Unpredictable Accelerator

[PortlandJVB]

Issue: Unpredictable acceleration.
Background: R1S, took delivery in early March. Drive in one-pedal mode with high regen braking. Previous history driving Tesla Model 3.

I think Rivian needs to tune their accelerator. The main issue I’m having is that it seems to respond differently across a variety of conditions, and I don’t know for sure when it will respond certain ways, and lots of the ways it responds, I don’t like.

• [Safety issue] When starting from stop, there is a large deadzone, where I press the pedal, but the car won’t move. This makes parking a pretty gripping experience, especially parallel parking. When I’m trying to get an extra 6-18 inches, it’s pretty hairy pressing down the pedal, slowly, farther, and farther, and farther, and waiting and waiting to move, not really knowing when it will go, and then it seems like sometimes lurches forward, and sometimes creeps slowly. Maybe this is just how impatient I get in any given moment waiting to get out of the deadzone, and the speed at which I depress the accelerator changes? I’ve only had the car for about 2 months, but I’ve had a number of near misses. This will cause me to hit something while parking, at some point.
• [Safety issue] If I’ve also pressed the brake while stopping (as one might do, if trying to park, and the car lurched toward another car), then things can get very… sticky. The brake engages into a “hold” mode, which is great in many circumstances. But when trying to slowly accelerate out of a stop where the brake is engaged, the car doesn’t seem to know when to let go very well, and I find that, at the really low speeds, the brake feels like it lets go, and re-engages, and lets go, making for a very lurchy experience. Again, this will cause me to hit something while parking, at some point.
• And sometimes, accelerating out of a stop seems to have a very small deadzone. This, for me, is the vastly preferred situation. I know when the car will move, and having that smooth and instantaneous acceleration is one of the main reasons why I prefer EVs.
• While driving at medium to high speeds, sometimes there is a delay between when I depress the pedal and when the acceleration kicks in. This feels terrible, like I’m driving an ICE vehicle, and is a major turnoff. Like I said in the above bullet, one of the major reasons I want to drive an EV is the acceleration experience.
• Finally, like I’ve seen in the forums, when I’m going at lower speeds, and hit a bump, like a speed bump, it’s very hard to not get some extra jerking from the car due to the accelerator and the regenerative braking. I’m getting better at managing this, I think.

I understand that fixing one of these issues may exacerbate other ones. That being said, here is what I need: I need to be able to know what my car is going to do! It needs to be consistent. To me, at a minimum that means I need the deadzone to go away, so I know that when I press the pedal, the car will move. Every time. It can’t be that, when I press the pedal, at some point the car will move. That’s dangerous.

So at the minimum, that deadzone in the accelerator when starting from stop needs eliminated, ASAP.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted to a forum like this, but I feel compelled because I’m kind of past my tipping point on this issue.

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[Dark-Fx]

Mine is consistent. I wouldn't really call it a dead zone, at extremely low pedal input, you need to overcome the brake hold. If hold is turned off (only possible in specific off-road modes) it doesn't quite act this way.

Your frame of reference is probably different than mine, as Tesla doesn't have true one pedal driving. There is a minor delay between position change and vehicle reaction. I've heard Tesla doesn't have this, or at least isn't as noticeable. Your Tesla probably doesn't need as much braking force to stop the vehicle from moving due to gravity.

 

[TollKeeper]

I have the same problem with my R1S as the OP for the first 3 items, and the last one.. Luckily I rarely ever park in tight spots where feathering is needed.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Is yours a dual or quad? Maybe because I have no other EV experience, but after a year of driving our quad R1S, I don't feel the huge dead spots like you do. What I do feel is how slow my twin turbo F150 is under acceleration when I have to drive it. I will say, reversing in the R1S has gotten better with updates, but wouldn't go as far to say that I ever felt it was dangerous.

 

[TollKeeper]

Mines a Quad..

 

[ndmiller]

I know sometime between delivery in Dec, there was a software update that dealt with throttle in some way and cleared my inconsistent behavior. Are you on the latest software?

 

[Prime]

Mine is consistent. I wouldn't really call it a dead zone, at extremely low pedal input, you need to overcome the brake hold. If hold is turned off (only possible in specific off-road modes) it doesn't quite act this way.

Your frame of reference is probably different than mine, as Tesla doesn't have true one pedal driving. There is a minor delay between position change and vehicle reaction. I've heard Tesla doesn't have this, or at least isn't as noticeable. Your Tesla probably doesn't need as much braking force to stop the vehicle from moving due to gravity.

Tesla does have true one pedal driving, you remove your foot from the accelerator and the vehicle comes to a stop. Their throttle input to overcome the break hold is much more sensitive, that’s what the poster is talking about. I agree. In sport mode it slightly overcomes this, but the throttle response is still not amazing. I guess it suits the size of the vehicle..

 

[Dark-Fx]

Tesla does have true one pedal driving, you remove your foot from the accelerator and the vehicle comes to a stop. Their throttle input to overcome the break hold is much more sensitive, that’s what the poster is talking about. I agree. In sport mode it slightly overcomes this, but the throttle response is still not amazing. I guess it suits the size of the vehicle..

The OP talks about using the brake pedal when trying to park, so I have to assume they are doing something differently in general. I only touch my brake pedal to shift into drive or reverse for the first time or when I need to decelerate at an unusually quick pace. Definitely not hitting it in a parking lot. Could be this action affects how strong the brake hold is and contributes to their experience.

 

[ljubitel]

I wish Rivian adds the possibility to turn off hold in any mode. Some times in tight parking situations or when I am trying to hook up the trailer I need to move an inch and it is practically impossible . As others have already suggested, the only workaround I found so far, is to go in Rock Climbing mode and turn off the hold from there. The downside is that it switched the right height to high.

