Shopping for a “new” BEV while waiting for the Scout Traveler BEV.

[SpaceEVDriver]

I was asked to post about my shopping plans while we wait for the Traveler BEV.

Every 5 years or so we start looking at what our next vehicle might be. We don’t necessarily replace what we have, but we do start shopping. The Traveler BEV is likely to be our next long-term owned vehicle. But in the interim, we’ve found a couple of things we are starting to dislike about the Mustang Mach-E, which we’ve had for going on 4.5 years now.

First, we love almost everything about the Mustang. It’s been a great vehicle for us. It was, by far, the best vehicle we’d ever owned until we got the Lightning. But it has two issues that we keep coming back to…no, that’s not right. WE have two issues with the vehicle that we keep coming back to: First, its clearance is 5.7 inches. We live on an unmaintained gravel road in a place that gets about 100 inches of snow on a normal year and it usually comes in three to five large dumps rather than being spread out over time; that means the Mustang sometimes can’t get out. We don’t like that. Second, its ride is sports-car tuned and not SUV tuned. That’s starting to bother us more than it did originally.

We would also like to get back into mild off-roading. We’re not interested in rock crawling. We did enough of that when we were younger. But we’d like to be able to take our next vehicle off-road when we feel like it. The Lightning is fine on Forest Service roads, but we’re looking at the next level more rugged as our paths in the future.

We have some desires that border on requirements or requirements that border on desires. Whatever. I’ll post the specs in the next comment so this one isn’t any longer.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Top desires include:

• 8+ inches ground clearance
• AWD
• ~300 miles range
• < ~$50k
• Physical user interface
• Comfortable seats
• < ~190 inches long
• < ~72 inches tall
• < ~77 inches wide
• Decent DCFC charge rate (Mustang Mach-E like or better)
• Hatchback, SUV, or Crossover body
• Android Auto interface
• At least one 120 V output
• A decently-sized frunk

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The vehicles in our list include the following.
They don't necessarily meet all of those desires.
This list is not in order of preference.
There are probably some others that might fit the list as well.
I will update this list from time-to-time as we consider other demands we remember.

• Rivian R2
• Kia EV9
• Subaru Trailerseeker
• Subaru Uncharted
• Toyota BZ Woodland
• Toyota Highlander BEV
• Lexus RZ
• Polestar 3
• Used R1S or R1T (ha!)
• Used Gravity (ha!)

 

[cyure]

I was asked to post about my shopping plans while we wait for the Traveler BEV.

Every 5 years or so we start looking at what our next vehicle might be. We don’t necessarily replace what we have, but we do start shopping. The Traveler BEV is likely to be our next long-term owned vehicle. But in the interim, we’ve found a couple of things we are starting to dislike about the Mustang Mach-E, which we’ve had for going on 4.5 years now.

First, we love almost everything about the Mustang. It’s been a great vehicle for us. It was, by far, the best vehicle we’d ever owned until we got the Lightning. But it has two issues that we keep coming back to…no, that’s not right. WE have two issues with the vehicle that we keep coming back to: First, its clearance is 5.7 inches. We live on an unmaintained gravel road in a place that gets about 100 inches of snow on a normal year and it usually comes in three to five large dumps rather than being spread out over time; that means the Mustang sometimes can’t get out. We don’t like that. Second, its ride is sports-car tuned and not SUV tuned. That’s starting to bother us more than it did originally.

We would also like to get back into mild off-roading. We’re not interested in rock crawling. We did enough of that when we were younger. But we’d like to be able to take our next vehicle off-road when we feel like it. The Lightning is fine on Forest Service roads, but we’re looking at the next level more rugged as our paths in the future.

We have some desires that border on requirements or requirements that border on desires. Whatever. I’ll post the specs in the next comment so this one isn’t any longer.
View attachment 15579

Thanks for starting a thread!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

If the Rivian R2 had a physical interface, it would probably win. But it’s missing physical buttons and it’s missing Android Auto. We’ve test-driven the R1 multiple times trying to convince ourselves that the R2 would meet all of our desires. But the absolutely nonsensical war on buttons is annoying and I don’t know if we could overcome that annoyance.

The lack of a built-in way to directly interface with the two most popular phones in the country is also short-sighted. We listen to a lot of audiobooks while on road trips and the extra nonsense required to get the Libby app to work could make this vehicle a non-purchase.

