Former Tesla owner tells how Hurricane Helene transformed Rivian

• North Carolina resident Michael Cusick and his Rivian R1T were caught in Hurricane Helene last week.
• Cusick said his R1T not only survived, but became an essential tool in helping affected families.
• After being contacted by Rivian, the former Tesla owner said he had become a Rivian convert.

Michael Cusick used to be a die-hard Tesla fan, telling Business Insider that he had a beloved Model 3 and “drove across the country with that girl.”

But his experience with his Rivian R1T EV truck in the wake of Hurricane Helene — a storm that devastated the Southeast, including Cusick’s home in Asheville, North Carolina — solidified his position as a new Rivian convert.

“I’d say I’ve been converted from a Tesla fan,” Cusick, 28, told BI in an interview. “I’m all in on Rivian now, no doubt.”

Cusick said he purchased a Tesla Model 3 about two years ago and quickly put about 70,000 miles on it.

“I loved it. I came from a gas car, I went electric – oh my God,” he said. “No gears, just instant torque. Couldn’t say enough good things.”

But as someone who loves the outdoors and often goes off-roading in the Appalachian Mountains from his home in Asheville, Cusick decided to upgrade to a Rivian R1T in June.

He said he considered several options, including the Tesla Cybertruck and Chevy Silverado EV, but they were either unavailable at the time or out of his price range. Cusick said he paid around $87,000 for the 2023 Rivian R1T.

He added that he liked how the Rivian is a mid-size truck that can drive on some of the tighter trails and that the air suspension provides about two feet of ground clearance.

At the time, hurricane resilience wasn’t on Cusick’s radar.

Cusick, who runs a drone operating company, said he moved from St. Augustine, Florida, two years ago, partly for work and partly for Asheville’s proximity to the mountain landscape. In addition, he said he thought he would be safer from natural disasters if he moved about 400 miles inland.

But in late September, Hurricane Helene made landfall and made its way to Asheville — a city of about 95,000 people that was experiencing an influx of Gen Zers and young residents like Cusick.

Cusick said that as of Sept. 26, Asheville had experienced a few days of rain and “a little bit of flooding,” but everything was business as usual. He decided to go out for a night of drinking downtown, leaving his Rivian parked on Tunnel Road near the Swannanoa River.

That night, his friend drove him home. The next morning, Hurricane Helene flooded the entire city of Asheville, temporarily knocking out cell phone service. Gov. Roy Cooper later said at least six dozen people were killed in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, according to the Associated Press.

“Where I live it was completely flooded,” Cusick said. “I couldn’t even get out if I wanted to, let alone call someone to take me back to my vehicle.”

Cusick said it wasn’t until Sept. 28 that the floodwaters began to recede and she was able to find cell phone service.

When his friend drove him back to Tunnel Road, where his Rivian was parked, Cusick realized his car was missing.

“It wasn’t where I parked and I started freaking out,” he said. “I said, ‘Oh, it’s gone.’ It disappeared. It literally disappeared.”

Electric vehicles like the Rivian are equipped with trackers that allow drivers to find the location of their vehicles. Cusick said Rivian’s app kept saying his car was where he left it.

That’s when Cusick and his friend noticed what looked almost like a “clod of mud” sitting under an overpass, anywhere from 50 to 150 feet away from where the Rivian was originally parked. Silt and mud from the Swannanoa River, Cusick said, swallowed his truck.

The relief briefly affected Cusick, but he said he immediately assumed his car was totaled.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to get into this thing and turn it on right away,” he recalled thinking.

But when Cusick approached the vehicle, out popped the Rivian’s door handle, which sits flush with the door panel just like a Tesla. Inside, the vehicle was “completely dry,” Cusick said.

He was able to get inside and start his truck.

“I probably have more questions than anyone,” Cusick said. “I wasn’t there for any of that. All I know is where I found the vehicle.”

A spokesperson for Rivian did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. A Rivian spokesperson told Inside EVs, which previously reported on Cusick’s truck, that Rivian batteries are sealed to provide protection against flooding.

“As part of our extensive battery testing, we also perform salt spray tests to demonstrate that our corrosion mitigations over the lifetime of our packs are robust. Once again, our insulation monitoring functions in our electrical and electronic systems provide adequate detection,” the spokesperson said. said Inside EVs.

While Cusick was thankful his truck was still operational, the Asheville resident said the scenes of devastation he witnessed in his city inspired him to volunteer.

Cusick came across a distribution center that was set up by Crisis Response International, a nonprofit crisis response organization in Virginia, and asked how they could help.

“They said they needed a generator,” Cusick recalled. “And I said, ‘Hey, I have one. They’re built into my car.”

Cusick said his generator helped power a food truck that provided hot meals to local residents. He said he also helped fuel a chainsaw he would use to clear the roads.

On Sept. 29, Cusick said a man interviewed him near downtown Asheville about his truck. By early October, Cusick’s experience had gone viral. Rivian soon contacted Cusick, the Asheville resident said.

The nearest Rivian service center is nearly four hours away from Cusick in Atlanta. Cusick said Rivian delivered a loan to him Monday in Asheville, allowing him to keep the truck while his vehicle undergoes an inspection and possible repairs.

Cusick said the experience made him a loyal Rivian customer. “I think that speaks volumes for the character of the leadership at Rivian,” he said. “They took the words out of my mouth. I couldn’t even speak.”