What this new 2026 R1T owner finds surprisingly disappointing

[skyguyscott]

Just a week now into enjoying my brand new Rivian R1T Dual Max Battery (named "Arjuan") and there is certainly a lot to like. (cooled seats, wow, where have you been all my life?) Indeed there is so much in the Rivian design that is so well-thought out and clever and conscientious, I just love it. So it is all the more surprising then when I occasionally come across some aspects of the design that are real misses.

Here are a few surprises/disappointments/annoyances I have found that you may also share. I'll not mention the lack of CarPlay, as everyone seems to mention that one, and I knew of it going in, so I can't really complain about that, but yes, it would be a great addition.

So, in no particular order:

• Never knew how much I appreciated Glove Boxes until I no longer had one. Really? Where do you keep your Registration and Proof of Insurance?
• Wow, that glass roof! It's why I got the white interior, but I would much, much rather prefer a standard sun/moon roof you could tilt up, open, shade or completely black out.
• Is it me, or does the ride in every mode seem harsher than it should? I mean, I tell people it feels like a truck, but then, I have driven Lariats and F250s that feel like Lincolns.
• The screen-driven vents -- you mean I have to navigate to and open the climate menu, then swipe the screen to remotely adjust the vents, when I could just more easily reach it right here and move it manually, for far less cost and complexity, and with less reliability and long-term durability? What ever happened to KISS?
• yeah, the sound system, not great, but I remember worse.
• You can only store two destinations in the navigation system, home and work? Wow. I mean. . . wow.
• Wish I could send a destination from my iPhone to Arjuan.
• Speaking of which, I swear when I put the iPhone on the charger, it drains faster. What is going on there?
• This one is just me, I know, but for some reason I want to push the stalk up to go forward, and down to go in reverse, even though I remember the old automatics with the big gear shifter kinda did it the same direction that Rivian does -- the little stalk just seems counterintuitive to me, and I still put it in the wrong gear over half the time.
• I do know how to drop the tail gate, open the charge port, hood and gear tunnel doors from the driver's seat but haven't yet discovered how to unlock the passenger doors from the driver's seat. Had to just reach over and open the door manually last weekend when taking my friends for a ride. I'm sure I'll feel so dumb when someone here shows me.

There are probably more little things I forgot or will find later, but overall, it's a very, very good vehicle with so much more Rivian got so very right, like for instance, I don't have to put gas or oil in it. How cool is that?

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[Dave Cundiff]

(1) We bought clipboards with compartments and keep important documents (license, registration, etc.) in them.

(10) Check the top row of the center screen, near the left. There are "lock" and "unlock" icons for the exterior doors.

I'll let others help you with #2 through #9, most of which aren't really questions anyway.

Very best wishes!

 

[Spaceball1]

Mostly valid comments. I’m hoping the Gen 3 R1 addresses many of those among a few other things. Overall a sweet truck considering it was a brand new company, IMO.

BTW you can send a destination from your iPhone to your truck, as long as you have the Rivian app installed. Just click the Share icon (in Apple Maps or Google maps) and select the Rivian and it will send it to the factory nav on the Rivian.

 

[skyguyscott]

(1) We bought clipboards with compartments and keep important documents (license, registration, etc.) in them.

(10) Check the top row of the center screen, near the left. There are "lock" and "unlock" icons for the exterior doors.

I'll let others help you with #2 through #9, most of which aren't really questions anyway.

Very best wishes!

THANKS!, figured it was something simple, boy am I dumb.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I don't think you're dumb, @skyguyscott. You bought a Rivian, didn't you?

It's just a complicated vehicle. Nobody (at least, almost nobody) learns it all the first day.

Very best wishes!

 

[CrazyOne]

Just a week now into enjoying my brand new Rivian R1T Dual Max Battery (named "Arjuan") and there is certainly a lot to like. (cooled seats, wow, where have you been all my life?) Indeed there is so much in the Rivian design that is so well-thought out and clever and conscientious, I just love it. So it is all the more surprising then when I occasionally come across some aspects of the design that are real misses.

Here are a few surprises/disappointments/annoyances I have found that you may also share. I'll not mention the lack of CarPlay, as everyone seems to mention that one, and I knew of it going in, so I can't really complain about that, but yes, it would be a great addition.

