Rivian Zonal Electrical Architecture Explained -- Popular Science

[NY_Rob]

I am curious if Rivian is doing better than Tesla in terms of electrical architecture.

Well, if you look at it this way, Rivian is behind... Tesla has no fuses in it's common 12V circuits, Rivian still uses fuses in it's 12 volt circuits. Having no fuses is a benefit IMO.

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[docwhiz]

Well, if you look at it this way, Rivian is behind... Tesla has no fuses in it's common 12V circuits, Rivian still uses fuses in it's 12 volt circuits. Having no fuses is a benefit IMO.

No fuses is a benefit until you have a short, then you get a fire.
Tesla must have some way to shut off the current.

 

[NY_Rob]

No fuses is a benefit until you have a short, then you get a fire.
Tesla must have some way to shut off the current.

Yes, they have a current sense/disconnect FET semiconductor in place of individual fuses. They do not need maintenance and don't "blow" if overloaded. Lots of benefits over old style metal fuses: https://teslatap.com/articles/fuses-and-current-protection/

 

[docwhiz]

Yes, they have a current sense/disconnect FET semiconductor in place of individual fuses. They do not need maintenance and don't "blow" if overloaded. Lots of benefits over old style metal fuses: https://teslatap.com/articles/fuses-and-current-protection/

Good to hear. Electronic fuse should protect the circuit (unless the FET shorts)

 

[BrayBay]

Seems clear to me.
Do you not understand the capabilities of a smartphone or laptop?

I'm picking on that statement because there is no actual reference point, performance data, or in-depth description.

What laptop is it as powerful as? A MacBook Pro, or a Chromebook? What metric is being used to determine how powerful it is?

What about the infotainment ECU is as a capable as a smartphone? Can it take photographs? Can it download and run applications? A smartphone is capable of many things. Or is it just capable of processing graphics with a capacitive multi-touch screen input?

I'm sure the new Rivian electrical architecture is advanced in many ways. I'm just criticizing the author and the article itself. It is very bizarre to write vague and shallow statements to explain the new architecture. Interestingly, the following paragraph talking about the autonomy platform actually does provide a metric to go off of.

 

[docwhiz]

there is no actual reference point, performance data, or in-depth description.

This is a news article in Popular Science.
It is not "in depth" by any measure. However, it is the best description that I have read of the new architecture and I thought it would be of interest.
I am surprised at the negative responses on this forum which I would think would be interested and open to understanding rather than subject to nitpicking hypotheticals by armchair engineers.

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