Software Spotlight Version 2022.27.02 -- Official Rivian Feature

[kneebuster]

I'm really interested in getting a miles gained counter when regen breaking vs current efficiency graph

In my experience coming down steep mountain roads, both on and off pavement, is that the range rarely increases. Even coming down Engineer Pass (as steep 4x4 road) without touching the brakes, I only gained a couple of % battery charge. What I do see regularly is going 5, 10, 15 miles without losing any range.

Sponsored

 

[huskybrewing]

I tested downhill range increase once. I posted this last month: took the truck to the top of Lee Canyon (northwest of Las Vegas) and then back down this weekend. The road from the top to the US-95 is about 17 miles and drops around 5,000-6,000 feet of elevation. Speed limit is mostly 55, I went a little over 60 most of the way with ACC on, all purpose mode. Range increased by 12 miles, or about 4-5% of the battery pack, by the end of the 17 mile descent. Of course, it churned through a lot of battery on the way up.

 

[DJG]

This point is one of the reasons I take all the Rivian v Lightning stuff with a grain of salt right now. Rivian has already showed that they can iterate on software much faster than traditional OEMs. They may be close now, but it's unlikely to stay that way.

It's not Ford's fault, it takes extra time to translate the software jargon into Ford employee language so that they understand it, then translate it back into software language, but this time in Hindi so that the offshore software developers can understand it, then receive the software back, translate the code back into English, upload it, test it, iterate etc.

It's hard work....

 

[ironpig]

I hope this one gets pushed faster than the last one. Took about a week for me to get it.

 

[FirstStateR1T]

Really was hoping to see some old skool side view mirror dip functionality when in reverse... The rest of the OTA Update is great.

 

[astonius]

Got the update this morning, much quicker than last update. I bet they rotate or randomize the ramp targets with each release.

 

[seatosummit]

Sometimes the preconditioning would actually just fail, according to some reports. But yes, it's not a new feature, it's a further refinement of the previously added feature to make it perform even better. The peak charging rate won't change, but we'll hopefully see it longer and/or an overall bulkier curve through these thermal management improvements, increasing average speeds by 20% allegedly.

However, the big caveat is that they say ideal conditions, which can be translated as - when the DCFC station holds up on their end of the bargain. More often than not, it's the station that limits charging performance, not the Rivian. So, I would expect these improvements to mostly show up on RAN chargers (always ideal conditions), and occasionally at public stations (sometimes ideal conditions).

I've had good luck with EA stations of late. Reliably getting 200 + kW at peak.

I did encounter a station in which both 350kW dispensers were thermal throttling to 33kW due to failed cable cooling. Salinas, CA.

When navigating to the station in Eureka, CA a couple days ago, I didn't notice any preconditioning as I approached. Assumed it was content with the thermals, but noticed it was complaining about "limiting charge when battery is hot" or similar and throttled me to 160kW.

Looking forward to DCFC improvements with the new update.

 

[DJG]

I've had good luck with EA stations of late. Reliably getting 200 + kW at peak.

I did encounter a station in which both 350kW dispensers were thermal throttling to 33kW due to failed cable cooling. Salinas, CA.

When navigating to the station in Eureka, CA a couple days ago, I didn't notice any preconditioning as I approached. Assumed it was content with the thermals, but noticed it was complaining about "limiting charge when battery is hot" or similar and throttled me to 160kW.

Looking forward to DCFC improvements with the new update.

I think most times achieving the peak isn't a problem, it's maintaining it. More often than not it's only a slight throttling to 160kw or so rather than the severe one you note. Ultimately the difference between 160kw and 200+ is close to splitting hairs (talking about a few minutes in a charging session), but happy to see improvement if there's any to be had.

 

[emoore]

I think most times achieving the peak isn't a problem, it's maintaining it. More often than not it's only a slight throttling to 160kw or so rather than the severe one you note. Ultimately the difference between 160kw and 200+ is close to splitting hairs (talking about a few minutes in a charging session), but happy to see improvement if there's any to be had.

Yeah I’m really hoping the the charging improvements mean maintains the peak longer. I don’t think the max peak can get any higher with the current hardware.

 

[RealBillNye]

In my experience coming down steep mountain roads, both on and off pavement, is that the range rarely increases. Even coming down Engineer Pass (as steep 4x4 road) without touching the brakes, I only gained a couple of % battery charge. What I do see regularly is going 5, 10, 15 miles without losing any range.

This aligns with ICE vehicles as well. How many highways are there where you are riding the brakes downhill in an ICE? Those are the ones where you would start to actually gain appreciable charge back into the battery for a BEV. I can't think of many highways where this happens.

 

[DJG]

Yeah I’m really hoping the the charging improvements mean maintains the peak longer. I don’t think the max peak can get any higher with the current hardware.

Guaranteed, we know what the peak capability is and they've reached that. This improvement is to conditioning, which is about stamina.

 

[miasm]

In my experience coming down steep mountain roads, both on and off pavement, is that the range rarely increases. Even coming down Engineer Pass (as steep 4x4 road) without touching the brakes, I only gained a couple of % battery charge. What I do see regularly is going 5, 10, 15 miles without losing any range.

I gained 4% coming off Wolf Creek Pass. In reality I went 25 miles after cresting the summit before my range counter went below what it was right then.

 

[idiocyafoot]

Got mine this afternoon…faster than last.

First thing I tried was ‘Alexa play (x) on Spotify’…and it worked. Songs albums and playlists. Last update broke all of that that for me. Interesting that there is no reference to it in the release notes (clearly something changed) but I’m happy that it’s kindof working now. I still despise Alexa for this use-case but better is good.

Toyed with the suspension setting updates a little but not enough to comment.

All in all I like and appreciate the pace and content of these updates.

 

[MNLightning]

This point is one of the reasons I take all the Rivian v Lightning stuff with a grain of salt right now. Rivian has already showed that they can iterate on software much faster than traditional OEMs. They may be close now, but it's unlikely to stay that way.

The Lightning software has such a big head-start as delivered.

And doesn’t require monthly updates to fix bunches of bothersome issues. It’s far from perfect but not what I would consider annoying like the Rivian interface. (Door locks, Mapping, Music Sources, Vehicle Health, Air Conditioning, Driver +, Window Speed,)

Anyway I hope your right and Rivian takes the lead soon. But it’s going to take more than tweaking to get there.

 

[MNLightning]

Got mine this afternoon…faster than last.

First thing I tried was ‘Alexa play (x) on Spotify’…and it worked. Songs albums and playlists. Last update broke all of that that for me. Interesting that there is no reference to it in the release notes (clearly something changed) but I’m happy that it’s kindof working now. I still despise Alexa for this use-case but better is good.

Toyed with the suspension setting updates a little but not enough to comment.

All in all I like and appreciate the pace and content of these updates.

Hopefully I will see the same results

Sponsored