Rivian Driver+ places #8 in Consumer Reports 2023 Driver Assistance Rankings

[Madsen203]

LOL. CR is sure protecting those Union jobs !

Despite having my own criticism about AP, no way is Tesla AP that limited for this low a score.

The Tesla AP score alone makes me question what they actually tested and who did the testing.

This.

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[s4wrxttcs]

The problem with this kind of ranking is much of these metrics actual owners don't care about.

Sure they're trying to be protective of helpless little humans, but I think they're a bit excessive with their nanny ways.

I haven't been happy with Driver+ because it's not what they promised us. Like they said we'd have hands free and lane change assist.

I was never happy with Tesla EAP/FSD (bought in 2018) because it was never even close to what Tesla promised buyers.

Thankfully with Driver+ I didn't pay anything extra for it. In its current form it is usable if the road conditions are moderate to good. It certainly won't ease my anxiety like my 2015 Model S did with AP1 (MobileEye) where it would be centered in the lane during pouring down rain, and the radar would keep a good distance while hardly ever phantom braking. But, it is at least usually usable.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Survey sucks. Tesla blows all those out of the water. No doubt. CR is skewed and found a way to promote

I agree that the survey sucks but if I was to rate my Tesla AP experience between 2018 and 2022 I'd deduct a lot of points due to phantom braking, lane centering during merge points, and subpar performance in the rain (later versions when I was moved to Tesla Vision).

The other problem Tesla has is the automatic lane changes can't be included in the score as that's actually in the FSD package (or EAP if that's still around).

 

[sd250]

I've had a chance to spend time with Ford's Bluecruise and Rivian's Driver+ for a few months.

On highways, here in NJ anyway, I find Bluecruise is much better. Driver+ disengages way too much to be usable. And I also like that Bluecruise lets you go handsfree when you want.

But for stop and go traffic, I think Rivian's ACC is superior to Ford's. Rivian seems to look beyond the car directly in front of me and starts slowing down around the same time I would. Ford waits too long and slams the brakes hard only when the car directly in front starts slowing down. Rivian also does a better job resuming speed and maintaining distance between the car in front. Ford seems to hesitate a bit too long before resuming speed.

 

[RWerksman]

I have no idea how Honda / Acura scored so high. That system is an Abomination with the capital A. It's torque is SO LOW that it disengages when going around anything but the most gentle bends. The lane departure is overly sensitive. The radar cruise wants you to be a zipcode away from the car in front of you at the closest setting. The phantom braking is real.

If they screw up so bad on one brand, the entire deal is super suspect.

 

[manitou202]

Question for the Tesla fans. Have any of you really spent time with the other systems that scored higher? I went from a Model X with enhanced Autopilot to a Mercedes EQS SUV with their driver assist system. The Mercedes system is much better than autopilot. Extremely smooth, way better lane changing, great instrument display, and no phantom breaking. It even uses the headlights to illuminate the road in front of you with symbols, warnings, and the path the vehicle is taking when changing lanes.

I haven't spent time with the Ford or GM systems, but I've heard a lot of great things. Many of these systems are top notch today. They really have come a long ways in the past couple of years.

 

[Madsen203]

Question for the Tesla fans. Have any of you really spent time with the other systems that scored higher? I went from a Model X with enhanced Autopilot to a Mercedes EQS SUV with their driver assist system. The Mercedes system is much better than autopilot. Extremely smooth, way better lane changing, great instrument display, and no phantom breaking. It even uses the headlights to illuminate the road in front of you with symbols, warnings, and the path the vehicle is taking when changing lanes.

I haven't spent time with the Ford or GM systems, but I've heard a lot of great things. Many of these systems are top notch today. They really have come a long ways in the past couple of years.

I haven’t but I don’t get phantom braking in my MY and it runs super smooth in the rain now too. Asked me last year and it would be a different story. The recent iterations have been leaps and bounds better than initially when bought 9/21.

I have found the most recent update has smartened up and can detect “cheats” now after 10-15 minutes or so. Easy to defeat that but overall, it runs really well on highway.

 

[cjbot3000]

I have both the R1T and the Mach E and have thoughts on both.

I'm not surprised it scored well, but the ease of use!? Rivian's easy and brainless to engage but blue cruise? It took me several minutes, manual searching, and experimentation to figure it out. At first I thought I was the idiot that didn't pay for the feature until I found out it's a combination of two separate features that have to be enabled concurrently with the adaptive cruise being the activation and then had to figure out what the different diagrams in the display represented.

It was atrocious. Instead of having something that says blue cruise on/off you have to go on a scavenger hunt and practice trial and error.

