Update (October 9, 2026 at 11:44 AM ET): I want to clarify the R2 change, since a few owners have read it as Rivian dropping ventilated seats entirely, and that isn’t what happened. R2 still has ventilated front seats, but each seat now uses one blower fan instead of the two it had before, so you’ll get cooling air through the bottom cushion while the backrest no longer has its own ventilation. Seat heating is unchanged.
Update (October 7, 2026 at 10:15 PM ET): Rivian got back to me and confirmed the change. According to Rivian, R2’s ventilated seats are designed to push air through the seat cushion, where occupants hold the most heat, and the company told me that “because the seat back ventilation generated excessive cabin noise, we streamlined the system.” Rivian also confirmed R2 seat heating is unchanged, so I’ll be paying attention to whether my next R2 feels any quieter in the cabin once it arrives.
Rivian R2s built from around VIN 10,000 onward are shipping with front seat ventilation in the bottom cushion only, with the backrest fan removed from both the driver and passenger seats. Earlier R2s, including mine, have two fans per seat, one in the cushion and one in the backrest.
Owners started flagging the change on Rivian Forums, where the thread starter shared a Reddit comment from someone claiming to be a Rivian technician. According to that comment, the cutoff lands somewhere between VIN 9,800 and 10,000, the fan connector is still in the seat, and Rivian won’t retrofit the backrest fan on newer vehicles.
I reached out to Rivian directly and haven’t heard back, but I did speak with a confirmed R2 technician who told me the change is true. No reason was given, and if I had to guess, I’d say it comes down to cost reduction.
This one stings a bit for me. Ventilated seats have been one of my favorite R2 features since my first drive in Park City earlier this year, and when I picked up my R2 in Normal I used them every chance I got, especially with how much of the cooling you feel through your back.
Rivian is swapping my current R2 and I’m getting into another one, which means my next VIN will almost certainly land well past 10,000 and come with cushion-only ventilation. As a Florida man, I’ll miss this the most and I’m quite upset about it.
So if you’re taking delivery of a newer R2 and the ventilation doesn’t feel as strong as it did on your demo drive, your seat is most likely working exactly as built. Heated seats use their own heating elements throughout the seat, separate from these fans.
I’ll update this post as soon as Rivian gets back to me.
That is going to certainly put a sour taste in many people. That’s a basic feature on vehicles half that price.
Ventilated seats in a sub $30k car? Where?
Off the top of my head, the Hyundai Kona comes with ventilated seats on the Limited trim, which retails for $34K, but average selling price is closer to $31K. You an also get ventilated seats on the Kia K4 GT-Line trim, which is about $27K. You can also get ventilated seats in the Hyundai Elantra around the $30K price point. Ford Mustang also has it around the $35K price point, I think.
It might not be super common, but it is available in a decent number of $30K-$40K cars. The bigger issue is that Rivian is reducing the functionality of the feature in the R2, but the price isn’t changing for consumers.
So it is not really the feature reduction that bothers you; it is the fact that the price hasn’t changed. The price of those fans is a few bucks, which would not change the price of the vehicle. However, a Rivian will give you years of software updates that none of the other vehicles you mentioned will. All for the same price.
Yes the part may have only cost Rivian 4 bucks, but the value of the car for some people may be reduced. The car removed something that is very common in other cars…ventilated seats in both the bottom and back of the seat. Instead of them changing fans or maybe slowing the speed of the fan down to reduce noise, they just removed it completely. It’s a total cop out. Laziness
I also don’t appreciate that I’ve had to learn about this update through carand driver who learned it from bloggers. Rivian was never going to release this info publicly. It just feels scammish.
The less than $39K KIA EV3 also has ventilated seats. Holding on to my reservation until they fix this. Open roof with no shade, plastic seats in Florida weather and a weak seat ventilation system. So much for the luxury outdoors oriented company. This is a legacy automaker move. Charge me extra and give me the R1 vented seats. Come on Rivian!
