r/Rivian

Road trips to Yellowstone seem to be quite stressful and require a lot of pre planning. We drove up from San Jose, CA and everything went mostly well until we reached Nevada. It got worse when we arrived in Idaho. Twin Falls has exactly ONE ChargePoint dc charger outside of a GM dealership. Near Yellowstone West, there’s really nothing. One incompatible Tesla SC that we can’t use. The maps don’t know about some Enel-X chargers which mostly work but are far and few between.
The folks in charge of the network aspects of the RAN should look into getting these popular spots connected. I had to run my battery down to ~6% several times. Kind of annoying.

Now, based on the subreddit, I think I can guess how this will go. But as someone who loves Rivian and really wants to get the R2, I struggle to justify the $10,000 extra for my ideal R2 Premium config over the IONIQ 5 Limited AWD.

I’m curious what people think about these two vehicles and I’ll bullet off a few of my thoughts in the comparison. And to be clear, I like the R2 more. I just don’t know if I like it 10 grand more.

Rivian R2 Advantages
- Design (though I don’t dislike the IONIQ’s styling)
- Cargo Storage
- UI (Hyundai is set to adopt CarPlay Ultra for future models so likely to not be a factor long term)
- LiDAR + RAP1 on future models
- Car Camping Experience

Hyundai IONIQ 5 Advantages
- Roadtripping/Charging
- Cost

I don’t particularly care for or against the rear drop window to be honest. I’m not sure how much I would actually end up using it.

Again, I’m really trying to figure out how to justify the $10k gap and I’m struggling to close it. Thanks.

I recall when the Tesla chargers first became available for use with Rivian, it was only the chargers owned by Tesla (the nav tells you which ones they are). That left a lot of superchargers unavailable.

Recently saw discussion that you could subscribe monthly to Tesla and get all of the chargers? At least that was what I gathered.

Does anyone know what I’m talking about, lol? Any clarification is much appreciated!

I see a lot of these listed on OfferUp.

Anyone know if the R2 has any underbody protection? I’d assume the battery has a plate but wondering about any other part of the underbody like front or rear skid plates. I’m also assuming since Rivian hasn’t advertised it it probably doesn’t.

I just reserved a R2 Premium. I heard the existing roof tint is effective against UV light (that causes sunburn), but not IR light (that heats the interior cabin). Is this true? If so, is it worth getting an extra tint to help with IR light and what % do you recommend?

Full disclosure: I was already all-in on the R2 before my demo drive, so I expected to like it. I didn’t expect to come away loving it even more.

We drove it, rode as passengers, played with everything we could, and by the end my wife and I were both grinning like kids. Our current lease doesn’t end until March 2027, and our R2 invite window is Dec. 2026–Feb. 2027. The original plan was to wait until the lease was up. After today? We’re both trying to figure out how to make the timing work so we can get the R2 sooner.

A few things that stood out:

**Sound system:** I know there have been plenty of complaints, but it sounded great to us. Our current vehicle has a Bose system, so it’s not like we’re coming from a bad setup. Maybe I’m not enough of an audiophile- I mostly listen to ’80s music - but I honestly have zero complaints.

**Haptic steering wheel controls:** Based on Reddit, I was expecting to dislike these. Instead, they were intuitive and worked exactly as I expected. I kept waiting for the frustration everyone talks about, and it never came. I really don’t relate to the criticism after using them.

**Glass roof heat:** I live in the Dallas area, and today it was 103°F. If there were ever a day to test the glass roof, this was it. I was already planning to get ceramic tint because of everything I’d read. Honestly, I barely noticed any radiant heat from the roof. Maybe the tint will still happen, but after today it doesn’t feel nearly as necessary as I expected.

**Acceleration:** Everyone says the launch is insane, and they’re right. It absolutely pins you back in the seat. It’s ridiculous in the best possible way.
For context, my wife and I are both 55. We left feeling like two teenagers who had just discovered their dream car. The funniest moment was when my wife—who has never had any interest in camping—started asking the Rivian rep about the rooftop tent accessory. I just laughed. Apparently the R2 has us both imagining adventures we never even considered before.

Obviously this was a short demo drive, so I’m not claiming it’s perfect or that long-term ownership won’t have its quirks. But as a first impression? It exceeded my already high expectations in almost every way.

I can’t wait to own one.