Mini-review at 1500 miles (R1S)

[NineElectrics]

Pros:
- Great handling, decent ride
- Stable at speed; no wind noise (yet)
- Smooth braking near stop point
- Tons of storage
- Pretty comfortable seats
- Seats seven
- Good cross-traffic assist and blind spot detection

Cons:
- Regen on a steep downhill feels like hydroplaning, even in Snow Mode. Scary, possibly dangerous. I hate it.
- Rivian continues to ship cars in bad shape. Scratches, etched glass, misaligned air compressor trim, and egregious panel misalignments around the lift-gate. At delivery they tried to tell me it's "within spec", but these issues mysteriously don't appear on any photos on Rivian's website or any YouTube reviews. Truth in advertising much? Beware professional reviewers; Rivian ships them perfect copies of cars that don't necessarily resemble what you will get.
- The jack is pretty inadequate for changing a tire on a mountain pass, or even in a garage. The car goes so high that it looks like the wheels may slip (especially when changing a rear tire, which are the only ones with brakes in tire-change mode), and even if they don't, the professional tire changer who helped me wasn't able to use it to get the car high enough to put on a tire that was fully inflated. We had to deflate the (full size, repaired) tire first and then inflate it again once bolted on, which was weird. Further, the jack is slippery and tiny. Many of the load-bearing components feel like teflon, which is not what you want in a jack.
- The spare tire kit needs to ship with wheel chocks, especially if you use the spindly included jack. I bought some before attempting my tire change.
- Nobody knows how many miles the spare tire is good for, even service.
- Range is consistently < 1.75 mi/kWh for me. Not sure what the problem is. Disappointing, we'll see how it goes.
- The car really needs a cabin heat pump for better cold weather range.
- DC charging speeds are mediocre, especially at 80+% SoC. The Audi e-tron does an outstanding job here, not sure why Rivian can't replicate it.
- Phone key is terrible.
- No second or third key fob.
- Navigation is way below industry standards.
- No CarPlay.
- Initial throttle response is heavier than any other electric, making the car feel like a tank. Which, admittedly, it is.
- No glove box or sunglass holder.
- Second row seats don't remember their position after being folded down.
- No DC charger in frunk.
- Sound is worse than high end Tesla, Volvo, Audi. In particular, the 3D surround is far inferior to Tesla, and the actual Launch Edition speaker quality is OK, but not for a car that sells at this price.
- Weird compressor noises occurring at random times; not sure what's normal and what's not.
- Ice accumulates on the hood by the wipers, and doesn’t seem to easily melt off.
- Automatic high beams can be flaky on highways

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[NineElectrics]

A few more points:

• It's very hard to close the doors, but I assume this is a software issue, which is missing a feature which will crack the window before the door closes and roll it up again once it shuts, as is common on many cars.
• The cameras attract a fair amount of dirt and water; I'll try some RainX on them and report back. The ceramic stuff didn't improve things very much on the rear camera.
• Check your third row seats' USB ports: one of mine arrived not plugged in (wires sticking out from the carpet).
• Inductive charging doesn't seem to work with iPhones (or maybe not at all; I don't have an Android device handy).
• The steering feels like a bit of work to keep the car straight; not sure if this is just a very sensitive configuration at speed, or is a quad motor issue. It's not loose (it doesn't wander), but it might be very sensitive to the orientation of the road.

 

[astonius]

• It's very hard to close the doors, but I assume this is a software issue, which is missing a feature which will crack the window before the door closes and roll it up again once it shuts, as is common on many cars.

Window indexing (the feature you're discussing) is used for frameless windows to allow the window to pass under the seal. It's not really intended for reducing air pressure (there's a one-way vent behind the back seats for that like in many vehicles).

If you look at the door seals you'll see they're attached inboard on the door frame. The speculation is this is required for deep water fording and is the likely culprit for tough door closing rather than air pressure.

 

[Count Orlok]

A few more points:

• It's very hard to close the doors, but I assume this is a software issue, which is missing a feature which will crack the window before the door closes and roll it up again once it shuts, as is common on many cars.
• The cameras attract a fair amount of dirt and water; I'll try some RainX on them and report back. The ceramic stuff didn't improve things very much on the rear camera.
• Check your third row seats' USB ports: one of mine arrived not plugged in (wires sticking out from the carpet).
• Inductive charging doesn't seem to work with iPhones (or maybe not at all; I don't have an Android device handy).
• The steering feels like a bit of work to keep the car straight; not sure if this is just a very sensitive configuration at speed, or is a quad motor issue. It's not loose (it doesn't wander), but it might be very sensitive to the orientation of the road.

did your L3 charging module work?

 

[NineElectrics]

did your L3 charging module work?

That's a good question; I haven't tried it! The mobile charger was included in the frunk, but I haven't had a need to use it yet. I'll do so tonight.

 

[NineElectrics]

If you look at the door seals you'll see they're attached inboard on the door frame. The speculation is this is required for deep water fording and is the likely culprit for tough door closing rather than air pressure.

I'm hoping Rivian can address the issue one way or the other; as it stands many children cannot close their own doors.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I'm hoping Rivian can address the issue one way or the other; as it stands many children cannot close their own doors.

Your kids just need to get swole. Or you could take the interior seals out.

 

[hilld]

Did you see the felt lined cubbies in the base of each front seat? Those make good sunglass holders.

 

[NineElectrics]

Did you see the felt lined cubbies in the base of each front seat? Those make good sunglass holders.

I did not. I like them!

 

[NineElectrics]

Short update: Another odd piece of trim fell apart while driving, and won't reset (see below). The driver and passenger wheel well trim heights are mismatched by ~1 cm with equal PSI in all tires. How this car escaped the factory, I guess I'll never know.

 

[astonius]

Short update: Another odd piece of trim fell apart while driving, and won't reset (see below). The driver and passenger wheel well trim heights are mismatched by ~1 cm with equal PSI in all tires. How this car escaped the factory, I guess I'll never know.

View attachment 41936

Had the same A-pillar trim issue but on the passenger side post-service. Seems to be an issue with the fasteners they use. Cost-cutting!

 

[NineElectrics]

A few more misc. pics.

 

[Ngkgb]

This is really embarrassing. Wtf. How can they let this pass QC.

 

[NineElectrics]

Had the same A-pillar trim issue but on the passenger side post-service. Seems to be an issue with the fasteners they use. Cost-cutting!

I could see that; but note also how the headliner seam has also become unglued. Rivian: recommend glue upgrade.

 

[NineElectrics]

Here's a hat-trick of misalignments: the red lights don't form a straight line, the wrap-around pillar above them is gappy where it meets the body panel, and the bumper cover seems to be sagging off the tailgate. That last one might be as-designed; I need to compare with a few other R1Ss.

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