My VIN is in the 11000s and I’m cold in it even at 70 for the temp. The seats cool VERY well along with the entire cabin so honestly I think this is a non-issue. And the car is so quiet I wish I could live in it (with 2 boys in my house sometimes i just go for a 20 minute spin to hear the silence or half of an album I love. ) It’s truly my favorite car ever owned. Couldn’t be happier with it!!!
Yes that’s amazing you have a temperature neutral body that seems to get cold easily. I would recommend maybe expanding your perception and empathize with those who may be more hot natured or sweats very easily…especially on the back.
Jose, do you think Rivian will get back with you and confirm this? That sucks, I know a great deal of people have complained about the noise, but no one complained about the performance. I thought they were the best cooled seats since I first experienced cooled seats in a rented Cadilliac in the mid 00s.
I hope they get back to me with any information.
how do you check if your r2 has a ventilated back seat
Depends on your VIN but also how loud it sounds when you turn on the ventilated seat on high.
This is a bs scammy move that they are going to deal with a lot of blow back on (no pun intended). And it will be deserved. They need to remedy this by offering to add the fans as a retrofit for those who want them.
We pick up our R2 tomorrow with a 9100 range vin. So if its 9800-10k we should have both then. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
Let me know and congrats!
Confirmed! We for sure have it. We didnt find it all that noisy at all. We twisted around and I heard some noise change, but my wifes old 2019 Mercedes was for sure noiser!
I own VIN 93xx and indo not have back vents.
You don’t think it could be a response to the complaints about how loud they were?
I’d rather have loud fans over a sweaty back.
They’re not installing the seatback fans because, according to a SC tech I just spoke with, the fan can hit the plastic cover on the rear of the seatback when the occupant pushes back into the seat, causing an annoying popping sound. It sounds like there’s basically not enough room in the seatback for the fan as-designed.
I learned this after taking my R2 in for this popping sound. They were able to improve it a bit, but gave me the option of leaving it as is, or having the fan removed.
Thanks for sharing this, quite the interesting situation they have created here.
a solution would be fixing it. this is just blatant removing the feature entirely
I noticed this on a test drive this weekend. Any time we floored it and pushed into the seat back, it would make a loud pop. Made the car feel really cheap. If that’s why they took it out, then it makes sense for now. I agree it would be better that they just say they are re-designing the fan and will retrofit later but maybe they don’t want to promise something they can’t deliver on.
Is the popping you heard continuous popping while the fan is running or just a single pop?
It’s a single pop, but can occur every time you do it.
I always felt like the seat fans were freakishly loud, so if I get vented seats but they aren’t as loud that might be a win. Even if its at the cost of less of the seat being ventilated. But kind of sketchy to make that change and not mention it anywhere.
The loudness never bothered me because my bum and back were nice and cold 🙂
Exactly! RJ is from Florida, so he should understand. I live in Arizona and this is an important feature. The butt fan will not be sufficient by itself. Compared to the butt, the back has far more area in contact with the seat and thus sweats way more. Rivian needs to announce that a redesigned seatback fan will be installed in time for next summer!
I’ve got a 10xxx vin without the back fans. The seat cushion fans are still loud AND you don’t get the back ventilation.
Did you attempt to turn the fan speed down to level 2 and then evaluate the noise level?
Incredibly disappointed if this is true – there should have been an announcement or indicator that the product you’re purchasing has substantially changed.
Wildly poor and deceptive decision from Rivian leadership.
Just got off the phone with Rivian sales and they confirmed that new deliveries of the R2 will not have seatback fans. No explanation was provided, and I was told there are no plans to address the issue at this time.
I brought up this issue with my sales rep and have also contacted the Rivian sales email as well. I suppose they’ll give me the same explanation but the more people that are notified of this issue, the higher the potential for a redesign? I am surprised they are using noise as an excuse for its removal since the seats in my Toyota bZ are not any quieter. Would’ve retained more customer goodwill if they had since said it was a supply chain issue but they’ll put it back in once they get stock.
Update from my sales rep: They are only hearing about it now and since they’re on the bottom of the food chain, they also have no idea about what a tentative or future solution might be.
