Shopping for a “new” BEV while waiting for the Scout Traveler BEV.

[SpaceEVDriver]

One of the reasons my 78-yr-old Aunt bought a Chevy Bolt is because it didn’t have any of that nonsense. She doesn’t want to drive a tablet. She wants to drive a battery-electric vehicle. It’s frustrating that we have all this extra nonsense pushing potential purchasers away from EVs because some CEOs glommed onto the phrase “software defined vehicle,” and won’t let it go.

 

[speedrye]

Thankfully, I get the feeling that the designers at Scout find these same things equally stupid.

 

[cyure]

Also.

Voice commands mean... you need to be able to speak. I know this sounds obvious, but, speaking... isn't always easy, or desired.

IE, If a conversation is going on, you have to interrupt it, just to change the temperature setting. If you're road tripping with your little kids in the backseat and you're trying to get them to sleep... you may wake them up (and everyone knows this is a big deal).

I don't want to interrupt my mother in law telling a story to the family to say "switch to defrost", or wake up a sleeping spouse/child on a road trip to switch from "normal" mode to "eco" mode.

And I agree. The vent stuff is the most egregious of the problems. The increased cost, complexity, and potential for failure (and expensive repair) is sooooo not worth it for any perceived benefit from the change. Its only downsides as far as the eye can see for this particular feature IMO.

And like you, I'm not opposed to tech. Its just the application needs to improve my experience, and not just be a showcase for tech itself. Honestly the "control the air vent direction with touch controls and electronics" thing sounds a lot like a concept car thing that somehow made it into production.

Plus let’s say you have a dog named Stevie and Siri thinks you are talking to it and when you call your dog Siri answers. Happens to me. All. The. Time.

 

[Scout_Lookout]

I will echo @SpaceEVDriver. Rivian is playing catch-up to Tesla's demise and it will not end well for them. In my MXP Tesla removed every physical button that they could legally remove. It is costing them a 16-year customer. They even removed the button for the glove box. So when my kid sneezes and needs a tissue, with snot dripping from their hand towards my interior, my choices are:
1) Take my eyes off the road and press the screen twice to open the glove box
2) Press the voice activation button on the steering wheel, wait for the beep, say, "Open glovebox" in a loud and clear voice. Wait again for the system to parse my voice, convert it into text, and then execute the command.

Both of those options are absolutely stupid. The first one is dangerous and the second one bothers everyone in the car in order to perform a function that should be a simple press of a button. They used to have such a useful button. My wife's 2018 Model S has a dedicated button for the glovebox along with, gasp, a turn signal stalk, drive selector stalk, steering wheel adjustment stalk, etc. She will not upgrade until Tesla changes their philosophy. Since they have killed the S/X, they have most likely lost a 14-year customer as well.

All that to say, adding voice commands as a cover for bad design is a band-aid for a bullet hole. I hope Scout is extremely choosy with what they use from Rivian as it sounds like Rivian is following the rest of the lemmings when it comes to the human-machine interface. I strongly suggest Scout take their cues from the latest GM EVs and not Tesla or Rivian (unless it's part of the "What not to do" area of the design brief).

Well for once I think Rivian has Tesla beat! R2 has TWO manual glove boxes. Also Rivian has a little drawer you can pull out in the center console that is perfectly sized for Kleenex boxes, seriously lol! Not only that but with RA you don't have to push a button you just say "Hey Rivian" and start talking.

But seriously I understand what you're saying and its just personal preference at this point and that's the challenge that car manufacturers are having to face. I for one love the super clean and sleek button free look, and since owning a Tesla for 3 years prior I have become very use to operating the vehicle with just a screen and now I actually prefer it.

In fact, this is one of the things I'm so excited about with the Scout is the partnership with Rivian because had they gone with a more Ford or GM interface I might not have even looked twice at them. But you're right getting rid of the stalks is one step too far lol!

 

[Logan]

That said.

I love voice texting. I use it constantly. Probably my most commonly used piece of tech in the vehicles.

"Text my wife that I'm on the way home from mountain biking".

"Oh yes, of course I can stop on the way home to pickup a gallon of milk"

Stuff like that. Totally love it.

 

[R1TVT]

I cannot say it loud enough: I do not want to talk to my car.

Good news... You don't have to.

But, you can OPT IN TO USE IT and set it up with Connect+ in a Rivian.

Based on some of the better implementations of agentic features that I have seen, I will certainly give it a chance and see if it's worthwhile.

Sounds like some of you are having a bad day. LOL...

You don't NEED to set it up or use it. Personally, I'm betting that I find some of the features very useful. TBD.

 

[THil08]

@SpaceEVDriver you should cross the border and bring home a Chinese EV, and review it for all of us.

 

[speedrye]

@SpaceEVDriver you should cross the border and bring home a Chinese EV, and review it for all of us.

Maybe I'm reading his personality wrong (it is the internet after all), but I definitely don't see that happening.

 

[J Alynn]

I cannot say it loud enough: I do not want to talk to my car.

I sometimes use a few commands but more like if I need to call someone and I sure as hell do t know most phone numbers any more, otherwise I just talk to it occasionally to see how responsive

 

[J Alynn]

Plus let’s say you have a dog named Stevie and Siri thinks you are talking to it and when you call your dog Siri answers. Happens to me. All. The. Time.

Kinda like your avatar name