[Kkanipe]

I was driving home from a long road trip and hit winter conditions for the first time: blowing snow, icy roads, and freezing temperatures. Here are my observations.

1) the truck reported the front radar was obscured (covered in ice)

2) when the front camera iced over I could no longer use cruise control (wish Rivian would allow a traditional cruise control when adaptive is not available)

3) stopped to charge during the trip and the charge port would not open via touch. I had to open it using the on-screen control.

4) significant range reduction in the cold. Dropped from 2.4 miles per kwh to 1.6, this requiring more charging stops on a long trip.

Anyone else experiencing similar issues with winter weather?
Hi

 

[racekarl]

Not a rivian owner yet, but my experience in my jaguar i-pace is very similar. Range drops by as much as 1/3 in the winter, and ice does sometimes accumulate and block the radar. It also has retractable door handles that can freeze sometimes. So yeah, that all sounds pretty normal and expected.

 

[Northvan2620]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf, range affected by cold for sure, known issue for Ev’s.
by the way, should never use cruise control on snowy icy roads, and turn off regen braking on icy roads as well, won’t be able to control vehicle when starts spinning out or sliding.

 

[Michael]

I was driving home from a long road trip and hit winter conditions for the first time: blowing snow, icy roads, and freezing temperatures. Here are my observations.

1) the truck reported the front radar was obscured (covered in ice)

2) when the front camera iced over I could no longer use cruise control (wish Rivian would allow a traditional cruise control when adaptive is not available)

3) stopped to charge during the trip and the charge port would not open via touch. I had to open it using the on-screen control.

4) significant range reduction in the cold. Dropped from 2.4 miles per kwh to 1.6, this requiring more charging stops on a long trip.

Anyone else experiencing similar issues with winter weather?
Hi

Yes traveling from NC through WV up cold blue ridge mtns. I noticed about 60mi gone from climbing over mountains in 35* degree weather . So when I planned my trip from my home the computer must of thought I was going to be on flat roads with 80 degree weather I ended up being towed and having Rivian service come out and replace the two 12v batteries and costing over 1k!! Be careful to not go based on what it says in your driveway!! It can change real quick! A painful lesson I know now 👍

 

[MilesK]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf, range affected by cold for sure, known issue for Ev’s.
by the way, should never use cruise control on snowy icy roads, and turn off regen braking on icy roads as well, won’t be able to control vehicle when starts spinning out or sliding.

Seconded on the cruise control. I never use it in the winter months. How long have you had the Leaf for @Northvan2620?

 

[Northvan2620]

I’ve had the leaf for 4 years, love it for our daily commuter and children drop off on weekends, the one pedal driving is so nice, I can drive whistler to vancouver no problem without charging, but vancouver to whistler requires a significant charge in squamish. when test driving the rivian this weekend in Vancouver was blown away by the luxuriousness of it and the build quality, funny thing is, although the nissan battery test shows still have 12 bars of 12 bars battery health, it sure seems to lose quite a bit of range in the winter months, even though it’s not really that cold in vancouver. But all leaf forums and testing show battery quite affected by cold, hopefully my oct- dec 2023 R1S (expected delivery) won’t be as affected by that, my leaf has the 30 kWh pack..

 

[ColeAK]

Don’t have a Rivian yet but on my 9th winter in Alaska with 2 different teslas (S then 3).

Regen low/off is a must, when I put my winter tires on in early October I switch regen to low and acceleration to chill and leave it that way until I switch back to all seasons usually mid May.

Winter and range. EVs energy usage (Wh/mi be mpg) are more effected by external forces: headwind, rain, snow,…. And they don’t have the wasted heat of an ICE so must use their propulsion energy stores to heat the cabin. My experiences. With my ICEs vs EVs the EVs never feel nice and warm I side, probably because the ICEs have a massive high mass block of heated steel…. I keep the heat set to 62F and don’t go higher then 65F. My wife will set it at 67-70F and it has a huge impact on range. Short trips, traffic, slower speeds get much less efficient in the cold due to the time with the heat running. My LR model 3 is rated to 250 Wh/mi, Around town in the summer I easily get 225 Wh/mi, winter clear day, temps in the teens F I get more like 340-350wh/mi. Longer trips, on a clear day dry roads temps in the teens running 55mph heat set to 62F I’ll get 275 Wh/mi. For temperature Overall I don’t notice what I could consider a big drop in effect until it gets to the single digits F, in the -20’sF I’m lucky to get half.

snow, fresh loose snow impacts range at least as much as cold temps. We had a day late September this fall, 4” of high moisture snow, my range was cut by half. Worst day of the year temps in the single digits, 6-12+” of fresh loose snow I easily see a 60-70% reduction in range. I have a dozen or so days a winter when I use ~65-70% of my battery to go my typical ~45-50 mile day so a 60-70% range reduction.
I drive very conservative in the winter (rarely get >55mph)and set the heat fairly low but All that said after data from 8 full winters my average “winter” that is October to May, range reduction is 30%. Given the rivian is somewhat less efficient (higher “rated” Wh/mi) then my S or 3 I would expect the Rivian to take a little less of a hit, probably more like 25-30% given the similar conditions and habits as I have.