Could it be like a gen 1 subframe where they retrofit a better version? Sure but who knows if they’ll do it.
Exactly.
I also thought about how the ventilation will be quieter now, which many people complained about. Careful what you wish for!
From what someone said a few comments up from yours, it seems that the ventilation is just as loud and the only change is you get a sweaty back now.
I’m going on week 5 of waiting for a VIN but I will be rejecting any delivery until Rivian remediates the issue. Very disappointed coming from a Gen 1 R1T owner.
I have a VIN (11xxx) and delivery date (next week), but I’ve put that on hold until this is figured out
Mine is 10,0XX and I have both fans in my seats
Lower seat cushion and backrest?
Yes setback & bottom, hopefully they don’t turn off the backrest fan in a software update!
This is now what I’m worried about. We have VIN 96XX and I’m pretty sure we have them.
I’m 100XX and do not.
No biggie. They can’t get the parts, the seat is still ventilated.
If the couldnt get the screens or the wiper motors or the headlights would that be ok this is bullshit. And they know it.
I have a 103XX VIN and do not have them. I don’t think the cars are necessarily built in perfect order, but it’s probably a change that was implemented at a specific point in time and that affected all cars built after that.
So it’s possible that VIN 10029 could lack the fans, while VIN 10048 has them, if the latter was built first.
Nuts. I loved it on my test drive. That was the one thing I was looking forward to, and it would be my first car with that feature. I’m picking it up next week. I’m in the mid 12k vin series.
I am disappointed in this change and the fact they have no resolution…just accept it, too bad. Hope Rivian is not getting arrogant and treating customer poorly already. So many things can derail a company and customer service is one of those.
I came here to post the same. I was very impressed by the seat ventilation during the test drive and I was looking forward to this with purchase.
If there is a popping issue when the user leans back, I don’t know how they could fix that without a redesign. It might even be a safety or at least a reliability issue. That sounds more likely than a cost cutting issue.
Yeah, I don’t see an easy fix for that without redesigning the seat.
Just have a contest and give out an R2 to the winning design which solves this issue. I’d be glad to let them use my R2 and push me back far enough to enjoy the new solution… and get a discount for coming up with the idea that comes up with the idea.
Maybe needs a thinner fan, but maybe no factory makes them thin enough? Do you hold back deliveries until a factory retools to make them?
Wow, not notifying customers of this change or offering a future fix is really bad business. I’m taking this as a clear sign that I’m better off losing my $500 deposit than going through with my order. I’ll save 60k plus interest and can buy a depreciated version if I change my mind later.
I am just excited to have just gotten my VIN today that any news will not lessen my excitement 😀🎉
Congrats! Glad to see some positive thoughts on this post.
Super frustrated to read this but grateful for you Jose, keeping us all informed through your various forms of content.
They were hesitant to share too many details over the phone but I could sense the disappointment in themselves as a brand based on their own tone.
Really hope they turn things around!
As a prospective buyer, this would no joke kill my order. My back is the only part of my body that really gets hot while driving in Phoenix and the fans in my demo unit absolutely solved that issue. Excluding them would be a deal-breaker for me.
Agree 100%
That’s fine, they don’t need your order
Ah darn I loved the full ventilated seats and it was actually a stand out feature for me.. o hope the can do a minor redesign so it can get fully back into the vehicle 🙂
This is just silly…the back ventilation is more useful than the bottom ventilation.
10,3XX and I have seat back fans.
I read in another forum that the change happened around 9/1 which actually lines up with my situation. My 87XX does not have the seatback fan. Ordered 9/1, car manufactured 9/8.
That makes sense. The cars aren’t necessarily built in order, so your 87XX car was built way out of sequence for other similar VINs.
I will also corroborate the 9/1 switchover because my car—according to Roamer—was built on 9/10, and also lacks the backrest fans. My VIN is 103XX.
This is disappointing for sure, but I won’t be cancelling my order. I will think about it, however, every time I peel my back off the seat in July and August.
I reserved in July 24’ and got my invite last week to order, with the intention to get the LE but am now in a pause maybe for the Premium.
