No real AM or FM radio in the R2

[electromage]

Personally I don't listen to broadcast radio, so it makes no difference to me. I would be happy to pay to have it included for others though.

I take my Jeep into the backcountry, camping and off-roading far outside cell coverage. It doesn't have a standard radio, just a Bluetooth receiver connected directly to the amplifier. I'm used to pre-loading music and podcasts on my phone, which allows me to listen in the car or with headphones.

For emergencies, my ham and GMRS radios can all tune FM broadcast band and NOAA WX. If I'm camping I bring a small HF radio that can tune AM broadcast. I've always got my VHF/UHF radios though, so I can chat with people wherever I go.

I'm kind of surprised to see so many complaints about an "adventure" vehicle not including FM broadcast, do you all go on adventures without any 2-way radios? How do you expect to get messages out if you're in trouble?

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[Husky]

Not that we should have to do this, but will the R2 connect to and play audio from a device such as a portable radio with Bluetooth output, or does it only connect to a phone?

 

[electromage]

Not that we should have to do this, but will the R2 connect to and play audio from a device such as a portable radio with Bluetooth output, or does it only connect to a phone?

As long as the vehicle and radio support A2DP it should work, someone who's test-driven one would need to confirm I guess. I'll try to get one booked soon.

 

[superfly_snook]

I don’t really get the Adventure vehicle needs a radio argument. First off a significant portion of people in these forums clearly want a rolling AI butler and will never leave the pavement. For the rest of us, we can probably cope without espn radio, 25 channels of mariachi, god and politics while we are out in the wild.

 

[Husky]

Sure, but I suspect many of us will be using the R2 for many things other than (or in addition to) "out in the wild", in which case we might want to listen to our music or a radio station. My wife listens to NPR whenever she's driving.

 

[sparked]

Sure, but I suspect many of us will be using the R2 for many things other than (or in addition to) "out in the wild", in which case we might want to listen to our music or a radio station. My wife listens to NPR whenever she's driving.

I missed the details on the NPR discussion. There's no NPR app to stream on the phone? or an NPR app that Rivian could install natively? Someone mentioned the TuneIn app on Rivian?

 

[dfx]

I don’t really get the Adventure vehicle needs a radio argument. First off a significant portion of people in these forums clearly want a rolling AI butler and will never leave the pavement. For the rest of us, we can probably cope without espn radio, 25 channels of mariachi, god and politics while we are out in the wild.

Yeah I use my R1S for adventures but I also use it to drive to work and a radio has been standard in cars for 90 years or so. For those of us who like sports, all local baseball games are blocked from internet radio, so without an FM signal, you can't listen to a game without buying an MLB package.

 

[LevelHeaded]

What an unhinged thread. People attacking/insulting other forum members because they find utility in FM radio that isn’t fully replaced by streaming over cellular data connections.

 

[rfkxyz]

Anecdotally, the wife & I took our dog to the new Moo Thru ice cream joint in Burke, VA last night.

OMG we're four miles away and had no clue - and leaving on family road trip in four days. Going to replan the week.

 

[rfkxyz]

What an unhinged thread. People attacking/insulting other forum members because they find utility in FM radio that isn’t fully replaced by streaming over cellular data connections.

Fanboy defenders of the brand don't actually help the brand.

 

[Tony S]

What an unhinged thread. People attacking/insulting other forum members because they find utility in FM radio that isn’t fully replaced by streaming over cellular data connections.

I’m new to this forum and certainly noticed a different tone and texture to the conversations compared to those on Polestar, Volvo, and BMW forums.

 

[Zathras]

Connet+ can tether any app on your phone (iPhone 15 so it requires USB-C, no idea about Android). So what you need to do is put music on your phone and then use your music app on the phone to play to your sound system via a USB cable.

I use Audio Hijack on my Mac to record NPR shows to my hard drive. So you could let that be like a DVR for listening in your vehicle when you don't have a connection to the Internet. Not ideal, but it doesn't take long to build up quite a library that could cover any trip where you're off the grid.

 

[CANCERDOC]

A portable Bluetooth radio is a terrible mitigation to the lack of FM radio. Poor reception, easily destroyed by interior heat here in the desert, inaccessible to the voice assistance, another item to separately manage and charge, etc.

It seems then that if you want to be comfortable with a Rivian then the R1S is the one for you. It’s too bad the R2 doesn’t have that feature but the company needs to stay solvent and cater to the 90%.

 

[Tony S]

I listen to 3 NPR stations in my car every day. Those of you who don’t are missing out on quality reporting but that is a discussion for another day. I just scanned Iheart. It has none of the stations I listen to. I tried to scan Tune in but they wanted $12.99/ mo. This is a total fail on the part of Rivian IMHO. Penny wise and pound foolish.

Agree. Last year Polestar/Volvo added FM HD to their coverage through an OTA and that got me four NPR and music channels I could not access before on any free platform. I may have to go back to Rivian center and try to see if there is a way to get it in the R2.

 

[Alan in Tempe]

It seems then that if you want to be comfortable with a Rivian then the R1S is the one for you. It’s too bad the R2 doesn’t have that feature but the company needs to stay solvent and cater to the 90%.

I test drove the R1S last year. I found its handling pretty sloppy, not for a large SUV, but I didn't want a large SUV, and sloppy handling is one big reason why. It will fit in my garage, but would require very carful positioning, and then very careful maneuvering in and out to avoid scratching up the other car. I didn't need the cargo capacity, don't do any serious off-road (just winding, rough mountain rock roads, and my Mach-e handles them poorly, but well enough), and it is more expansive then I am willing to pay for something that didn't meet my needs. I did like the R1S a lot, but it just isn't for me. The R2 is the right size, the right handling, the right amount of additional off-road composure, and the right price, with mostly the right feature set. And, an FM radio is important to me, and CarPlay would be very nice to have. I got the Mach-e after a huge disappointing test drive of the just released model Y with its terrible turning radius and very poor rear visibility. I haven't ruled out getting an R2, as the FM is not a deal killer.

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