So, in no particular order:

• Never knew how much I appreciated Glove Boxes until I no longer had one. Really? Where do you keep your Registration and Proof of Insurance?
• Wow, that glass roof! It's why I got the white interior, but I would much, much rather prefer a standard sun/moon roof you could tilt up, open, shade or completely black out.
• Is it me, or does the ride in every mode seem harsher than it should? I mean, I tell people it feels like a truck, but then, I have driven Lariats and F250s that feel like Lincolns.
• The screen-driven vents -- you mean I have to navigate to and open the climate menu, then swipe the screen to remotely adjust the vents, when I could just more easily reach it right here and move it manually, for far less cost and complexity, and with less reliability and long-term durability? What ever happened to KISS?
• yeah, the sound system, not great, but I remember worse.
• You can only store two destinations in the navigation system, home and work? Wow. I mean. . . wow.
• Wish I could send a destination from my iPhone to Arjuan.
• Speaking of which, I swear when I put the iPhone on the charger, it drains faster. What is going on there?
• This one is just me, I know, but for some reason I want to push the stalk up to go forward, and down to go in reverse, even though I remember the old automatics with the big gear shifter kinda did it the same direction that Rivian does -- the little stalk just seems counterintuitive to me, and I still put it in the wrong gear over half the time.
• I do know how to drop the tail gate, open the charge port, hood and gear tunnel doors from the driver's seat but haven't yet discovered how to unlock the passenger doors from the driver's seat. Had to just reach over and open the door manually last weekend when taking my friends for a ride. I'm sure I'll feel so dumb when someone here shows me.

There are probably more little things I forgot or will find later, but overall, it's a very, very good vehicle with so much more Rivian got so very right, like for instance, I don't have to put gas or oil in it. How cool is that?

What size wheels do you have? 21 is ok. 20 with all seasons will be better. 22 will be worse.

 

[skyguyscott]

Mostly valid comments. I’m hoping the Gen 3 R1 addresses many of those among a few other things. Overall a sweet truck considering it was a brand new company, IMO.

BTW you can send a destination from your iPhone to your truck, as long as you have the Rivian app installed. Just click the Share icon (in Apple Maps or Google maps) and select the Rivian and it will send it to the factory nav on the Rivian.

Think I found it, thanks, that is a real time saver.

 

[skyguyscott]

What size wheels do you have? 21 is ok. 20 with all seasons will be better. 22 will be worse.

yeah, got the 22 sport wheels, which I knew would be a bit firmer, but wanted the handling, which i do enjoy. It's still not my beloved '79 RX-7, but so more practical.

 

[CrazyOne]

yeah, got the 22 sport wheels, which I knew would be a bit firmer, but wanted the handling, which i do enjoy. It's still not my beloved '79 RX-7, but so more practical.

I like handling too, and run Michelin PS AS tires on other car. 48 psi and thin sidewalls don't work very well together. The loaner I drove with 20" AT was much better over bumps, but had the AT rumble. I would imagine the AS 20" would be very good.

 

[McLovin]

Never knew how much I appreciated Glove Boxes until I no longer had one. Really? Where do you keep your Registration and Proof of Insurance?

Not sure about the 2026 models, but in my ‘24 there are fold-out compartments in the front of the seat base:

Not the deepest compartments, but good enough for documents like registration/insurance.

On a side note...I really need to vacuum my vehicle...

 

[Ecupip]

It must be your wheels contributing to a harsher ride. I have the 20 AT's and the ride is as nice as a Range Rover to me.

As the McLovin mentioned above, I keep registration info in the cubby under the front seat.

You can send destinations to the navigation system from your phone, even while driving. In your Rivian app, click on the circled arrow in the middle of the bottom part of the screen. From there, you can search and send destinations to Arjuan, even while driving.

Check out EVPlay for adding CarPlay functionality to Arjuan.

You can open the front, tailgate, gear tunnel doors, and the chareport door from the main screen by clicking on the vehicle icon in the upper left-hand corner of your main screen, next to the door lock/unlock icons. You can lock/unlock all doors using those icons too.

 

[skyguyscott]

Not sure about the 2026 models, but in my ‘24 there are fold-out compartments in the front of the seat base:

Not the deepest compartments, but good enough for documents like registration/insurance.

On a side note...I really need to vacuum my vehicle...

So turns out, for 2026, Rivian eliminated the fold out bin under the front passenger seat for some reason. I put the documents in an envelope and stored them in the center console behind the little booklet that is held in place by an elastic strap on the back wall.

In the bin under the driver's seat, I have a J1777 to NACS adapter tucked away.

 

[McLovin]

So turns out, for 2026, Rivian eliminated the fold out bin under the front passenger seat

I thought I had heard something to that effect, but wasn't sure. I think it might have happened in 2025 (e.g., Gen 2).

My adapters are in the webbing in the frunk.

 

[Dark-Fx]

My adapters are in the webbing in the frunk.

On a really hot day, this might result in a slower DC charge since that area is much hotter than the cabin, and the adapter starts off already hot.

 

[McLovin]

On a really hot day, this might result in a slower DC charge since that area is much hotter than the cabin, and the adapter starts off already hot.

Interesting. Luckily I don't use DC charging very often (free level 2 charging at work, so only on long trips), but I might look to relocate it to under the rear seat now.

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