Strange things have been happening with wrecked Rivians as of late. Across social media, Rivian owners’ apps are telling them that their old EVs have come back online. Not locally, but in the faraway war-torn land of Ukraine. They aren’t being turned into technicals, nor adapted into homebrew bunker busters, like a Toyota Mirai was. They’re being fixed and returned to the road as a result of a strange pipeline that’s sending damaged EVs abroad.
Posts from owners wondering about their former cars’ whereabouts have recently made their way onto Facebook and Reddit alike. In the comments of the latter, one Ukrainian user linked classified car ad site Auto.ria.com, which features dozens of for-sale listings for R1T pickup trucks and R1S SUVs in Ukraine. These aren’t regular used cars, as Rivians aren’t sold new in Ukraine yet. Instead, they’re getting here via the same channels that funnel many used EVs—specifically crashed ones—out of North America.
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