electruck
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- 2023 Rivian R1S
I'm really still waiting for news on the metal roof....
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I hope the configurator has details on the fixed roof, but am leaning glass at this point. I was concerned with the TX summer heat, but talked to a few local Tesla owner buddies & they told me not to worry about it at all; a couple shared the same concerns prior to ownership, but said it's a complete non-issue.I'm really still waiting for news on the metal roof....
I'm not concerned anymore, but would love to see a real world comaprison. Same exterior & interior colors sitting side by side in direct sun, only difference is roof options, and temp readings in each over a period of time.I wonder if there are some published studies on thermal conductivity for photo-chromatic glass vs steel or aluminum roof? So many variables, but I am starting to not be concerned....
Excited for mondayInteresting. So I wonder, will the panoramic glass be the ONLY roof option initially? Or will the electrochromic be offered as a higher cost option?
I think RJ didn't want the electrochromic roof to be the Rivian equivalent of the Falcon Wing doors on the Model X.Interesting. So I wonder, will the panoramic glass be the ONLY roof option initially? Or will the electrochromic be offered as a higher cost option?
Basically transition lenses style, not bad.I didn't get a screenshot of the chat, but did copy/paste the answer to whether the panoramic glass roof in the Launch was the electrochromic. Here is the answer word for word (bold is my emphasis):
- "It's not electrochromic option at this time, but the transparency does adjust based on sunlight levels!"
I think I like the photochromic option better because the electrochromic on the show vehicles had a blue tint that I wasn't fond of and I prefer the automatic adjustment with light levels (don't know for sure the electrochromic wouldn't do that but I got the impression it was a manual adjustment).I didn't get a screenshot of the chat, but did copy/paste the answer to whether the panoramic glass roof in the Launch was the electrochromic. Here is the answer word for word (bold is my emphasis):
- "It's not electrochromic option at this time, but the transparency does adjust based on sunlight levels!"
I think these are all pretty much non-issues.The Launch edition is pretty close to what we were considering except for the glass roof. I've never owned a glass roof before, so I acknowledge that I don't have direct experience on which to base my unease.
I've done a few searches online, and haven't run across too much information about the pros and cons of a glass roof. Mostly the pros seem to be related to a wow factor, and the cons are glass is heavier -- leading to less range -- and the interior gets hot.
There have been a lot of posts in the past few days, and I may not have read them all; it seems that on this forum too there is mixed experience with a glass roof. Some good, some bad.
Things that give me pause about the glass roof have been expressed in other posts:
Temperature - I live in a place where it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. A lot of insulation works by trapping fixed air between two surfaces because air is a poor thermal conductor. Though I don't know for sure, I think that a typical metal roof has at least something like this because of the metal exterior and fabric interior. A glass roof, on the other hand, isn't like double-paned windows in your house, and so there is a direct conductive path between the exterior and interior surfaces, right? So it seems that alone -- even ignoring the opacity differences -- means that a glass roof means a car will get hotter in summer and colder in winter.
Safety - Although it seems like most roof glass is developed in the same way as windshields (and by that I mean a layer that helps to reduce shards in the event of an impact) it still seems that in an accident there's a greater chance of dangerous debris created by a glass roof compared with a metal roof.
Weight - glass is heavier than a typical metal roof, decreasing range. Right?
Glare - my current car has a sunroof, which I love. But I don't open it when driving during the middle of the day because the sun beating down is distracting.
Cracks/ pits - windshields eventually have to be replaced because of pits, scratches, cracks, etc. While I've replaced a windshield in every car I've owned (not that many, really), I've never had to replace a metal roof. A roof doesn't see the same debris environment that a windshield does, so I can imagine that the timeline for accumulating cracks and pits in a glass roof is longer than a windshield, but is it long enough to be equivalent for a 10-15 yr lifetime of the car? One of the advantages of an EV is the lower maintenance compared with an ICE, and I'd rather not counteract that, at least in part, by having a glass roof that needs to be replaced every few years when a metal roof would last the whole time.
Any experience or pointers to resources on the web on these topics would be much appreciated.
And all of this can be mitigated if the Launch Edition can be had with a metal roof!
From all of my searching this is not possible without use of electrical current. I hope I'm wrong but I believe this is false information. Yes transitional eye glasses can do this but they are a very small piece of glass. Why does Rivian let this debate go so long???I didn't get a screenshot of the chat, but did copy/paste the answer to whether the panoramic glass roof in the Launch was the electrochromic. Here is the answer word for word (bold is my emphasis):
- "It's not electrochromic option at this time, but the transparency does adjust based on sunlight levels!"