INTERIOR feature / details just posted at Rivian.com

[luriaj]

These might not be new details, but I'm very happy to see:

1. Turn signal & wiper stalks as well as some tactile controls in the steering wheel (I'm not a fan of where Tesla is going with controls in the model 3 & S Plaid) - The photos don't show much detail - stalks likely include high beam toggle & perhaps cruise control?
2. Beautiful curves in the wood everywhere, especially cradling the central display.
3. What looks like nice volumes of accessible storage.

Anyone know what the elements (that look like reflectors) are in the sides of the headrests?

I think they are speakers!

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[kylealden]

I'm a little lost on what the above means, so my questions may not even pertain to the above quote. It may be I need to ask Customer Support.

Does this work like a phone hotspot, or do you need to be "on the road"?

Do you pay for it monthly, same as you do an IP, or is it free?

Unlimited?

How far does the Wi-Fi travel?

Could my desktop computer receive internet in my camper, if within a certain distance from the Rivian?

Does this feature require the Rivian to be "on"?

I just recently got T-Mobile Internet, so I could download updates from Rivian when the time comes. This is about all I know regarding the internet. I mainly want to know if this feature is all I need to download updates and also receive access to the internet........Thanks

Guesses:

Likely works like a phone hotspot. You'll almost certainly have to pay some monthly fee (Tesla's is $10/mo without the hotspot ability).

I'd bet on unlimited but probably throttled by carriers over certain usage (almost certainly using a MVNO or similar). In practice you're really unlikely to hit this unless you Work From Rivian every day.

WiFi range should be decent around the vicinity of the vehicle but don't plan for it to cover a large campsite or your house. It's for the truck. Camper could work but depending on the materials it might be tough for signal to penetrate.

I'd expect it requires the car to be "on," but hopefully it has a "camp mode" like Tesla to power accessories while parked and locked. Videos like the holiday light one suggest that's likely.

 

[n8dgr8]

I'm in the same boat as a few folks above, somewhat shocked by the interior size dimensions.

It's wider than my RAM 1500 (barely, but still), but has vastly vastly less hip and shoulder space?

I expected the leg room in the back to come down a bit from my RAM, so I'm not too shocked there.

Most everything else looks good to me, though, the under seat storage for the front seats is kinda of a throw away to be honest (not sure what I have in my glove box now that would fit well in there.. maybe some ketchup packets or something.

The rear storage bins are nice, as is the camp speaker.

I will mirror another users question around "other interiors" as I would love to see some more pictures of the other interiors. The Forest green is growing on me, but I'm not sold on the $2k upcharge.

4G in the truck.. don't care, I'll never use it (my phone has several GB of free data at 5G on my current plan, so I'll never use the in truck WiFi).

More info on the media control/infotainment would have been great.

Overall though, I do like the interior quite a bit.

Mirror to mirror width on a full sized truck is usually a little over 96”. The Rivian mirror to mirror is 88”.

 

[kylealden]

infotainment screens, I hope they allow the back screen to be used for more than climate functions. If not, no big deal though

This might just be me but I wish they'd skipped the rear screen. It's unlikely to have interesting non-climate features (games/moves/etc.) barring some real surprises re: processor horsepower, and it eats up a ton of legroom and adds visual clutter. I'd rather see this controlled from the front or just some physical toggles. Oh well.

 

[electruck]

Not trying to be an ass, but I'm not sure you can fault them for not designing their vehicle with the visually impaired in mind. I am glad they did not, since I'm not impaired and I'm happy to see the days of a thousand buttons and knobs and dials go away. I hope there is something that can assist your wife when she's riding with you, like Alexa or maybe a screen setting to make it easier for her to see?

Actually, I can and do fault them because they have made a choice that is unnecessarily exclusionary. I would wager this was done mostly out of ignorance of accessibility concerns and not intentional. But, as it is an accessibility issue, this will ultimately end up settled in court. Auto manufacturers seem to feel they are exempt from making vehicles accessible because "blind people can't drive" ... or something. Well, guess what, car manufacturers are also the ones pushing the envelope to make cars self-driving meaning vehicles will be required to be fully accessible. Might as well start now.

Sorry you don't like buttons. I actually rather prefer them for the most used things. But making all of the vehicles feature accessible doesn't require physical buttons. My wife makes great use of the touch screen interface of her iPhone.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Anyone else notice this?

Pretty sure that's an extra "door catch" to keep it water tight for all the river crossings and boat launch fails!

 

[Canthoney]

I guess, but that phone isn't charging...

