Anyone else hating new auto climate

[Lord Leroy]

Is anyone else other than myself hating this new auto climate setting that came out two updates ago? There is no “auto” to it because I have to set the fan speed low, medium or high. I change the temp up and down with very little change in fan speed. If I wanted to set the fan speed, I would just do that with the fan speed control off of auto.

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[R1Tom]

I too would just love full auto back. I understand having the option on fan speeds....but how about full auto again?

 

[beatle]

I don't really get the new settings. If the system needs high fan, it should use high fan. If it doesn't, it should use low. It seems like the fan preferences as they stand may not let the system use the full range of fan speeds on any given setting any more. The manual doesn't offer any insight as to what the three settings actually do:

I feel like Low might only use speeds 1-5, medium 2-6, and high 3-7. I have no way of actually proving that though. I thought the original fan speed did a pretty good job of managing the fan speed as needed.

 

[RandomMcRandomFace]

I think this is set up for people who (like me) hate fans blasting. I never used old auto because of it. I would rather be warmer for a few more minutes rather than have fans going nuts (of course that’s just me). So now I can set it to low (or Medium if its super hot out) and it will still moderate the fans (at least it seems to) but within a narrow upper band. I prefer it - have you tried just using high and seeing if that is like the old “auto”? Not saying it will be but I would assume it will reduce the fans once the temp is reached. Not sure - they really haven’t explained it very well.

 

[SoCal Rob]

It makes me miss the climate control in our old Land Rover. I thought it was one of the better implementations in that you could modify what was auto and what was manual and intuitively know what had been overridden.

The Auto button was in the center of the fan speed knob and it looked like it had a lower case ‘i’ which would illuminate when in full Auto:

If I had a better picture this would make more sense but the fan speed knob (surrounding the Auto button) when turned manually would show anywhere from 1 to 7 round amber dots. The air distribution controls (feet/face/windshield) would show what looked like a tiny Rivian stadium lamp in amber for each one manually selected.

If you pressed Auto it would set the fan speed automatically (amber dot / dot on the ‘i’) set the air distribution automatically (amber stadium light / vertical line on the ‘i’) and turn on the A/C compressor.

If you wanted to override the fan speed you could turn the knob to whatever setting you wanted (corresponding to the number of dots around the knob) which would turn off the dot on the Auto button so you could tell at a glance that it was automatically controlling air temperature and direction but you manually overrode the fan speed portion of the auto setting because the dot on the Auto button was not lit.

Likewise, you could be in full Auto and decide you want to manually direct the air to feet and face (amber stadium on each) and the stadium on the Auto button would go out but the dot (for fan speed) would stay on letting you know the fan was automatically controlled but the air distribution wasn’t.

If you manually adjustthe fan speed and the air distribution you were fully manual with nothing illuminated on the Auto button.

Finally, you could switch between Econ (no A/C compressor) and regular while it remaining in full automatic control.

To be fair, Rivian’s automatic climate control may behave in similar ways, but the fact that the Auto button disengages as soon as you change anything manually (even compressor off) means you have no idea if the system will still automatically control whatever you didn’t adjust. I’m pretty sure it’s either automatic everything or manual everything though.

edit:typos and clarity

 

[BearMan123]

The new auto climate is, in particular for G2, a work around to NVH issues when the fan at low speeds in 'true' Auto created significant NVH.

I am partially responsible because after replacint nearly every HVAV component, I discovered in non-auto and fan speed 2 or higher, the noise went away and I let engineering know. What was happening is that in Auto, it was automatically adjusting between fan speeds which created vibration at a low harmonic frequency of the fan. Clearly they choose to fix it by forcing you to select from the 3 speeds which locks in the speed and does not create the vibrations shifting between several

It's a work around software issue as I see it, yet it solved my NVH issues. They fixed NVH, they no longer have a true auto system.

TriZone AC was pushed out yesterday to my car.

