Sunroof Shade Option

[Horseytime]

We can only hope. I brought a roll of reflectix and cut it to size. There's quite a bit of room and the roof lining appears to be held by magnets, very easy to tuck in all the edges. I admit, its a bit low brow, yet its doing the job quite well. I'll end up doing the ceramic(?) eventually as well and front windshield and front sides for heat reduction. I had the tesla model 3 sunshades and loved them.

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[SoCalTravels]

We just had to replace our front windshield after a crack on our current vehicle. While researching glass options I discovered one of the biggest OEM glass companies offers a gradient tinting window product.

It appears to be the same process as replacing the front windshield. Wonder how long till they have an option for Rivian and what the cost would be….

https://www.pilkington.com/en/global/automotive-international/pilkington-sundym-select

Pilkington Sundym Select

 

[SoCalTravels]

We just had to replace our front windshield after a crack on our current vehicle. While researching glass options I discovered one of the biggest OEM glass companies offers a gradient tinting window product.

It appears to be the same process as replacing the front windshield. Wonder how long till they have an option for Rivian and what the cost would be….

https://www.pilkington.com/en/global/automotive-international/pilkington-sundym-select

Pilkington Sundym Select

This company appears to have developed products for very specific vehicles. In the $3,000 - $5,000 range. Wonder if they could develop a roof for Rivian owners who want a replacement.

https://www.eatglass.com/order.html

 

[Khaneric]

There's quite a bit of room and the roof lining appears to be held by magnets

Is this confirmed cause if so that would make things a lot easier

 

[C.R. Rivian]

I ordered for both the windshield and the roof. The windshield reflector is phenomenal and fits PERFECTLY.

The roof, however, is really ugly and hard to get aligned. From the inside the back is glossy black (or white, depending on what you select) with a bunch of plastic fasteners that keep it affixed to the suction cups. Also, even though it works well, I feel most heat from the windshield pouring in over my legs and waist and I'm not sure what to do about that. I've never felt so much heat through the windshield in any other vehicle and I'm not sure why.Ultimately I feel like this is a temporary solution until there's a more aesthetically pleasing one. Maybe some sort of sheer fabric insert. The roof doesn't need much, what with the tint and all. Just... something more.

Pros:
- effective

Cons:
- hideous
- hard to install
- makes you realize how much IR heat you feel from the windshield as opposed to the roof

The front windows have little tint...guess we are supposed to enjoy the colors of the natural world untinted...tint can help with the heat. Not a priority were I am now, but when I lived in California's central valley (nature's solar oven), would have been a 1st priority...

 

[cjbot3000]

Update:
The suction cups keep failing and wind from having the windows open caused the whole thing to come down on my head.

Not a recommended solution...

Update 2:

I reached out to heat Shields and they sent me updated suction cups that are larger and more sturdy. So far, so good. It's only been a day but it seems to be significantly more cemented in place.

 

[Tonicart]

In case anyone was wondering what the Heatshield with white interior looks like... Not crazy about the aesthetics, but hoping it keeps the cabin cooler during the summer months. Store it in the gear tunnel when it's cooler. Wish it came with something more sturdy to remove the suction cups (a full ring instead of a hook?).

 

[Aag12]

I got this installed on Friday, and it was well worth the investment. Install took about an hour working alone. I highly recommend having help though. It gives the glass a bit of a blue tint, but it's not objectionable since the sky tends to be blue. There is a very small amount of distortion, but that's likely due to me installing it alone.

It definitely cuts down on the IR coming through the glass. Driving in the blazing Colorado sun I did not feel the heat on my head like I did before. After being parked in the sun for several hours on a 90 degree day, the glass was still quite hot to the touch, but the interior was only a couple of degrees higher than ambient. I think the hot glass was due more to conduction from the metal parts of the roof. It should also provide some impact resistance, and should not have the shattering concern that has sometimes been mentioned as a potential with film on the inside.

Did you need to cut the ppf to size or is the ppf smaller than the roof? I'm not sure what the dimensions of the roof are, but wondering what to expect if I did the same.

 

[kneebuster]

Did you need to cut the ppf to size or is the ppf smaller than the roof? I'm not sure what the dimensions of the roof are, but wondering what to expect if I did the same.

The piece I got was bigger than the glass. I installed it, and the gap between the glass and metal roof made trimming easy as could be.

 

[photontorque]

This is a really interesting thread.

I’m also thinking about what a glass roof will do to interior temperatures during both summer and winter.

I’ve never added tint or ppf to a vehicle, so all these options are new territory for me, and apologies in advance for the noob stumbling.

I was starting to think about the pros and cons of an exterior tint vs. an interior ppf, and maybe started to overthink the potential differences between transmission, absorption, and reflection through the glass itself and whatever layer gets added.

Where I got so far –

Tint applied to exterior surface:

Pros – immediately cuts down on transmission of sunlight into vehicle, so (I think) might be the most efficient for blocking total transmission given whatever layer of stuff one might add. Also, maybe easier to apply to exterior than interior (just thinking about body maneuverability outside vs. inside the vehicle). If ppf, then the layer also can protect against minor scratches/impacts.

Cons - the accumulation of exterior wear could mean the layer has to be replaced sooner?


