Rivian Updated The R2's Manual Door Release, And People Are Mad

"It's 2026, and electric cars are still being fitted with electronic door handles. They look cool, but they can quickly become a dangerous feature when power cuts out after an accident, and the people inside can no longer exit the vehicle. In Rivian's case, the company is seemingly trying to improve the way passengers can get out in an emergency situation where the car loses power from the low-voltage battery, but hundreds of fans and owners have made their opinions known onlineand it's not pretty."

"On the more expensive R1 vehicles, Rivian tucked a manual release cable behind a removable plastic panel on the door card when it refreshed its flagship SUV and pickup. That was arguably a move in the wrong direction, seeing how the pre-facelift R1S and R1T's regular handles would operate both the electronic release and manual release. Now, on the R2 prototypes, the manual release for the rear doors is yet again behind a plastic cover."

"As YouTuber JerryRigEverything explains in the video, rear passengers have to pop out a small plastic panel to access the release cord. Meanwhile, the driver and front passenger have a proper handle to pull on when the battery dies. Zack Nelson, who shot the video, doesn't pull out the cord, so I don't know how easy it is to find and pull."

Rivian implemented a revised manual release system for the R2 rear doors to improve emergency egress if the low-voltage battery loses power. Electronic door handles can prevent occupants from exiting after power cuts out during an accident. The facelifted R1S and R1T placed a manual release cable behind a removable plastic panel on the door card, reducing accessibility compared with pre-facelift models whose regular handles operated both electronic and manual releases. On the R2 prototypes the manual rear release remains behind a plastic cover but is easier to access; driver and front passenger positions have a proper pull handle. Owners criticized the prior design and some modified earlier vehicles to make the release more accessible.

Read at insideevs.com