 

[Wedgeshot72]

I was driving home from a long road trip and hit winter conditions for the first time: blowing snow, icy roads, and freezing temperatures. Here are my observations.

1) the truck reported the front radar was obscured (covered in ice)

2) when the front camera iced over I could no longer use cruise control (wish Rivian would allow a traditional cruise control when adaptive is not available)

3) stopped to charge during the trip and the charge port would not open via touch. I had to open it using the on-screen control.

4) significant range reduction in the cold. Dropped from 2.4 miles per kwh to 1.6, this requiring more charging stops on a long trip.

Anyone else experiencing similar issues with winter weather?
Hi

I drove a typical 160 mile highway trip from our main house to our cottage with a full charge(300 miles - used all purpose in the snow) last weekend in the cold. Had significant headwind the entire trip and arrived with 50 miles of charge remaining. Drove the same trip home in the same cold with a tail wind and don’t have the exact numbers(guessing about 210 miles of charge), but significantly less charge used. Wind was a huge factor. But the cold definitely had an impact as well, as I normally only expend about 180 miles of charge in conserve mode for the 160 mile Trip in the summer.

 

[Adam R1T LE]

I was driving home from a long road trip and hit winter conditions for the first time: blowing snow, icy roads, and freezing temperatures. Here are my observations.

1) the truck reported the front radar was obscured (covered in ice)

2) when the front camera iced over I could no longer use cruise control (wish Rivian would allow a traditional cruise control when adaptive is not available)

3) stopped to charge during the trip and the charge port would not open via touch. I had to open it using the on-screen control.

4) significant range reduction in the cold. Dropped from 2.4 miles per kwh to 1.6, this requiring more charging stops on a long trip.

Anyone else experiencing similar issues with winter weather?
Hi

1) same. radar error, no cruise, it cleared itself when I got out of the weather
2) cameras all got dirty with road slush … crazy to build an off-road vehicle in 2018 and not have cameras washers, just a pathetic lack of attention to detail
3) I've used the charge port by hand in freezing conditions, covered in snow overnight, no problem
4) definitely significant range reduction. I was "tricking" the R1T into warming itself by charging for 1-2 hours prior to driving and having the cabin heat on.

Other issues were mainly poor traction from the 20 inch tires and poor performance of the stability and traction control software.
The wipers come on even with the driver's door open, sending a windshield full of snow into the cabin … another pathetic failure in the detail design effort.
Wipers froze solid, so those need to be replaced with silicone 'winter' blades, but they didn't stick to the windshield and the fluid didn't free. I'll still replace it with -32ºF washer fluid as it runs down.
Tailgate froze shut, but easy enough to break free
The tunnel doors don't open enough for gloved fingers there's no apparent way melting snow is meant to drain out of the tunnel (need to investigate drainage.)
The door handles didn't freeze, though they did need to be bumped with a gloved hand to break off the ice.
The snow over the window forms a break above the door, so it's easy to clean off before it drops into the car
Remember to turn off "power frunk" so the hood isn't attempting to lift a lot of snow (and dump it all into the frunk.)

 

[Northvan2620]

Very interesting comments, thanks so much for everyones thoughtful inputs. I have read comments about tires as well, I keep switching from the stock 21 inch (best range) to the 20 inch AT for better winter grip, but think maybe the best idea is to buy proper 21 inch winter tires and switch them out each winter. Any thoughts? The only connection to the slippery winter roads is the tires. Winter driving is a issue for EVs.

 

[RITVT]

With SW, I'm betting Rivian could easily implement a one-touch, "set it and forget it" drive mode setting to enable "Winter HWY Driving". This would alter traction characteristics, reduce throttle sensitivity, alter or disable cruise / driver + and force low regen (among other settings). Sure, drifting around a snow covered lake or test track is awesome for marketing, but winter driving for most people involves variable road conditions on a narrow strip that goes from ice, to snow to pavement (at speed, in traffic) requiring much more caution - at least here in the Northeast.

 

[racekarl]

Very interesting comments, thanks so much for everyones thoughtful inputs. I have read comments about tires as well, I keep switching from the stock 21 inch (best range) to the 20 inch AT for better winter grip, but think maybe the best idea is to buy proper 21 inch winter tires and switch them out each winter. Any thoughts? The only connection to the slippery winter roads is the tires. Winter driving is a issue for EVs.