I don’t question Rivian per se, but the rollout seemed clunky and this appears deceptive: they are not providing the car that I test drove.
If it was just a minor change then why not inform the customers; if the fan isn’t needed, they why did their game changing model have it include?
I would be stunned if this was just for cost cutting. Particularly with the fan connector still in the seat. It seems like the most likely scenario is a supply chain issue. If they had to pause production for any real amount of time, and lower guidance, the stock would absolutely crater.
Ooh. That’s gonna burn. The ventilated back on my R1S is great. I have my reservation on for the R2, but was holding off for a few months until my other leases are up. This does give me pause. But I haven’t taken it for a test drive yet so I’ll have to see if the rest of the car blows me away enough to overlook this.
There is a really simple solution. Nobody buy the new one. Duh!!! They won’t manufacture cars that nobody but NOBODY buys.
This is irritating. Ventilated seats is a very high priority for me and at the 50k plus price point it should have it on both the back and bottom cushion. This actually makes me rethink buying as crazy as it sounds, that’s how much it really bugs me.
Yes! If everyone follows your kead, problem solved.
Well that’s a bummer and this will be really missed. It’s not right to remove something after someone’s already entered into a purchase agreement. (I’m waiting on mine yet). I’m sure there’s some legal loophole or allowance but it’s still feels ethically wrong.
In CA it might be flat out illegal. Deceptive marketing. This is not going to go away, and just days before their Halloween thingy.
Thanks for reporting. Please keep us posted – I was honestly really looking forward to the powerful ventilation after my demo drive. I ordered a little while ago but didn’t know it was removed until today. Fingers crossed for a retrofit option in the future
Perhaps you could ask a technician to remove the fans from your current R2 and install them on your replacement. Or sell them on the black market 🤣
what a lame move by rivian. “cost reduction” so they make more of us. honestly i was all in on rivian but may just go model y now as much as i dont like the look
that’s just silly talk. I’d rather have a sweaty back than drive that fugly thing
Please do exactly that and don’t let the door…
The thing that bothers me is that anything with a fan at Rivian seems to always be loud. The AC fans are loud, the seat fans are loud, etc. What is the engineering issue that causes theirs to be loud where other brands seem to not have the issue.
Thanks for reporting on this – this site is great! This is not a deal breaker for me however would be nice if they did something even little for anyone who doesn’t have this feature.
Omitting the fan would be a huge disappointment for us. Any idea what would be required to add one after delivery, either by Rivian, a third party, or DIY?
This is so disappointing. Coming from an R1 and demoing the R2 and now having a key feature removed without any communication. So disappointed. I hope they do a 180 and retro the new vins
Dang, I think this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. No real radio, no cargo attachments, not being able to lower the 2nd row seats from the back were almost deal breakers for me but I figured I could live with that. Now no back ventilation which I was looking forward to may be the thing that puts me over the edge and not go through with my pruchase. My order is in, no VIN yet. I may just eat the $500 and call it good.
Wow, first negative thought I’ve had in relation to my R2. Took delivery last week and tried the seat cooling for the first time today and noticed I couldn’t feel anything on my back and then come home and see this. Not just a potential service ticket to get it fixed but the feature is missing completely. 10, 0xx VIN manufactured Sep 18th.
This is really upsetting.
My wife and I placed our R2 order about 1.5 weeks ago. This is extremely upsetting, since we did a demo drive and both looked at each other with dumb smiles once we turned the ventilated seats on. This is ridiculous.
Rivian’s response is complete BS. People create heat in their Core, and the fastest way to lower body heat is to cool the Core, not their butt. It’s ridiculous that they made this change without notifying CXs, and now they’re trying to sell it as a benefit. They need to offer a retrofit when they fix the actual problem.
This is BS. I am cancelling my order and if they won’t refund my 500 deposit I will do a chargeback.
This really disappoints me. I live in SoCal and this was a feature I was really looking forward to using. I just put my order in a couple weeks ago (had a reservation since May 2024). Would have been nice to know this at that time. This really concerns me, it feels like it’s being swept under the rug. They need to address it.
