Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[rvnxyz001]

* It was a beautiful, dry, sunny 80 degree day in southern NH (in other words, a very cool day for the Southwest), and even with the AC and seat ventilation on high (yes, it's very loud), it was really struggling to make the cabin comfortable - and apparently in Auto mode, it doesn't blow any cold air through the lower vents, so my legs were really too warm the whole time. I would say it took a good 20 minutes or more, and the cabin temp still never reached my 70 degree setting where the AC would dial it back.

Did you take it from an open-air lot where it had been sitting in the sun before you started driving?

Sponsored

 

[Rjosef]

I have driven the R2 twice in San Diego. Love the car, with three caveats...

1. Glass roof transmitted heat on a 75 degree day even though the salesperson said it wouldn't. I just don't get the Tesla/Rivian passion for glass roofs. Stupid.

2. No Sirius/XM SATELLITE service. A significant problem for an avowed "off-road ready" vehicle. No cell service, no radio.

3. No CarPlay. Yes, the Rivian software design is excellent. However, it just isn't Apple. Let the user decide what to use.

With that said, I plan to get the R2 to replace my Kia EV6, which I also like.

 

[Husky]

Did you take it from an open-air lot where it had been sitting in the sun before you started driving?

Yes, although there were people testing the car a little while before me that no doubt had the AC on. Also, when I got back in my x3 which had been sitting in the sun for an hour, it took less than ten minutes (at medium fan speed) to get the car cooler than the R2 was after twenty minutes with the AC blasting.

 

[Thebandit]

Yes, although there were people testing the car a little while before me that no doubt had the AC on. Also, when I got back in my x3 which had been sitting in the sun for an hour, it took less than ten minutes (at medium fan speed) to get the car cooler than the R2 was after twenty minutes with the AC blasting.

That's more an indictment of the roof than anything else. In broad daylight, there's an enormous amount of extra heat input coming into the cabin with a glass roof. It's just so absurd that this is the norm now. Just put in a sliding shade like every other car manufacturer.

 

[rvnxyz001]

Yes, although there were people testing the car a little while before me that no doubt had the AC on. Also, when I got back in my x3 which had been sitting in the sun for an hour, it took less than ten minutes (at medium fan speed) to get the car cooler than the R2 was after twenty minutes with the AC blasting.

I will take a thermometer to my test drive then to measure cabin temperature

 

[CD1973]

The aesthetics of R2 is bringing a lot of different types of people into the fold to purchase it.

I'm not much of a style guy or car guy. Heck I wish Rivian offered 18 inch wheels, or at least the 19s on all trims. But I do love boxy no frills look.

 

[Jeremy3292]

I'm not much of a style guy or car guy. Heck I wish Rivian offered 18 inch wheels, or at least the 19s on all trims. But I do love boxy no frills look.

We are all here for the box Toyota or Lexus style

 

[Husky]

Since I've been second-guessing my decision to buy an R2, I went to the BMW website and tried two different iX3 50xDrive builds. (Yes, crazy as it seems to some people, some of us are cross-shopping the iX3 and the R2.) The efficiency/range improvement would be nice. Although it would seem that their increased range comes more from a larger, 109 (112?) kWh battery.

One was a build with just the options I really want, and the other was a build to make it as close as possible to the Launch R2 from a features standpoint. For my build, with just a few options, it was about $66k, but for the "R2 equivalent" build it was $73.5k. In addition to the price difference, I really think the iX3 is an unattractive car, with the world's ugliest steering wheel .

I can't find any interior dimensions for it anywhere (which is odd, since I had no trouble getting the exterior dimensions), so I don't know how the backseat legroom and rear cargo volume compare, but I'm pretty confident the the R2 has it beat. You also give up off-road capability with the iX3, not that I really need that (except when I've got 10" of snow on my driveway and the plow guy hasn't come yet, haha.)

From my standpoint, the only advantages of the iX3 would be range and charge time, but that's not worth driving an ugly car that costs more IMHO.

 

[Jeremy3292]

From my standpoint, the only advantages of the iX3 would be range and charge time, but that's not worth driving an ugly car that costs more IMHO.

I would never buy an iX3 myself bc I agree it looks so ugly, but this seems to be the only real selling points from what I’ve seen. You would have to be a “BMW guy/gal” to want it especially for the price point. Or just do a lot of road trips and really value a little better charging and range.

 

[SANZC02]

Yes, although there were people testing the car a little while before me that no doubt had the AC on. Also, when I got back in my x3 which had been sitting in the sun for an hour, it took less than ten minutes (at medium fan speed) to get the car cooler than the R2 was after twenty minutes with the AC blasting.

Sounds to me like the test unit was not running correctly. The R2 we just picked up on a day completely sunny in the mid 80s was perfectly comfortable in a few minutes and I never had it on high. We actually turned the fan down halfway into my 8 mile drive home. The one we test drove was a couple of weeks ago and had no issues with the cooling in that one either.

Going out to the desert next week, the high temps are going to be between 114 and 119, I guess it will be a solid test for our system.

Might just be me, I have heard tons of complaints about the R1 HVAC as well and I have never had an issue keeping my R1S comfortable.

 

[Husky]

Sounds to me like the test unit was not running correctly. The R2 we just picked up on a day completely sunny in the mid 80s was perfectly comfortable in a few minutes and I never had it on high. We actually turned the fan down halfway into my 8 mile drive home. The one we test drove was a couple of weeks ago and had no issues with the cooling in that one either.

Going out to the desert next week, the high temps are going to be between 114 and 119, I guess it will be a solid test for our system.

Might just be me, I have heard tons of complaints about the R1 HVAC as well and I have never had an issue keeping my R1S comfortable.

Good luck in the desert, let us know how well it works. Congrats on the new ride.

 

[sparked]

Going out to the desert next week, the high temps are going to be between 114 and 119, I guess it will be a solid test for our system.

Might be worth making a separate post about desert testing the R2 AC since there's some concern about adequate cooling.

 

[rvnxyz001]

1. Glass roof transmitted heat on a 75 degree day even though the salesperson said it wouldn't. I just don't get the Tesla/Rivian passion for glass roofs. Stupid.

It requires the best possible roof tint plus a sunshade. People refuse to buy cars without glass roofs today. The bigger, the better. However, there are still some EVs on the market without even a small sunroof.

 

[Rjosef]

It requires the best possible roof tint plus a sunshade. People refuse to buy cars without glass roofs today. The bigger, the better. However, there are still some EVs on the market without even a small sunroof.

Many cars have regular roofs. A local window tinting company said A LOT of Rivians and Teslas come in for $80-$100 dark tint jobs which make the roofs almost as good as a regular roof. What’s the point to glass?

 

[rvnxyz001]

What’s the point to glass?

I guess people like glass roofs. Reviewers always say it would be great to have a panoramic roof when they see a small sunroof. I also think it allows manufacturers to keep the vehicle as low as possible for better aerodynamics while still giving people enough headroom. As for why they have not implemented a built-in sunshade, I don’t know. Maybe it is to reduce cost and weight, since it is a pretty bulky system.

A LOT of Rivians and Teslas come in for $80-$100 dark tint jobs which make the roofs almost as good as a regular roof.

True. I don’t know about the XPEL tint Rivian partners with, but I used the latest 3M Crystalline tint, and it is a miracle. It blocks almost all the heat, and you don’t need to make it dark at all.

Sponsored