Rivian Cabin Filter Performance (OEM vs Aftermarket) Engineering Analysis - Impartial 3rd Party Review

[jfoonly]

Thanks alot for this. What are the HEPA claims for each filter, if any? Everyamp says H11, and similarly priced competitor claims H13.

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[jemkewl]

Thank you for your effort, write up, and coordination.

 

[ndmiller]

This is a thread where adults are adulting. FINALLY!

CarPlay, oh dang it I have to put myself on ignore.

On the positive side I grabbed one from Amazon for delivery tomorrow.

 

[mudito]

CarPlay, oh dang it I have to put myself on ignore.

On the positive side I grabbed one from Amazon for delivery tomorrow.

Something tells me that they will have an huge increase in orders on the coming days

 

[superfluid]

@R1Thor Love the testing, analysis, and data-driven decision making. It's very cool to have engineers lend their expertise to this forum's benefit. I added an EveryAmp filter to my Amazon cart. Thank you!

 

[ndmiller]

Something tells me that they will have an huge increase in orders on the coming days

Honestly I had forgotten about the cabin filter as there isn't a glovebox to install one......Video set me straight.

 

[Electron]

Thank you @R1Thor for taking the time to test these. A couple questions.

So the Rivian OEM cabin filter has limitations due to the poor sealing, which would have made any tests done with it in regard to air flow flawed from the get go correct?

Would you be able to retest just the OEM filter with the edges sealed (taped up around the edges even) to get an accurate measurement as if it was sealed?

Also as outlined, the stock filter due to the bad seal didn't meet HEPA standards as the particle penetration didn't meet the 0.3%; however, if it had a seal issues from the get go, wouldn't any tests performed be pretty conclusive to where it wouldn't be 1:1 comparable to any other sealed/snug filters? (particulates passing through the edges)

Due to the looser fit and fixture distortion of the stock filter, it negatively affected the stock filters performance out of the gate.

As for the filter media the stock filter is much thicker, which would have the ability to trap more and last longer than a thin filter media of the aftermarket filters. - A longevity test would likely favor the stock type of filter media as having more capacity to hold particulates.

Your test would be pair great with someone like ProjectFarm or anyone else with the equipment to measure Carbon Monoxide / Fumes, which is what a lot of people who have to deal with stop-n-go traffic want in their filtration.

Wish you had a "buy me a beer" link as I'm sure a lot of us would be glad to show our appreciation for your time and effort.

Thanks!

 

[Esap]

Without further ado, my good people, and with their permission and endorsement:

I happily and heartily endorse @EveryAmp and their filter. It's the one I currently have installed in my Rivian. I will do some periodic re-testing to determine if there's any increase in penetration or pressure drop over time. On the up and up, it's a solid build quality and repeatedly tested the best of the bunch.

If you have any specific vendors/filters that I might not have tested, let me know as well (I'm sure 4 isn't the totality representative sample of all aftermarket replacements out there). But for now, hopefully everyone can rest easy buying some quality filters from our friends here, at what I also consider a very fair price.

Thank you! A better option at a reasonable price. Go figure.

 

[Trandall]

Just ordered one for both of my R1's from @EveryAmp. Wish I hadn't previously wasted money on the pricier OEM filter. When my gen.1 snap plate from Everyamp broke while off-roading customer service at EveryAmp was terrific for sending my a gen2 replacement heavily discounted. Glad that a U.S. based small business is able to offer the best option.

 

[R1Thor]

Thank you @R1Thor for taking the time to test these. A couple questions.

So the Rivian OEM cabin filter has limitations due to the poor sealing, which would have made any tests done with it in regard to air flow flawed from the get go correct?

Would you be able to retest just the OEM filter with the edges sealed (taped up around the edges even) to get an accurate measurement as if it was sealed?

Also as outlined, the stock filter due to the bad seal didn't meet HEPA standards as the particle penetration didn't meet the 0.3%; however, if it had a seal issues from the get go, wouldn't any tests performed be pretty conclusive to where it wouldn't be 1:1 comparable to any other sealed/snug filters? (particulates passing through the edges)

Due to the looser fit and fixture distortion of the stock filter, it negatively affected the stock filters performance out of the gate.

As for the filter media the stock filter is much thicker, which would have the ability to trap more and last longer than a thin filter media of the aftermarket filters. - A longevity test would likely favor the stock type of filter media as having more capacity to hold particulates.

Your test would be pair great with someone like ProjectFarm or anyone else with the equipment to measure Carbon Monoxide / Fumes, which is what a lot of people who have to deal with stop-n-go traffic want in their filtration.

Wish you had a "buy me a beer" link as I'm sure a lot of us would be glad to show our appreciation for your time and effort.

Thanks!

There's some nuance here, for sure, but let me try to break down what we saw to answer your questions.

We do not feel the test is flawed in any way given Rivian's filter needs to seal, period. So, we are comparing 1:1. We also tried 'forcing' a seal (it's not standard or best practice, but we wanted to try), by pushing some gasketing material into the outer edges. It didn't improve the performance, which speaks to a more systemic issue.

