R2 Three Day Ownership Review. Comparison to R1T. Efficiency and Range data!

[Ilovejunebugs]

VAMPIRE DRAIN: Many, many threads on this forum about R1 vampire battery drain while parked. For 2 nights I left both our R1T and R2 unplugged in the garage over night with about 70% on the batteries. Using the "energy monitor" function on the software and looking at the "8 hour usage" screen I observed much less drain on the R2. The R1T had 0.9kwh and 0.8kwh those 2 nights. The R2 was 0.0 and 0.2 kwh. Encouraging.

Thank you for this! A major factor for me in purchasing for my business!

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[rvnxyz001]

I meant to say rear seat headrests. Usually I yank these headrests off since I hardly ever have anyone sitting in the rear seats. This gives a better view of the back window.
P.S. This is perfectly legal in Florida. The state of Florida doesn’t care if you live or die.

Here is the video where they talk about this part

 

[Mos Eisley]

You can actually push the R2's hood open a little farther if you need to. It'll go around a foot taller. I suspect they did this because short people might really struggle with it all the way open, considering it doesn't auto-close.

According to the Camissa video discussion in another thread, he mentioned that issue on the vehicle he had and they said that's an anomaly and it should be fully opening. Now, maybe their "fully open" is what Camissa was describing as 3/4ths open.

 

[Mos Eisley]

We picked up our R2 on Monday the 29 from the Minneapolis service center.
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...orning-june-29-so-far-so-good-vin-1588.60782/

We now have 263 miles on it including the 165 mile home-to-cabin trip we do frequently for which I also have extensive R1T gen 1 and gen 2 efficiency data for.

A lot to cover here. I'll try to be brief and compartmentalized.

TLDR: It's an awesome vehicle. Very impressed and happy so far. Lives up to all the claims and hype.




DELIVERY EXPERIENCE: This is our 3rd Rivan delivery and this one was just so-so. Delivery specialized was 15 minutes late then rushed a bit through our process as he had another delivery right after. These guys absolutely need to be smart phone specialists. Had some issues as we now have 2 Rivian and a shared Apple account between my wife and I. He had to some on the fly juggling but it all worked out.

FIT AND FINISH: I look hard, harder than I normally would, and cannot find any problems. I like the door handles much better than R1 because these (so far) don't have the squeak the R1's seem to have. The doors close and open better than R1.

R2 SOFTWARE MATURITY: We have 3 years of Rivian software experience so we know our way around it. R2 is a bit different than R1 so there is a bit of a learning curve. I poked around a lot in the software and have not identified any bugs or shortcoimings. Looking forward to the soon to be added pet mode though!

RIDE AND COMFORT: Quite good. Quiet and smooth. No wind noise. Seats are similar to R1 but not quite as comfortable. I was squirming a bit on our cabin trip this morning. Highway speed tracking was good, no tire balance issues or lane drift. Steering wheel alignment was good. No suspension rattles or creeks like R1.

CHARGING: At home no issues with a Grizzl-e charger and the Rivian Gear shop J-1772 to NACS converter. No fast charging yet.

HAPTIC WHEELS: Do basically the same functions as the 2-button 1-wheel setup on R1 but with one wheel. Nice but not revolutionary. As many have noted from test drives it seems hard to do a pull or push without a rotation but that does not seem to matter, the rotation is usually ignored. Seem tighter with a better feel than the test drive vehicle.

LIFT GATE AND FRUNK BUTTONS: Many (including us) experienced issues at first. But once we got the technique they work great. Put your finger on the button, give a quick press, remove finger. Do not let your finger linger, it won't do anything if you finger is still pushing the button.

R1 vs R2 SIZE. A few photo of the 2 vehicles with the back edges lined up.

R1T vs R2 FRUNK SIZE: Smaller than R1T for sure but I can still get my golf bag in there but I have to take my driver out and lay it atop the bag.

R2 Below

R2 CARGO SIZE: A true strength of this vehicle. Very spacious. I can get my large size frame mountain bike inside without removing a wheel.

CARGO AREA PROTECTION. I custom cut a piece of roofing membrane material to protect the floor. Cut slits to accommodate the 60/40 split so we can put a dog hammock on the 60 portion of the seating.

VAMPIRE DRAIN: Many, many threads on this forum about R1 vampire battery drain while parked. For 2 nights I left both our R1T and R2 unplugged in the garage over night with about 70% on the batteries. Using the "energy monitor" function on the software and looking at the "8 hour usage" screen I observed much less drain on the R2. The R1T had 0.9kwh and 0.8kwh those 2 nights. The R2 was 0.0 and 0.2 kwh. Encouraging.

EFFICENCY AND RANGE: Saved this for last as it takes the most explanation.

The short version; R2 is very efficiency and I achieved close to the Rivian stated range figures on our home-to-cabin run much as I did with the Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1Ts

The long version: We travel between our Minneapolis area home and our Hayward, WI area cabin very frequently, always taking the same route. I've recorded the efficiency reported by the vehicle many times. Today with the R2 is the 100th entry into the database so I have a very comprehensive dataset. Multiple vehicles, multiple configurations (bike racks, different tires, etc) across a temperature range from -10 to 90 deg F.

