[JeremyNT]

Still a massive vehicle! Bulky electric cars make so little sense, because then you need bigger batteries, which... further increase the weight.

The upcoming R3/R3x is likely to be a way more practical vehicle for most people, unless you have a large family to haul around. [0]

[0] https://www.caranddriver.com/rivian/r3

[jebarker]

AIUI this might not be as bigger problem as you’d imagine. Aerodynamics dominate most of the resistance at medium to highway speeds. This was discussed in the recent Rivian R1T cannonball run conversion videos where they doubled the battery capacity (and therefore drastically increased the weight of the vehicle) without substantially affecting efficiency.

[kn0where]

Yes, weight alone is not that important for fuel economy at highway speeds. Aerodynamic efficiency of a vehicle is determined by the cross section area + drag coefficient. A 90s Honda Civic has a worse drag coefficient but a vastly smaller cross section than the Rivian, so it needs to move less air out of the way to drive forward. Smaller EVs can go farther with smaller batteries, but the American consumer has decided for one reason or another that cars must be tall, and therefore less aerodynamically efficient.