Another "critical battery issue" story

[Perix]

Thank you @tcole, looks like you are right.

New vehicle? Wouldn't that be inviting a fresh risk of something failing? At least with this one we get a new battery that's been checked by the service center. If I have this right, Samsung makes Rivian's batteries, and an isolation error happens when there is a short somewhere in the system from worn conductors, spilled catalyst, manufacturing defects etc. So we were likely the unlucky ones who drew the short Samsung straw.

Buy back at MSRP? We were among the original quad-motor reservation holders. If my interpretation is right, the current MSRP is materially higher. So Rivian could lose out on the difference if they have to buy it back from us. They will then give the vehicle to someone else, once fixed. They also lose out on the same difference if we keep it, since we bought at the original price.

Legal options aside, I think it's unfair to pour one monthly loan payment down the drain to have the car sit at the service center for a manufacturing defect...

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[tcole]

Thank you @tcole, looks like you are right.

New vehicle? Wouldn't that be inviting a fresh risk of something failing? At least with this one we get a new battery that's been checked by the service center. If I have this right, Samsung makes Rivian's batteries, and an isolation error happens when there is a short somewhere in the system from worn conductors, spilled catalyst, manufacturing defects etc. So we were likely the unlucky ones who drew the short Samsung straw.

Buy back at MSRP? We were among the original quad-motor reservation holders. If my interpretation is right, the current MSRP is materially higher. So Rivian could lose out on the difference if they have to buy it back from us. They will then give the vehicle to someone else, once fixed. They also lose out on the same difference if we keep it, since we bought at the original price.

Legal options aside, I think it's unfair to pour one monthly loan payment down the drain to have the car sit at the service center for a manufacturing defect...

My R1T has been in for service for 2 weeks now, and I've thought about what I might do if they pass the 30 day threshold. For me it's a lot of smaller issues, so I doubt I'd do anything drastic like lemon it.

In your case I agree, a new one would risk more issues. Hopefully they just hurry up on the battery fix.


Regarding the loan payment, at least your not on a lease (which we know Rivian doesn't offer) where you're basically renting the car for a fixed amount of time. You'd be totally wasting that payment while it sits at the service lot.

And in this case it's not adding miles while it sits on the lot, so hopefully not hurting your resale value all that much.

 

[Perix]

Here's a (hopefully final) update to this saga.

The R1S was taken into service on Jul12. We finally got it back on Aug23, i.e. 6 weeks after it got towed away to the service center...

Looks like it sat at the service center for at least two weeks before it got looked at. They first changed the high-voltage battery, suspecting that was the culprit. But that didn't fix the problem, and the new battery would not communicate with the vehicle's computer. They scratched their heads for a while, got the head engineer at the service center involved, and then narrowed the problem down to the thermal management module. So they changed that module and sent the car back to us.

After an hour or so of driving, the car started throwing "coolant low" warnings, eventually going into reduced functionality mode. I also noticed blue coolant splattered all over the frunk area, some of it dry, some of it pooling. The car reeked of coolant. So back to the service center she got towed again, less than a week after coming back...

They decided that the problem was air in the cooling system. The drained the system and recharged it. I asked them why coolant was everywhere, whether that indicated a leak. The fluid wasn't just in drops, some of it looked like it had been wiped (swirl marks). The final explanation was that the car burped when they were refilling the new thermal module first time around. Apparently you can refill the system without taking off the frunk "tub", but there is access from the side, which may explain why the fluid was pooling in there. So clearly they neglected to clean up the mess.

They cleaned up, and we got the vehicle back after 4 days. It's done a few hundred miles since without incident, so looks like that problem may have finally been solved. Still smells of coolant close up..

A rough start, to say the least. It's been in service for about as long as we have driven it. It got a new battery for no reason, when the problem was basically a bunch of pipes and valves. My biggest takeaway is the shortcomings in the service department: in terms of time taken/demands, in terms of skill to diagnose the problem correctly to begin with, and in terms of cleaning up a mess they created.

