Driving in Snow

[Shlep4]

So I got my Rivian in March of this year. My wife was driving in major snow storm last weekend and was very Sketchy. The issue with the Rivian is with regenerative braking if you go into a slide and take foot off of gas the brake kicks in so you go into a worse slide. So in atypical car you let off the gas when you go into slide and correct with no gas or brake. Anyone have a suggestion on how to handle and/or is there anyway to turn off regenerative braking. The other issue was the defrost was either on high or nothing at all. So they had to blow the defrost on High and sweat to death just to try and keep the windshield clear. Any one run into the same issue? Also found out the windshields would ice up and they would have to stop and knock the ice off of windshields.
Anyhow BEST car/truck I have ever owned and I have owned alot. Any responses would be great Thanks

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[crashmtb]

Modulate the accelerator vs foot all the way off?

 

[jjswan33]

Which tires do you have?

I hope Rivian introduces a snow mode before next winter. That said the only issue I have encountered with snow (on the 20" ATs) was that it has a hard time handling really deep snow. For typical winter highway driving I found it very competent.

 

[zonehawk]

Don't have my Rivian yet, but when I had the Tesla, I would turn regen down as low as it could go. Given Rivian only has standard and high, best bet would be put it in standard. Tesla lets you adjust the acceleration which helps a bit in the snow too, but I think the only way to change that in the Rivian is by going into conserve mode... problem with that is you lose 4wd. A dedicated snow mode that kicks regen down even further and dials back the throttle response would help for road snow. Off-roading snow would probably need to be a whole different programing.

That said, last weekends snow storm was a bit unusual as it was way more wet and slippery snow since it went from like 90 degrees to snowing within 24 hours and the snow was melting/turning to ice faster than it normally would in winter.

 

[Shlep4]

I have 22 inch tires. Yes the problem with the Rivian is it only has standard or hard regenerative braking. I agree with previous comments probably would make sense they have some sort of snow mode. I drove it the last part of the winter and it was fine and normal snow conditions but didn’t seem to handle very well in icy slick roads

 

[jjswan33]

I have 22 inch tires. Yes the problem with the Rivian is it only has standard or hard regenerative braking. I agree with previous comments probably would make sense they have some sort of snow mode. I drove it the last part of the winter and it was fine and normal snow conditions but didn’t seem to handle very well in icy slick roads

With the 22" sport tires I would highly recommend a light chain for snow driving, especially for mountain travel.

 

[DadOf4Girls]

Drove up to Breckenridge over Hoosier Pass in our R1T (also 22" wheels) during that same snowstorm and the truck felt pretty planted to me. Not rock solid but I wasn't white-knuckling it the whole time. I've driven a Model 3 for the last 3.5 years so OPD is second nature at this point which may help some, too.

That said, last weekends snow storm was a bit unusual as it was way more wet and slippery snow since it went from like 90 degrees to snowing within 24 hours and the snow was melting/turning to ice faster than it normally would in winter.

This was a bigger issue - driving up from the Springs where it was pretty wet into the colder air meant all that snow clogged up the wipers pretty badly. Defrost kept the window from icing over (while we were sweating) but still couldn't melt what accumulated on the wipers. Had to pull over 4-5 times to clear the wiper blades.

I've had the same problem with the Model 3 in the past but I agree that this storm was different than normal with the big temperature swing and wet snow.

Regardless, I would gladly pay for heated wipers if the option were to present itself!!

 

[Taco]

I'm really hoping they get a "snow mode" that will pull power (aka "chill mode" on a Tesla) plus another level of regenerative braking that is low.

On my Tesla MX I have a snow profile that places it into Chill + Low regenerative braking which makes the car an joy to drive in the snow.

 

[cohall]

I'm really hoping they get a "snow mode" that will pull power (aka "chill mode" on a Tesla) plus another level of regenerative braking that is low.

100% agreed.

And maybe a “Deep Snow” mode that does the same as above but puts the truck in a higher suspension setting.

 

[Ripped]

This was pointed out in one of the many youtube videos as the regen being a big issue during deceleration in the snow.

Sliding on ice or snow is one of the times you should be light on the brakes, coast and steer at low speed. Regen could make that very dangerous. A reason to have a "zero" setting.

Edit; Oh yeah and good tires with a soft compound. MFG spec tires often have a harder wearing rubber compound for long tread life. Not great for winter or slippery driving conditions.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Sliding on ice or snow is one of the times you should be light on the brakes, coast and steer at low speed. Regen could make that very dangerous. A reason to have a "zero" setting.

I really don't understand this at all. Rivian uses blended braking, if you had no regen on the accelerator, you'd still get it on the brake pedal. It's independently controlled on all four corners, it should be able to correct for a tire that starts slipping, but if you're going too fast for conditions, it doesn't really matter what the truck is trying to do, you're still going to slide.

The 22's might be M+S, but you really can't drive it as aggressively as if you had winter specific tires on it.

My Polestar 2 is AWD and shipped with M+S tires. They are garbage in the snow compared to dedicated winter meats.

 

[SeaGeo]

The issue with the Rivian is with regenerative braking if you go into a slide and take foot off of gas the brake kicks in so you go into a worse slide. So in atypical car you let off the gas when you go into slide and correct with no gas or brake. Anyone have a suggestion on how to handle and/or is there anyway to turn off regenerative braking.

Yea, this was a problem @OutofSpecKyle found, but his issue seemed to only be at low speeds. I think the "fix" is to be gentle when coming off the right peddle, and if the wheels lock-up without ABS engaging you have to hit the accelerator a bit unfortunately.

I fully expect them to fix this by next winter. It just suspect it's a low priority given the time of year.

 

[SeaGeo]

I really don't understand this at all. Rivian uses blended braking, if you had no regen on the accelerator, you'd still get it on the brake pedal.

I'm quite sure that it doesn't.

The issue (at least that Kyle saw) was when you're going slow and on a low friction surface the truck's traction control thinks it's stopped when in reality it isn't so it doesn't apply ABS on the regen at low speeds.

 

[SANZC02]

I’m curious how sand mode might handle in snow. Giving that they developed that I’d be surprised if there is not a snow mode around the corner.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I'm quite sure that it doesn't.

The issue (at least that Kyle saw) was when you're going slow and on a low friction surface the truck's traction control thinks it's stopped when in reality it isn't so it doesn't apply ABS on the regen at low speeds.

It doesn't blend on one pedal, but it does on the actual brake pedal. I think it's entirely possible they might be able to blend on OPD but they aren't doing it now. My Polestar will, as would the Hummer, but they still exhibit the same slip behavior.

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