 

[TheRiviAnswer]

Medium is the old Auto

 

[richguess]

A couple of design issues that EV buyers don’t like: screen/digital controls over the HVAC and wipers. Haptics/manual controls for these seem obvious. Possibly add in the side mirrors. It’s cheaper for manufactures to use the screen. My prior Ionic 5 “split the baby” with the HVAC controls, unsatisfactorily IMHO. Like many enthusiasts say “save the manuals” I say “save the knobs and stalks.”

 

[SwampNut]

A couple of design issues that EV buyers don’t like: screen/digital controls over the HVAC and wipers. Haptics/manual controls for these seem obvious. Possibly add in the side mirrors. It’s cheaper for manufactures to use the screen. My prior Ionic 5 “split the baby” with the HVAC controls, unsatisfactorily IMHO. Like many enthusiasts say “save the manuals” I say “save the knobs and stalks.”

I refuse to buy old-style cars with buttons and knobs. It was a major factor for Rivian against Ford and Chevy. Screen only please.

 

[richguess]

To each his own. I do note Rivian touting the “haptic knobs” on the R2 steering wheels. And for me personally, I can adjust HVAC with knobs without taking my eyes off the road. I have an R2 on order, had an Ionic5 and own a Tesla M3 L/R, so I have personal experience with them. Not sure I can wait until 2026 for the R2. I’ll get itchy before then.

 

[sub]

A couple of design issues that EV buyers don’t like: screen/digital controls over the HVAC and wipers. Haptics/manual controls for these seem obvious. Possibly add in the side mirrors. It’s cheaper for manufactures to use the screen. My prior Ionic 5 “split the baby” with the HVAC controls, unsatisfactorily IMHO. Like many enthusiasts say “save the manuals” I say “save the knobs and stalks.”

EV buyer here. And no, I don't want a bunch of buttons all over the place.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone based on the sales stats for EVs with lots of buttons vs EVs without.

How do you justify your statement that these are "issues that EV buyers don’t like" when more than 50% of EV buyers in the US are buying EVs with those supposed issues?

I don't doubt the existence of EV buyers that want lots of buttons, but it does not appear to be nearly as common as you seem to think it is.

 

[DD4ST]

I, for one, would appreciate a few manual controls, especially those that you might adjust while driving and shouldn’t be staring at the screen. An example would be manually adjustment of vent direction. I personally think Rivian went too far in trying to copy Tesla by making its vehicles act like a computer. Evidently, others are rethinking this too: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13903241/Tech-car-firms-Apple-buttons-products.html

 

[richguess]

EV buyer here. And no, I don't want a bunch of buttons all over the place.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone based on the sales stats for EVs with lots of buttons vs EVs without.

How do you justify your statement that these are "issues that EV buyers don’t like" when more than 50% of EV buyers in the US are buying EVs with those supposed issues?

I don't doubt the existence of EV buyers that want lots of buttons, but it does not appear to be nearly as common as you seem to think it is.

See below! It’s really what I personally like, but there are issues like that below, as well as lots of complaints by automotive writers. And in my case, I bought my M3L/R not because of the nearly complete screen control, but in spite of it. Fast car, good looks, moderate price, excellent range, best charging options. I think most would agree those attributes exceed the touch screen desirability. As I said, to each his own. But that’s how I “justify it.”

 

[SparkyR1t]

I refuse to buy old-style cars with buttons and knobs. It was a major factor for Rivian against Ford and Chevy. Screen only please.

I second that digital controls are todays tech and are here to stay

 

[SwampNut]

I, for one, would appreciate a few manual controls, especially those that you might adjust while driving and shouldn’t be staring at the screen. An example would be manually adjustment of vent direction. I personally think Rivian went too far in trying to copy Tesla by making its vehicles act like a computer. Evidently, others are rethinking this too: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13903241/Tech-car-firms-Apple-buttons-products.html

The fact that I can store multiple vent profiles and instantly recall them makes me ecstatic that they finally solved a top first-world problem. I hate fiddling with vents. HATE it, unreasonably so.

I would love to see a couple or three controls that have no defined purpose, and can be mapped. All my drones do this, and I love it, since every user will have a few different needs and preferences.

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