Electric Vehicles

I'd be pretty surprised if it wasn't cheaper to offer the locked battery for less than it would be to produce an actual battery with less.

You need a certain volume to make the equation of offering a custom battery more profitable than software locking it. That also includes maintenance on the adjustable or separate line and maintaining supply for warranty service.

If you then factor in that you can get X% to purchase the locked portion, or unlock it after a trade in to sell it for a higher used value, that eats in further to the equation.

All the haters just wanna hate on something that's actually pro consumer by shouting it's anti consumer.

There are only so many people willing to buy a car for e.g $60,0000, there are more people willing to buy a $55,000 car and so on. Rivian can make both camps happy now instead of only one for cheaper than they could before.

It makes it cheaper for Rivian to get the car you want in your hands and Rivian only owes you what you pay for.

Rivian has to be upfront about the weight and efficiency of the car when they sell it. They aren't lying to you, you were happy with those numbers.

If you don't buy it, sure you might be carrying extra weight, but you also get a large buffer that will help keep your battery in better condition. That's a trade off and not a net negative thing.

That being said, I'm 100% against doing this and then charging a subscription to access it. Additionally, I don't want them selling a car with an intentional buffer meant to help battery life, and then selling that buffer to the detriment of the vehicle. If it's an intentional buffer they suddenly think they can monetize, that should be a free decision, not a paid decision IMO

Also, if you sell a software locked battery and someone figures out how to hack it and gain full access, my opinion is tough fucking luck for Rivian. You sold the vehicles, they now own it, and if they can bypass what you did that's your problem not their problem. We should be free to modify the vehicle however we want, and unless you can prove that modification harmed the vehicle, it should not impact the warranty. I get the laws may not support this last point, and we probably need legislation to address it.

Edit: and example of how hacking the vehicle might impact the warranty legitimately could be, say they offer a 70% / 150k km / 8y warranty. Because it's software locked if it goes below 70% to you, they can eat into the buffer keeping it above 70%. If you hack it and then starting doing heavy 100% - 0% cycles and it's under 70% of the hacked total, well that's not what was warrantied. You weren't supposed to reach 100%. The cheaper locked version includes a lower warranty cost because that extra battery is there to prevent it.