Their explanation is very strange. My R2 has both sets of fans and the seat bottom fan is *way* louder than the seat back fan. I actually had to turn them on and off a couple times to even isolate the rear fans as a distinct sound source.
WOW, is this for real?? Rivian is actually ripping features and parts out of their cars to save money???? And not telling customers??? Bottom line you can’t trust RJ and Rivian, what feature do they eliminate next and hide it from their customers. Will be cancelling my R2 order.
For those who already got delivery on the R2, I would be thinking about Class Action Lawsuit. The listed feature is “Ventilated Seats”. A full seat includes both the base and the backrest. This is clearly fraud. The negative PR from this will kill Rivian
Of they want to save money and cut more please cut the automated AC ventilation vent and give me manual ones. when i test drive was a pain trying to use a screen to move my vents the ways u want it and looks like i be 3d printing some vents.
So why not just leave the fans in place and make their use optional in the climate controls?
This really is a crappy situation. When I test drove the R2, I was super impressed with the seat cooling. I’m in Georgia, and the ability to promptly cool is critical in the summer months–particularly for a car with a huge glass roof!
This is a big negative, and–like others–I’m thinking very seriously about rejecting my reservation.
I would say source out fans that are quieter if thats the case, and retrofit the fleet. No Brainer.
I would say source out another vendor that makes quieter fans, then retrofit the fleet. No Brainer.
I had a 2009 Acura TSX with “heated seats”. Only the seat bottom was heated. Even though it was clearly documented in the Owner’s Manual I was very disappointed when I discovered it.
Huge disappointment and a 100% deal breaker for me. I’ve been waiting for R2 since it was announced. Fix the problem Rivian, don’t eliminate the feature. Will sadly be cancelling my reservation.
For owners who recently picked theirs up in the 10XXX, is there still some residual airflow from the bottom seat fan going into the backrest? I wonder if some think they have it, but actually don’t, but they’re still feeling some airflow in the back at least? Although that’s still not great, it would be something at least.
Mine is 10,0xx and there is zero airflow through the back.
My 10,3XX has back fans. I don’t see how there could be any residual airflow from the bottom fans as the top and back sections of the seat only connect at the hinges and only with wires. I don’t see anything that could be an air passage. I have conclusively determined that the vans are present by disconnecting the bottom fan from the wiring harness so that there is no longer air movement on the bottom but there is still air movement on the back. The back fans also make a sound that is distinct from the bottom fan (and much quieter, or at least lower frequency).
That’s awesome that you have confirmed yours has it, but I wonder why some people in the 100XX range do not have it, but then you with a 103XX has it! I wonder if there is more to this story yet that we haven’t been made aware of. Seems like there are some inconsistencies.
This is a tough one. I just might cancel my order because of this. I’d be fine if they got rid of the seat bottom one…the seatback is what I’d want more. Bummer. Hope a new solution is found before I get my VIN
I’ve test driven the R2. The complaint that the ventilated seats are too loud is ridiculous. You can hear the seat fan on high but you can’t hear the fan on low. Just like ANY car HVAC system.
Rivian eliminating the backrest fan is because they are trying to increase margin on the car and don’t care about their customers. What they have done is fraud. They advertised a car that has “Ventilated Seats”. They didn’t advertise “seat base” ventilation.
What’s next, do they eliminate heat on the seatback. Do they eliminate seatback adjustment by taking those motors out.
Regarding L3 and Lidar, RJ promised L3 to be available in 2026. Then they said it would be available in 2027. Rivian and RJ promised Lidar in late 2026, now it is sometime in 2027, without any other details.
Definitely seeing a pattern of RJ and Rivian deceiving customers. I guess some people are ok with being jerked around by the company they just gave $60K of their hard earned money. My bet is most people are not.
For a lot of us who own a Tesla we lived thru this with Elon Musk and don’t want to have to deal with this BS again. Great opportunity for BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Cadillac, KIA, Scout, etc.
