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Watch Rivian R1S defy gravity and logic with incredible climb in Moab, Utah

Credit: RJ Scaringe | Twitter

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Electric automaker Rivian is still working toward the first deliveries of its vehicles, but testing is going extremely well. This fact is evident in a recent video posted by company CEO RJ Scaringe, who is in Moab, Utah, with the all-electric SUV, which is displaying some incredible scaling capabilities up Moab’s steep rock formations.

A testament to Rivian’s impressive specifications regarding off-road performance and capabilities, Scaringe and Company took to an extremely steeply graded hill on one of Moab’s notorious rock formations to display the R1S’s incredible scaling. The company, which has promoted its vehicles as a perfect fit for the adventurer, continues to perform testing on its vehicles ahead of initial deliveries, which are now scheduled for September 2021, starting with the R1T pickup.

The video shows an R1S, wrapped in a salmon-colored skin, seemingly defying gravity and logic with the climb. The rock appears to be extremely sloped, and at first glance, is incredibly intimidating. However, the R1S manages to climb the rock formation with relative ease, further solidifying anyone’s doubts that this vehicle cannot handle the toughest offroad conditions that the world has to offer.

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Unbelievably, the all-electric SUV had relatively no problems climbing up the hill and seemed to handle the aggressively steep incline with no real issues. There are small portions of tire spinning that result in screeching due to a loss of traction, but it never results in any backtracking or difficulty from the car. The R1S is truly impressive for this performance.

Rivian’s R1S can handle such challenging terrain thanks to its revolutionary design. The SUV has a 34.3-degree approach angle, giving tough terrains little credibility regarding whether they will be too much for the all-electric vehicle. Additionally, a ground clearance of 14.9 inches and a breakover of 28.9 degrees gives owners little worry about damaging the undercarriage of their car. These terrains were specifically put into mind when Rivian was designing its vehicles. The engineers were more than willing to create a series of vehicles that would give steep and challenging rock formations their long-awaited match.

Credit: Rivian

Rivian’s R1S is set to begin deliveries later this year as the Launch Edition of the SUV will make its way to customers soon. Additionally, the company offers an Adventure and Explore package that will offer exactly what each owner is looking for in a vehicle. The R1S starts at $70,000, and the latter two configurations of the vehicle will begin deliveries in January 2022.

Rivian is based in Normal, Illinois, but plans to open a second U.S. assembly plant, according to a new report.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla one-ups Waymo once again with latest Robotaxi expansion in Austin

Tesla’s new Robotaxi geofence measures roughly 171 square miles of Austin’s downtown and suburbs. This is more than double the size of Waymo’s geofence, which measures 90 square miles.

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Credit: @BLKMDL3 | X

Tesla’s expansion of the Robotaxi geofence on Tuesday morning was a one-up on Waymo once again, as the automaker’s service area growth helps eclipse its rival in an intense back-and-forth.

A lot of conversation has been made about Tesla’s rivalry with Waymo in terms of the capabilities of its driverless ride-sharing service in Austin, Texas.

The two companies have sparred with one another, answering each other’s expansion, and continuing to compete, all to the benefit of consumers in the region.

Tesla expanded the geofence of Robotaxi once again this morning, and it is another growth that catapults it past Waymo’s service area in Austin — this time by a considerable margin.

Tesla’s new Robotaxi geofence measures roughly 171 square miles of Austin’s downtown and suburbs. This is more than double the size of Waymo’s geofence, which measures 90 square miles.

On July 14, Tesla officially overtook Waymo in terms of service area in Austin. But just a few days later, Waymo had responded with a bold statement, expanding from 37 square miles to 90 square miles.

Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber, said the move “unlock[ed] another key milestone in Austin as our operating territory with Waymo expands from 37 to 90 square miles, which means that even more riders can experience Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles through the Uber app.”

