Jebinc’s improved rear window visibility mod…

[jebinc]

I can’t recall the last time I had a human in the rear seat of any of my EVs, so I removed the headrests and installed some rubber mat to his the ugliness beneath. Great rear view from driver’s seat now!

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[NY_Rob]

Did the same with my (pre-backup camera era) Honda CRV back in the day.. made a huge difference in visibility!
BMW has a nice setup on the i3... the rear headrests can be swiveled down when not being used so you get a great view out the back hatch window. Rivian could do the same with a little effort.

Will they fit in the under-seat storage compartments?

 

[jebinc]

Did the same with my (pre-backup camera era) Honda CRV back in the day.. made a huge difference in visibility!
BMW has a nice setup on the i3... the rear headrests can be swiveled down when not being used so you get a great view out the back hatch window. Rivian could do the same with a little effort.

Will they fit in the under-seat storage compartments?

Yes, with ease and a ton of room to spare!

 

[Inkedsphynx]

I've considered removing them and storing them under the seat or in the gear tunnel as well, since I rarely have rear seat passengers. The one feature I am legitimately upset my R1T doesn't have that past vehicles did (My LRs) - digital rear view mirror. I firmly believe every current vehicle should have them, they're a huge improvement no matter how good the vehicle's visibility is.

 

[jebinc]

May design and print flush inserts to make the look “stock”. For now, the rubber mats will suffice.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I can’t recall the last time I had a human in the rear seat of any of my EVs, so I removed the headrests and installed some rubber mat to his the ugliness beneath. Great rear view from driver’s seat now!

If Rivian used the headrest folding mechanism from the R1S in the second row of the R1T it would make things easier and pretty much guarantee that if you do need to put someone in the back seat they’ll have a headrest available to protect them in the event of a rear end crash. Maybe Rivian will include that as an upgrade to help take the sting out of future price increases…

 

[SoCal Rob]

I've considered removing them and storing them under the seat or in the gear tunnel as well, since I rarely have rear seat passengers. The one feature I am legitimately upset my R1T doesn't have that past vehicles did (My LRs) - digital rear view mirror. I firmly believe every current vehicle should have them, they're a huge improvement no matter how good the vehicle's visibility is.

I haven’t had a vehicle with a digital rear view mirror but I imagine that the rear view mirror aiming is almost irrelevant since the view is dictated by the camera and not the direction of a reflective mirror. I know that our US regulations aren’t friendly to camera-based side-view mirrors, and I think the regulations mean that digital rear view mirrors have to function as traditional mirrors when the display is off. If we could allow these systems to replace the reflective mirrors entirely then manufacturers could improve fuel efficiency (less wind resistance compared to side view reflective mirrors) and reduce mechanical complexity (no more side-view motorized mirror aiming, memory requirement, and power folding) while not relying on drivers to aim their mirrors properly to avoid blind spots.

edit: clarity

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Yea, when it's using the camera you can turn the mirror anywhere you want and it's no big deal. i used to turn it facing all the way towards me so i had a good straight-on view to it.

It did still work as a regular mirror, you just flipped the toggle like you would for other mirror's day/night mode. Always required a re-adjustment but I only really ever used that when i was driving and the rear camera got obstructed by moisture or leaves or some other crap.

But yea, I would love to see the side-view mirrors get canned in favor of some sort of in-cabin display plus automated detection/warning systems. Definitely would improve efficiency, and I think cars would look so much cooler without the ears sticking off the doors lol

 

[NY_Rob]

The one feature I am legitimately upset my R1T doesn't have that past vehicles did (My LRs) - digital rear view mirror. I firmly believe every current vehicle should have them, they're a huge improvement no matter how good the vehicle's visibility is.

Completely agree!
I loved the very wide angle electronic rear view mirror in my Bolt. So much so that I now have an aftermarket version installed in my i3. Once you get used to the enhanced view (no headrests/cargo/passenger heads/C-pillar, etc.. obstructing the view) you get w/the electronic mirrors you'll hardly ever want to use the reflective mirrors again. The wide angle electronic rear view mirror in the Bolt covered so much that it almost rendered the side view mirrors unnecessary... almost.

 

[Inkedsphynx]

I've been thinking about trying something aftermarket on my T. It really is a world of difference. Might wait a while and see what the market brings out as options.

 

[CharonPDX]

I haven’t had a vehicle with a digital rear view mirror but I imagine that the rear view mirror aiming is almost irrelevant since the view is dictated by the camera and not the direction of a reflective mirror. I know that our US regulations aren’t friendly to camera-based side-view mirrors, and I think the regulations mean that digital rear view mirrors have to function as traditional mirrors when the display is off. If we could allow these systems to replace the reflective mirrors entirely then manufacturers could improve fuel efficiency (less wind resistance compared to side view reflective mirrors) and reduce mechanical complexity (no more side-view motorized mirror aiming, memory requirement, and power folding) while not relying on drivers to aim their mirrors properly to avoid blind spots.

edit: clarity

Multiple manufacturers (including GM) have had camera/screen rearview mirrors as at least an option for years. Nearly all are regular rear view mirrors that you press a button or flip a lever and it turns on a display behind the mirror glass that shines through it (one-way mirror style) to replace the reflected image as the "primary" view.

I think the Rivian would have a great option, too - one GearGuard camera is at the top of the rear window - nearly perfectly in line with where you would be seeing out the physical-mirror view; so switching to camera wouldn't have much visible difference in "field of view", it would just erase any in-cab obstructions.

 

[BourboNole]

I'm going to have to disagree on the digital rearview. I think it is a good option to have in the case that your bed is full enough to obstruct rearward visibility, but otherwise it is in my opinion a poor substitute for an actual rear view mirror. The first major problem is it requires your eyes to quickly refocus to near viewing and even forcing myself to use one for a few weeks I could never get it to be automatic. Second it inhibits depth perception of the vehicles behind you. Third, and maybe the LR's are higher resolution or quality, but on my TRX it wasn't nearly as clear as an actual mirror in daylight, and it was borderline worthless in the dark. As a way to explain, even in optimal conditions I could only see the face of a driver of a vehicle if it was directly behind me. I had never really considered it before, but comparatively with my mirror I could clearly see the faces of drivers of cars 10s of car lengths back. To truly replace a mirror we will need both high pixel density cameras and displays, each able to handle low light exceptionally well.

 

[jebinc]

Okay, digital mirror discussions to another thread. This one is for the mod.

 

[Yossarian]

My 2013 XC-90 had a button near the driver that dropped the rear headrests to improve the view out of ear window. The Volvo needed it as the headrests, in typical Volvo fashion, were oversize and pretty robustly built.

 

[RBR1S]

I can’t recall the last time I had a human in the rear seat of any of my EVs, so I removed the headrests and installed some rubber mat to his the ugliness beneath. Great rear view from driver’s seat now!

The fact they don't fold is a huge miss by Rivian. My JGC costs less than 1/2 and they fold.

Having them folded down offers the same benefit for visibility without losing them or having them bounce around.

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