Quick note: VION did not ask me to write this. Enough of you asked which one to get once Rivian put its own shades up that it seemed worth answering. VION did send the units for review and I use affiliate links for them, which I get into at the bottom. The Rivian shades I bought myself.
Buy the VION, as long as you are willing to give up the glass roof view. Rivian’s new mesh shades run $150 for the R1S against $89 for the VION, coverage is the same on both including the third row panel, and the mesh filters light where the VION blocks it.
Rivian’s own listing says the shades soften overhead glare and filter UV, which is accurate. Light still comes through and the cabin still reads bright. VION uses a dual layer blackout fabric claiming UPF 50 and up to eight times the heat insulation of a single layer shade. If you live somewhere the sun actually hurts, filtering is not what you were shopping for.
Install is where they split. VION is two panels and a set of clips, you snap the clips on and tuck the other end into the gap between the headliner and the glass. Rivian skipped the clips, which looks cleaner once it is up, but you have to force the edge into that same gap and it takes real effort. When I pulled the Rivian shade back out, the headliner did not settle on its own and left a pretty big gap I had to push back into place. Could be user error, I honestly do not know yet, but if you pull your shades for road trips and reinstall them, keep an eye on it.
I did not put a thermometer on any of this. But I am a bald guy who sits up high and close to the glass, which makes the top of my head a reasonably sensitive instrument. With the VION the heat coming off the roof basically goes away. With the Rivian mesh I could still feel it. Not a lab result, but it is the thing you are buying a sunshade to fix.
Now the part that might send you the other way. Full blackout means you lose the glass roof. No sky, no light, just a dark ceiling like every other SUV. If the panoramic roof is a big part of why you bought the truck, the VION is going to bug you every time it is up there, and the mesh keeping that openness is exactly what Rivian was going for.
Fitment is closer than the price suggests. Both are two piece setups on the R1S, the VION uses magnets at the seam so there is no gap down the middle, neither one sags, and neither gave me trouble with the windows down. I covered most of this in June with the grey VION for the Ocean Coast interior.
The premium also lands hardest on the R1S. On the R1T it is $100 against $69, defensible for a factory part. On the R1S it is $150 against $89 for the same coverage.
Rivian does give you two years of warranty against VION’s one, and the color match is what you would expect from a factory part. And if you optioned the Dynamic Glass Roof on a Gen 2 R1, skip all of this. The roof is already doing the job.
For everyone else, and Gen 1 owners especially, VION wins on price and on the part you actually feel on the drive home. VION also has an R2 version in the works.
Where to buy
VION sent me these units for review and the links below are affiliate links. The Rivian shades I bought myself at full price. So the one I am recommending is the one I got for free, which is exactly the setup you should be skeptical of. Read the install and heat notes above and decide for yourself.
VION, $89 for the R1S and $69 for the R1T:
Rivian Gear Shop:
Thanks for testing this, Jose! I kind of prefer the Rivian approach here, as I like the glass roof, and theirs, at least, still allows the benefits of that. Easy for me, as I live in Oregon, where we don’t daily-battle the sun as all the southern US owners, like yourself, do. Hopefully they’ll offer one for the R2.
I bought the VION ocean coast months ago and love it! Thanks for your push to them. Im waiting for VION to make a coastal cloud for the R2.