Dear Rivian Engineers who worked on the Air Conditioning

[Deadfish]

The Problem with AC in the S is "design arrogance" - The S has 3 AC units for all the air volume BUT the 3rd unit is disabled UNLESS the 3rd row is up and buckled!!!

Because "no one wants to cool the back unless someone is sitting there"

3 things about this:

1. You should always be able to force the 3rd row AC on.
2. When the cabin is HOT and the front AC is running at max (making that other noise issue) - it would make sense to run the 3rd row AC to help it catch up.
3. There needs to be a 'driving' pet mode - that keeps the back at the same temp as the front. Apparently right now, my dog should only be comfortable when the truck is parked.

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[JeanRalphio91]

The Problem with AC in the S is "design arrogance" - The S has 3 AC units for all the air volume BUT the 3rd unit is disabled UNLESS the 3rd row is up and buckled!!!

Because "no one wants to cool the back unless someone is sitting there"

3 things about this:

1. You should always be able to force the 3rd row AC on.
2. When the cabin is HOT and the front AC is running at max (making that other noise issue) - it would make sense to run the 3rd row AC to help it catch up.
3. There needs to be a 'driving' pet mode - that keeps the back at the same temp as the front. Apparently right now, my dog should only be comfortable when the truck is parked.

How does the vehicle determine if someone is sitting there? If its seat belt based, than you could buy one of those seatbelt alarm stoppers. Temporary workaround for this summer until there is a software fix. Does 3rd row have to stay up in this scenario?

 

[SoCal Rob]

The Problem with AC in the S is "design arrogance" - The S has 3 AC units for all the air volume BUT the 3rd unit is disabled UNLESS the 3rd row is up and buckled!!!

Because "no one wants to cool the back unless someone is sitting there"

3 things about this:

1. You should always be able to force the 3rd row AC on.
2. When the cabin is HOT and the front AC is running at max (making that other noise issue) - it would make sense to run the 3rd row AC to help it catch up.
3. There needs to be a 'driving' pet mode - that keeps the back at the same temp as the front. Apparently right now, my dog should only be comfortable when the truck is parked.

My understanding is that the 3rd row vents are redistributing air from the cabin, essentially acting as a circulating fan, so the air delivered to the third row is neither heated nor cooled beyond that. With that in mind, when discussing your other points:
1. You can force the 3rd row blower on by going into climate settings then tapping Back below the power button and then tapping the off (0 with a \ through it) on either side vent

Once on, you can adjust the fan speed with the - and + buttons:

2. Since there is no cooling, running the 3rd row fan will make people or pets in the 3rd row more comfortable, but it will NOT cool the vehicle faster. If anything, it may take longer for the 1st & 2nd rows to cool off.

3. See #1 to turn on the 3rd row circulating fan.

edit: missed a couple words

 

[Ashtothexo]

Did you get an earl

Disclaimer- I live in Phoenix where it’s pretty warm right now.
However, the 5 other cars in my household: 2014 Jeep grand Cherokee, 2017Jeep wrangler, 2014 Ford Escape, 2017 Porsche Cayman and 2014 Tesla model S blow COLD air within 3-5 mins of driving-even in 110+ heat.

Engineers: Please redesign the AC so that it:
1. Cools the cabin properly within 5 mins (yes, recirculate is on and temp is set to 72F, but air is barely cool). Even after driving for 15 mins Air from vents is not particularly cool.
2. Doesn‘t make a loud weed trimmer noise. It’s embarrassing to drive what should be a “cool” vehicle that makes the weed trimmer noise. It’s pretty clear the compressor is trying unsuccessfully to cool the cabin, but can’t.
3. Please test the AC in extreme temps to evaluate performance of the system.


That’s it! That’s all I am asking. Otherwise, I am reasonably happy with my R1S.

Did you get an earlier SC appointment? I got my car serviced and the AC is better now. Up to what I expected. I think you’ll feel the same after they take a look.