It works really well, though. It auto-steers on surface streets and has great stop/go performance while the Rivian in stop/go makes me question my life choices as it barrels towards a stopped vehicle while still going 55 and I'm praying no one's behind me as it pulls some Gs trying to stop in time (okay, maybe mild exaggeration, but it's truly terrifying).

And then traffic starts moving again and the R1T sits there trying to calculate the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, before it decides to parkinglot-crawl off the line as I stare longingly at the vehicles ahead that are already traveling the speed limit.

I'm split on highway functionality, though. The hands free is REALLY nice in the Mach E, but having to maintain laser focus on the road makes me wonder if I should just drive, myself.

The R1T lets me check out the mountains off to the side if I want but I have to keep a reasonable grip. A light grip still gives me a warning...

What surprised me is Tesla's ranking. Never used it but I can't think of any other vehicle with such a mature system...

 

[Tejkalra]

My opinion is that Kia EV6 ADAS beat Driver+ but maybe they tested an older Kia system?

I agree, I used it on my Kia EV6 worked flawlessly, I tried rivian I didn’t like it that much. Any way I m not a big fan of autopilot, driver+ or any other of these nonsense. I like driving. If I want car to drive by itself its better I take a taxi or something.

 

[zefram47]

Question for the Tesla fans. Have any of you really spent time with the other systems that scored higher? I went from a Model X with enhanced Autopilot to a Mercedes EQS SUV with their driver assist system. The Mercedes system is much better than autopilot. Extremely smooth, way better lane changing, great instrument display, and no phantom breaking. It even uses the headlights to illuminate the road in front of you with symbols, warnings, and the path the vehicle is taking when changing lanes.

I haven't spent time with the Ford or GM systems, but I've heard a lot of great things. Many of these systems are top notch today. They really have come a long ways in the past couple of years.

Out of Spec has been doing what they call the Hogback Challenge with various ADAS systems. Kyle was surprised at how well a recent EQS AMG performed. Due to their points system it outscored Tesla, but he did seem to indicate that the actual driving experience may still have been better than Tesla.

 

[Dark-Fx]

The R1T lets me check out the mountains off to the side if I want but I have to keep a reasonable grip. A light grip still gives me a warning...

I think hand position matters more than pressure. I'm fairly certain the Rivian has capacitive sensors in the wheel. Certain hand positions I use won't be close enough to them for the vehicle to know I have a hand on the wheel.

 

[kizamybute']

Whole thing makes no sense. GM's Super Cruise is far superior to Ford's version. Tesla gets a 9 out of 10 for capabilities, which is warranted being all that it can do on it's own, whether it does them well or not is a different story. Giving Rivian a rating just barely below at 8 out of 10 is just not realistic. Not knocking Rivian, but in terms of what each system is currently capable of doing, Rivian isn't anywhere close to the Tesla. No lane change. Only works in select areas. Shuts off for tunnels or any other number of reasons, etc, etc.

I've driven the Ford, GM, Tesla, Rivian and Hyundai. I actually preferred Hyundai's system over the Rivian.

All features considered, Tesla has the most capable system. However, for highway use, my opinion is that GM is by far the best. Ford is OK. Rivian has a very long way to go. Works ok when it works, but is very very limited. Unfortunately, where AP was one of Tesla's main priorities, Rivian has indicated that self driving features are not near the top of the priority list at this time. Of all the updates in the past year so far, can't say I recall any of them being related to improving Driver+. The hardware is capable of much more, but we have a long wait ahead before Rivian provides the software to unleash the true capabilities.

We know the Rivian can see where it's going and identify lane markings. I really wish they'd at least offer the capability of it to rely on its vision rather than just highways it has mapped. Tesla's first version of AP did that and it was great. I had FSD on my last couple of Tesla's, but pretty much never used it anywhere but on the freeway. Tesla's do quite well on the freeway. If not for the constant nagging, it would rank the highest on my list for highway use. But, GM's true hands-free capability with lane change, IMHO is the best self driving system out there in terms of use on freeways.

 

[moosehead]

A 59 is an F, correct?

 

[Lizardo]

Considering my experience with Driver+ this morning driving on I-35... can believe it. Refused to re-engage after a lane merge. Have used it on this stretch of highway before.

 

[Dark-Fx]

However, for highway use, my opinion is that GM is by far the best.

GM's system worked great when it worked. My experience was marred by the vehicle disengaging way too often for no particular reason. I'm guessing it was a hardware issue in the vehicle but maybe the reviewer had a similar issue with whatever GM vehicle they used.

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