Finished R2 demo test drive? Share your review / impressions

[rvnxyz001]

Plus it gets very hot here in NC. It was 100* all last week. I would need to tint the R2 to help the AC situation out.

It's interesting that for some, the same temperature feels okay, while for others it's too hot and the AC can't keep up. For others, the AC cooled the car super fast. I'm wondering if it's because some people took their car from covered parking and some took a car that was baking in the sun for a while? Or maybe some close their windows and turn the AC on right away instead of driving with windows open for a while?

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[mellowthecat]

It's interesting that for some, the same temperature feels okay, while for others it's too hot and the AC can't keep up. For others, the AC cooled the car super fast. I'm wondering if it's because some people took their car from covered parking and some took a car that was baking in the sun for a while? Or maybe some close their windows and turn the AC on right away instead of driving with windows open for a while?

for my drive the air coming out of the vents didn’t feel cold. Cool but not cold. The air coming out my forester’s vent set to 68* feels much colder.

windows were open on the R2 when I approached it, and the SC employee turned the AC before I got in

 

[rvnxyz001]

for my drive the air coming out of the vents didn’t feel cold. Cool but not cold. The air coming out my forester’s vent set to 68* feels much colder.

Yeah, I noticed the same, and I had to keep it at the highest level, which I never do in my current car (it is always set to 70 and Auto, also Subaru), but I'm wondering why some people say it is cold and powerful. The roof is okay for some and hot for others, like we drove different cars. Maybe some got a better AC version and different glass; I'm not sure...

 

[kanefsky]

It's interesting that for some, the same temperature feels okay, while for others it's too hot and the AC can't keep up.

One thing that drives me nuts about most modern cars is the idea that you can simply dial in a number for the temperature and it can automatically keep you comfortable. I'm constantly having to adjust the temperature and fan speed because the car usually has a very poor sense of how hot or cold the car actually feels (due to solar heating or whatever), let alone how hot or cold I personally feel.

Even in manual mode, most cars seem reluctant to adjust the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. Often the air will be way too hot or too cold until you get to the "LO" or "HI" setting and then it becomes the opposite.

I miss the days when you had a tactile fan speed control and a tactile temperature control dial. When you turned the temperature up a notch the air got a little warmer, and when you turned it down a notch the air got a little colder. What a concept The first new car I ever bought was an Eagle Talon (actually produced at the same plant Rivian uses now). Its climate controls were perfect:

 

[rvnxyz001]

One thing that drives me nuts about most modern cars is the idea that you can simply dial in a number for the temperature and it can automatically keep you comfortable. I'm constantly having to adjust the temperature and fan speed because the car usually has a very poor sense of how hot or cold the car actually feels (due to solar heating or whatever), let alone how hot or cold I personally feel.

Even in manual mode, most cars seem reluctant to adjust the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. Often the air will be way too hot or too cold until you get to the "LO" or "HI" setting and then it becomes the opposite.

I miss the days when you had a tactile fan speed control and a tactile temperature control dial. When you turned the temperature up a notch the air got a little warmer, and when you turned it down a notch the air got a little colder. What a concept The first new car I ever bought was an Eagle Talon (actually produced at the same plant Rivian uses now). Its climate controls were perfect:

I basically use two buttons to control my A/C: plus and minus. It’s always set to AUTO mode, but I have to adjust the temperature from time to time. I’ve never had to set it to LO in four years of owning it. It would cover everything in ice if I did. But I had to set the Rivian to LO within the first minute just to cool it down a bit , but lots of people said here it is not the case and it is very cold, so I'm wondering if my test car for defective

 

[kanefsky]

I basically use two buttons to control my A/C: plus and minus. It’s always set to AUTO mode, but I have to adjust the temperature from time to time. I’ve never had to set it to LO in four years of owning it.

I hate auto modes because I want to be in control of both air temperature and velocity. I don't want the car deciding whether to use a trickle of super-heated air versus a strong stream of slightly warm air, for example. Plus, as I said, the car doesn't really know if the sun is beating down through the window making me feel extra hot, or if I was just outside for an extended period of time and I'm freezing cold or sweating like a pig In the latter case I almost always end up having to go to the HI or LO setting for a while because otherwise the air is not nearly as hot or cold as I would like it to be. If I'm feeling cold every setting under HI usually feels too cold and then HI feels too hot (or vice-versa if I'm too hot). The problem is compounded if there are no tactile controls to make frequent adjustments.

Cars are not like home HVAC's where you might be on the other side of the house from the thermostat, where you don't really feel the air coming out of the vents, and where it can take a long time for the house temperature to change in response to a thermostat change. In a car the controls are right in front of you and you can feel velocity and temperature changes very quickly. The focus should be on controlling velocity and temperature of the air rather than some silly automatic mode with a nearly meaningless numeric temperature setting.

 

[AlanR2]

I drove the R2 two weeks ago at Rocklin Service Center in California and again on Thursday at the Reno-Sparks Service Center in Nevada. While I don't have an EV yet, my nephew bought the R1T and his wife got an R1S, both of which I have ridden in and driven extensively. In comparison, I call R1s Cadillacs as they are heavy, have air-ride suspension and have all the bells and whistles. As great as the R2 is, you do miss some of the qualities of the R1s. The R2 is lighter (a ton) and more nimble. I like the feel of the R2 suspension. It has more of a sports car feel (the McLaren influence?) than SUV. The R2 interior is nowhere near as plush as the R1. You can look at that as a good thing or a bad thing. I liked the R2 interior just fine. What I noticed is great efforts were made by designers to make the R2 lighter. So you don't get the big, heavy Cadillac doors. After riding in the R1s, the R2 felt like a Hyundai Sonata at first. But it's not a cheap tin can like those cars are. The R2 has been engineered in a purposeful way that I appreciated more in the second drive than the first. The haptic halos will likely be great when I better understand how to operate them and the features they control. The much-maligned Launch sound system was just fine--excepting lack of AM or even FM tuner. No grab bars was a disappointment until I realized how much lower the R2 is to the ground. I feel like the R2 is the Tonka Truck version of the R1. They are so alike, I had difficulty accepting how much smaller the R2 is. It's an optical illusion if you've ever spent time in an R1. I reserved on Day 1. I can't wait to get an R2 of my own. A true technological marvel.

