![Rivian R1T gets dragged 100 feet after Hurricane Helene and still runs [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/Rivian-R1T-Hurricane-Helene.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Rivian R1T gets dragged 100 feet after Hurricane Helene and still runs [Video]
When Rivian said its electric pickup was built to “handle it all,” it wasn’t bluffing. A Rivian R1T owner in Asheville, North Carolina, had his vehicle dragged 100 to 150 feet after Hurricane Helene swept through the area. To even his surprise, Rivian’s electric pickup was still ready to run.
Rivian R1T survives Hurricane Helene floodwaters
Rivian has “spent years” hauling gear, loading bikes, and testing its electric pickup to ensure it can withstand it all.
The R1T can plow through 3 feet of water and climb a 100% grade with over 14″ of ground clearance. It even has sports car acceleration with instant torque to hit 0 to 60 mph in as little as 3 seconds.
However, after Hurricane Helene left a devastating trail of destruction, Rivian’s electric pickup may have earned its title as the ultimate adventure vehicle.
Local Asheville, NC resident and Rivian R1T owner Joshua Vincent Sauer said his Rivian R1T survived the worst of it.
After parking his electric pickup by a U-Haul on Thursday night, Sauer returned looking for it on Saturday, only to find it “100 to 150 feet” away by a local Walgreens.
In a video posted on Facebook, the R1T owner said he assumed floodwaters carried the vehicle.
Although he wasn’t there to see it, Sauer said he knew the R1T was not found where he parked it before the Hurricane.
You can see the mud caked on the side of the vehicle and water still in the bed. After noticing the door handles opening, he knew the pickup still had electricity. When he got in, “it booted up like nothing happened,” Sauer said.
Although it was initially hard to find charging stations (like working gas stations), Sauer said there was an open Electrify America charger at a local Sam’s Club. He also mentioned a Tesla Supercharger at a nearby park.
Electrek’s Take
Asheville was one of the hardest-hit areas by Hurricane Helene, as the death toll rises to nearly 180. It was one of the worst storms in US history, according to AP News, in other words a natural disaster.
Many people lost everything, including their homes, personal belongings, and loved ones. Many are still without power, running water, or cell service. Some are stranded with roads washed away by floodwaters. Government cargo planes are unloading food and water to some of the hardest-hit areas this week.
Vehicles are not expected to survive a natural disaster like this, but Rivian’s R1T’s ability to withstand some of the worst of it is a major accomplishment for the EV maker.
Rivian continues advancing safer, more efficient EV tech. Last month, it became the only pickup in the US with an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award in 2024. Rivian’s 2024 R1T electric pickup scored “Good” on all crash ratings, except the standard Forward Collision Avoidance system, which earned an “Acceptable” rating.
And Rivian isn’t the only one. Automakers, startups, and governments around the world are teaming up to develop safer EV tech as adoption rates continue climbing.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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