R1S Owners Guide Manual Available! ? (August 22, 2022)

[SANZC02]

Which vehicles have the 800V architecture?

That will be the dual motor and future quad motors. The EDVs will be getting them as well. There is some information in the latest Shareholders Letter from Rivian. You can read it on the Rivian.com/investors site.

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[Gator42]

It's unlikely the hardware is in place for rear temperature control

I’ve heard this repeatedly, yes. You speak of multiple evaporators in bigger vehicles but multiple evaporators aren’t necessary. Many/most systems are using one and directing air flow via multiple fans and/or gates. You really don’t even have to have multiple fans..

These systems are always a but silly, anyways as there’s no partition between zones. They’re usually just pumping out a little more air in one direction or other…

Like I said, we’ll see…

 

[junkanoo]

I think the issue is space, the R1S is 17 inches shorter than the R1T and it appears that there is not enough clearance going towards the front of the R1S to allow for a full size spare. If you look at the details on the website, seems like the rear motors are limiting the forward space.

Do you mean the Rivian Website? If so, I don't see the motors shown ... but perhaps I missed it.

Either way, from a side view schematic, I think your point is quite valid. Thanks.

 

[SANZC02]

Do you mean the Rivian Website? If so, I don't see the motors shown ... but perhaps I missed it.

Either way, from a side view schematic, I think your point is quite valid. Thanks.

Here is the image I was referencing.

 

[StefanB]

Reading the manual again today it jumped out to me that the 3rd row seats seem to be manual not powered to raise and lower them. Anyone have any insights if this is the case. It really like how my Q7 has powered 3rd row seats and buttons in second row and rear to lower / raise the 3rd row. I really didn't like my Volvo XC90's manual 3rd row as it was a pain to deal with. Anyone else read it this way in the manual?

 

[junkanoo]

Reading the manual again today it jumped out to me that the 3rd row seats seem to be manual not powered to raise and lower them. Anyone have any insights if this is the case. It really like how my Q7 has powered 3rd row seats and buttons in second row and rear to lower / raise the 3rd row. I really didn't like my Volvo XC90's manual 3rd row as it was a pain to deal with. Anyone else read it this way in the manual?

Wow. Not having a motor to raise and lower the third-row seats allows one less thing to go wrong when you need it to work (along with the cost of repair). In the course of a year, how often do you need to change from third-row/no third-row?

Rivian ... please continue to make this a manual operation. Thanks.

 

[StefanB]

I put the seats up and down frequently, at least 2-3 times a month. They are generally down so my dogs can be in the back. When my kids want to bring a friend along to the cabin then I put the seats up. Also when I get groceries I put the seats up because it stops the bags from sliding around and the groceries fit between the tailgate and 3rd row seat backs.

There is already a lot of things to break in this vehicle so I would think what is standard on most luxury SUVs would be reasonable. Like others said, likely not a deal breaker for me but definitely an inconvenience.

 

[3l3c7r1c]

Wow. Not having a motor to raise and lower the third-row seats allows one less thing to go wrong when you need it to work (along with the cost of repair). In the course of a year, how often do you need to change from third-row/no third-row?

Rivian ... please continue to make this a manual operation. Thanks.

I have power 3rd row on my Hyundai Palisade Limited and use it a lot. I lower to put my skiis, inflatable boat, camping gear etc., and raise it when I go to Costco so that things don't roll around (we go to Costco weekly and buy a lot of perishable things from Costco).

 

[guernsej]

I find it's faster and easier to raise and fold most 3rd row seats manually - plus 1 vote for keeping it manual as standard. Same for keeping dual zone as standard, but no issues from me if Rivian offers them as additional cost options - I expect they'll have to eventually to stay competitive!

 

[Neighbors]

Also disappointing for the kiddos: Four cup holders in total. Zero in the third row.

EDIT: These appear to be cup holders but they aren't specified in the section about them. Thanks @drivetorun

Here's another simulated top-down view/animation from the 03 Utility - Storage section of their website:

It may be worth noting the carpeting in that schematic doesn't quite have the semi-sloppy look from @skyote's posted pic, but perhaps it was just too complicated to render the carpet fibers

Maybe they're baby bottle holders? ?

I'm happy to report that graphic shows room for bottles large enough for some fairly hungry babies!

 

[Neighbors]

Reading the manual again today it jumped out to me that the 3rd row seats seem to be manual not powered to raise and lower them. Anyone have any insights if this is the case. It really like how my Q7 has powered 3rd row seats and buttons in second row and rear to lower / raise the 3rd row. I really didn't like my Volvo XC90's manual 3rd row as it was a pain to deal with. Anyone else read it this way in the manual?