Yes, if your main reason for wanting the 20" AT tires is winter traction you will be better off with real "3 peak mountain snowflake" rated dedicated winter tires.

 

[ColeAK]

Yes, if your main reason for wanting the 20" AT tires is winter traction you will be better off with real "3 peak mountain snowflake" rated dedicated winter tires.

Just a heads up. 3 peak does not equal dedicated winter tire. For example the KO2’s I run was my summer tire are 3PMS rated and they suck on winter roads.

per tire rack.https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

[vetmann]

Yes, if your main reason for wanting the 20" AT tires is winter traction you will be better off with real "3 peak mountain snowflake" rated dedicated winter tires.

I am scheduled for delivery this weekend. The only mention of snow driving is drift mode. What is the recommended setting for driving in snow. Probably plowed roads with snow patches they maybe a ling steep unplowed driveway. Thanks

 

[Adam R1T LE]

I am scheduled for delivery this weekend. The only mention of snow driving is drift mode. What is the recommended setting for driving in snow. Probably plowed roads with snow patches they maybe a ling steep unplowed driveway. Thanks

For the driveway, I use off-road->rock-crawl and reduced regen.
I'd suggest buying autosocks.
For the snow driving, I use all-terrain and make sure the tires are up to 48 psi (cold weather had the tires on mine drop to 40 psi.)

 

[vetmann]

For the driveway, I use off-road->rock-crawl and reduced regen.
I'd suggest buying autosocks.
For the snow driving, I use all-terrain and make sure the tires are up to 48 psi (cold weather had the tires on mine drop to 40 psi.)

Thanks. Good advice. I just found out that my insurance broker dated my insurance card to end on November 17, 2022 instead of 2023 and of course they’re closed for the long weekend so I am not getting the car Saturday much to my great great disappointment.

 

[Adam R1T LE]

Thanks. Good advice. I just found out that my insurance broker dated my insurance card to end on November 17, 2022 instead of 2023 and of course they’re closed for the long weekend so I am not getting the car Saturday much to my great great disappointment.

That's a rough deal with the insurer. I can understand the broker being out of office, but surely the insurer has online support. If not, I'd suggest getting any online coverage just to have the piece of paper to satisfy the purchase process. Good luck.

 

[Tom2421]

I had the indented buttons for the tailgate, tonneau cover and storage are ice uo because they are concave and pool water.

 

[Louisdeg]

We had some sleet a few days ago and when I opened my tonneau I watched from the right side as the sleet collected into a pile and plopped into the bed when the cover disappeared- a passenger side set of bed buttons would have been useful to stop it at the last minute. Luckily the tools at the back of the bed are not affected by water. Snow mode works great, it arrived one week before the 24 hour snow gun frosted Martha’s Vineyard for Christmas and left the rest of Mass dry. One freezing snow day the charge port failed to open for three tries but eventually did. I bought a Makita heat gun that runs off my18v tool batteries that I will keep inside the cab… hopefully the door handles won’t freeze. I melted the finish off a door handle on my Tundra a few years ago (110v gun) so patients and low power are recommended. I’m logging my winter drives (estimated range vs trip meter) and finding a 30-40% discrepancy. I have a 250 mile drive coming up and I’m working with ChargeHub to find superchargers with that loss in mind. My wife has enough range anxiety for both of us but the NE corridor/I95 has a collection of superchargers in/around New Haven so I think I’m going to be OK starting with 100%. I will be parking for a month in Feb in NJ and my guide recommended shipping mode and not opening the app to check the charge while I’m away. Keep posting folks- it’s nice there are so many of us here now who are relaying useful info/experience to help with the transition from petroleum to electrons.

 

[RITVT]

There are no issues traveling from North To South (from BOS to DC or beyond for example). There are numerous gas stations with DCFC and plenty of Walmarts along that route with EA stations. The Rivian SW for Nav and battery prep combine well along the entire corridor to provide plenty of options, and help with efficient travel stops. The issues are all traveling anywhere NORTH of the Chelsea Service Center in BOS. There is hyper-limited DCFC along I-95, I-90, and I-89 to the North.

That means that you may not be able to accomplish an activity AND charge AND return in any reasonable time-frame. If you are going to be parking somewhere at your destination with a L2, you will be fine. You just won't find a ton of those options. Lots of planning is required for "adventure travel" in Maine, NH and VT. The Northeast is a big vacuous hole on the Rivian RAN map. Rivian has no network in New England, and the map does not indicate plans for anything coming soon. It's surprising given the sheer number of Rivians delivered in the Northeast.