Kneel Mode
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is it confirmed that it's called "kneel mode"?
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Inthought I heard them call it that in an interview but no reference on their site about the different height names.
They do call it that in this article
Rivian’s electric truck features include air compressor and AC outlets
It has storage compartments galore, plus an extending truck bed.
arstechnica.com
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I had brought this up well over a year ago with a Rivian engineer on the R1S. My concern was, and still is, the lowest the vehicle will move at when at low a speed, e.g. when pulling in or out of a garage. I was told the vehicle would remain in kneel mode at low speeds but he didn't recall at what point/speed the vehicle would rise up to the next ride height. It's not to say this could have changed since then or the engineer was incorrect, so I'm curious how confident are you about this? Could you provide a source where this is stated?
I can't confirm if Rivian is calling lowest height mode "kneel mode" but FWIW the vehicle spec sheet that was floating around back when Rivian revealed their EAVs back in Nov 2018 made reference to "Kneel/Park Ground Clearance." R1T: 200mm (7.9"), R1S: 205mm (8.1").
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This is a double-edged sword.
Some may benefit from reduced ride height to clear low garage doors or other overhead obsticals.
Some may benefit from raised ride height to clear steep driveways.
Ideally, this should be a configurable setting.
2015 Tesla Model S 85D, 2019 Toyota 4Runner TRD OffRoad
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Hopefully they will link it to the GPS like Tesla does where when you manually change the ride height, it allows you to save it such that it automatically goes back to that heigh any time you are at that location.
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Interesting, at OAH = 75.7" that is 6' 4" (R1T) and 72" (R1S), is there really an urban concern with the height in garages and parking structures?
A current F150 is 75.2" - 77.6".
The Chevy/GMC twins are 75.35" - 78.45".
The Ram is 77.4" - 77.7". These four vehicles alone account for 1.35 million units sold in 2020.
I cannot image these owners are having problems with ride height in garages. Seems to me, Rivian is targeting being a truck size between a Mid-size and Full size. That said, the normal height of the R1S should not negatively impact anyone MORE than if you own a current FST.
A current F150 is 75.2" - 77.6".
The Chevy/GMC twins are 75.35" - 78.45".
The Ram is 77.4" - 77.7". These four vehicles alone account for 1.35 million units sold in 2020.
I cannot image these owners are having problems with ride height in garages. Seems to me, Rivian is targeting being a truck size between a Mid-size and Full size. That said, the normal height of the R1S should not negatively impact anyone MORE than if you own a current FST.
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It's not just garage door opening height. Some have garage entrances that are angled enough to in affect cause the height of the vehicle to be higher as it enters/exits the structure causing a clearance concern. And it's not just personal garages or old garages. I once lived many, many years ago in an apartment complex with underground parking. The entrance/exit ramp to the parking garage was only about 30 to 40 feet away from a road so the ramp was quite steep causing clearance issues for some vehicles. I'm sure there are plenty other scenarios out there where vehicle height needs to be taken into consideration.
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Sorry for the late reply everyone.
'Kneel Mode' is what a Rivian rep told me when I asked about why that R1T prototype is sitting so low while parked, and if it's for easier entry/exit. There are also other suspension modes too, Off-Road Mode is another one that raises the R1T.
'Kneel Mode' is what a Rivian rep told me when I asked about why that R1T prototype is sitting so low while parked, and if it's for easier entry/exit. There are also other suspension modes too, Off-Road Mode is another one that raises the R1T.
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Most vehicles with this type of air suspension are easily configurable through the infotainment center's settings. If you can adjust high or low, you can easily adjust to stances that sit in between. There will likely be an eco/aero/hwy driving type setting. Those settings have been available forever in cars & trucks with air, so it's really just a matter of adding the SW config to tell the pumps how much pressure is needed based on the chosen setting. You can likely also program driver settings to the key fobs, so that could include whether or not the car kneels for an individual driver (for example). Pretty much all table stakes for cars and trucks with air
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There's almost 0 chance they won't have at least the following modes pre-configured:
Kneel (Access Height - Lowers when parked to the lowest setting)
Normal (Drive height - raises to optimum aerodynamic height once you exceed 5-10mph)
Offroad (Extra clearance height - Raises to maximum height, usually disabled if you exceed ~30-35mph)
There's really not any reason to have it any more configurable than that. There's not really any scenario you'd want more clearance, but 1" less than your max. If kneel is too low, you stay in normal. Whether the vehicle will auto-kneel would be a configuration option.
Land Rovers have had this for years, and we know Rivian used LR's as one of their benchmarks.
Kneel (Access Height - Lowers when parked to the lowest setting)
Normal (Drive height - raises to optimum aerodynamic height once you exceed 5-10mph)
Offroad (Extra clearance height - Raises to maximum height, usually disabled if you exceed ~30-35mph)
There's really not any reason to have it any more configurable than that. There's not really any scenario you'd want more clearance, but 1" less than your max. If kneel is too low, you stay in normal. Whether the vehicle will auto-kneel would be a configuration option.
Land Rovers have had this for years, and we know Rivian used LR's as one of their benchmarks.
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I believe Eco mode at the very least would do that. I suspect kneel mode is not available beyond low speeds b/c there's little if any suspension travel available at that height.
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Welcome to the forum. Thanks for finding that out.
Which Rivian model and spec did you order?
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In before we see a Rivian R1T with oversized wheels on rubber band thin tires...
Lol. Funny.
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