Do I Risk Damaging the Lift Gate Motor?

[drivetorun]

I've been bemoaning the lack of a height adjustable hatch since I got my R1S ~3 years ago...and been adding it to as many "feature request" threads, sites, etc. as possible, but nothing has come of it...apparently it isn't as much of a problem for a lot of people.

Sponsored

 

[Jeff_in_SF]

Or they do use the products they make, they just couldn't/didn't because:

• They don't have height restrictions at home like some people do
• They don't have enough experience/history in the car industry to think of this detail
• They were task to meet a specific cost target and just had to leave some things out

Take your pick... Accidents happen, but is it really that impossible to remember not pull all the way in if you know you'll be loading unloading? A tennis ball on a string hanging from the ceiling? Does everything absolutely have to be solved by someone else? People talk about it like it's a cardinal sin.

I appreciate your advice, but for some additional perspective - if you watch their "Get your garage ready" video, you'll notice when they open the trunk "inside" the garage at :38 seconds in, they actually have pulled the car all the way to the very edge of the garage so the door actually is opening outside of the garage, so they know. In fact, the height they specify in the measurements they show for the garage in that video (82") is too low for the lid to open anywhere inside of the garage. When I measured the trunk height at a block party, it goes up at least 84.5 inches.

I unfortunately do not get any benefit from the advice to pull in all the way or add a tennis ball - my garage in my 1936-built home is the height it is, throughout the entire garage. About 40% of the homes in San Francisco follow a similar blueprint, built in the 20's and 30's as the city recovered from the great earthquake. The only way I'll be able to load the car trunk is remember to stop the lid in time, or pull it outside on busy city street and load it there. The pool noodle solution OP showed is clever, but they really had no choice since they'd already bought the car, and I'd rather not get into that situation.

My last 2 cars had the ability to set a trunk height by simply stopping it manually and holding the trunk open button on the trunk lid for 5 seconds. One about $5k more than R2, one about $7k less than R2.

So I realize my personal garage situation may be more niche, and the majority of garages across the US probably have no issues here, but I see this as an important factor in my own decision to buy and I think it's good information to get out there for others.

 

[Birdowin]

The lift gate has an automatic reverse when it hits an object. You may need to adjust the sensitivity of it. There should be adjustment dials on the opener motor.

 

[2kwik4u]

Without sensors to inform software where max and min limits are, performance might be inconsistent.

Sooo....Just like the HVAC vents then

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I hate these vents.

 

[dduffey]

We have the same issue, we don't have a huge garage that can fit the entire length of the R2 with the hatch open, nor could we open it by backing in. The only option for my wife is to park outside, unload, then pull into the garage. She came from a model Y with programmable hatch, so she was disappointed. Using the back seat/frunk is not really an option with kids and band/sports equipment, etc.

I put some sticky foam insulation on the garage door frame hoping that will reduce any accidental damage.

 

[Josh X]

It's definitely one of those things you don't think about until you have a situation like OP. Heck, my i4 hatch hit the top of the garage and got scratched.....but it has a height adjustment.

Years ago I test drove a Model X and thought the rear doors were perfect since we had a newborn and the falcon doors made loading our child in the car so easy for me as a 6'3" person. Bought the car (used thankfully), got home and realized if our garage door was open, it lowered the height so much that the falcon door could barely open. So low that I could not even fit under it to load my daughter.

And if we opened the falcon door inside the garage with the garage door closed and the other person accidentally opened the garage door, it would have smacked into the falcon door.

Wife & I hated it so much that we sold the car shortly after.

Seems like an obvious consideration in hindsight but we never thought about it on our test drive when we tested the doors in a open air parking lot...

 

[Millbarge]

Or they do use the products they make, they just couldn't/didn't because:

• They don't have height restrictions at home like some people do
• They don't have enough experience/history in the car industry to think of this detail
• They were task to meet a specific cost target and just had to leave some things out

Take your pick... Accidents happen, but is it really that impossible to remember not pull all the way in if you know you'll be loading unloading? A tennis ball on a string hanging from the ceiling? Does everything absolutely have to be solved by someone else? People talk about it like it's a cardinal sin.

my guess is that they test based on the typical garage size/door height of a more modern home where the garage door sizes are more standardized. But if you have an older home or a smaller garage, you may have an issue. Obviously they can't test for every sized garage.

 

[Zathras]

Added a pool noodle to my garage door after an unfortunate clearance incident yesterday (little scratches! Noooooooo!). Works a treat but I worry about the R2 hitting it and trying to push past every time I open it in the garage. Anyone else have history with how durable the lift gate motor is? I don't want to shorten its overall life if I can help it.

I just saw a video on Youtube by a person who is a person who carries a lot of items on his vehicles. And he showed that when you hit the button on the gate to open it, when it gets to the height you want you can hit the button again and it stops.