I look forward to some hopefully carefree driving. Whether we'll ever get over the paranoia of anticipating a new error code to pop up when the car beeps because we veered into the next lane, remains to be seen!

Wishing everyone better luck.

 

[LL75]

Here's a (hopefully final) update to this saga.

The R1S was taken into service on Jul12. We finally got it back on Aug23, i.e. 6 weeks after it got towed away to the service center...

Looks like it sat at the service center for at least two weeks before it got looked at. They first changed the high-voltage battery, suspecting that was the culprit. But that didn't fix the problem, and the new battery would not communicate with the vehicle's computer. They scratched their heads for a while, got the head engineer at the service center involved, and then narrowed the problem down to the thermal management module. So they changed that module and sent the car back to us.

After an hour or so of driving, the car started throwing "coolant low" warnings, eventually going into reduced functionality mode. I also noticed blue coolant splattered all over the frunk area, some of it dry, some of it pooling. The car reeked of coolant. So back to the service center she got towed again, less than a week after coming back...

They decided that the problem was air in the cooling system. The drained the system and recharged it. I asked them why coolant was everywhere, whether that indicated a leak. The fluid wasn't just in drops, some of it looked like it had been wiped (swirl marks). The final explanation was that the car burped when they were refilling the new thermal module first time around. Apparently you can refill the system without taking off the frunk "tub", but there is access from the side, which may explain why the fluid was pooling in there. So clearly they neglected to clean up the mess.

They cleaned up, and we got the vehicle back after 4 days. It's done a few hundred miles since without incident, so looks like that problem may have finally been solved. Still smells of coolant close up..

A rough start, to say the least. It's been in service for about as long as we have driven it. It got a new battery for no reason, when the problem was basically a bunch of pipes and valves. My biggest takeaway is the shortcomings in the service department: in terms of time taken/demands, in terms of skill to diagnose the problem correctly to begin with, and in terms of cleaning up a mess they created.

I look forward to some hopefully carefree driving. Whether we'll ever get over the paranoia of anticipating a new error code to pop up when the car beeps because we veered into the next lane, remains to be seen!

Wishing everyone better luck.

Absolutely agreed on rivian service center skills level. They suck imo

 

[zymolysis]

They scratched their heads for a while, got the head engineer at the service center involved, and then narrowed the problem down to the thermal management module. S

Wait. What? They went to the expense of replacing the entire HV battery without the most experienced guy signing off on it? They bring him/her in afterward to analyze why that didn't fix it? Talk about throwing thousands of dollars down the drain.

 

[Perix]

Yup... That's what we were told, believe it or not.

These vehicles are meant to be simpler that IC vehicles, but evidently the practical know-how and pedigree of technicians looking at them may not have caught up yet. At Rivian, at least.

Curious how early Tesla owners view the situation compared to their first days.

 

[NY_Rob]

Yup... That's what we were told, believe it or not.

These vehicles are meant to be simpler that IC vehicles, but evidently the practical know-how and pedigree of technicians looking at them may not have caught up yet. At Rivian, at least.

Curious how early Tesla owners view the situation compared to their first days.

The technicians at Tesla have much more experience and have seen it all before, almost guaranteed they wouldn't have replaced the big traction battery as that wasn't the cause of the problem.

 

[ememarzadeh]

1 month and about 1,500mi since our R1S was delivered, it suddenly started beeping and flashing the now well-documented "critical battery issue, electrical hazard possible, drive to service center immediately, avoid driving through water" message.

The vehicle did not die/discharge the 12V batteries, but the tow truck came and picked it up the next morning. It's been sitting at the South San Francisco service center for two days now. Just got an initial confirmation that it had arrived, and nothing since. I had to call in 3 times to get updates, the switchboard folks could not get through to the service center. I finally received a call-back 2 days after it was picked up, saying it had not been examined yet and the return window is currently 2 weeks from now. Before they picked up the vehicle, I was told it should be a couple of days.