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Tesla did not respond immediately, but it took its time with validation vehicle testing in the Austin suburbs, as we reported yesterday:

Tesla looks to expand Robotaxi geofence once again with testing in new area

Today’s expansion is perhaps the biggest step Tesla has taken in its efforts to continue to grow its Robotaxi platform. This is not only because the company has significantly expanded the size of the geofence, but also because it has ventured into suburban areas and even included Gigafactory Texas in its service area.

Waymo could come up with another timely response as it did when Tesla expanded in late July. We’ll wait to see what it comes up with, as this awesome competition between the two companies is accelerating innovation.

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Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise

Now, on August 26, the Robotaxi geofence has expanded once again, and is estimated to be about 130 square miles.

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Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Austin for the third time since its launch in late June, and the company added a big surprise with this new service area.

After launching on June 22, Tesla’s driverless Robotaxi service has been expanded three times. Its initial launch was about 20 square miles in size. The first expansion occurred on July 14 and was roughly 42 miles large, more than double the initial geofence size.

The second expansion occurred on August 3 and brought the total service area to roughly 80 square miles.

Now, on August 26, the Robotaxi geofence has expanded once again, and is estimated to be about 170 square miles.

The expansion of the Robotaxi geofence seemed to show the company’s focus on getting the service to the areas East and West of downtown was an utmost priority.

We reported on the Bee Cave region of the Austin suburbs being a place where Robotaxi validation vehicles were spotted testing in recent days.

Bee Cave is included in the new geofence.

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However, that is not the biggest addition to the geofence, and it’s not even close. Tesla added a major area to the new geofence, one that fans of the company will absolutely love: Tesla Gigafactory Texas.

The big question that remains is whether Tesla is expanding the size of its fleet of Robotaxi vehicles in Austin. There have been many questions about the expansions of the fleet and not necessarily the geofence, and while the latter is certainly considered progress, Tesla will need to enable more Robotaxi into the vehicle population to handle the additional rides.

Tesla has been planning to do so, but is still prioritizing safety and does not want to rush any part of the Robotaxi process.

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Tesla is also looking to expand to new cities altogether. It is currently moving toward a Robotaxi launch in Florida, Arizona, and Nevada, and has also opened up job postings for Robotaxi operators in New York.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk reiterates his most optimistic prediction yet with “UHI” forecast

Despite his polarizing nature, Elon Musk is, at his core, an optimist.

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Joel Kowsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite his polarizing nature, Elon Musk is, at his core, an optimist. If he were not one, he would never have founded Tesla or SpaceX, or pursued projects such as Neuralink or xAI.

Musk’s optimism was on full display on social media platform X recently, when he shared what could very well be his most optimistic prediction yet.

Robots and humans

The Tesla CEO recently responded to a post from David Scott Patterson, who estimated that all jobs will be replaced by AI and robots easily by 2030. In his post, Patterson noted that if robots are sold at the same rate as vehicles, it could result in an output of 320 million robots per year. 

Musk responded that eventually, intelligent humanoid robots will far exceed the population of humans, and “there will be many robots in industry for every human to provide products & services.” 

Musk is already taking steps to achieve such a future. Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot is expected to see its first “legion” produced this 2025. During an All-Hands meeting earlier this year, Musk also hinted to Tesla employees that the company will try to produce about 50,000 Optimus robots next year. 

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Universal High Income (UHI)

Musk has shared similar sentiments in the past, so it was no surprise that some X users asked the CEO how humans could sustain their lives when robots replace working individuals. To this, Musk responded that a Universal High Income (UHI) would be implemented, which should provide people with the best medical care, food, and transport available.

“There will be universal high income (not merely basic income). Everyone will have the best medical care, food, home, transport and everything else. Sustainable abundance,” Musk wrote in his post

Musk’s comment about sustainable abundance seems to be a prevalent theme in his recent optimistic comments. During Tesla’s second quarter earnings call, for example, Musk hinted that his Master Plan Part Four will describe a path towards sustainable abundance in a post-autonomy world.

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