R1S Review ("Greatest SUV of All Time") by Performance on Wheels

[jclicky]

More on Rivian as a company, a broader perspective than just the vehicle, from Performance on Wheels Channel:





Highlights:

• It's a viewer's car they'll have access to, promising more detailed analysis later
• Touched on Rivian's unique characteristics as a company, diverse team - that creativity reflected in the cars
• Their model: Launch Green 20" off-road vehicle.
• They just recently finished a review of a Land Rover defender, so that vehicle (good comparison IMO) is fresh in their minds to compare the R1S to
• Pointed out that Rivian claims you can ford in deeper than 3' of water, but the vehicle would float - has anyone else heard this? 7,000lbs., uhhh ?
• Tedious rehash of the standard features, lots of retreading of same territory others have covered
• I asked in a comment for them to try to test performance in ice/snow for the headlight issue.
• Co-host wasn't an EV-fan, but says the R1S changed his mind.

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[electruck]

Pointed out that Rivian claims you can ford in deeper than 3' of water, but the vehicle would float - has anyone else heard this? 7,000lbs., uhhh ?

By that logic, an aircraft carrier should sink to the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately for the Rivian), buoyancy is a function of more than just the weight of an object.

 

[Harvest]

There have been videos of the R1T online driving through water close to three feet deep under test conditions.

 

[jclicky]

By that logic, an aircraft carrier should sink to the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately for the Rivian), buoyancy is a function of more than just the weight of an object.

Well yes, I’m just talking about the watertightness needed to maintain 7,000lbs. of buoyancy. That’s standard faire for a speedboat, but we’re talking about a car with doors…I just don’t think a rubber gasket around a well-made door is going to help the vehicle float before it takes on water & sinks like a rock…

 

[jclicky]

There have been videos of the R1T online driving through water close to three feet deep under test conditions.

No totally! I’ve seen them & I believe it (it’s a huge part of the appeal of the vehicle for me, actually, for off-reading). What I’m questioning is idea that the vehicle will float fording 4 or more feet of water, which is what the video’s authors claimed.

 

[godfodder0901]

No totally! I’ve seen them & I believe it. What I’m questioning is idea that the vehicle will float fording 4 or more feet of water, which is what the video’s authors claimed.

So does Rivian. It has a ton of open spaces that increase buoyancy.

 

[jclicky]

So does Rivian. It has a ton of open spaces that increase buoyancy.

Huh just never heard that before today.

Not something I want to test & I don’t plan on fording water at that depth, but I wouldn’t bank on the rubber gaskets helping my Rivian float for very long if I had to do it…

 

[SANZC02]

Well yes, I’m just talking about the watertightness needed to maintain 7,000lbs. of buoyancy. That’s standard faire for a speedboat, but we’re talking about a car with doors…I just don’t think a rubber gasket around a well-made door is going to help the vehicle float before it takes on water & sinks like a rock…

There was a quote awhile ago from Rivian that stated it starts to float aver 39 inches. Not like a boat but enough to lose traction.

I can’t find it now but definitely read that before.

 

[Mike Hunt]

Do they crawl through the gear tunnel?

 

[kylealden]

Well yes, I’m just talking about the watertightness needed to maintain 7,000lbs. of buoyancy. That’s standard faire for a speedboat, but we’re talking about a car with doors…I just don’t think a rubber gasket around a well-made door is going to help the vehicle float before it takes on water & sinks like a rock…

So it's really important to emphasize this: Nobody is saying it will float like a boat and that that's either a feature, or a good idea, or something that it will do indefinitely.

Instead, it's a performance limiter in wading: It's an extremely bad idea to wade more than the rated depth because you will increasingly risk losing traction to buoyancy, in addition to other risks (like water intrusion into the cabin or other areas). This is the same reason emergency services always tell people not to drive across flooded roads. Even if you don't kill your engine, there's a good chance you will inadvertently lose traction due to buoyancy and current, at which point you float downstream and maybe die.

(Which raises another good reminder - Rivian's "fording" claims assume still water. I guarantee you that if you try to ford even "just" three feet in a strong enough current, you're gonna learn a lot of inconvenient physics really fast.)

 

[jclicky]

So it's really important to emphasize this: Nobody is saying it will float like a boat and that that's either a feature, or a good idea, or something that it will do indefinitely.

Instead, it's a performance limiter in wading: It's an extremely bad idea to wade more than the rated depth because you will increasingly risk losing traction to buoyancy, in addition to other risks (like water intrusion into the cabin or other areas). This is the same reason emergency services always tell people not to drive across flooded roads. Even if you don't kill your engine, there's a good chance you will inadvertently lose traction due to buoyancy and current, at which point you float downstream and maybe die.

(Which raises another good reminder - Rivian's "fording" claims assume still water. I guarantee you that if you try to ford even "just" three feet in a strong enough current, you're gonna learn a lot of inconvenient physics really fast.)

All fair points, I guess it just struck me as a weird way to for anyone to phrase it without the accompanying cautionary context of: you’ll be losing traction at this depth (so thanks for clarifying - that makes sense).

And yes, I don’t see anyone fording any significant bodies of water with any inertia and having a good time.

I was thinking more of the: I’ve seen folks take theirs deep into a placid lake for their boat & was definitely not seeing the kind of buoyancy that belied “watertight & will float like a boat,” - far from it, relatively stable as a rock.

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