Rivians in hot weather -- experience / tips?

[jeeden]

You live in a place that never actually gets hot.

I live in a place where the roof glass radiates very obvious heat onto my head and face for a few months of the year.

Haha I know this thread is going to devolve into a "you don't know what heat is, I know what heat is" but I have lived in Florida for some time and now I live where it does get very hot ( and very cold), just this week we are supposed to hit 100 with a much higher heat index because of the humidity we get.

I see a lot of people comment about feeling the heat from the roof, perhaps you are sitting too close to it? I'm 6'4" and have a good 5 inches from the roof to my heat. If you are right next to the glass your going to feel it. I also think people get unreasonably alarmed by the inside temperature reading on the app. Almost every car gets up into the mid-100s on a hot day parked in a lot. Every year they have the news stories because of some tragedy with a pet or child and they do the old thermometer on the dashboard story.


I would probably consider putting clear heat rejection film on mine just to make it more efficient if I wasn't concerned about overheating the glass

Sponsored

 

[SwampNut]

...Sitting too close to the glass...??? So you're suggesting I sit poorly/uncomfortably to get farther from it? In any case it's not the temperature doing it per se, it's the solar radiation. I also considered having mirror tint put on the outside. I have a clear coating on the windshield too that blocks a lot of IR. For now the reflective shade seems fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CGV2986N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Joules Burn]

I have found the shades that mount on the outside to be the most effective in the California central valley heat. It prevents the glass from heating. They are good for two summers before they start to deteriorate.

No test with snow. The straps are fine. The "magnet" feature is useless.

 

[KYR1SMan]

I live in humid KY, anytime above 90 degrees the A\C motor noise is extremely loud. To the point that you can’t carry on a conversation or have to turn music up. It has been in twice for A/C issue at only 6 months of ownership. First times was a freon leak and not blowing cold air. Took back three weeks later same issue and they kept for 2 days. It blows nice and cold, but takes about 10 minutes to get cabin cool. Over 75% over the time (again if outside is hotter than 90)the motor sound is loud inside and out from anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 . This can’t be normal as they tell me it is. It sounds like a muffled weed eater but the loud humming sound is disruptive to the drive experience .

 

[Chewy734]

90s is nothing. When you get to the mid 120s, is when you need to make sure you have a backup of your PAAK, because my phone overheated and wouldn’t turn on to unlock the vehicle.

Certainly the tinted windows and windshield do help a bit. And, my R1S was just fine, even though no amount A/C really cooled us down inside at those temps.

 

[HaveBlue]

We live in socal. Yesterday was 100f. Our house is set to 78. My Audi I set to about 75 with no tint and no second thought. The rivian barely blows cold air even on manual with all vents open. It screams for a bit initially and then idles down. The side windows don't seem coated as huge amounts of heat radiate in.
I ordered a roof shade and will try recirc. I precool now as well. I guess I'll have to leave the thermostat buried like my wife does. Our GX has dual AC units and we don't give AC much thought after getting to the end of the block.

 

[Spades]

This will be my second summer with the R1T. I can say the biggest factors that help keep it cool are:

Sunshade - I use covercraft, they are a bit pricey but man they are great quality.

Window tint: I tinted every window with ceramic tint, and the roof and front windshield with a uv film. This made a HUGE difference. Last summer before I did this my head would get hot all the time from the moon roof.

When fast charging if you have to leave turn on pet mode and it will keep the cabin cool for ya.
Also be aware the AC will get less cold when preparing the battery depending on the temps. This has gotten better though with some updates compared to last year.

With the tint and sun shade I haven’t had my truck hit over 100 in the cab. It also helps it cool down quicker if you kick the ac on before going to your vehicle.

 

[Rambo]

When driving in extreme heat expect range to drop ~20% from what it would do in mild weather.
I have found driving at night during hot days makes more sense. Perhaps others agree?

 

[Dawgtoberfest]

Had mine for about 9-10 months now in GA. We use the cooking feature most of the time. We also tinted the windshield and front windows which was definitely necessary.

Right now I’m considering finding a sun shade but I haven’t seen one definitive choice. Also considered Limo tinting the top. It’s cool to have glass and all but I’m tired of the sun beating down on me and our toddler I think is bugged by it time to time. I love the car, this may be my biggest pet peeve though

 

[smunro622]

I have a roof sunshade from ev sportline and it makes a big difference. Easy to install and stays in place.

Link please..

 

[smunro622]

I had ceramic tints done on all the glass except the roof panel. I didn't even go dark at all, 0% on the windshield. it has made a big difference. With the temps we are expecting not sure anything will help other than ice baths.

Agreed...I did 20 percent on everything except windshield...adding 75 percent the winshield this coming weekend to cut down the heat.

 

[iansriv]

As much as I love my R1S, the a/c is a weak point. I agree with all the great previous posts on what to do. I have the ceramic tint everywhere except the roof. I just ordered a roof shade. We shall see how that goes. I do try to park where there's a bit of shade.

 

[oskeei]

Will just add, I lower my charging amperage in hot garage. Was issue last summer at the full 48amps where charge would stop due to overheating.

Keep it at 30 to 36A now.

 

[connoisseurr]

High performance ceramic window tint on windshield, side and rear glass

Sunshade for roof glass

Precondition at least 5 minutes before vehicle entry

 

[DRIVIAN]

I have a T, but we have had a bunch of days in the 90s so far this summer in CO (Plus all summer last year).

1. Use a windshield sun shade. This makes a huge difference.
2. Turn on your air conditioning and vent the windows via the app 5-10 minutes before you get back into it.
3. The HVAC settings are funky but IMO the system works best if you have ALL the vents turned on. Then just point the fronts where you want them. This cools the cabin faster than if you just had the fronts on.
4. Both in winter & summer it seems to work better when you use ”AUTO” vs. controlling the fan manually. Just adjust the temp.

When you get in and drive away, the fan/ compressor will be loud, but it tapers off as it catches up and gets closer to the temp you have it set for.

Vent the windows via the app? Is that a thing?

Sponsored