 

[Arnie1]

Same!! Also in Scottsdale. Was honestly so worried about my kid the other day that we went home. That was of course in between me yelling "What?!" every time he said something because the Air is so loud. Wondering if I just bought a $88k car I can only safely use half the year. At this point I think I will just leave it on pet mode every time we get out of the car.

I'm going to get it tinted this week to see if that helps and when the team comes out for my mobile ticket for other things going to ask them about this too.

Has anyone taken the time to measure the discharge temps at the vents front and back.

It would be interesting to compare the temps of those who have acceptable performance with those that do not.

 

[Ashtothexo]

Has anyone taken the time to measure the discharge temps at the vents front and back.

It would be interesting to compare the temps of those who have acceptable performance with those that do not.

I got mine fixed. I highly recommend anyone that even thinks there’s any sort of issue with their car just take it in. It doesn’t hurt to have it looked at. It’s probably not functioning correctly and you’re not crazy for thinking that.

 

[Arnie1]

My understanding is that the 3rd row vents are redistributing air from the cabin, essentially acting as a circulating fan, so the air delivered to the third row is neither heated nor cooled beyond that. With that in mind, when discussing your other points:
1. You can force the 3rd row blower on by going into climate settings then tapping Back below the power button and then tapping the off (0 with a \ through it) on either side vent

Once on, you can adjust the fan speed with the - and + buttons:

2. Since there is no cooling, running the 3rd row fan will make people or pets in the 3rd row more comfortable, but it will NOT cool the vehicle faster. If anything, it may take longer for the 1st & 2nd rows to cool off.

3. See #1 to turn on the 3rd row circulating fan.

edit: missed a couple words

Im confused when you asy there are 3 a/c units.

My understanding is that the 3rd row vents are redistributing air from the cabin, essentially acting as a circulating fan, so the air delivered to the third row is neither heated nor cooled beyond that. With that in mind, when discussing your other points:
1. You can force the 3rd row blower on by going into climate settings then tapping Back below the power button and then tapping the off (0 with a \ through it) on either side vent

Once on, you can adjust the fan speed with the - and + buttons:

2. Since there is no cooling, running the 3rd row fan will make people or pets in the 3rd row more comfortable, but it will NOT cool the vehicle faster. If anything, it may take longer for the 1st & 2nd rows to cool off.

3. See #1 to turn on the 3rd row circulating fan.

edit: missed a couple words

Im confused when you say there are 3 a/c units.
My understanding is that there is only 1 a/c compressor located between the firewall and the back of the frunk and this supplies all vehicle cooling.
Either the cooling system is undersized or there is a performance issue.i.e under/over charged.
From the blog it apperas like the latter as severl users in hot climes are happy with the performance.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Does 3rd row have to stay up in this scenario?

You can run the 3rd row fan with the 3rd row seats up or down and the seatbelts buckled or not. Instructions here in #1 https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...ked-on-the-air-conditioning.17267/post-375474

 

[SoCal Rob]

Im confused when you asy there are 3 a/c units.

Im confused when you say there are 3 a/c units.
My understanding is that there is only 1 a/c compressor located between the firewall and the back of the frunk and this supplies all vehicle cooling.
Either the cooling system is undersized or there is a performance issue.i.e under/over charged.
From the blog it apperas like the latter as severl users in hot climes are happy with the performance.

I didn’t say there were. I was responding to @Deadfish, who said there are 3, and I was trying to correct that statement. Here is the post that I quoted https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...the-air-conditioning.17267/page-9#post-375467

edit: To clarify, there is a single source of conditioned (heated or cooled) air for the cabin, in the area you described at the front of the cabin. Depending upon what 1st & 2nd row vents are enabled/disabled and if the heating/cooling is turned on, only the first 2 rows can receive this conditioned air directly from the vents. The 3rd row has a dedicated fan with 2 dedicated vents. It can blow cabin air from those vents but the air isn’t going to be actively heated or cooled, just whatever temperature the fan draws from the intake.

 

[R1TS]

Would be nice to get it serviced. However, non-critical appointment wait times are 3-4 months out at both service centers near me.

 

[Deadfish]

There may be 1 compressor for the whole truck, but I think there are few different coils for the air to pass through.