I also want to be clear that, though I only had a 'new' Rivian OEM and the one in my truck that had just over 16k miles on it, they both exhibited the same behavior. When it comes to filtration and industry standards, there shouldn't be a 'few bad' in the batch, per se. So, I don't think it's a unique issue, that I happened upon one bad filter. Also, you posited something about a looser fit on the OEM filter--I actually believe my test fixture was a tad tighter than Rivian's filter tray. YES, that could've distorted the border /edge in such a way that I induced the warping we couldn't seemingly overcome.

As far as filter performance, you cannot think of filters and filtration as a sieve. I know it LOOKS that way, but for HEPA and ULPA purposes, those particles are sincerely too damned small to be trapped the way you think they do. It's a combination of Coulombs Law and the Brownian Effect that predominantly traps particulate. The follow-on principles are diffusion, interception, and impaction, but they're predominantly driven from the aforementioned. And the particle physics at this level induces turbulence between the fibers that simply disallow for particles of that size to flow linearly (a good thing, as they're then generally rejected back). So, thicker pleating is meaningless. And I do mean meaningless. There's no situation where you add more fibers or layers and get better filtration due to the intention of the system. The system will drive the same amount of airflow through it (as designed) regardless. IF you get to the point where you're physically reducing the flow, you've compromised the system, and then you're not really measuring filtration anymore, because you've actually changed the volumetric input to the system.

IF you want to optimize for better filtration, it's all in the design and engineering of the filtration media itself (type of fibers, packing of fibers, geometry of pleats, number of pleats, sealing surfaces about the edges, adding surface ionization). In fact, counterintuitively, some of the best performing filtration media has the best flow (least amount of restriction). And monitoring backpressure over time is how most clean rooms determine when to replace their filters. It's a whole thing!

Our AE has his pHD in Filtration Engineering from the University of Minnesota. In our industry, UofM is the gold standard de-facto experts on Aerosol, Particulate, and Filtration. If he tells me that a filter isn't following 'best practice,' (IE: rigid boundary about the edges with a proper sealing surface) I believe him! If you really want to dig into it, every year, UofM has an Aerosol and Particulate short course, where for 3 days you can get somewhere around 12 different pHD Professors and their grad students bombarding you with more information you can absorb at once for the low low cost of $2200 It's enlightening!

 

[R1Thor]

Thanks alot for this. What are the HEPA claims for each filter, if any? Everyamp says H11, and similarly priced competitor claims H13.

Rivian advertises "a biofunctional coating with antimicrobial properties, activated carbon to repel odors and VOCs and a particle layer that's nearly 100% effective against soot."
So, in their immediate defense, they're not claiming HEPA grade, so they're not falsely advertising to any of us

Aftermarket #1 advertises as H13 with activated carbon
Aftermarket #2 advertises as HEPA H13+ with activated carbon

EveryAmp advertises as HEPA+ on their website.

As a quick reminder: my equipment cannot validate automotive HEPA filters, BUT given what we can do to challenge filter media, I have a high degree of confidence (read this as my opinion, please) that EveryAmp is exceeding that performance requirement.

I would simply take my analysis as a "here's who is objectively and measurably better" than the competition.

Also to note: I didn't put this in my writeup, but each of the test runs were randomized. That is: we didn't install the same filters in the same order or repeat testing on the filters back to back. This gives the equipment and the installation the opportunity to be as variable as possible. It also gives the media the opportunity to dry between challenges (aerosol challenge dries and therefore reduces the odds of inadvertently pre-loading the test media which could affect outcomes in many ways, both good and bad).

 

[Yossarian]

Very much appreciate the work @R1Thor. You've provided some very useful information that we less technical Rivian owners can use to make an informed decision. I second @Electron on the need for a "buy me a beer" link to show our support.

 

[rkalbiar]

Yes, very cool. Thanks.

 

[KBabione]

Thank you @R1Thor for all of this work...The service center didn't replace my filter when we had our R1S in for HVAC replacement and I need to buy one so your timing is perfect. Should we ever cross paths locally, I'd like to buy you a beverage of your choice (or perhaps a six-pack of said beverage).

Maybe we need a Lancaster-area get together sometime. There are enough of us in the area - Perhaps even @Zoidz would come down from the Reading area. There's also someone in Manheim Township with a beautiful custom cherry-red R1S that I've seen twice. I'll try to set something up...

 

[R1Thor]

Maybe we need a Lancaster-area get together sometime. There are enough of us in the area - Perhaps even @Zoidz would come down from the Reading area. There's also someone in Manheim Township with a beautiful custom cherry-red R1S that I've seen twice. I'll try to set something up...

My neighbor and I have been talking about this very thing. Our friendly neighborhood detailer, Urban Werks says they've serviced more than 80 (yes, eighty) local/local-ish Rivians. And the owner himself is currently shopping for an R1S last I'd heard.

Not to derail this thread too much, but we'll be at Trunk or Treat down there tonight

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