Rivian should leave the fan in there. They advertised seat-back ventilation. They charged us for seat-back ventilation – how is it not illegal or at least immoral to take it out? Let the driver adjust the fan speed. When it is hot, I will take comfort over noise 100% of the time!
I’ve NEVER complained about ventilated seat noise. It could sound like a lawnmower and I’d not give a crap. I’d rather not have a sweaty back on a hot day. Nothing better than a ventilated seat. We’ll just keep our R1T instead. That’s a deal breaker for us. It’s what kept us from buying a Grenadier too. It didn’t have that or adaptive cruise.
I’d really like to see Rivian offer the fans to those that want them. Like many others, this was a big plus for me, and my menopausal wife was really looking forward to them.
This is very disappointing, seat back fans are virtually a requirement for me. I run a ton hotter than my wife, so the best compromise is usually for me to use my seat to cool and leave the ac at a temp she’s more comfortable with. And idk what they’re talking about that the seat is where people carry the most heat. Any time I want that fan on because I’m hot or sweaty from loading the car in the summer, finishing a hike, walking across a hot asphalt parking lot, etc. it’s my back that’s hot, not my butt.
Here is something that I don’t think has been specified by Rivian: after this change, did Rivian change the ductwork in the backrest of the seat so that it picks up airflow from the fan mounted under the seat cushion? I think that some vehicles do it this way, though admittedly, the backrest will have reduced airflow. Still, that’s better than zero airflow. Might be worth asking your contact at Rivian. Thanks!
How are folks testing this out? We’ve got a 9700 vin and I’m jut curious.
So if Rivian is eliminating a major feature of the R2, will they reduce the price or just pocket the profit?
FYI, the BMW iX3 will be getting ventilated seats in Jan-March 2027
Lolz
I’m pissed about hearing about the ventilated seats being changed in our brand new R2. VIN 10,2xx coastal cloud and now apparently doesn’t include seat back cooling?! Why wasn’t this communicated? I did 2 demo drives and this was one of the reasons we loved the R2 and we were considering getting rid of our R1T and getting another R2. But, having this pulled out from under us is infuriating! I feel like they changed the product that we demo drove and decided to purchase without telling us?! And I’m happy to have the noise in the cabin when I occasionally use the seat cooling. I was fine with that or could’ve turned it down to level 1 or 2. Very frustrating that this was done without any communication. This isn’t the same product I purchased! Very disheartening, especially coming from Rivian.
Also, I think doing this for the R2 launch edition is a mistake.
Also, if you’re complaining about how well your car seat is blowing you, maybe you’re focusing on the wrong blower?
BOOM!
COME ON!
Not happy about this at all! I loved the ventilated seats in my demo drives. I was literally about to submit my order when this news broke. Now I think I’ll wait a bit more to see how Rivian sorts this out…
It won’t change anything, but I’m going to put missing upper seat ventilation fans in all of my service tickets from now on!😂
For customers who got screwed by Rivian when their R2 was delivered without a seat back fan, you have option for class action lawsuit. Rivian is committing fraud based on the the Monroney Act:
As covered under the Automobile Information Disclosure Act, the window sticker must accurately reflect the car’s physical specifications. Leaving “ventilated seats” on the sticker for a “streamlined” system that only ventilates the cushion constitutes a failure to provide “true and correct” entries.
I was demoed one thing during my test drive in June (My October/November order date was imminent) and would have been delivered something notably different without any communication from Rivian. That’s unacceptable. R2 would have been my first Rivian and EV but I canceled my $100 reservation after learning about this. R2 is not just for the Rivian/EV enthusiast who may be more tolerant but an attempt at mass market adoption via new customers to the brand. Rivian has lost my business due to this lack of communication.
It is sad that even if I wanted to pay more I can’t have it from the factory. I dislike right away having to ask about warranty voiding, if I void the warranty why pay for it in the first place. I don’t care about the noise, rather have the airflow, Currently use noisy aftermarket fans in my truck.
