Initial R1S impressions after driving Teslas for 6 years

[SeaRivian23]

This blind spot camera view only exists because Teslas come without a Blind Spot Warning system. It took them quite a while to come up with this camera workaround. Personally, I'm not a big fan; it just doesn't make sense to have to look in the opposite direction when you're merging, right? It's a bit strange that Teslas don't come with this basic safety system, especially considering it's been standard in most cars for a decade!

It seems all Tesla drivers really want it in their Rivians too! Let's all give it a shot and maybe even re-learn how to use our trusty side view mirrors. The good news is, now there's a handy light that pops up if something's lurking in your blind spot, and it even gives you a friendly ding! No need to divert your attention from where it should be – on the road ahead and your merging spot!

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[LoneStar]

love the PIN to Drive away feature suggestion. and the Valet or Home mode that clips speed to say 15 MPH

 

[JamesPolk24]

Oops. There are! Didn’t even see them! Thank you!

Wait. You actually own an R1S and didn't know there were cupholders up front?

 

[R1TruKaLa]

Wait. You actually own an R1S and didn't know there were cupholders up front?

 

[iansriv]

Oops. There are! Didn’t even see them! Thank you!

That was a good laugh mate! You did such a great job of reviewing important issues. But, you missed the cup holders!

 

[RivianPioneer]

I agree that neither Tesla nor Rivian GPS is good for much. Waze would be better in both. Good news about the camera blind spot warning update in the future.

 

[RivianPioneer]

That was a good laugh mate! You did such a great job of reviewing important issues. But, you missed the cup holders!

You can’t win them all…

 

[RivianPioneer]

This blind spot camera view only exists because Teslas come without a Blind Spot Warning system. It took them quite a while to come up with this camera workaround. Personally, I'm not a big fan; it just doesn't make sense to have to look in the opposite direction when you're merging, right? It's a bit strange that Teslas don't come with this basic safety system, especially considering it's been standard in most cars for a decade!

It seems all Tesla drivers really want it in their Rivians too! Let's all give it a shot and maybe even re-learn how to use our trusty side view mirrors. The good news is, now there's a handy light that pops up if something's lurking in your blind spot, and it even gives you a friendly ding! No need to divert your attention from where it should be – on the road ahead and your merging spot!

I believe that you are correct that Tesla developed the blind spot camera because people wanted something and there was no warning system so that was their work around (although the new Model 3 does now have both the warning system and the side view camera functionality) but I think it’s actually not only a great compliment, it’s superior to side view mirrors because it eliminates the blind spot. From a perspective of aerodynamics no mirrors would be better too. And just like someone can say it’s a distraction to have to look at a camera view of your side view, it’s no more of a distraction than it is to look at a mirror that’s not directly in front of you. Perhaps the solution is a HUD with the image on it closer to the forward view or even in the window where the side view mirror is now visible.

I know creatures of habit don’t like change and it is a scary thought that one day a car will not have side mirrors - that cameras might replace them - but I think that’s where things are headed.

Time will tell

 

[strangelove]

Good observations. I actually think the doors are too LIGHT, so they don’t swing with enough momentum to shut properly. Feels to me like that was an area Rivian worked to save weight given the mega battery.

 

[itselectric]

This blind spot camera view only exists because Teslas come without a Blind Spot Warning system. It took them quite a while to come up with this camera workaround. Personally, I'm not a big fan; it just doesn't make sense to have to look in the opposite direction when you're merging, right? It's a bit strange that Teslas don't come with this basic safety system, especially considering it's been standard in most cars for a decade!

It seems all Tesla drivers really want it in their Rivians too! Let's all give it a shot and maybe even re-learn how to use our trusty side view mirrors. The good news is, now there's a handy light that pops up if something's lurking in your blind spot, and it even gives you a friendly ding! No need to divert your attention from where it should be – on the road ahead and your merging spot!

The camera feed would be very much appreciated, but I love having the physical indicators on the mirrors themselves. I hope Rivian doesn't remove these thinking they are unnecessary after they implement this feature.

 

[R1Thor]

Just for some perspective regarding the doors:
This vehicle is designed to ford up to 42.1" of water.

If you didn't have beefy seals in there, you'd get a bath whenever (for some people, *if*) you did that.

So, the doors, by nature, will be hard to close. In my experience, they do get 'easier' over time. But I'll take a hard-to-close door with the guarantee that I'll stay dry over bougie 'soft close' doors any day.

Just my .02

 

[RivianPioneer]

Good observations. I actually think the doors are too LIGHT, so they don’t swing with enough momentum to shut properly. Feels to me like that was an area Rivian worked to save weight given the mega battery.

You could be right that they are actually too light to close properly. Maybe that is it. For whatever reason you need to get a little more momentum going to get the door to close than other cars and trucks that I've driven. The doors might need some re-engineering to make them close more easily. Not my expertise so I haven't a clue how it could be fixed, I'm just the end user observing the problem.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Just for some perspective regarding the doors:
This vehicle is designed to ford up to 42.1" of water.

If you didn't have beefy seals in there, you'd get a bath whenever (for some people, *if*) you did that.

So, the doors, by nature, will be hard to close. In my experience, they do get 'easier' over time. But I'll take a hard-to-close door with the guarantee that I'll stay dry over bougie 'soft close' doors any day.

Just my .02

Yeah I agree that the doors close easier over time. I too had the issue of doors not being closed properly when I first got my truck and now it is almost never that I have to try a second time to get the door shut sufficiently.

 

[RivianPioneer]

Just for some perspective regarding the doors:
This vehicle is designed to ford up to 42.1" of water.

If you didn't have beefy seals in there, you'd get a bath whenever (for some people, *if*) you did that.

So, the doors, by nature, will be hard to close. In my experience, they do get 'easier' over time. But I'll take a hard-to-close door with the guarantee that I'll stay dry over bougie 'soft close' doors any day.

Just my .02

I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's more about the passengers and my kids hopping in or out. Pain in the neck when they hop out and walk away, leaving me to deal with it. That's why I think soft-close doors would be good, although there have been some good points in this thread about additional equipment in the doors adding more weight, so that might not be the best solution either.

 

[ebarke]

I totaly agree with the door handle placement...it's an awkward reach. I do have to say that the alexa navigation is horrible. It takes me on really weird routes that I know are wrong. It told me to take an exit ramp, then get back on and cross 3 lanes of busy traffic to get me back on the hwy I was just on. I also just can't give it a name of a place and have it take me there, it always just guesses wrong and wants to take me to something else. The nav in the Tesla is way better.

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