From the owner's Guide:

 

[Ashtothexo]

Would be nice to get it serviced. However, non-critical appointment wait times are 3-4 months out at both service centers near me.

My SC considered this critical/safety based because my 4 year old was dripping sweat in the middle row and we went home that day instead of other places because I was worried about him. Not good enough AC in 110+ temps is a safety issue. Maybe call again.

 

[SoCal Rob]

There may be 1 compressor for the whole truck, but I think there are few different coils for the air to pass through.

From the owner's Guide:

I don’t think there are any other coils for cooling the air, and it may just be their funky wording or formatting that’s giving that impression.

Unless you‘re several versions behind on the software, just try for yourself in your R1S. Leave your third row seats down and their belts unbuckled. Turn on the vehicle, make sure climate is set to Auto. Then, use the Back selection while viewing climate, turn on the 3rd row vents, and adjust the fan speed up from the fan control above the app dock. Even though the Front and Middle rows show snowflake icons (air conditioning) the Back row shows only the wavy lines air moving icon

If the car is really hot inside, compare the first two row air conditioned air to the third row’s air coming out of those vents. Eveything to this point is what they’re trying to describe with this second sentence from the manual screen shot you show: “Choose a Vent button to turn on both side vents.”

Regarding this portion of the manual you highlighted, below, the first part is important: “To have the Auto climate setting control the third-row vents…” but that doesn’t mean you can’t force them on manually, just that they won’t come on automatically without the other conditions being met.

Beyond that, the third row vents blow cabin temperature or cooling air only. The key here is they used the word COOLING, not COOLED like air conditioned, but cooling like the effect air blowing on you has, even from a fan.

Finally, for the record, the third-row vents do NOT require the second-row vents to be on in my R1S. I think what they mean is that third-row cooling performance will be worse without the second row vents on because the third-row air intake is in the cargo area and, without active cooling, won’t do much.

I wish they did a better job with the manual and I hope this helps.

 

[R1TS]

I don’t think there are any other coils for cooling the air, and it may just be their funky wording or formatting that’s giving that impression.

Unless you‘re several versions behind on the software, just try for yourself in your R1S. Leave your third row seats down and their belts unbuckled. Turn on the vehicle, make sure climate is set to Auto. Then, use the Back selection while viewing climate, turn on the 3rd row vents, and adjust the fan speed up from the fan control above the app dock. Even though the Front and Middle rows show snowflake icons (air conditioning) the Back row shows only the wavy lines air moving icon

If the car is really hot inside, compare the first two row air conditioned air to the third row’s air coming out of those vents. Eveything to this point is what they’re trying to describe with this second sentence from the manual screen shot you show: “Choose a Vent button to turn on both side vents.”

Regarding this portion of the manual you highlighted, below, the first part is important: “To have the Auto climate setting control the third-row vents…” but that doesn’t mean you can’t force them on manually, just that they won’t come on automatically without the other conditions being met.

Beyond that, the third row vents blow cabin temperature or cooling air only. The key here is they used the word COOLING, not COOLED like air conditioned, but cooling like the effect air blowing on you has, even from a fan.

Finally, for the record, the third-row vents do NOT require the second-row vents to be on in my R1S. I think what they mean is that third-row cooling performance will be worse without the second row vents on because the third-row air intake is in the cargo area and, without active cooling, won’t do much.

I wish they did a better job with the manual and I hope this helps.

Are we sure the intake for the 3rd row vents is in the cargo area?

That would be the most unintelligent place to design the intake. You are literally just recirculating the stale air back there then. This horrible HVAC system just keeps on sounding worse as we learn more about it.

 

[Deadfish]

So I just went out and did a test (Truck has been sitting in the hot sun).

1. Flipped up the 3rd row
2. Buckled the belt

And:

1. The 3rd row vents came on (as soon as I bucked in)
2. I can't turn them off from the front screen (only turn up) - no cooling logo, still just air
3. They are defiantly blowing cool air - Where they are getting the air from is unknown.


This goes against what I was told by a guide previously. I specifically asked about 3rd row AC for my dog.

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