 

[Nacho Rivian]

Issue: Unpredictable acceleration.
Background: R1S, took delivery in early March. Drive in one-pedal mode with high regen braking. Previous history driving Tesla Model 3.

I think Rivian needs to tune their accelerator. The main issue I’m having is that it seems to respond differently across a variety of conditions, and I don’t know for sure when it will respond certain ways, and lots of the ways it responds, I don’t like.

• [Safety issue] When starting from stop, there is a large deadzone, where I press the pedal, but the car won’t move. This makes parking a pretty gripping experience, especially parallel parking. When I’m trying to get an extra 6-18 inches, it’s pretty hairy pressing down the pedal, slowly, farther, and farther, and farther, and waiting and waiting to move, not really knowing when it will go, and then it seems like sometimes lurches forward, and sometimes creeps slowly. Maybe this is just how impatient I get in any given moment waiting to get out of the deadzone, and the speed at which I depress the accelerator changes? I’ve only had the car for about 2 months, but I’ve had a number of near misses. This will cause me to hit something while parking, at some point.
• [Safety issue] If I’ve also pressed the brake while stopping (as one might do, if trying to park, and the car lurched toward another car), then things can get very… sticky. The brake engages into a “hold” mode, which is great in many circumstances. But when trying to slowly accelerate out of a stop where the brake is engaged, the car doesn’t seem to know when to let go very well, and I find that, at the really low speeds, the brake feels like it lets go, and re-engages, and lets go, making for a very lurchy experience. Again, this will cause me to hit something while parking, at some point.
• And sometimes, accelerating out of a stop seems to have a very small deadzone. This, for me, is the vastly preferred situation. I know when the car will move, and having that smooth and instantaneous acceleration is one of the main reasons why I prefer EVs.
• While driving at medium to high speeds, sometimes there is a delay between when I depress the pedal and when the acceleration kicks in. This feels terrible, like I’m driving an ICE vehicle, and is a major turnoff. Like I said in the above bullet, one of the major reasons I want to drive an EV is the acceleration experience.
• Finally, like I’ve seen in the forums, when I’m going at lower speeds, and hit a bump, like a speed bump, it’s very hard to not get some extra jerking from the car due to the accelerator and the regenerative braking. I’m getting better at managing this, I think.

I understand that fixing one of these issues may exacerbate other ones. That being said, here is what I need: I need to be able to know what my car is going to do! It needs to be consistent. To me, at a minimum that means I need the deadzone to go away, so I know that when I press the pedal, the car will move. Every time. It can’t be that, when I press the pedal, at some point the car will move. That’s dangerous.

So at the minimum, that deadzone in the accelerator when starting from stop needs eliminated, ASAP.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted to a forum like this, but I feel compelled because I’m kind of past my tipping point on this issue.

Mine works fine. I know what you mean for the sticky pedal. I believe it is designed that way. I can rest my foot gently without the vehicle going forward. It is an EV, which is designed differently. But check with a local SC to make sure it is okay. And try change the regen to normal and it will be easier to move the vehicle an inch without jerking. Do you have a dual motor? I have a quad and acceleration is definitely instant without any delay.

 

[cohall]

Might be an issue with your particular vehicle. The only one on your list that I notice on my truck is the "lurch" when parking if the automatic hold has engaged and you need to overcome it. I don't have other dead zones and i definitely don't have any delay when accelerating.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Sure it's not your nervous foot? Never experience such. Not during demo drive. Not during ownership since last July. Each car is a little different. You can't be used to one car, jump into something different and expect it to feel and operate the same. Model 3 is around 4k lbs. The R1 is over 7k lbs. Clearly not apples to apples. Open mind and adapt.

Each drive mode has different accelerator pedal response curve. Gradually more linear from Conserve to Sport. ICE vehicles with different modes do the same. Stiffness of the pedal and any amount of delay is for a margin of safety. Remind yourself how much your vehicle has.

 

[zefram47]

Sounds like a *you* problem...or there's something wrong with your pedal. I experience none of this. Are you driving in Sport mode all the time or something? A Rivian is not a Tesla and you can't expect the pedal to react the same way. I've owned 3 different EVs now and driven a few others...they're all different and you just need to adapt.

 

[PortlandJVB]

Quad motor. I believe I'm on the most updated software.

I owned the Model 3 for about three years, in the past, but hadn't driven it for about a year and a half before picking up the Rivian. So my memory of the Model 3 is just that, which is also why I didn't try to compare the Rivian to Tesla experience - I can't, at this point.

I drive 99% of the time in All-Purpose, unless I finally yield to my 6-yo's demands from the back seat and switch to one of the other modes for a bit.

I also don't mind the actual resistance of the pedal. I've gone on 4 roughly 3-hour drives as my longer stints, and never spared a thought for foot fatigue, as some other people have mentioned.

What's really interesting to me is the people who say they have no deadzone in their pedal when trying to start from a stop. It makes me think it may be my particular vehicle. I mean, I've had time, where I've been trying to inch forward into a parking spot, after switching to D from R for example, where I've been slowly pushing through my deadzone, and had time to actually look over at my passenger and say "I'm pushing the pedal..." because I'd been not moving for an awkwardly long time.

Maybe I'll see if I can do some test and see if I can measure how far the pedal travel is before I start moving.

 

[TheWoo]

I don't have all the issues the OP does, but fine movements sure are challenging. It's mainly due to having to overcome the hold, and makes parking very close to something in front or behind, or particularly backing up to a trailer, quite challenging. It's much harder than in my F-150 Lightning. I'm going to keep playing with it, but I haven't found a way to feather it due to needing to give enough accelerator to break the hold.

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