I feel bad for all of the people who purchased R2 and did not get seatback fan. Rivian really screwed you. You would have to wonder what else Rivian removed from the R2 that we haven’t found out about yet. If you want to do something about and not let Rivian screw you over then you can take legal action. Suggestions on action you can take.
Check Your Opt-Out Status: Review Section 16 (Dispute Resolution / Class Action Waiver) of your signed Rivian Preorder Agreement and Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement. If you took delivery within the last 30 days, send written opt-out notice to Rivian Legal to preserve your right to litigate in court.
Open an Official Rivian Support Ticket: Contact [email protected] or call Rivian Customer Care to document that your delivered vehicle lacks backrest ventilation compared to launch demonstration vehicles. Request formal compensation (e.g., Rivian Gear Shop credit, service credits, or trade-in value adjustments).
File Regulatory Consumer Complaints: File a consumer fraud report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and your state’s Division of Consumer Affairs (or Attorney General’s Office) citing deceptive marketing of standard vehicle features.
Evaluate Mass Arbitration: If class litigation is blocked by contract waivers, law firms frequently pursue coordinated mass arbitration filings against EV automakers to force programmatic settlement credits or retrofit buyouts.
There seem to be some complacency and defeatism with some R2 owners that appear to be ok with Rivian screwing you over and Rivian arrogantly not caring about their customers.
The R2 is the only car in North America that states it has Ventilated Seats but has only 1 fan (on the seat bottom). Every other car that has Ventilated Seats has 2 fans (1 seat bottom, 1 seatback).
Interesting that Rivian did this just as the weather is cooling off. Think about how frustrated you’re going to be next summer when your back is sweating like crazy and your butt is going to be ice cold from the R2 bottom fan.
It’s clear that RJ and Rivian don’t care about their customers, if we let RJ get away with this, he’ll keep ripping us off.
I feel the same way. It’s odd to just tolerate something like this as though it’s not only normal, but acceptable. The only message it sends to Rivian (and Tesla) is “sure, screw us over. We love it and will continue to buy your products no matter how we’re treated.”
Car and Driver reported on this and did a poll regarding whether the seatback fan should be included. Over 80% of respondents say “yes.”
I read the same article and found it very interesting how it’s been the only publication where Rivian has made an official statement. Making a statement to RivianTrackr and to people via emails doesn’t add up to a trustworthy explanation they should be making to the public and especially all of their reservations and VIN number customers. Seems their image is too important right now for orders to make it to sales.
Jose,
You should tell them you want them to transfer your old seats to the new car when they go to swap your old car with the new one!
We *just* got our R2 purchase process and delivery emails before hearing about this change. I have an open service call to have the seat ventilation looked at on our R1S this week (while replacing yet another windshield) since it seems their performance has diminished in the last few months, and now I wonder now if they coded a fan speed reduction into one of the recent updates.
Being in Texas and doing plenty of outside work during the summer, we simply aren’t going to take delivery of a vehicle that had fully functioning ventilated seats at the time of commitment and now only ventilates the seat bottom cushion – I have to push back on their assertion that the seat bottoms are the more important part to ventilate, as on every car we’ve used with ventilated seats the bottom seems to have far less comfort impact than the seat back. You can easily pull away from the seat back to allow airflow to dry out sweat for a few seconds pretty frequently and get that airflow benefit, but lifting yourself off the seat bottom cushion to have a similar effect is both strenuous and dangerous while trying to drive. Any part of your body in contact with the seat (where we are “storing the most heat”) is blocking the perforations that allow the air through, so these systems ultimately rely on there being exposed perforations near the parts of us that need cooling – which the seatback fans can address far more effectively than the seat bottom.
All the early reviews of these rigs noted the noise from the fans, but almost universally concluded that it was well worth the efficacy of the system. Isn’t the purpose of having multi-step fan speeds to allow for ripping cooling effect when desired, and quieter/gentler cooling when that’s the priority? I could see pivoting to a new supplier with a quieter design but pulling out that function quietly and then offering this weak explanation is disconcerting.
I hate to have something like this be such a major factor, especially for us having quietly championed this company and what they’re doing for the last few years, but it’s a true deal breaker for us. Hoping they come to see the problem correctly too and make right on it.