If I had to guess there's a switch to toggle it on and off. It’s like that in my others cars at least

 

[2021R1T]

How many of you think you'll use that external speaker thingy? When I'm outdoors, I want to hear nature...not a bunch of human noise. Nothing irritates me more than someone playing their music when I'm in a campground and trying the hear the birds. I doubt we'll ever use that thing. Maybe I can sell it...humm...I wonder if you have two if both will play? Someone might like to have two...any buyers for ours? Would have been nice if it was an option.

Listing to the Broncos pregame while tailgating with the family. Kids would use it at the lake. Playing softly by the campfire with my wife while drinking wine and margs. Watching a movie on the iPad.

 

[opnwide]

Not just the floor, but the portable speaker is right there too.

What cup holders?…

 

[bowhunter]

Likely works like a phone hotspot. You'll almost certainly have to pay some monthly fee (Tesla's is $10/mo without the hotspot ability).

I'd bet on unlimited but probably throttled by carriers over certain usage (almost certainly using a MVNO or similar). In practice you're really unlikely to hit this unless you Work From Rivian every day.

I wonder if they will have the flexibility to be able to just plug in your own SIM?

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Actually, I can and do fault them because they have made a choice that is unnecessarily exclusionary. I would wager this was done mostly out of ignorance of accessibility concerns and not intentional. But, as it is an accessibility issue, this will ultimately end up settled in court. Auto manufacturers seem to feel they are exempt from making vehicles accessible because "blind people can't drive" ... or something. Well, guess what, car manufacturers are also the ones pushing the envelope to make cars self-driving meaning vehicles will be required to be fully accessible. Might as well start now.

Sorry you don't like buttons. I actually rather prefer them for the most used things. But making all of the vehicles feature accessible doesn't require physical buttons. My wife makes great use of the touch screen interface of her iPhone.

Can you point me at a similar lawsuit I can use as reference to understand why this is an issue that merits litigation? What's different about this touchscreen that you've identified from a few photos as compared to the iPhone touchscreen?

If it's that big of a dealbreaker then I guess this must be the wrong vehicle for you and your wife.

 

[IHScout]

What cup holders?…

 

[Godawgs]

Did I brain-fart on this or there's no photos of this feature?? (that would be really weird)

i didn’t see it either but I believe this is what they’re referencing.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

If someone makes a tablet holder which attaches to that back seat clip, the nearby USB port means people in the back can put their tablet in the holder, plug in a short cable to keep it charged, and not worry about getting tangled up in a long cable which plugs in near the floor.

I was thinking about this for a long trip with my son. Would be an amazing add on.

The original design for these was intended to flip down toward the rear passengers so a tablet or smartphone could sit in the slot and rest against the head rest.

Unfortunately, they modified it to what it is now, more of a push pop in, pop out design due to crash issues. When I spoke to the designer at the Seattle event in fall 2019, he reluctantly admitted they would have to alter it for this reason. If its folded out as previously designed facing the rear passenger and there is a collision, going face first into a metal thumb sized holder wouldn't turn out so well.

 

[kylealden]

Can you point me at a similar lawsuit I can use as reference to understand why this is an issue that merits litigation? What's different about this touchscreen that you've identified from a few photos as compared to the iPhone touchscreen?

These lawsuits are very often settled confidentially, but they're absolutely a real thing and a huge part of any product with a human interface element. I'm not sure about vehicles, but computing devices (operating systems, software, web properties) have a very high bar for accessibility compliance.

Take your iPhone example - iPhones are extremely functional to a blind or partially-sighted user thanks to features like VoiceOver. Go watch some videos of blind folks flying through their iPhones - it will blow your mind. Likewise Macs/PCs and all major web browsers devote enormous engineering effort to accessibility frameworks and interfacing with assistive technologies like screen readers.

While these product teams are typically genuinely passionate about the work for reasons of principal, you don't have to be very cynical to wonder why for-profit companies spend more on it than a strict market analysis might "justify."

That being said - let me hop on my soapbox.

Accessibility advocates will always (rightly) point out that accessibility is not about compliance nor some minority class of disabled users. Ability is a spectrum and everyone's ability varies, whether situationally (holding a cup of coffee in one hand, focused on driving, injured, contacts fell out) or permanently (blind, impaired color vision, deaf or hard of hearing, missing limbs, permanent motor disorders or other physical factors), etc.

Good design for accessibility is a win for all users - controls that are accessible from both sides of the cabin mean the driver can access them without a passenger, or the passenger can access them when the driver is focusing. Controls which are accessible with low vision are also accessible with lots of glare, dust, or other interference. Every designer should take this into account.

It's hard to say whether Rivian has an issue here - we don't know how much of the UI is reconfigurable or redundant with physical controls (such as the wheel buttons), or how effective Alexa will be as a backup for some of the on-screen controls. I'm optimistic that they'll have thought this through. But we absolutely shouldn't give them a pass on accessible design.

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