Sponsored

Charging in Cold Temps

jakef801

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jake
Joined
Dec 18, 2020
Threads
44
Messages
539
Reaction score
536
Location
SLC, Utah
Vehicles
'16 Tundra/'18 Audi S6/'19 Rubicon/'22 R1T
Just an FYI. I'm sure many of you are aware, but charging from a home Rivian charger is significantly slower in cold temps. Here in SLC, UT, I've still not finished charging from 61% to the set 85% over the last 4 hours (currently at 83%). It's been about 37F here the entire time. In summer, with 80F - 95F temps, it would have hit 85% much more quickly. Not surprising, nor unexpected.

I wasn't in town to try things out when it was single digits here, but I'm guessing that the charge rate would have struggled more so than it is at 37F. Kudos to all of you cats up in the northern mid-west, dealing with this in sub-zero temps.

Please share results for the rest of the "early adopter" crowd.

Not complaining, just sharing...

Go RIVN & Go Utes on Monday vs Penn St.!!!
Sponsored

 
Last edited:

lmr

Well-Known Member
First Name
Lane
Joined
Jan 5, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
120
Reaction score
140
Location
Greater Portland, OR
Vehicles
VW Passat B7, Rivian R1S
Occupation
Technical Product Management
Clubs
 
Just an FYI. I'm sure many of you are aware, but charging from a home Rivian charger is significantly slower in cold temps. Here in SLC, UT, I've still not finished charging from 61% to the set 85% over the last 4 hours (currently at 83%). It's been about 37F here the entire time. In summer, with 80F - 95F temps, it would have hit 85% much more quickly. Not surprising, nor unexpected.

I wasn't in town to try things out when it was single digits here, but I'm guessing that the charge rate would have struggled more so than it is at 37F. Kudos to all of you cats up in the northern mid-west, dealing with this in sub-zero temps.

Please share results for the rest of the "early adopter" crowd.

Not complaining, just sharing...

Go RIVN & Go Utes on Monday vs Penn St.!!!
If your vehicle is parked outside or in an unheated garage in these cold temperatures, or colder, while charging then I am not surprised by this. Cold batteries in any EV do not like to charge quickly, plus I would expect you are loosing more to vampire drain overhead in these temperatures just for the vehicle to keep its batteries within some sort of acceptable operating range as well.
 
OP
OP
jakef801

jakef801

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jake
Joined
Dec 18, 2020
Threads
44
Messages
539
Reaction score
536
Location
SLC, Utah
Vehicles
'16 Tundra/'18 Audi S6/'19 Rubicon/'22 R1T
If your vehicle is parked outside or in an unheated garage in these cold temperatures, or colder, while charging then I am not surprised by this. Cold batteries in any EV do not like to charge quickly, plus I would expect you are loosing more to vampire drain overhead in these temperatures just for the vehicle to keep its batteries within some sort of acceptable operating range as well.
I may be among the very few exceptions, but my truck never suffered from the proverbial "vampire drain". My truck could sit, unattended, for weeks with minimal charge loss. I watched it, like a hawk, while I was in So. America for 2 weeks in early-mid Dec., and the truck didn't lose any significant loss in charge - even during low, single digit Fahrenheit temps. Nevertheless, the charging is much slower in cold temps.

I'm fine with being a "guinea pig" tester for Rivian.
 

Ramblin Tom

Member
First Name
Tom
Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
5
Reaction score
1
Location
WV
Vehicles
R1T
Yes, if your vehicle is in cold temps, a good chunk of the electricity you pump in goes to maintaining the battery temps, and what’s leftover goes into your battery storage. The colder it is, the worse it gets. If you are only using 120v, you can plug in and get near zero charge depending on temps.

I had a Tesla when living in Northern Montana, and was able to play around with a lot of scenarios. When it got to single digits, or below, the charge rate on the car showed 0 mile/hour on a 120v/15a outlet. If at all possible, park in a garage if you need to charge. If not possible, strongly consider 240v and as many amps as you can support. Always leave it plugged in whether it’s full or not.
 

Wefty

Well-Known Member
First Name
Robert
Joined
Mar 3, 2022
Threads
5
Messages
168
Reaction score
153
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
R1T, 2008 Fit
How does the Rivian keep the battery warm when charging?
Sponsored

 
 








Top