- A handful of tech YouTubers recently got hands-on with the Rivian R2.
- Like many other new EVs, Rivian is using electronic door handles.
- Prices for the new mid-size R2 are expected to start at around $45,000.
After a string of high-profile crashes in the US and overseas, automakers are facing increased scrutiny over something as basic as door handle design. Once a simple mechanical feature, door handles have become unnecessarily complicated with the rise of electronic systems.
Companies like Tesla and Rivian are facing significant criticism for where they’ve located the emergency interior mechanical door releases if electronic issues prevent the buttons from working. Rivian’s solution for second-row passengers is particularly bad in the R1T and R1S, as they need to remove a large black plastic panel and then reach in to pull a cable to release the door.
Read: Rivian’s New $45,000 EV Is Coming By June
Is the upcoming Rivian R2 any better? Not really. A handful of tech YouTubers recently had the chance to check out pre-production versions of the R2, and JerryRigEverything has provided us with our first look at the R2’s mechanical latches.
Trouble In The Second Row
The latch in the front row is quite simple. Positioned on the underside of the floating storage compartment is a little black plastic handle used to open the doors in emergencies. It’s similar to what’s found in the R1T and R1S, although the emergency releases on those models are larger and easier to identify.
Then there’s the rear. The release is in the same position as the one up front, but bizarrely, passengers have to remove a small plastic cover and then pull a cord, just like they do in the R1 models. The only upside is that the placement has changed slightly for the better.
If you have to give your backseat passengers a tutorial on something as basic as opening the doors in an emergency, the design isn’t clever, it’s flawed. Why Rivian didn’t just carry over the simpler front-door setup is anyone’s guess, but it comes across as needless complexity at best, or cost-cutting by reusing the same flawed design at worst.
Is An Update Happening?
There had been some talk of changes. Rivian was reportedly reworking the R2’s emergency releases in response to incidents involving drivers trapped in burning Teslas. But based on this early look, it doesn’t seem like any major improvement has been made compared to the R1 models.
Although, as this example was a pre-production model, it’s possible that things will be changed for production. Or at least, that’s what we hope.
More: China Officially Bans Pop-Out Door Handles, And The World May Follow
Rivian isn’t alone here. Beyond Tesla, unsurprisingly the poster child for controversial design choices, even Ford has run into trouble with the Mustang Mach-E’s door latches.
And it’s not just the inside of the car that’s raising concerns. Exterior pop-out door handles have created so much controversy that China has decided to ban them on all electric vehicles starting in 2027.
