R1S in the Wild

[E.S.]

This was my very first vehicle! Man, you just took me back I had so much fun with this car till it got broken into and taken for a joy-ride before it got stripped for parts ?

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[Matty J]

An observation from having three Tesla models. The Model 3 has no wiper, but has a very small rear window with reduced visibility for the driver. The Model Y was has an even smaller window for rear visibility, with the Model S being the best of the bunch.

With the wiper cleaning pattern on the R1S, it looks to be about at least the same size as the entire opening from the Tesla's. So when the R1S is completely clean, rear visibility should be great. When the window is dirty, except the area cleaned from the wiper, it should be as good as any of the Tesla's rear visibility at all times.

Just my observation...

 

[koersontap]

I’d have to say that this “ass shot“ hasn’t aged well! ?

Have any????

 

[mkg3]

Personally, I do not like wipers. I've used RainX on all of my vehicle glass surface for 30+ years. The front windscreen is really not an issue as the vehicle is driven, the wind over the glass carries the water completely away and not require any wiper action. I have turned off the rain sensor on my vehicles. The only time I use wipers is when the windscreen is muddy or has so much. overspray and in traffic such that I cannot use speed to clear the windscreen.

The rear glass is a problem for proper SUV as airflow separates at the end of the roofline and the flow around the glass has adverse pressure gradient that causes eddies to linger; hence, no viable air velocity to carry the droplets away from the glass, resulting in a dirty window. (same goes for fine dirt too)

On the sedans and coupes, as long as the slope is not severe, airflow stay relatively attached so that the rain water gets moved away from the glass (as long as the surface friction is low - RainX).

On R1T, there are two openings to channel the flow downwards at the end of the cab roofline along with a chin spoiler (see below). This would help R1S but it does not appear to have such a feature. This would help by energizing the flow behind the vehicle just aft of the roofline. It would help change the pressure distribution enough that it should keep the window cleaner. If Rivian made it an option, I would get it.

I've made this comment on a thread before but many on this forum said not only it was not needed, but did not want it. To each's own...

So, I was disappointed but not surprised to see the image of how the vehicle looked from the rear after being driven in a bad weather. It just means that wiper is needed more often and business as usual...

 

[crashmtb]

Personally, I do not like wipers. I've used RainX on all of my vehicle glass surface for 30+ years. The front windscreen is really not an issue as the vehicle is driven, the wind over the glass carries the water completely away and not require any wiper action. I have turned off the rain sensor on my vehicles. The only time I use wipers is when the windscreen is muddy or has so much. overspray and in traffic such that I cannot use speed to clear the windscreen.

The rear glass is a problem for proper SUV as airflow separates at the end of the roofline and the flow around the glass has adverse pressure gradient that causes eddies to linger; hence, no viable air velocity to carry the droplets away from the glass, resulting in a dirty window. (same goes for fine dirt too)

On the sedans and coupes, as long as the slope is not severe, airflow stay relatively attached so that the rain water gets moved away from the glass (as long as the surface friction is low - RainX).

On R1T, there are two openings to channel the flow downwards at the end of the cab roofline along with a chin spoiler (see below). This would help R1S but it does not appear to have such a feature. This would help by energizing the flow behind the vehicle just aft of the roofline. It would help change the pressure distribution enough that it should keep the window cleaner. If Rivian made it an option, I would get it.

I've made this comment on a thread before but many on this forum said not only it was not needed, but did not want it. To each's own...

So, I was disappointed but not surprised to see the image of how the vehicle looked from the rear after being driven in a bad weather. It just means that wiper is needed more often and business as usual...

I mean you live in a place free of appreciable weather. ?

In the space of 4 hours here I’ve had snow, then freezing rain, and the streets have 4” of slush on them. I’ve gone through a gallon of washer fluid in two days.

I’ve had various hatchbacks with relatively vertical back windows, including a mini which went to some effort to keep the rear window clear via aero, it helped a lot but did not obviate the need for a wiper in poor conditions.

Better a small wiper that lets you see SOMETHING than none at all. Apart from sunny Southern California, most people will at some point need a rear wiper on any vehicle with a vertical back end, regardless of aero trickery.