Tint applied to the interior surface:

Pros – could last a long time without direct exposure to physical wear and tear on vehicle exterior.

Cons – less efficient at blocking light. (My logic here is that at every interface light can either be reflected or transmitted. If the tint is applied at the surface, then at the very top of the window “stack” the tint layer cuts down on the total light that gets passed through to subsequent layers in the stack. Whereas if the tint is at the bottom of the stack, light has > 1 chance to get through this layer, because if it is reflected from the tint back out, there is still a chance a photon could be reflected back in by an interface between the tint and the exterior of the car, and get through the tint on the second try. Granted this is probably the case for a small number of total photons, so maybe it doesn’t matter?) Also, maybe this configuration contributes a little more to radiant heating, because any absorption and reradiation that happens in the added layer is now actually inside the car vs. on the exterior – but again, maybe this is a small enough percentage not to make a difference.

My noob logic, as outlined above, is making me think I should go for tints on the exterior surfaces vs. interior surfaces.

But one question I have is about the potential effects of new applications over an uneven residual layer of a previous application. In the case of ppf I guess this is straight forward – “just” peel off the old and add the new. But in the case of a ceramic coating, is there a way to clean off the old stuff before adding a new layer? Or is adding new layers over old a non-issue?

@kneebuster sounds like he knows what he’s doing, and added ppf as an interior layer, so I feel like I’m missing something.

This is already long enough and I haven’t touched on winter, so I’ll save that for later. Any feedback on what I’m missing, or experiences adding multiple coats over the lifetime of a vehicle, would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[cjbot3000]

In case anyone was wondering what the Heatshield with white interior looks like... Not crazy about the aesthetics, but hoping it keeps the cabin cooler during the summer months. Store it in the gear tunnel when it's cooler. Wish it came with something more sturdy to remove the suction cups (a full ring instead of a hook?).

I like the white better. I thought the black would be better on the black interior, but the white breaks it up. Besides, my exterior is cocaine white so the white heatshield might play off the exterior color and bring it inside.

 

[DJG]

In case anyone was wondering what the Heatshield with white interior looks like... Not crazy about the aesthetics, but hoping it keeps the cabin cooler during the summer months. Store it in the gear tunnel when it's cooler. Wish it came with something more sturdy to remove the suction cups (a full ring instead of a hook?).

I bought one too bc I thought I felt "hot spots" near the roof. As it turns out, I just didn't have my vents calibrated properly. Once I did that, I haven't felt it since. This has just sat in the frunk, though I did use it once as a makeshift windshield shade.

I'm convinced the roof is a non-issue once you configure the vents properly. My ceramic tinted windshield still lets it infinitely more heat than the roof (rated to block 88% of IR). One only has to feel the top of the dash vs. the top of the headrests to tell a clear difference. Heat doesn't penetrate the glass roof, it just heats it up.

In fact, I happened to park next to a tree around noon yesterday, which shaded only the windshield but not the roof. It was in the mid 90's outside. After lunch about 45 minutes later the interior was only 85 degrees. Without shade on the windshield that would be long enough to get it up to 100+.

I've driven numerous times in the middle of the afternoon in 100-105 degree, clear sky weather (TX) and haven't felt heat from the roof at all. Tinting the front windows and windshield, however, made a huge difference and the fans run at 1-2 speeds lower now with improved comfort (and reduced noise).

I'd suggest people start with a) tint and b) windshield shade and see how that works first. I certainly don't think the roof needs anything while driving (unless the light/glare is your issue) and is debatable even when parked. It's not zero effect, especially with enough time, I just don't think it's much.

 

[Tonicart]

Maybe it's because I don't have much hair up top, but I can feel the sun's heat on the top of my head. Plus knowing that the sunroof glass is hot and radiating heat into the cabin just somehow makes it worse.

On a side note, tried using the windshield defrost this morning; could not get it to blow warm air. Set to 80*F. I'm used to being able to run the AC compressor with heat to dry out the air...

 

[yizzung]

For all those who have added tint or plan to, any clue about what tint comes standard from the factory?

The roof is it’s own animal but curious to know if anyone has a clue about the tint on the rear windows? Are people removing that tint and replacing it when they tint the front windows or leaving as-is? If leaving as-is, do we know if it’s high-quality ceramic tint?

My primary interest is keeping dogs cool in the back. Seems that it would defeat the purpose to tint the front windows and (maybe) the windshield if the factory tint doesn’t do heat deflection… how would we know?

 

[kneebuster]

For all those who have added tint or plan to, any clue about what tint comes standard from the factory?

The roof is it’s own animal but curious to know if anyone has a clue about the tint on the rear windows? Are people removing that tint and replacing it when they tint the front windows or leaving as-is? If leaving as-is, do we know if it’s high-quality ceramic tint?

My primary interest is keeping dogs cool in the back. Seems that it would defeat the purpose to tint the front windows and (maybe) the windshield if the factory tint doesn’t do heat deflection… how would we know?

The factory tint is in the glass and can't be removed. You can add another tint like normal. I added 3m 90% ceramic to the rear 3 windows to make them darker and help keep the cab cooler. I also put 25% on the front door windows, 70% on the windshield, and 70% on the roof (PPF on the outside surface). The combo makes a massive difference.

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