 

[mellowthecat]

Yeah, I noticed the same, and I had to keep it at the highest level, which I never do in my current car (it is always set to 70 and Auto, also Subaru), but I'm wondering why some people say it is cold and powerful. The roof is okay for some and hot for others, like we drove different cars. Maybe some got a better AC version and different glass; I'm not sure...

I thought this before I test drove the R2 because I had read the reports of people saying the AC was cold and others like me saying it wasn’t cold enough. there must be some manufacturing inconsistency . Maybe with Freon. Could be inconstitencies in the pre production vehicles as well. Those are my guesses.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I thought this before I test drove the R2 because I had read the reports of people saying the AC was cold and others like me saying it wasn’t cold enough. there must be some manufacturing inconsistency . Maybe with Freon. Could be inconstitencies in the pre production vehicles as well. Those are my guesses.

Agreed as every time I've driven it the AC has been excellent.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

AC for sure goes to the BMW. The pano roof was also way less hot to the touch. It was warm compared to hot

Nice writeup. I wanted to reply to the above specifically

BMW is using an IR treated glass, it's the same tech in our iX and it's insanely good.

I wasn't even aware of it, till I experienced it first hand, went out to the iX where it had been parked in the direct sun for a full day (down in the Keys, during summer) and it was easily 25+ degrees cooler vs. the former Tesla (also with a long raked windshield and glass roof that are IR protected in the iX).

Like it was such an extreme difference, I thought maybe I had turned on the AC on the way out to the car.

I know, I know, YOUCANTINTTHEROOFSADDHADESHERFDERF but it's super nice that the OEM execution is buy-and-not-worry

 

[Millbarge]

My wife and I drove a silver R2 in Visalia, CA a few weeks ago where the temperature was 107 F. Between the AC at full and the vented seats, we stayed pretty comfortable. I'm used to glass roofs with my Polestar 2 Volvo XC40 Recharge. The roof in the R2 didn't bother me at all. I did note that the roof glass was indeed hot to the touch. Everything worked as expected and I'll be pleased to place my order in September/October. The only things that I have minor concerns about are the two discussed-way-too-much items: lack of grab handles and lack of CarPlay. I don't want to get anyone started on those topics again. They are topics of interest, but certainly not enough for me to call the vehicle "bad" or to cancel my reservation. Given my late probable order date, I should be able to get my Borealis exterior and Coastal Cloud interior. Looking forward to it!

Why is everyone touching the glass roof? Fingerprints!!!!

 

[Jeremy3292]

I took two demo drives on two separate days when it was 90+ outside at 4pm, hottest part of the day. Had no issues with the AC. Car was parked outside both times before I got in it. Most likely people are taking short demo drives and the car is 140 inside after sitting and baking, takes a little while for any car to cool down after that much heat. This coupled with the fact the AC vent direction was inverted on the screen due to a software bug, a lot of people felt hot bc they couldn’t get the air to blow at their face.

it’s a non issue IMO.

 

[Millbarge]

One thing that drives me nuts about most modern cars is the idea that you can simply dial in a number for the temperature and it can automatically keep you comfortable. I'm constantly having to adjust the temperature and fan speed because the car usually has a very poor sense of how hot or cold the car actually feels (due to solar heating or whatever), let alone how hot or cold I personally feel.

Even in manual mode, most cars seem reluctant to adjust the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. Often the air will be way too hot or too cold until you get to the "LO" or "HI" setting and then it becomes the opposite.

I miss the days when you had a tactile fan speed control and a tactile temperature control dial. When you turned the temperature up a notch the air got a little warmer, and when you turned it down a notch the air got a little colder. What a concept The first new car I ever bought was an Eagle Talon (actually produced at the same plant Rivian uses now). Its climate controls were perfect:

Hard pass. I rarely ever touch the HVAC controls in my car, other than to turn them off if it's a nice day. Auto climate control has worked great on every car I've had for the past 26 years.

 

[FlyingPilot2012]

Hard pass. I rarely ever touch the HVAC controls in my car, other than to turn them off if it's a nice day. Auto climate control has worked great on every car I've had for the past 26 years.

Same. I would hate manual controls. In most cars I set my preferred vent position & temperature, then leave it alone 95% of time.

I'm surprised there are people out there fiddling with their car HVAC a dozen times a day.

 

[Alan in Tempe]

I have had many cars with auto climate control. A '96 Volvo 850 was the best, at most requiring a one or two degree change twice a year for summer/winter. My two Lexus and four Toyota vehicles were almost as good, except for a Sienna mini-van that require temp increments or decrements a few times a year, but massive fan increases to initially cool down in the Phoenix summers. My BMW i3 did OK, but was far from intuitive to use. The temps were only adjustable to 2 degrees, which is too coarse for me, but the actual climate was more controlled by fan speed, and the fan setting when in auto mode was actually a max fan setting that was the main climate controller. It was just weird to use. After a couple years, I did get used to keeping comfortable in the i3 with minimal manual adjustments throughout the year. My '88 Mercedes 300TD was HORRIBLE. It simply did not work well at holding temperature ever. The dealer swore it was "in spec" and nothing could be done to improve it.

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