The solution required a 20,000-pound winch and an Caterpillar excavator
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by Stephen Rivers
6 hours ago
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by Stephen Rivers
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The owner that got their all-electric Rivian R1S stuck in an abandoned quarry has finally retrieved it. The days-long ordeal ultimately required a 20,000-pound winch along with a Caterpillar excavator and even then, the owner isn’t sure that the SUV is salvageable. Here’s a deeper dive into what it takes to yank a 7,000-pound (3,175 kg) SUV out of mud that’s up to its frame.
Just a couple of days ago we covered the stuck R1S with the very limited information that we had at the time. It was clear from the photo that the driver did all they could to get out of the situation with the power of the SUV alone but those efforts were futile. New information posted online over the last few days tells the rest of the story.
The account Rivian Updates posted a number of images on Twitter showing the vehicle deep in the mud and later extracted. Rivian Update‘s Isaiah Louis helped us find the original posts over on s00n.RivianStories where the owner asked for help and explained the situation.
After trying to pull with a Ram 4500, a couple days later luckily with help of a tow truck with a 10 ton winch and a Caterpillar Excavator, it was finally freed. pic.twitter.com/MJgfI5pEWe
The owner of the R1S in question, Dan Czermak, says that the damaged rear window we see in the first photograph is the result of a failed extraction attempt. He got hooked up to a RAM 4500 with chains before one chain snapped and shattered the window. Thankfully, he has “a friend with construction vehicles,” he says and on Tuesday around noon, he posted the photo of the R1S freed from the mud.
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“What a cluster… needed a tow truck with a 10 ton winch and a CAT with a boom to lift up out of the ice. Now I have to see what’s wrong with the vehicle,” he said online. Others who pressed him about the damage received this ominous response… “Looks bad need to get to Rivian.”
Others questioned whether or not Rivian’s ‘Adventure Extraction’ policy could’ve helped out here. That policy, which is complimentary to Rivian owners, says that “If you find yourself stuck, submerged or incapable of going further, Adventure Extraction will send a recovery vehicle to extract your Rivian.” We’ve reached out both to Czermak and to Rivian to get more information on the situation and will update this post as we learn more.
Thanks to Isaiah Louis for all the information provided!
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