Yeah I just want to pose as forever adventurous, but what I really want is to be forever comfortable with not one but two seat ventilation fans.
We also got our R2 purchase process and delivery emails just before hearing about the backseat ventilation. We decided on the R2 over multiple EVS based on the quality of the seats and their full ventilation. There are too many vehicles out there that are offering deals right now without taking a single thing away from the vehicle. We simply can’t proceed with the purchase given the lack of trust and transparency. Maybe it doesn’t matter to some, but I’m with you that they shouldn’t have removed them without notice. It’s just too shady. What are your intentions moving forward?
I’ll be asking around at the service center tomorrow when I drop the R1S off. I asked the AI assistant on the purchase page this:
____
Hello Daniel, I’m an AI-powered virtual assistant, here to answer your Rivian questions. How can I help you today?
You said
How long do we need to wait to complete purchase in order to have an R2 with cooled seatbacks like the ones we test drove?
Agent said
The R2 you test drove with cooled seatbacks is part of the Performance trim with Launch Package, which is available now and is the first configuration being delivered to customers. If you want to guarantee cooled seatbacks, you’ll want to select the Performance trim or Premium trim, as both include heated and ventilated front seats.
Order invitations are going out in waves, and your delivery timing depends on your reservation date and location. Once you receive your order invitation and confirm your build, delivery typically happens within 4–8 weeks. If you prefer to wait for a specific interior or color, your place in line is saved until you’re ready to order.
You can start building your R2 and see all available options in the R2 configurator. If you have more questions about features or timing, let me know.
____
So it sounds like their systems haven’t been “made aware” of this change.
For our case, it’s not like we’re urgently needing to swap vehicles – we’ll both drive this but it’s replacing my wife’s ’22 Telluride which has fantastic seat cooling even with black leather. Again, seems like a dumb thing to ditch an entire vehicle for but where we are it’s something you don’t want to abandon once you’ve had it (unless Rivian wants to offer a wool cloth option a la Volvo).
It seems like Rivian is more deeply concerned with vehicle delivery numbers than vehicle completeness at this stage in order to keep their targets with the VW agreement. I’m willing to play the waiting game until they get this fixed.
At the Dallas service center now – after getting the R1S set up for service I talked with someone on their sales side about our concerns with the non-cooled R2 seatbacks. He agrees that having the choice to blast cooling or step it down for quieter operation is preferable to not having the option at all – he even let me try out a customer vehicle’s that hadn’t been final delivery prepped yet so I could see the difference compared to the test drive we took several months ago.
My takeaway: I still wouldn’t (won’t) buy something that has supposedly ventilated front seats if only the bottom cushions are ventilated. It doesn’t work well enough and just doesn’t make sense. For hot climates, I can’t see this going over well with anyone. The folks at the service center are great, and they’re hoping it’s something that’s being worked on for a fix too but the fact that the best answer they currently have is the same as what Jose was told originally is a bummer.
I’m hoping there’s a real solution coming, but if not, I hope that enough of us folks ready to finalize purchases push back on the change to produce a solution since us Gen 1 R1 folks have been the hype crew for what Rivian’s trying to do for a long time.
David Vaught made a great video!
https://youtu.be/0AZv0gk6QAI?si=SHrkB5pYaOgzWh5l
Jose, please have Rivian confirm if they are sourcing a quieter fan for the seatback. Rumor is that it was better to save and not continue to install the noisy fan if a replacement is in the works. Once the quieter fan is sourced and tested, they will again ship with two fans in the seat and install the new fan in previously shipped R2s that are missing the fan. Hope this is true. A quick statement from Rivian would have avoided all the frustration.
I test drove the R2 and the seats were the most uncomfortable seats I’ve sat in for decades. This makes it even more poverty stricken. The car made me run back to my R1S which even still, I’m not sure about buying it out in 2 months.
I am going to have to watch this one cause I am not on the R2 train any longer. I tend to believe people were squabbling about some little minor noise and made it a bigger issue than it needed to be.