RivianPioneer
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I’ve been driving Teslas since 2017, first I started with one of the first Model 3s to hit the market and then later I graduated to a Model X. Before that I was driving PHEVs. First a Prius and then a Honda. So I’ve been in the electric car world for about 8 years and counting. I pre-ordered my R1S over a year ago and I finally got one last week. I wanted to share some of my initial impressions, comparisons to Tesla, and hopes for future Rivian features.
So far I love the R1S, it’s definitely lacking in so many ways compared to Tesla on the software end, but it’s a great looking car, much more solidly built than any of my prior Teslas and the ride is smooth and the power is amazing, much more like a luxury sedan than a big truck. I am really loving it, but that doesn’t mean that Rivian couldn’t improve on its design in some ways, so my initial observations on physical and software design are less criticisms and more hope for future design improvements in future Rivian trucks. Here are my suggestions/wish list: 1. Running Boards – I’m not exactly tall myself, but my wife and kids really struggle to get in. There are third party solutions yes, but Rivian should consider making them standard even if it means they need to have the car re-rated. 2. Soft close doors – the doors are heavy and I am finding that they don’t close often if not pulled or pushed forcefully, 3. USB C ports accessible in the front under the screen – yes, there are ones buried in the center console (one which the Gear Guard makes unusable for anything else) but that means a wire has to be run from the console out for it to have any real use., and 4. Better Door Handle Position - Door handles on the inside of the car are in an awkward spot, too low to easily grab and not intuitively located. They should be higher on the door, 5.. Better wireless charge pad design: the wireless charging pad in the front center consul could be designed better. Perhaps they can put magnets in the proper places to make them compatible with iPhones. The way they are now phones just slide around and aren’t always charging which is a problem and makes the charging pad pretty useless. I’m aware of some third-party solutions that fix this, but it shouldn’t require a third-party solution.
On the software end, Tesla is years ahead of Rivian and I guess that came as no surprise to me. I hope over time that they will be able to introduce updates that adapt the best of the Tesla OS features. Where I hope Rivian puts some effort into the software is the following: 1. Driver + needs much improvement – it is extremely limited in the places and the ways it works. That’s a big drawback for people coming from a smooth, effective driver assist system offered by Tesla (i.e. I’m not even talking about Tesla FSD, just their included basic driver assist), 2. Cameras Integrated with L/R Directionals: When activating the left or right directional, it would be great if the left/right cameras would activate so you could see on the screen the traffic situation to your left/right, depending upon which way you are signaling, 3. A “Stay Mode” to maintain the temperature in the car would be great – You can use the pet mode to accomplish that, I guess, but that mode does a little more so just a simple “stay mode” would be welcome, 4. A “Valet Mode” for locking down the menus and GPS data and limiting the speed on the car when leaving it in a garage or with a valet, 5. Apple Music integration, 6. Streaming video integration such as Netflix, Hulu, etc would be great as we all know we can be sitting charging the car for 30 or more minutes when on a trip and so video streaming right from the car is a great convenience feature, 7. Navigation System Improvements: The navigation system and how it locates EV charging options on the road needs work. While you can look at tons of EV charging options through multiple EV networks when you look at the map, when setting up for a trip you can only pick one, not all, of the networks that the Rivian could access , 8. Android and Apple Car Play integration – Tesla does not have this either, 9. Amazon Alexa “Wake Word”: Amazon Alexa integration is great, however, why can’t the wake word be changed? In fact, they should make a new wake word like “Rivian” or “Rivvy”. Makes no sense to me that I can change the wake word on my $20 Echo Dot but not on my 80k+ car with Amazon Alexa integration., finally 10. Needs “PIN to Drive”: This is a great extra security feature on the Tesla that Rivian should adopt. Using the PIN to drive you can’t drive even if you have a key or your phone without inputting a PIN first.
Despite the laundry list of suggestions/hopes that I have for future hardware and software improvements, I love my new Rivian and I’m looking forward to many new adventures in it!
So far I love the R1S, it’s definitely lacking in so many ways compared to Tesla on the software end, but it’s a great looking car, much more solidly built than any of my prior Teslas and the ride is smooth and the power is amazing, much more like a luxury sedan than a big truck. I am really loving it, but that doesn’t mean that Rivian couldn’t improve on its design in some ways, so my initial observations on physical and software design are less criticisms and more hope for future design improvements in future Rivian trucks. Here are my suggestions/wish list: 1. Running Boards – I’m not exactly tall myself, but my wife and kids really struggle to get in. There are third party solutions yes, but Rivian should consider making them standard even if it means they need to have the car re-rated. 2. Soft close doors – the doors are heavy and I am finding that they don’t close often if not pulled or pushed forcefully, 3. USB C ports accessible in the front under the screen – yes, there are ones buried in the center console (one which the Gear Guard makes unusable for anything else) but that means a wire has to be run from the console out for it to have any real use., and 4. Better Door Handle Position - Door handles on the inside of the car are in an awkward spot, too low to easily grab and not intuitively located. They should be higher on the door, 5.. Better wireless charge pad design: the wireless charging pad in the front center consul could be designed better. Perhaps they can put magnets in the proper places to make them compatible with iPhones. The way they are now phones just slide around and aren’t always charging which is a problem and makes the charging pad pretty useless. I’m aware of some third-party solutions that fix this, but it shouldn’t require a third-party solution.
On the software end, Tesla is years ahead of Rivian and I guess that came as no surprise to me. I hope over time that they will be able to introduce updates that adapt the best of the Tesla OS features. Where I hope Rivian puts some effort into the software is the following: 1. Driver + needs much improvement – it is extremely limited in the places and the ways it works. That’s a big drawback for people coming from a smooth, effective driver assist system offered by Tesla (i.e. I’m not even talking about Tesla FSD, just their included basic driver assist), 2. Cameras Integrated with L/R Directionals: When activating the left or right directional, it would be great if the left/right cameras would activate so you could see on the screen the traffic situation to your left/right, depending upon which way you are signaling, 3. A “Stay Mode” to maintain the temperature in the car would be great – You can use the pet mode to accomplish that, I guess, but that mode does a little more so just a simple “stay mode” would be welcome, 4. A “Valet Mode” for locking down the menus and GPS data and limiting the speed on the car when leaving it in a garage or with a valet, 5. Apple Music integration, 6. Streaming video integration such as Netflix, Hulu, etc would be great as we all know we can be sitting charging the car for 30 or more minutes when on a trip and so video streaming right from the car is a great convenience feature, 7. Navigation System Improvements: The navigation system and how it locates EV charging options on the road needs work. While you can look at tons of EV charging options through multiple EV networks when you look at the map, when setting up for a trip you can only pick one, not all, of the networks that the Rivian could access , 8. Android and Apple Car Play integration – Tesla does not have this either, 9. Amazon Alexa “Wake Word”: Amazon Alexa integration is great, however, why can’t the wake word be changed? In fact, they should make a new wake word like “Rivian” or “Rivvy”. Makes no sense to me that I can change the wake word on my $20 Echo Dot but not on my 80k+ car with Amazon Alexa integration., finally 10. Needs “PIN to Drive”: This is a great extra security feature on the Tesla that Rivian should adopt. Using the PIN to drive you can’t drive even if you have a key or your phone without inputting a PIN first.
Despite the laundry list of suggestions/hopes that I have for future hardware and software improvements, I love my new Rivian and I’m looking forward to many new adventures in it!
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