tobyringle
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Toby
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2021
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 91
- Location
- Indianapolis, IN
- Vehicles
- R1S
Seems odd Rivian hasn’t removed the “fold flat” front seat feature from the website.
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Yeah I did a comparison earlier and the higher ground clearance and longer wheelbase make it seem bigger than it actual is I think.I was at the event. The crv has grown up but is still a car and light duty. The 4runner is also in the size range. The R2 looks smaller because it is aerodynamic and slightly lower. Plus minus in a few areas. Has a longer wheelbase so more spacous inside than the other two.
Not surprised about the suspension given that they're going for lower cost. I imagine that most buyers won't care as they're probably around-town drivers, not off-roaders. I have it on my Model X and I use it, but I wouldn't really miss it if it were gone.TL;DR: Little tidbits about R2 and R3 from Brian Gase, Chief Engineer of Special Projects at Rivian from a small YT channel that attended the Rivian event at the Pasadena Hub this weekend.
I’ve been on the Rivian train for almost two years now (originally an R1S reservation holder and now an R2 reservation holder) and like many of you I’m super excited about R2. I’ve heard/read a lot about the comments made at the Pasadena location this past weekend and hadn’t really been able to find a summary of everything, but I hopped on YouTube today and found THIS video of the entire Q&A for both R2 and R3X. I’ve summarized everything with timecodes below.
Be sure to check out the video for yourself. Nothing earth shattering, but some good and very informative details nonetheless.
R2
On a personal note, I hadn’t really been able to get a visual as far as scale on the R2 and having someone at a fixed distance videoing someone else interact with it up close helped me to get a better gauge. I’ll be coming from a RAV4 Hybrid which has almost the exact same dimensions, but comments from others and the sense of scale I gathered from the video make it look bigger and closer to a 4Runner (which is what I’m going for).
- R2, R3, and R3X weren’t built at the factory. The cars we've been seeing are a final surface layout. (12:35)
- Front seats will slide, they will articulate, very much like the R1, but won’t fold flat. *bummer*. Back seats will fold to a 4 degree angle. (13:00) EDIT: Per a commenter on Reddit, it's apparently because of federal safety regulations. (13:00)
- Compact spare being included may depend on which trim variant you have. (13:29)
- Single motor will be built later other variants. *expected* (14:08)
- Won’t have camp modes ability to level itself due to their being no air suspension. Not sure on other camp mode features. Emphasizes that price is important for them which is why there’s no air suspension. (14:15)
- There will be a hitch on the final production variant. *also I feel obvious*. (15:00) BUT what isn’t obvious is that it will be an optional build style. Sounds like there have been internal discussion about how to fix the bumper difference. (22:50)
- Sounds like the motor in the version of R2 we see driving around might be Bosch? They had to build R2 with a motor that existed at the time of prototyping. The motor in R2 now is bigger than what will be the production motor (their in house motor). This sounds like it goes back to the compact spare comment earlier. We know from this Out of Spec video that the tri motor Gen2 R1S has a larger motor in the rear so I’m assuming that a single or dual R2 may enable more cargo space than the tri motor. (15:15).
- The color on R2 is a brand-new color. It’s not actually the same “white” as seen on the R1s. Sounds like Rivian is still deciding which colors and interiors are unique to each other. (15:35)
- Power liftgate on R1 isn’t on the roadmap to translate to R2 at this time. *hard to decipher so correct me if I’m wrong* (21:35). EDIT: Clarification via Chris Hilbe. The question in the video was regarding if the R1S will get the powered rear glass window like the R2. It cannot get that feature because the R1 has a split tailgate so the glass wouldn't be able to drop very far.
R3X
Due to noise (and environment) some of this was hard to hear/unintelligible so if anyone else is able to run it through a denoiser or can decipher what’s being said please add on.
- R3X charge port is moving to the driver’s side rear as well. All Rivian vehicles on the “midsize” platform will have the charge port in the same location. Hinting at more unreleased vehicles (shown in Investor Day slide deck) in the pipeline on this platform? (19:40)
- Something about the steering wheel design. I’m assuming they’re asking if this was the final design and there was just a reiteration that yes it was. (20:00)
- You won’t need a CCS to NACS adapter when purchasing a wall charger in the future. Once Rivian switches their cars to NACS, all related products (wall charger in this case) will follow suite. *seems obvious, but good question* (20:25)
- V2H is still in development. Didn’t catch all of what was said, but it sounds like Rivian is really trying to get it right from the top down with the development of this feature in order to ensure a seamless experience from the top down. (20:50)
- R2 and R3 (both on midsize platform) share same suspension, battery system, drive units, etc., but which different wheelbases (like R1T and R1S). But R3 should have more (> 330) range than R2. Not an expert here, but my guess is R2 will have a 90-110 (2025 large pack is 109)~ kWh battery which ranges from the upper 2s to low 3s in efficiency and R3 will get low to mid 3s in efficiency on the same pack. (21:55)
if you do any large amount of off roading you’d be better off not having the air. It’s a rougher ride with more compromises than a tuned resovoir shock.Not surprised about the suspension given that they're going for lower cost. I imagine that most buyers won't care as they're probably around-town drivers, not off-roaders. I have it on my Model X and I use it, but I wouldn't really miss it if it were gone.
We use the air suspension on our Model S's due to ground clearance issues when it snows or the occasional bump/dip. I use it a lot less years later than I did when we first started driving them. Now it's more when we hit some automatic car washes that still use the gutter-style system as these tend to come up pretty high. The primary use case for us is during snowy months when there are ruts in the roads and the additional clearance is necessary to clear the bottom of the car to avoid getting high centered. Other than that, we use it almost never.if you do any large amount of off roading you’d be better off not having the air. It’s a rougher ride with more compromises than a tuned resovoir shock.
What about a NACS to CCS?. I wonder if they will include one for those times we aren't at a Tesla charger?
- You won’t need a CCS to NACS adapter when purchasing a wall charger in the future. Once Rivian switches their cars to NACS, all related products (wall charger in this case) will follow suite. *seems obvious, but good question* (20:25)
Is that why so many luxury vehicles use air suspension? For a worse ride?if you do any large amount of off roading you’d be better off not having the air. It’s a rougher ride with more compromises than a tuned resovoir shock.
Luxury vehicles aren’t good off road vehicles.Is that why so many luxury vehicles use air suspension? For a worse ride?
I'm confused. Are you talking about off road capability or having a rougher ride? Air suspension definitely offers a comparable ride, if not better, than steel springs.Luxury vehicles aren’t good off road vehicles.
I’m saying that air suspension is inferior off road both in terms of capability or ride quality. On road, sure it’s fine, but off road you won’t find air suspension in any “discipline” of more serious off the pavement fun.I'm confused. Are you talking about off road capability or having a rougher ride? Air suspension definitely offers a comparable ride, if not better, than steel springs.