I recall seeing a clearer picture of it somewhere, but back in the early days I there seemed to be some automated seat buttons in the back right around where the current outlets seem to be:

I'm fine with either, but I'm curious how easy it will be to first fold down the head rests and then the seats while reaching from the behind the seats, as the manual had me thinking they were lift-up levers that made more sense to lift up from in front. I know, that last sentence was way too long and sloppy, but I still stand behind my concern that I'm sure has been tested and addressed by some of the smartest minds in vehicle design.

 

[Neighbors]

Certainly, I wanted the 5 passenger model R1S from the get-go. But, I understand the change, if the change truly means that they can simplify their supply chain and build the vehicle faster.

However, if this truly represents the final version, I'm at a loss why they chose to make the third seat armrests fixed rather than an armrest that folds in the vehicle like the seats. And the chrome or chrome-like edge to the armrest ... how is that a good idea on a so-called adventure vehicle?

Here is the R1S

Here is a 2020 Land Rover Discovery ...

After golf, I dump in my folded golf cart along with golf clubs and don't have to worry about damaging my Accura RDX. Now, not only am I losing effective room, I'm either buying/making protection around the two armrests and/or a cover. And why? With a new company I want them to build on the good ideas of others, not regress.

So ... to sum it up, we got seven seats, seemingly lost the ability to have a full-sized spare and lost the ability to add battery space/capacity. And we gained fixed armrests for the third row seats.

Craptastic.

I don't know nuthin', but I think there's a chance the sub woofers are located within those back armrest zones (especially since I believe there are two subs in the R1S for the LE and Adventure versions). In the R1T it's under one of the rear seats, but since the middle seats slide in the R1S it probably wouldn't be as ideal of a spot (not being anchored could make a difference?), and maybe the wheels themselves would be in the way if they were under the back row seats? So many things I really don't know but enjoy speculating about!

 

[Neighbors]

...
I won’t be surprised if the hardware exists in all R1 vehicles built for at least one additional zone (rear) which will become functional with a future software release. I’m not counting on it, but it sure would be nice if a future OTA update revealed this.

If nothing else, perhaps the screen will eventually open up to a feature where you can mirror the trip map so that if kinds (or passengers of any age, for that matter) start getting particularly "are we there yet?"-ish, you can just tap the top of their screen and say, "You tell me."

I, for one, think having a screen over physical buttons for their climate zone "control" makes sense because of the ultimate versatility it allows.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I highly doubt it. It's unlikely the hardware is in place for rear temperature control. Having owned two Suburbans, I know how that system works, and I have engineering experience with cooling/refrigeration/air conditioning systems. If you are familiar with mini-split AC systems for homes, it is the same basic concept. One condensor unit, multiple evaporator units.

In the Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon, there is a completely separate set of refrigerant lines, expansion valve and evaporator coil in the rear to create the rear cooling zone. A picture of the removed assembly is below, it's located in the rear quarter panel in the picture. Land Rover also has a rear evaporator assembly, see the second picture. I'm guessing most/all vehicles with rear systems are built this way.

There's no evidence that Rivian has this rear hardware in place. And it needs more electrical power to run it, so there goes your range.

I suppose it's possible to get the cold air from the front evaporator and use blend doors to mix warm and cold air to set the temperature. But that's a big challenge to route the ducting and get any meaningful air flow volume. That's why it's done with a rear evaprator.

I'm not holding my breath that Rivian has the hardware in place for rear temp control.

We had a 2005 Jaguar XJ Super V8 (x350 platform) which had 4 zones of climate control. The vents for the rear passengers were in the back of the center console like the Rivian’s are. The center console storage was pretty shallow because they stuffed a blower motor, heater core, evaporator, and air blend doors in there. This is all as you’d expect and it matches what you wrote.

The next version of the XJ (x351) had 4 zones of climate control, but the only hardware differences between the 2- and 4-zone cars was the rear control panel and a rear sunload sensor on the parcel shelf. Maybe extra air doors from the front climate control could be controlled to blend air differently for the rear ducts. I honestly don’t know how they did it, but if Ford was involved with the development of the X350 platform (don’t recall when Ford sold Jaguar) maybe Ford shared details with Rivian. Maybe.

I do wonder what is taking up so much space in the passenger side of the Rivian R1 dashboard that they couldn’t fit even a tiny glove box there.

One other question I have about the RIivian HVAC: it’s straightforward to feed center console rear vents from ducts in the center console delivering air from the front climate control to the back vents. How is Rivian getting air to the 3rd row c-pillar vents in the R1S?

 

[GWNavigator]

Yah. My Defender has almost too mamy climate controls. Inevitably passengers start cancelling out each other’s temperatures, the fans are blasting while the manual vents are being shut tight…then when I’m alone in the truck the 2nd and 3rd row fans have been left on and I have to spend a few quality minutes with the UI shutting it all down ?

I totally agree. 4 zone climate control in a Land Cruiser with kids/teens in the back seat leaves me wanting a disable button. Constant battles and resets needed. It makes no one happy. If Rivian enables it I hope they retain an option to disable/override.

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