This is also an issue I’m concerned about with the Scouts. Bringing back the buttons is excellent. But losing the phone interfaces is a poor decision.

These things seem trivial, but if we’re spending a large chunk of money on these things, they need to meet our desires as well as our needs.

 

[cyure]

If the Rivian R2 had a physical interface, it would probably win. But it’s missing physical buttons and it’s missing Android Auto. We’ve test-driven the R1 multiple times trying to convince ourselves that the R2 would meet all of our desires. But the absolutely nonsensical war on buttons is annoying and I don’t know if we could overcome that annoyance.

The lack of a built-in way to directly interface with the two most popular phones in the country is also short-sighted. We listen to a lot of audiobooks while on road trips and the extra nonsense required to get the Libby app to work could make this vehicle a non-purchase.

This is also an issue I’m concerned about with the Scouts. Bringing back the buttons is excellent. But losing the phone interfaces is a poor decision.

These things seem trivial, but if we’re spending a large chunk of money on these things, they need to meet our desires as well as our needs.

I didn’t think we were losing the phone interfaces.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I test drove the Kia EV9 and it is a boring vehicle. But that’s all I walked away with. “Meh.”

I don’t care about styling, appearance, etc., I care about function. And the EV9 hits most of our demands. A used one would probably fit us better.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I didn’t think we were losing the phone interfaces.

This is one of the things that’s unclear. I thought there was discussion and some round-robin and then I got lost in what the final word really is. There was a mention of projection from the phone to the vehicle. But that isn’t two-way on the R1s— I can’t use the Rivian screen to control the phone. If I could do that, then I’d be totally fine with not having AA or CP built in. But the Libby app isn’t going to be rewritten to work on multiple vehicles, and we listen to a lot of audiobooks that we check out from libraries. Well, my partner does. If we can’t use the Libby app in a reasonable way, then we’ll skip the vehicle. That’s how seriously we take our reading.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

The R2 is IMO the clear winner for what you're wanting/needing but even better than that would be to have your cake and eat it too. A used Gen 1 R1S would literally check every box and should you be on your off-road adventures and stumble upon a big surprise on the trail, the R1S could handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. Not to mention on AT's they ride fantastic!

 

[cyure]

This is one of the things that’s unclear. I thought there was discussion and some round-robin and then I got lost in what the final word really is. There was a mention of projection from the phone to the vehicle. But that isn’t two-way on the R1s— I can’t use the Rivian screen to control the phone. If I could do that, then I’d be totally fine with not having AA or CP built in. But the Libby app isn’t going to be rewritten to work on multiple vehicles, and we listen to a lot of audiobooks that we check out from libraries. Well, my partner does. If we can’t use the Libby app in a reasonable way, then we’ll skip the vehicle. That’s how seriously we take our reading.

On Instagram when someone asks SM if the vehicles will have CarPlay they answer yes. I don’t think it’s been officially announced but it seems like there will be CarPlay.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The R2 is IMO the clear winner for what you're wanting/needing but even better than that would be to have your cake and eat it too. A used Gen 1 R1S would literally check every box and should you be on your off-road adventures and stumble upon a big surprise on the trail, the R1S could handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. Not to mention on AT's they ride fantastic!

The lack of physical interfaces and the lack of phone integration are major downgrades for the Rivians.

I would love it if we could rent one for a month to get a feel for whether we would be able to let go of those impressions.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

This is one of the things that’s unclear. I thought there was discussion and some round-robin and then I got lost in what the final word really is. There was a mention of projection from the phone to the vehicle. But that isn’t two-way on the R1s— I can’t use the Rivian screen to control the phone. If I could do that, then I’d be totally fine with not having AA or CP built in. But the Libby app isn’t going to be rewritten to work on multiple vehicles, and we listen to a lot of audiobooks that we check out from libraries. Well, my partner does. If we can’t use the Libby app in a reasonable way, then we’ll skip the vehicle. That’s how seriously we take our reading.

Rivian does have Audible, Spotify, Apple music, and with Rivian Assistant coming soon, we will HOPEFULLY be able to voice text and have messages read.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

The lack of physical interfaces and the lack of phone integration are major downgrades for the Rivians.

