First 24 Hours with R2 - impressions, positives, nits

[rodhx]

I don’t own an R2 so maybe my impression is wrong. My question remains.

You're correct on the rear seat vent location for R2 and I can see where that could be an issue for pets in the cargo area. Of course that isn't unique to R2. There are rarely (never?) vents past the last seat row in vehicles, especially small SUV like this. The reason the Y L has C pillar vents is the third row.

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[hsctiger]

Gotta agree that cutting out FM radio is a weird cost cutting move. The electronics gotta be costing next to nothing by now for it. Not that it would stop me from buying.

Dadgum I'm old. Back in around 2005 I was a buyer for Circuit City (remember them?) and would travel to China to source portable audio products. Factories would quote me on components, FM tuner being one. Back then it was $2.75. Of course that did not include a long antenna which is probably required for a car.
Someone smarter than I could probably figure out the wiring and labor to add to have FM in the R2 at the point it's built. I'm guessing all-in has to be less than $10.
I know RJ has mentioned trade-offs a number of times when talking about the R2. Someone probably did a usage analysis and determined it was worth cutting $10 out of the cost.

 

[Millbarge]

My wife (who will primary on the R2) listens to ONLY the radio on her commute each day. She's not pleased, but should be able to stream, since there's reliable cell service for her commute. Not enough to stop her from buying, but an issue for her and she's disappointed at least. I only stream Apple Music, even removed the FM antenna in my vehicle...hmm, maybe I should get the R2???

 

[bobdod]

For the radio, I get it, I don't love it, but I get it. From a streamlining perspective to really minimize extras and cost.

I like, from time to time, having 'someone else' pick the music. If I'm out in a random town and just need something on in the background, when there is limited or no cell connection. FM or a satellite antenna can fulfill that need. Offroading with no service is absolutely a use case for FM or satellite (and Carplay/AA, with mirroring of apps with offline modes). Hell, I've even won some concert tickets from a local radio station because I happened to have it on one day just this past year.

But from the production perspective, an FM radio comes with added PCB complexity, power and signal/noise requirements, perhaps FCC certifications/testing requirements, backend + UI + UX requirements, integration with other software systems, physical wiring for antennas a new point of potential failure, and then maintenance on all of these systems, the cost is not just the cost of a chip. Pair that with what I'm sure is market research showing a downtrend of usage in both younger buyers and newer vehicles (that can be covered by iHeart on 364/365 days per year)....I'm not overly surprised.

 

[Eric9610]

In my 3 years of ownership I have listened to FM 0.0 times. In our other cars it has maybe been 10 years since I have put FM on. I do wish we had AM though...

 

[Mos Eisley]

In my 3 years of ownership I have listened to FM 0.0 times. In our other cars it has maybe been 10 years since I have put FM on. I do wish we had AM though...

That might be the weirdest statement in the past five years of car audio discussions

 

[Jabbahop]

Some further impressions from a 10 hour round trip to Boston and back.

- i don’t understand those that say the cup holders flimsy. While they aren’t as sturdy as ones built into the top of a console, they are markedly more sturdy that those in our 2026 R1S.
- Unlike some of the cars our charging flap was aligned perfectly and I don’t have any issues with how “flimsy” it is. In fact I prefer it to the motorized one on the R1 which had a motor that could (never has) fail.
- R2 handled the bad Boston city roads very well and the size while not tiny like our 2014 Bmw i3, the smaller size makes it more comfortable to drive in narrow city streets and in Boston traffic.
- The AC handled the 92 degree boston weather well but the front windows (didn’t try the back) will benefit from heat reducing film. The pano roof would benefit from wearing a hat, screen or film - not so much from the heat which was fine but the glare.
- DC charging @ Rivian network and the NACS handle was lower than I had expected even @ 14% state of charge we peaked @ 185kw though it was still pulling 75kw @ almost 80% SOC. Battery and temp and AC fan noise was very reasonable given the heat/humidity.
- Found a bug in the energy app where it just stopped recording energy consumption halfway through the drive home. I tried a reset and that didn’t work but did another reset when I returned home and let the car sit overnight and it appears to work fine this morning. There also appears to be a discrepancy between the efficiency of the energy app consumption and the trip meter efficiency with the trip meter being lower - not sure why.
- I find the touch point sensitivity on the main display a little off. It sometimes takes a couple tries to hit the right spot on the screen (hvac controls, switching between “apps”) - would be nice to have the area we can touch to activate to be a little larger - especially when driving.
- the eyes on the road/review mirror camera seem to have some trouble seeing my eyes especially when wearing my sunglasses. They aren’t polarized or anything special but would get repeated “keep eyes on the road” warnings even though I was staring straight ahead.

Overall a very comfortable, quiet and enjoyable drive in the R2.

 

[Mos Eisley]

- Unlike some of the cars our charging flap was aligned perfectly and I don’t have any issues with how “flimsy” it is. In fact I prefer it to the motorized one on the R1 which had a motor that could (never has) fail.

My only minor nitpick about the charging port flap was I wish it would lock when the vehicle locked.

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