We have been waiting with so much anticipation to see the R1S deliveries begin. Signs that the deliveries are soon to begin are coming in daily. They have been sightings of an R1S on a delivery truck herding somewhere along with R1T vehicles also hearing for deliveries.
Rivian dropped the owner’s guide for the R1S which means deliveries are very close and Rivian is completing the final steps before starting deliveries to its first customer R1T vehicles.
Today, we are going to take a look at the owner’s guide for the R1S in detail.
The manual is a treasure trove of information about Rivian’s adventure electric SUV. Not only does it provide information on some features we already knew about, it also details some that are brand new.
We already knew the R1S was going to be accessible by using a Key Card or the mobile app, but there will also be a wearable wristband key. Similar to aftermarket Tesla key rings, all you have to do is tap the wristband on the exterior door handle to unlock the truck.
The manual doesn’t say if the wristband will come standard or be an optional accessory.
Here are some of the interesting things and features we have noticed in the R1S owners manual. We will be looking at features specific to the R1S.
To get the second-row seats out of the way to access the third row, Rivian has placed a switch on the second row which will move the second-row seats and give you access the third-row seats. You can tilt and slide the seat while the switch is pressed. The switch doesn’t work when the car is in the drive. You have to manually manipulate the seats to set them to their original position.
The R1S has 2 climate zones on the inside, 1 on the driver’s side and 1 on the front passenger’s side which can be controlled directly using the buttons at the bottom of the center display for each zone. There are no separate climate control zones for the second and or third rows.
It’s not apparent from the user guide how the second and third-row seats can fold flat as we’ve seen in RJ’s video a few months ago demonstrating a flat surface long enough for a tall person to sleep in it flat while camping.
The R1S also has the camp speaker.
There are three 12 volts outlets on the inside of their R1S. 1 inside the front trunk, 1 under the front center screen, and one in the cargo area.
For full power, Rivian provides two 120 volts outlets. One under the rear center screen and the other in the cargo area. The car’s 120 volts outlet is rated at 1.5 kiloWatt total which is shared between the two outlets depending on use cases.
There is an abundance of USB type c ports in the R1s totaling 8 outlets. Two are located in the front row, 4 in the second row, and two 2 in the third row.
2nd row
The headrests on the driver’s and passenger’s seat, the third row, and the outboarding headrests are fixed and cannot be adjusted but they can be fully removed. However, the center headrest on the second row is adjustable.
A storage drawer is located only under both the driver and front passenger seats. There is no storage under the rear seats like you have in the front. Or like in the R1T.
Prototypes of the R1S had electronic buttons in the cargo area to fold down the third row. Sad to see these are not included. They are now folded down manually with buttons on the seat itself. The electronic button is only available for the second-row seats and are located in the cargo area.
Looking more at the cargo area, we notice that the upper liftgate is powered. You can open/close it using the key fob, phone or from the interior center screen or from a button on the rear liftgate. The liftgate fob button does not allow you to pause its motion as you can with the front trunk fob button. There are lights on the tailgate which illuminate in the dark so that you can see when putting things in the back.
The lower tailgate has an unlock button on it but it is manually opened and closed.
Rivian only offers a compact size spare tire for the R1S, unlike the R1T where there is enough space for a full-sized spare tire. You can order a compact-size spare tire from Rivian at an additional cost or you can obtain one on your own.
The spare tire is stored in a storage area underneath the cargo area. To access it, you Open the liftgate and tailgate. Empty out the rear cargo area and use the handle to lift the floor panel door which will reveal a cargo tray. Remove the cargo tray and there you will find the spare tire.
The R1S like the R1T also has an air compressor which is located differently than on the R1t. The Air compressor Includes the same 20-ft hose, fittings, and adapters as on the R1T. features a quick-disconnect air chuck with a hose that extends to all four wheels. The air compressor hose and accessories are stored in the rear cargo area. These accessories allow you to inflate bicycle tires, inflatable rafts, or other adventure equipment up to 140 psi.
When it comes to the windows of the R1S, we see that the Front row side windows have an acoustic laminate that absorbs solar rays. Rear windows are tempered with a privacy tint. The Fob can be used to lower or raise all windows
Driving modes appear to be the same as R1T. Depending on your mood, road type, and traffic conditions, the Rivian R1S provides you the choice of selecting one of eight driving modes.
The R1T has eight drive modes, four each for on-road and off-road driving—which controls the ride height, suspension stiffness, accelerator pedal, regenerative braking response, stability control, and behavior of the all-wheel-drive system.
- Sport mode is Aimed at on-road performance,
- Off-Road Drift is designed for sliding around in the dirt.
- Off-Road Rally mode is essentially a less-extreme version of Drift mode. It reduces stability control intervention without shutting it off entirely. Other settings match Drift mode.
- Off-Road Rock Crawl for slower and more technical off-road driving.
- Off-Road Auto
- All-Purpose mode is aimed at everyday driving.
- The efficiency-focused Conserve mode makes the R1T front-wheel drive, drops the ride height to its lowest, and turns regenerative braking to its highest.
- Finally, Towing mode uses the standard ride height, stiff suspension, highest level of regenerative braking, and switches back to all-wheel drive.
There is actually mention of a full-size spare that includes a tire pressure monitoring system or TPMS sensor that is automatically synced after 10 minutes of driving. However, it is not currently available in the configurator. The compact spare option does not have a TPMS sensor.
Alexa commands for the R1S don’t appear to be very different from that in the R1T. There is No rear vent control, and no rear liftgate control from Alexa, but you can still update your grocery list.
Wi-Fi Hotspot can be easily activated yourself from your account, however, to deactivate it, you have to call customer support.
These are some of the features we have seen currently available to the R1S after combing through its user manual.
Is there something we missed or got wrong, please let us know in the comments section?