I know you feel that way, you've made it very clear your preference for buttons lol, but I really do feel that given extended time in a Rivian you would quickly adapt to it. Have you considered getting one on Turo for the weekend or try continuously for a few days? I use to suggest this to curious new Tesla shopping customers and got some good feedback from it. Some people realized they didn't like it, and some ending up buying their own. Just an idea.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We als

Rivian does have Audible, Spotify, Apple music, and with Rivian Assistant coming soon, we will HOPEFULLY be able to voice text and have messages read.

Yeah, but those aren’t the apps we use.

Okay, I do use Apple Music for now, but will likely go to a different app; I’m not a fan of its random music algorithm nor several other missing functions like “never play this artist.”

We primarily use Libby and Libro.FM for audiobooks. And this is a huge one. If we’re spending hundreds of hours in a vehicle, it needs to be able to easily play Libby and Libro.FM while we’re driving.

 

[JBernhardFL]

The vehicles in our list include the following.
They don't necessarily meet all of those desires.
This list is not in order of preference.
There are probably some others that might fit the list as well.
I will update this list from time-to-time as we consider other demands we remember.

• Rivian R2
• Kia EV9
• Subaru Trailerseeker
• Subaru Uncharted
• Toyota BZ Woodland
• Toyota Highlander BEV
• Lexus RZ
• Polestar 3
• Used R1S or R1T (ha!)
• Used Gravity (ha!)
• Android Auto interface
• At least one 120 V output

We have a ‘23 Subaru Solterra and love
It. We have the touring level. It has good clearance and all Subarus are AWD. We live in Florida so snow isn’t an issue but from the forums I’m in those who live up north swear by the XMode in snow and rave about its abilities with bad weather. The 2026 models now have NACS charging. I like that it’s built by Toyota even if it’s Subaru badged. I am not a fan of the Subaru connect app. It’s not fantastic. Charging has gotten much better from the. ‘23 model. I was actually looking at upgrading to the ‘26 given the improved performance.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I know you feel that way, you've made it very clear your preference for buttons lol, but I really do feel that given extended time in a Rivian you would quickly adapt to it. Have you considered getting one on Turo for the weekend or try continuously for a few days? I use to suggest this to curious new Tesla shopping customers and got some good feedback from it. Some people realized they didn't like it, and some ending up buying their own. Just an idea.

To be clear, the vehicles are still on the list. They’re just not obvious winners.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We have a ‘23 Subaru Solterra and love
It. We have the touring level. It has good clearance and all Subarus are AWD. We live in Florida so snow isn’t an issue but from the forums I’m in those who live up north swear by the XMode in snow and rave about its abilities with bad weather. The 2026 models now have NACS charging. I like that it’s built by Toyota even if it’s Subaru badged. I am not a fan of the Subaru connect app. It’s not fantastic. Charging has gotten much better from the. ‘23 model. I was actually looking at upgrading to the ‘26 given the improved performance.

We have a friend with the Solterra, and they mostly love it. There are a couple of issues they have with it, only one of which is a big deal. I don’t know if we could handle the slower charge rate. We do a lot of road tripping and we’d like to be able to take either vehicle. We have several times taken both the Lightning and the Mustang for various reasons (one of us had to head home earlier than the other, one of us couldn’t leave at the same time, we needed two vehicles, etc).

The upgraded versions are more interesting to us.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I know you feel that way, you've made it very clear your preference for buttons lol, but I really do feel that given extended time in a Rivian you would quickly adapt to it. Have you considered getting one on Turo for the weekend or try continuously for a few days? I use to suggest this to curious new Tesla shopping customers and got some good feedback from it. Some people realized they didn't like it, and some ending up buying their own. Just an idea.

Oh, the Turo thing… We live in a small town and there are barely any Rivians in town…We’ve found none on the various long-term rental offerings.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Even the long-term rentals in big cities (Flex Car, for example) don’t have a Rivian.

This seems like a great business model that’s missing from the world: 1 to 11 month lease of an EV so people can get a feel for the vehicle before they commit.

Anyone have a few tens of millions of dollars they can angle invest in my new company?

 

[cyure]

Even the long-term rentals in big cities (Flex Car, for example) don’t have a Rivian.

This seems like a great business model that’s missing from the world: 1 to 11 month lease of an EV so people can get a feel for the vehicle before they commit.

Anyone have a few tens of millions of dollars they can angle invest in my new company?

That is a great idea.