Undriveable at night in wet snow due to LED headlights not melting snow & ice

[dleewla]

For those who experienced snow covering the headlights, did it also cover the fog lights? I’m thinking those might be worse since there is the bumper just below them acting like a ledge to collect even more snow.

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[C.R. Rivian]

Does having high beams on make a difference?

 

[Madsen203]

Does having high beams on make a difference?

You don’t want HB in active snow conditions. It acts as a mirror for the light and blinds you from seeing further ahead.

 

[Jamuso]

In the same boat here. Just drove over Mount Hood in 32 degree wet snow weather… light output was significantly reduced after just 10 minutes of driving.

The lights have PPF that is ceramic coated, but those don’t seem to do much in these conditions.

I see the Virgin Mary! Its a miracle!

 

[dleewla]

looks like Volvo has placed heating elements in its front grille, i'd assume to help with snow buildup. not sure if that extends to the headlights or not but definitely there to help keep the lidar, radar and camera free from snow. smart.

 

[atebit]

Maybe will come along for the ride with the Great Tonneau Refresh of 2022.

 

[DTown3011]

This problem is not unique to Rivian. Here is my Ford Explorer after driving up and down Berthoud Pass in Colorado today!

 

[MIG]

First snow since delivery of our R1S. Loving the overall driving experience, haven't noticed any headlight issues yet, but ... snow is collecting on the hood. Absent an ICE in front there's nothing to melt it. Not a problem but unanticipated.

 

[SnowFlyer]

Well the headlight icing just happened to me for the first time last night. Three weeks into my ownership and was loving my R1S until this experience. This is a VERY poor design and has significant potential to get someone killed.

I was driving on the interstate in wet snowfall temps about 35° F. Within about 5 minutes visibility diminished and unfortunately I came close to the back of a slower vehicle before I realized I was loosing my headlights due to ice buildup.

Unfortunately in these driving conditions it is often unsafe to pull over and exit the vehicle to manually deice.
Think about being on a busy or narrow highway, there are often other drivers driving unsafely, slick roads, very reduced visibility, and darkness. Maybe no good pullout but you just lost much of your lighting. Really the perfect storm for a hazardous place to exit the vehicle.

Rivian should fix this ASAP with a free retrofitted heating element in the headlight housing. They could auto-populate a high visibility control at the top of the screen in freezing conditions.

 

[atebit]

Nah, spring is coming & this will all fall into the memory hole until next winter. Where it will promptly be memory-holed again.

 

[JKDU]

Well the headlight icing just happened to me for the first time last night. Three weeks into my ownership and was loving my R1S until this experience. This is a VERY poor design and has significant potential to get someone killed.

I was driving on the interstate in wet snowfall temps about 35° F. Within about 5 minutes visibility diminished and unfortunately I came close to the back of a slower vehicle before I realized I was loosing my headlights due to ice buildup.

Unfortunately in these driving conditions it is often unsafe to pull over and exit the vehicle to manually deice.
Think about being on a busy or narrow highway, there are often other drivers driving unsafely, slick roads, very reduced visibility, and darkness. Maybe no good pullout but you just lost much of your lighting. Really the perfect storm for a hazardous place to exit the vehicle.

Rivian should fix this ASAP with a free retrofitted heating element in the headlight housing. They could auto-populate a high visibility control at the top of the screen in freezing conditions.

On another similar thread someone mentioned making their fog lights yellow for better visibility. They posted a link to an article explaining the benefits of yellow fog lights vs. white fog lights. Might be a possible solution until (hopefully) Rivian comes out with something to address this.

https://www.caranddriver.com/car-accessories/a38451079/yellow-fog-lights/

What frustrates me is I remember watching Rivian's early videos and reading their press about their extensive winter driving tests and how this truck/SUV can handle severe winter weather. I wonder if they just tested battery temp and handling on snow/icy road conditions. I don't understand how this could slip by given how quickly current owner's are noticing this huge safety issue!

 

[atebit]

I don't understand how this could slip by given how quickly current owner's are noticing this huge safety issue!

As we say on the Tesla forums, “Not A California Problem”.

 

[Dark-Fx]

On another similar thread someone mentioned making their fog lights yellow for better visibility. They posted a link to an article explaining the benefits of yellow fog lights vs. white fog lights. Might be a possible solution until (hopefully) Rivian comes out with something to address this.

https://www.caranddriver.com/car-accessories/a38451079/yellow-fog-lights/

What frustrates me is I remember watching Rivian's early videos and reading their press about their extensive winter driving tests and how this truck/SUV can handle severe winter weather. I wonder if they just tested battery temp and handling on snow/icy road conditions. I don't understand how this could slip by given how quickly current owner's are noticing this huge safety issue!

I've driven through some pretty nasty stuff this winter but it was never enough to make my headlights non-functional through the icy crap.

 

[SnowFlyer]

I've driven through some pretty nasty stuff this winter but it was never enough to make my headlights non-functional through the icy crap.

To be fair, technically there was “light” coming out of the headlights and thru the ice, but it was nowhere near enough to be considered sufficient for safe driving.

 

[usulio]

Nah, spring is coming & this will all fall into the memory hole until next winter. Where it will promptly be memory-holed again.

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