 

[LeoH]

It’s mounted to the glass because that portion opens separately from the lower part.

I did have that in mind, but they can still mount it on the lower part, and allow you to operate the glass part independently as the wiper would not be resting on the glass part at all. I had that design on my Isuzu Rodeo:

It never bothered me, and I actually never thought about it. The only thing in the R1S that comes to mind, is that its probably higher and bulkier, and if you try to reach into things over the gate while the glass is open, the wiper will be in the way, potentially damaging it.

 

[crashmtb]

I did have that in mind, but they can still mount it on the lower part, and allow you to operate the glass part independently as the wiper would not be resting on the glass part at all. I had that design on my Isuzu Rodeo:

It never bothered me, and I actually never thought about it. The only thing in the R1S that comes to mind, is that its probably higher and bulkier, and if you try to reach into things over the gate while the glass is open, the wiper will be in the way, potentially damaging it.

The R1S “greenhouse“ is much shorter than older vehicles, and the rear gate works pretty much identically to recent range rovers.
also, any vehicle I’ve had where the wiper has to pass over a seam absolutely shreds wiper blades. I suspect it’s why that sort of design long ago went out of favour.

 

[koersontap]

also, any vehicle I’ve had where the wiper has to pass over a seam absolutely shreds wiper blades. I suspect it’s why that sort of design long ago went out of favour.

That was my first thought as well. Although I had thought "favor", but let's not split hairs.

In any case, my wife used to own a 2012 Rogue. That had sight lines reminiscent of Fort Knox. In the vault. And as others have pointed out with other vehicles, the entire rear glass was still about the size of the cleared section on the R1S.

They key takeaway here for me, is that it might not be perfect. You might not get to see that one spot that's your pet peeve for where tailgaters hide. But it's not going to be awful, and you learn to adapt to your vehicle.

Although I still shudder whenever I see one of those old Rogues on the road.

 

[LeoH]

The R1S “greenhouse“ is much shorter than older vehicles, and the rear gate works pretty much identically to recent range rovers.
also, any vehicle I’ve had where the wiper has to pass over a seam absolutely shreds wiper blades. I suspect it’s why that sort of design long ago went out of favour.

That's another good reason I guess.

 

[lefkonj]

I think they could take the giant wiper from the Cybertuck and just have it go left to right........

That size glass does make it look tough for the wiper.

 

[crashmtb]

That was my first thought as well. Although I had thought "favor", but let's not split hairs.

In any case, my wife used to own a 2012 Rogue. That had sight lines reminiscent of Fort Knox. In the vault. And as others have pointed out with other vehicles, the entire rear glass was still about the size of the cleared section on the R1S.

They key takeaway here for me, is that it might not be perfect. You might not get to see that one spot that's your pet peeve for where tailgaters hide. But it's not going to be awful, and you learn to adapt to your vehicle.

Although I still shudder whenever I see one of those old Rogues on the road.

To curry favor, I’ll honour your spelling.

tiny rear wipers are a symptom of gunslit greenhouses and the high belt line trend.

 

[Trandall]

I think they could take the giant wiper from the Cybertuck and just have it go left to right........

That size glass does make it look tough for the wiper.

I was thinking they would just steal hire the engineer away from Tesla who patented the laser windshield cleaner.

 

[No.92]

There's a picture of one of them dirty from winter driving and the wiper clears off the tiniest section of window. It's probably about 30% of the window. I tried to find the photo, didn't have any luck yet.

Why do you need to see through the rear window when you have cameras ?

 

[OverZealous]

Why do you need to see through the rear window when you have cameras ?

I wasn't actually complaining about the size, though many took it that way. The camera is great for backing up, not so great for normal driving.

But having a wiper is better than not. At least we can clean it off when it's really bad.

 

[LeoH]

Why do you need to see through the rear window when you have cameras ?

One of those things that you need getting use to I guess. Just like how some people were being pedantic about backup cameras, and those same people now can't backup a car to save their lives without a camera

But generally speaking, cameras get dirty especially in a place like Chicago where salt and mud are a staple, and more often than not the Camera's are kinda useless.

All that aside, aesthetically it looks like the car has a micro penis syndrome Big and large with a tiny stick.

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