He also demonstrated that you can stop it at any point of lifting simply with your hand and it stops. When you hit the button again, it does not go up but goes down.

So cleary it has a sensor that stops it when it is blocked. And because you can stop it with the button on the back, it is concievable that Rivian could program it to open at pre-set heights. So what I'd do if I was you is to give them feedback on this topic, And go to a Rivian space and see if it does indeed work. I have no reason to suspect it doesn't since the guy was doing it on his own vehicle.

 

[emroch]

I just saw a video on Youtube by a person who is a person who carries a lot of items on his vehicles. And he showed that when you hit the button on the gate to open it, when it gets to the height you want you can hit the button again and it stops.

He also demonstrated that you can stop it at any point of lifting simply with your hand and it stops. When you hit the button again, it does not go up but goes down.

So cleary it has a sensor that stops it when it is blocked. And because you can stop it with the button on the back, it is concievable that Rivian could program it to open at pre-set heights. So what I'd do if I was you is to give them feedback on this topic, And go to a Rivian space and see if it does indeed work. I have no reason to suspect it doesn't since the guy was doing it on his own vehicle.

The sensor required to stop due to resistance is not the same as the one required to reliably stop at the same height each time. The first is likely just sensing mechanical (or perhaps electrical) resistance while the latter would need actual positional data (eg a hinge angle sensor, or accelerometer in the door). And simply running the motor for a fixed amount of time is not reliable as lots of factors can make that change height from run to run.

I do agree with your conclusion though - give Rivian feedback directly that you want this. If the hardware does support it, more people requesting it through official channels will help Rivian prioritize implementation.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Or they do use the products they make, they just couldn't/didn't because:

• They don't have height restrictions at home like some people do
• They don't have enough experience/history in the car industry to think of this detail
• They were task to meet a specific cost target and just had to leave some things out

Take your pick... Accidents happen, but is it really that impossible to remember not pull all the way in if you know you'll be loading unloading? A tennis ball on a string hanging from the ceiling? Does everything absolutely have to be solved by someone else? People talk about it like it's a cardinal sin.

Adjustable lift gate height has been a thing for 10 years at least. It is a table stakes feature. Sure, it's not an insurmountable obstacle to vehicle ownership, but no one here is claiming it is.

 

[Jeff_in_SF]

The sensor required to stop due to resistance is not the same as the one required to reliably stop at the same height each time. The first is likely just sensing mechanical (or perhaps electrical) resistance while the latter would need actual positional data (eg a hinge angle sensor, or accelerometer in the door). And simply running the motor for a fixed amount of time is not reliable as lots of factors can make that change height from run to run.

I do agree with your conclusion though - give Rivian feedback directly that you want this. If the hardware does support it, more people requesting it through official channels will help Rivian prioritize implementation.

Message sent. If others want to copy...

Feature Description: Please add a software feature that allows users to set and save a custom maximum opening height for the powered rear liftgate. This could operate similarly to garage door programming, where a user manually stops the trunk at the desired height and holds a button (on the screen or the liftgate itself) to save the position.

User Problem Solved:This prevents the liftgate from over-extending and colliding with low garage ceilings, open garage doors, or overhead storage racks, protecting both the vehicle's paint and home property from accidental damage.

 

[Zathras]

The sensor required to stop due to resistance is not the same as the one required to reliably stop at the same height each time. The first is likely just sensing mechanical (or perhaps electrical) resistance while the latter would need actual positional data (eg a hinge angle sensor, or accelerometer in the door). And simply running the motor for a fixed amount of time is not reliable as lots of factors can make that change height from run to run.

I do agree with your conclusion though - give Rivian feedback directly that you want this. If the hardware does support it, more people requesting it through official channels will help Rivian prioritize implementation.

My cameras have sensors that give precise information about the tilt of the cameras in all axis, which acts like bubble levels, showing in real time how close the camera is to horizontal in all directions. I can't imagine that kind of sensor would add much to the cost of the door to control its angle.

 

[Yamazaki]

Message sent. If others want to copy...

Feature Description: Please add a software feature that allows users to set and save a custom maximum opening height for the powered rear liftgate. This could operate similarly to garage door programming, where a user manually stops the trunk at the desired height and holds a button (on the screen or the liftgate itself) to save the position.

User Problem Solved:This prevents the liftgate from over-extending and colliding with low garage ceilings, open garage doors, or overhead storage racks, protecting both the vehicle's paint and home property from accidental damage.

How did you send the message?

 

[Jeff_in_SF]

How did you send the message?

email to [email protected], since I don't own a Rivian yet and can't submit via the app. Hopefully that is the right email, it's what Gemini gave me.

Sponsored