Ohmmu Announces BT19 Sodium 12V Batteries for Rivians: Thoughts?

[NY_Rob]

According to the spec sheet, their new sodium battery is rates at 6,000+ cycles.. that might just be the single most important factor that makes this battery the winner in the R1 series vehicles?

I think we're past the "maybe Rivian got a bad batch of batteries" excuse at this point because Rivian is on their second battery manufacturer now and they're still wearing out the batteries in under a year in some cases. Whatever they're doing (or rather not doing) is wearing out the original lead-acid batteries way before their time.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

According to the spec sheet, their new sodium battery is rates at 6,000+ cycles.. that might just be the single most important factor that makes this battery the winner in the R1 series vehicles?

I think we're past the "maybe Rivian got a bad batch of batteries" excuse at this point because Rivian is on their second battery manufacturer at this point and they're still wearing out the batteries in under a year in some cases. Whatever they're doing (or rather not doing) is wearing out the original lead-acid batteries way before their time.

Yup. By now, for sure they know more than what they are willing to say out loud.

 

[NY_Rob]

Yup. By now, for sure they know more than what they are willing to say out loud.

Agreed!

It's just amazing that this has been an issue for several years now with no proper resolution.

I just replaced the almost identical size and identical chemistry AGM 12V battery in our i3. That was the same battery that came with the car in 2017

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

I did my Sodium Ion Ohmmu install about 10 days ago, pretty straight forward if you follow the video as the others had mentioned. I used a couple of o-ring picks on the sides of the OEM battery to lift them out as it was tight. A bit of gymnastics involved (I'm 6'2) in the frunk, otherwise simple.

 

[DuoRivians]

I recently replaced my 12V batteries with the Ohmmu sodium ion ones, along with the Bluetooth battery meter they sold.

So far, everything works great!

I cleared the “replace 12V battery” alert through the RIDE menu, before I replaced the batteries. And the alert hasn’t come back. Knock on wood.

 

[Goose]

I’m replacing my 12 volt batteries with the sodium ohmmu models when they get here on Wednesday. I was told I don’t need to reset the alerts in the Ride menu, just do a hard reset after the swap. Is that true?

 

[xinaes]

I’m replacing my 12 volt batteries with the sodium ohmmu models when they get here on Wednesday. I was told I don’t need to reset the alerts in the Ride menu, just do a hard reset after the swap. Is that true?

I'm not certain, but when I replaced mine, I hadn't received the 12V warning yet; I proactively replaced mine before any notification on the dashboard. Therefore, I didn't have to reset anything in RIDE after replacing my batteries with the Ohmmu's.

However, it might be that others who have had the 12V warning would need to reset the notification in RIDE even after replacing the batteries.

 

[DuoRivians]

I’m replacing my 12 volt batteries with the sodium ohmmu models when they get here on Wednesday. I was told I don’t need to reset the alerts in the Ride menu, just do a hard reset after the swap. Is that true?

I reset the alert, through RIDE menu, before I changed the batteries. So far, the alert hasn’t appeared again.

 

[Goose]

I reset the alert, through RIDE menu, before I changed the batteries. So far, the alert hasn’t appeared again.

ok, I’ll do that.

 

[mkhuffman]

I will offer some general advice, since I have not replaced the 12V battery in my R1 yet.

The truck operates a battery management system (BMS) that manages the AGM battery. It keeps track of the voltages that are 100% and 0%, so it can estimate the SoC and charge the battery as necessary.

I think resetting the battery management in RIDE is very important because the truck needs to establish the new 100% and 0% points, which enable proper charging management. I also think it is important to install the battery when it is at, or near, 100% SoC. That means you want to charge the battery before installing it, and then reset the BMS in RIDE right after installing.

It's possible the battery is near 100% when you receive it, and the SoC is in alignment with the AGM battery it replaces, but to me that is leaving a lot to chance.

Charge the battery to 100% before installing, then reset the BMS immediately after installing. That seems like best practice to me.

 

[Goose]

I will offer some general advice, since I have not replaced the 12V battery in my R1 yet.

The truck operates a battery management system (BMS) that manages the AGM battery. It keeps track of the voltages that are 100% and 0%, so it can estimate the SoC and charge the battery as necessary.

I think resetting the battery management in RIDE is very important because the truck needs to establish the new 100% and 0% points, which enable proper charging management. I also think it is important to install the battery when it is at, or near, 100% SoC. That means you want to charge the battery before installing it, and then reset the BMS in RIDE right after installing.

It's possible the battery is near 100% when you receive it, and the SoC is in alignment with the AGM battery it replaces, but to me that is leaving a lot to chance.

Charge the battery to 100% before installing, then reset the BMS immediately after installing. That seems like best practice to me.

Not a bad idea. I could throw both batteries on my portable boat charger. In theory the BMS should start charging the 12v’s immediately. The smart on-board charger on my boat will send energy to either battery from the alternator depending on what their BMS (2 LFP Batteries, a 24v and one 12v) states.

 

[GreggVA]

I will offer some general advice, since I have not replaced the 12V battery in my R1 yet.

The truck operates a battery management system (BMS) that manages the AGM battery. It keeps track of the voltages that are 100% and 0%, so it can estimate the SoC and charge the battery as necessary.

I think resetting the battery management in RIDE is very important because the truck needs to establish the new 100% and 0% points, which enable proper charging management. I also think it is important to install the battery when it is at, or near, 100% SoC. That means you want to charge the battery before installing it, and then reset the BMS in RIDE right after installing.

It's possible the battery is near 100% when you receive it, and the SoC is in alignment with the AGM battery it replaces, but to me that is leaving a lot to chance.

Charge the battery to 100% before installing, then reset the BMS immediately after installing. That seems like best practice to me.

Just put my order in for a set and the battery monitor. First sodium batteries so did a quick search and see a link to OHMMU video saying to use a regular battery charger and set to AGM. Unclear to me if they are referring to the sodium batteries though. Any thoughts on the right battery charger? I have a regular 6/12 low/hi/start charger and an AGM Optima Redtop charger/maintainer.

 

[Time2Roll]

Just put my order in for a set and the battery monitor. First sodium batteries so did a quick search and see a link to OHMMU video saying to use a regular battery charger and set to AGM. Unclear to me if they are referring to the sodium batteries though. Any thoughts on the right battery charger? I have a regular 6/12 low/hi/start charger and an AGM Optima Redtop charger/maintainer.

12-Low will be fine. Optima charger would be preferred.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Just put my order in for a set and the battery monitor. First sodium batteries so did a quick search and see a link to OHMMU video saying to use a regular battery charger and set to AGM. Unclear to me if they are referring to the sodium batteries though. Any thoughts on the right battery charger? I have a regular 6/12 low/hi/start charger and an AGM Optima Redtop charger/maintainer.

They go into cars that were meant to take regular ones without modifications. So I’d think any trickle charger that worked on lead acid batteries would work just fine. The only difference the chemistry provides is higher energy density in the same physical dimensions.

 

[SwampNut]

I hate lead-acid and change them out to lithium every time one fails. I have a 30-40 year old charger, which I use on them. It is perfectly fine. As said above, these go into systems that don't know they are charging a lithium. Car charging systems are pretty bad all around, but these batteries work fine. The BMS knows what it's going to face.

One thing that is definitely detrimental is using any of the "restorer" modes or chargers. A neighbor destroyed his RV lithium with that.

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