Confirmed: Newer production R1 only have a single 12v battery, but...

[jpmc86]

Here is the capacitor version. Yes, I misspoke when I said “two batteries” in the video I just made in 45 seconds.

I stand corrected! Incredible find. Interesting, I wonder if over time cars will get these retrofitted instead of the dual battery setup.

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[Mygrain]

Testing DIY aftermarket stuff that malfunctioned. Zero chance this will happen to someone unexpectedly.

You weren't, by chance, trying to replace the OEM steering wheel with a DIY yoke???

 

[firstchair]

Two days ago, I approached my R1S, but it didn't unlock because the 12v battery was dead.

Important note: this was entirely my fault and not Rivian's. This is not the same bug from a few months ago. This is not an issue you will have with your vehicle.

No judgement just curious what you did to cause the 12v to die. I think that's more helpful and relevant to most than to whether or not there are 1 or 2 12v batteries which is where the convo seemed to drift.

 

[Christopher]

I stand corrected! Incredible find. Interesting, I wonder if over time cars will get these retrofitted instead of the dual battery setup.

The tech that came to replace my batteries said the single battery version has a different wiring harness.

 

[jpmc86]

The tech that came to replace my batteries said the single battery version has a different wiring harness.

Interesting…

What’s weird is a buddy of mine (somewhere in the high 7k vin) mentioned they replaced two batteries. Car didn’t even have 1k miles.

I would think cars with one battery only get one battery replacement. His invoice even said primary and secondary battery.

 

[zefram47]

I'll be even happier the day they decide to scrap the 12V batts completely and just run a 14V buck converter off the traction battery for the 12V legacy devices. It's not like the 135kWh 450V battery pack would ever run low enough to supply a few amps at 12 volts.

This is unlikely to ever happen. The whole reason there is a discrete 12V battery is to isolate/turn-off the high voltage pack when the vehicle is "off" by removing power from the high voltage contactors. The discrete 12V battery allows the high voltage contactors to be closed, re-energizing the system. If you relied only on the high voltage system and a DC-DC converter then all the high voltage wiring would always be energized and would be a potential hazard.

 

[zefram47]

Two days ago, I approached my R1S, but it didn't unlock because the 12v battery was dead.

Important note: this was entirely my fault and not Rivian's. This is not the same bug from a few months ago. This is not an issue you will have with your vehicle.

I followed the procedures in the tow guide to recover, and gained access to the front trunk area, so that I could attach a battery charger directly to each 12v battery. I was able to charge the primary (driver's side), but the secondary refused to take a charge. I spent a good amount of time trying to get it to work, but the vehicle was actually functioning normally. I put in a request for a second battery and indicated some urgency, as I thought I might end up killing the primary again if the secondary battery was completely dead.

Rivian service was very helpful over the phone and I actually got a call back from a tech in the local service center. They asked me some questions and then asked if I had been trying to charge the left side and had removed the red lead. I had. The tech then informed me that the left side, which is the same form factor as a battery, is actually a capacitor in the new builds.

So, it is confirmed that Rivian has moved to a single battery up front. The vehicle is working fine after being charged up. My only note to rivian would be a suggestion that they update their towing guide to reflect this change. It specifically says that the rear (hitch area) leads are for the primary battery, and to charge the secondary battery directly. There is no longer a second battery, so the leads near the hitch receiver can actually be used to fully charge a dead 12v system, without ever opening the front trunk.

Hope this is useful to someone. I like that Rivian is making changes on the fly to refine the platform in real time. Optimizations like this are important for their long term success, and I commend them for working toward lower costs, especially in cases like this, where the customer impact is nil.

P.s. - someone should let ohmmu and the like know that their aftermarket battery solution should be reevaluated on newer vehicles.

Did they happen to indicate when this rolling change was made based on production date? Similarly, what was the production date of your R1S? I can't recall at the moment...is that panel held on by clips or magnets? My R1T is a 2/23 build and was supposedly around the time a bunch of changes were implemented. I don't have the center console/dash 12V, but still have the Meridian sound, for instance. But I also have the revised front subframe and front spindles.

 

[scottf200]

I'll be even happier the day they decide to scrap the 12V batts completely and just run a 14V buck converter off the traction battery for the 12V legacy devices. It's not like the 135kWh 450V battery pack would ever run low enough to supply a few amps at 12 volts.

This is unlikely to ever happen. The whole reason there is a discrete 12V battery is to isolate/turn-off the high voltage pack when the vehicle is "off" by removing power from the high voltage contactors. The discrete 12V battery allows the high voltage contactors to be closed, re-energizing the system. If you relied only on the high voltage system and a DC-DC converter then all the high voltage wiring would always be energized and would be a potential hazard.

Aside: During the OTA apply part of a Tesla the 'subsystem' that handles the DC-DC converter is off line so the 12v battery is on it's own during that part of the install. This will 'test' your 12v battery and some time ago I had my install fail because my 12v battery was 'bad' and couldn't handle the load even for that short amount of time. I used a jumper pack and the car finished the install from where it left off. I replaced the battery the next day.

Also this has since been resolved on the Tesla side as they do some 12v battery testing before applying the OTA. I've never heard of any other Tesla experience what I did. It is not like I never paid attention to my 12v either as I had a done battery testing on it as well as had this device connected to it for a long time (Average Current: 1.5mA) -- When Tesla replaced my battery they even left it on. (it has a great app to see your 12v in a chart) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT4583U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8

I have since replaced my 12v battery with an Ohmmu version.

 

[docwhiz]

This is unlikely to ever happen. The whole reason there is a discrete 12V battery is to isolate/turn-off the high voltage pack when the vehicle is "off" by removing power from the high voltage contactors. The discrete 12V battery allows the high voltage contactors to be closed, re-energizing the system. If you relied only on the high voltage system and a DC-DC converter then all the high voltage wiring would always be energized and would be a potential hazard.

They could replace the 12v battery with a capacitor and eliminate this failure point.

 

[CaptRat]

Did they happen to indicate when this rolling change was made based on production date? Similarly, what was the production date of your R1S? I can't recall at the moment...is that panel held on by clips or magnets? My R1T is a 2/23 build and was supposedly around the time a bunch of changes were implemented. I don't have the center console/dash 12V, but still have the Meridian sound, for instance. But I also have the revised front subframe and front spindles.

I have a R1T, VIN 23xxx, built 04/23. I visually checked the battery configuration this morning and, according to the photos in this thread, I have one 12v battery and the capacitor. I don't have the center console/dash 12V nor the Meridian sound.

 

[aw113sgte]

They could replace the 12v battery with a capacitor and eliminate this failure point.

Capacitors don't have anywhere near enough storage capacity. Energy density is also. Very poor compared to batteries

 

[Snazzy Labs]

Here is the capacitor version. Yes, I misspoke when I said “two batteries” in the video I just made in 45 seconds.

Ryan, we love you.

 

[rhuber]

Ryan, we love you.

Just doin my thing.

 

[opnwide]

FWIW my R1S that does have the two batteries and has both the 12V in Frunk and under dash was built 1/23 and ‘23 VIN “PN 39xx”.

 

[jpmc86]

Ditto January 2023 build. Meridian, 12v frunk and underdash. Two 12v batteries confirmed.

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