than a SR5 SX, and is slightly lower than a base TRD OR. You still have to find the Toyota with out a market adjustment.

 

Check out the Rivian Amazon van.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TFz1xqp3us&t

 

Still waiting on Doug Demuro’s video.

 

He's a character.

 

I saw my first one the other day with a construction trailer hooked to it.....parked on the side of the highway with no one in it. Who knows what happened. It was right at the edge of the city. Presumably not far from power.

Edit:

Looked it up. 3km from the closest charger.

 

He’s quirky too

 

Plenty of features in his quirkiness.

 

Don't like it, I do like the roll up rear door and sliding passenger side door. I think Sprinter and Transit vans are better vans. For ergonomics, traditional step vans are better than regular vans.

If enough Amazon employees go on strike. Rivian vans that are fully automated can navigate the route, and that little wheeled robot can perform the delivery.

 

That would be where the Amazon drones come in. The idea that they would be flying miles with a single delivery never made any sense but allowing a van to park on a block and make 10 deliveries on that block does.

 

Still don't know if airborne drones are viable, ground drones won't work. Door to door delivery is a big ask for AI. I'm thinking more of a PO box or Amazon locker system that's loaded and dropped at the end of the block. The only downside you have to walk to the box to get your package. That would also eliminate porch pirates.

 

Amazon Key is already a better solution than that. Amazon Key is when they do in-garage deliveries. Also, they’ll take your garage chicken for a short walk.

https://youtu.be/BUJWe65jDds

The problem with a locker system is that it is space limited, so times like this time of year when everyone is getting additional deliveries would be an issue.

 

The other problem is anyone with a van or a truck could remove the locker and take it along with its contents.

I can't see AI ever being cheaper than manual labor.

 

Did Rivian hire their designers from Pixar?
Also I was parked next to an R1T with 21” wheels yesterday. Those wheels are ugly as hell. They remind of a fan blade.