Recent content by Kaiju

Rolling resistance in pneumatic tires mostly depends on the amount of deformation in the contact patch and the amount of slip with applied torque. Pressure matters more than size in that regard. So for a pneumatic tire a narrower width with a higher pressure on the ground for the same load is...

Surprisingly weight doesn't matter a whole lot to efficiency. Yes, it takes more energy to accelerate but about 80% of that is recouped with regen braking and weight means essentially nothing once you're moving at constant speed. So if you're 20% heavier, you're only actually losing about 4%...

On an ICE vehicle it'd more like automatic braking wearing OPD's skin in a way that would be received with blood-curdling horror by ICE drivers even if it's actually a useful safety feature. Hear me out on that one. It's genuinely fail-safe for a vehicle to come to a stop by itself if the driver...

Ironically I arrived at my Rivian for exactly the same reason. I cross-shopped the Lightning pretty hard but was also turned off by the package pricing options and the Rivian was nicer for the same money I would have spent. I never bought into any of the adventure branding, just looking for a...

I feel the pace of updates was creating problems because they were definitely pushing stuff out that wasn't fully baked. I'd personally rather features took a back seat to fixing bugs and doing more testing, because they not only get egg on their face every time they break something (like the...

I feel a bit disappointed to say that if you're feeling spurned by Rivian that things can still get much worse than this. There'll be no enthusiastic welcome to the dark side since nobody who winds up here wants to be after getting psyched up enough to take a risk on a new brand. There was a...

I have the same running boards and the same problem. The service centers use much fatter pucks that won't clear on the sides. I can use my own pucks without issues. I've also been charged $200 to remove them, a job that takes 6 minutes since you don't need to touch the underbody or take the...

Don't knock people too hard for buying big EVs. Even if we discount the fact that high-margin luxury vehicles are the entry point for new/expensive tech and (unfortunately) shaking out teething problems in low volume, every EV displaces an ICE vehicle of the same class. Every hybrid displaces...

While I admit how ridiculous it is to respond to this sort of 'venture' with the seriousness deserved for something that's not so completely bonkers, did the press just happen to forget the part where only one company makes the lithography machinery for everyone using a 5nm and smaller process...

If it makes any difference to you I found another article that flatly says that a well tuned 400V system with better thermals can beat an 800V system that peaks rapidly. Your mileage may vary I guess. I take some issue with the math since you can't have your cake and eat it too with 800V. You...

Smaller battery packs have far better charging rates regardless of their voltage so it's somewhat difficult to do apples to apples across manufacturers. The question is mostly as it pertains to Rivian's 400V system and changing it to an 800V system. Just as an FYI here, it's a lot more...

There's a fallacy inherent in the notion that newer models = better. Technology might improve but it's often put towards making margins better, or at least slowing margin erosion, than making the end product better. ICE cars aren't actually any different there. 0-60 times for trucks over the...

Change the suspension stiffness and see if anything changes. I had similar problems but not all of the listed symptoms. It may help narrow it down if it does something or nothing though.

What drive height and suspension setting are you using? Also, do you feel the ka-thunk through the floor or is it just a noise?

I'd also say it's probably not a meaningful difference. It's a pretty rare scenario where you NEED a drained battery to 100% in 6 hours vs 7 and it's too much of a bother to go to a DCFC. If for some reason 40 amps is not enough I have my doubts that 20% more will make a world of difference. If...