The route is about 40% interstate highway and 60% urban freeway and rural 55mph roads with multiple small towns to travel through. The trip is 165 miles and my average speed is around 54 mph. On this route I've basically achieved the Rivian/EPA stated range figures during the summer at temps around 75F.

My criteria for data recording. I only record the trip into the database if the wind is less than 10 mph, there is less than a 10deg temperature swing during the trip and if there is no abnormal traffic or construction delays. Many trips have not been included because of this criteria. In the winter I never intentionally precondition the battery nor pre-warm the cabin of the vehicle. The vehicle is in a garage hooked to a 40 amp Level 2 charger where a charging session would have been completed anywhere from 0 to 8 hour before departure.


EFFICIENCY GRAPH: Efficiency data including; R1T Gen 2 dual motor max pack with 3 different tires. A Volvo XC40 recharge which is the vehicle we traded in for this Rivian R2.

The R2 is the green data point. It is impressively efficient, better than the much smaller Volvo XC40. The red dots are the Michelin Defender tires I recently installed on my R1T. In retrospect I wish I had stayed the Pirelli all seasons but that's a story for another thread.

RANGE GRAPH: Assuming usable battery capacities of 141 kWh for the Gen 2 R1T, 78 kWh for the XC40 and 89 kWh for the R2 the full pack range figures are shown in the graph below. I get very close to the advertised range on this route we drive.

I feel I must make this disclaimer as somebody with chime in and ask questions or disagree: This is NOT an estimate of a highway range test, I do not claim and Rivian does not claim you will achieve the EPA range in highway driving. The EPA test is a mix if city and highway driving that just so happens to align well with this route I drive.

ANYTHING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE DIFFERENT OR ADDED TO THE R2: Cargo tie downs in the back cargo area....


ONE MORE THING. BOUNUS TOPIC ON LIFTING WITH A FLOOR JACK. A few weeks ago on this forum there was a thread about the jack points on the R2 and worries it was difficult to use, required special jack pucks and was downright unsafe. At the time I thought the whole thread was a nothing burger. I tried out my Husky floor jack this morning and yes, it was a big nothing burger. There is a nice rubber pad on the bottom of the vehicle frame. It is isolated enough and sticks out enough I could engage my floor jack with no issues. No jack puck required.

Thanks for all the real-world info, Rick! We live in the east metro, if we ever cross, drinks on me.

Chris

 

[Budman]

Thank you for this! A major factor for me in purchasing for my business!

I just looked again at the screenshot of the 0.2 kWh energy use on the R2. It’s during the 5:00 to 5:30 time segment which is when I opened the door to look at the screen so maybe that 0.2 came from me waking it up. Tempted to say it’s actually 0.0 drain….

 

[Mos Eisley]

@Budman Something I haven't paid to in my test drives, how is the function of the proximity sensors when parking? I know the system triggers the cameras - is there an aural warning too?

 

[Ryanml]

Thank you for the detailed write up. Is there a way to set how high the lift gate will open? For example if you have a low clearance garage opening.

 

[Rivian R2D2]

Sounds good, some good talking points, will be happy to hear more reviews once the newness wares.

iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro Max, both same with no noticeable change, most exciting experience is the unboxing.

But, then the 17 Pro Max comes out and now we have a slight difference to talk about.

Time will tell, as more hit the road.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Not removable and not adjustable

'However, there’s a catch to installing a forward-facing car seat: The rear headrests, which are not easily removable, are tilted forward; the Graco’s extendable headrest bumps against it—which is not safe. Also, the rear seats don’t recline at all, so adjusting the car’s seat is not an option either. Families with kids in forward facing car seats will need to look closely at forward facing car seat fit to ensure a safe ride. "

https://agirlsguidetocars.com/rivian-r2-first-drive-review-2

Sorry but this is patently false. RTFM

 

[Budman]

@Budman Something I haven't paid to in my test drives, how is the function of the proximity sensors when parking? I know the system triggers the cameras - is there an aural warning too?

Yes. There is a tone and it reduces the volume of the music.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Yes. There is a tone and it reduces the volume of the music.

Thanks!

 

[Budman]

Thank you for the detailed write up. Is there a way to set how high the lift gate will open? For example if you have a low clearance garage opening.

Nothing I can find in the manual about it.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Sorry but this is patently false. RTFM

Not "patently false" at least as regards removing the headrest. The OP said "not easily" - and requiring a dedicated 3mm dowel pin qualifies as "not easy" vs many others that simply allow you to push a large button or latch and pop the headrest off.

 

[ksnyd72]

We just made essentially the exact same trip this past Sunday; you're a much more efficient driver than we were

 

[TexasBob]

Awesome review. I'm pretty excited to see your data on range and compare it to the official TexasBob (but claude helped a little) range model which is a very good match at 55 mph. On the Edmunds test, which is very close to the drive you describe, Rivian on average undershoots its EPA by 2.2% which is also very consistent with what you are seeing here.

Any chance you are planning to do a full 70 or 75mph range test on this?

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