I am trying to be zen about the whole thing and accept that being at the cutting edge is hard, but this is a hard pill to swallow after waiting for 2.5 years to receive the R1S and going into big debt to own it. Who ever experienced a car being held for an unknown amount of time and not even knowing what is wrong? I've waited for a service window or for parts in the past with other vehicles, but this black hole situation is new to me.

I also can't help but wonder how frequent these occurrences are, and whether the vehicle is truly reliable for adventure driving. This happened outside my garage, but what if it had happened in the middle of a snow storm in winter in the mountains? The vehicle is super capable, but is it reliable?

I would appreciate any thoughts from those who have owned their vehicle for longer on its reliability and their service experience.

This is certainly a test of nerves, of patience, and of trust in the vehicle and the company.

I am having a major problem. My R1S has been in SSF shop for almost a month. It is a nightmare. Main battery had to be replaced but they got the wrong one in from HQ. They do not update or tell me what is going on. I told them their quality sucks. I am calling the state regulators to get involved. I hate to see Rivian goes down like this but I have no choice.
This is not a lemon, it is pure acid!!!

 

[Perix]

Oh brother, I am sorry. I know how this feels. If it makes you feel any better, we've had the vehicle back for ~1,500mi and it's been fine. The only glitch was some new road noise that I noticed. Turns out they had not secured the plastic underbody panels properly and they were rattling. A mobile crew came out and re-applied double-sided tape (guess the service guys pulled the tape and didn't bother replacing it when they changed the battery out) and bolted them on tightly.

I am told that there is a centralized team that logs service incidents to make sure they are avoided in the future, like Tesla did in the early days. Yes, we are early adopters, and some of us (like you and me) draw the short straw. I know it sounds hollow now, but try to keep the faith. The vehicle is awesome when it's in shape, and this too shall pass. Otherwise we would be mainstream, not the outliers.

Once you have the vehicle back in working order, I would recommend asking them for whatever you think it fair compensation for such a prolonged down time. The jobs we are dealing with aren't that hard. The problem is that the service infrastructure isn't as developed as production yet. They are either still green, or in a rush (or both, judging from the quality of their job on my vehicle).

Wishing you fortitude - good luck. See if you can get the phone # of the service agent when they call you for an update. If you've been waiting that long, you are entitled to ask.

 

[jwanderson88]

Talking about call centers, I have a problem with my gear tunnel door, which I have an on site appointment for. Anyway during one of the calls from the call center, the girl called it "the Riveena service center". She didn't know how to pronounce Rivian. That's frightening.

 

[jackyh]

1 month and about 1,500mi since our R1S was delivered, it suddenly started beeping and flashing the now well-documented "critical battery issue, electrical hazard possible, drive to service center immediately, avoid driving through water" message.

The vehicle did not die/discharge the 12V batteries, but the tow truck came and picked it up the next morning. It's been sitting at the South San Francisco service center for two days now. Just got an initial confirmation that it had arrived, and nothing since. I had to call in 3 times to get updates, the switchboard folks could not get through to the service center. I finally received a call-back 2 days after it was picked up, saying it had not been examined yet and the return window is currently 2 weeks from now. Before they picked up the vehicle, I was told it should be a couple of days.

I am trying to be zen about the whole thing and accept that being at the cutting edge is hard, but this is a hard pill to swallow after waiting for 2.5 years to receive the R1S and going into big debt to own it. Who ever experienced a car being held for an unknown amount of time and not even knowing what is wrong? I've waited for a service window or for parts in the past with other vehicles, but this black hole situation is new to me.

I also can't help but wonder how frequent these occurrences are, and whether the vehicle is truly reliable for adventure driving. This happened outside my garage, but what if it had happened in the middle of a snow storm in winter in the mountains? The vehicle is super capable, but is it reliable?

I would appreciate any thoughts from those who have owned their vehicle for longer on its reliability and their service experience.

This is certainly a test of nerves, of patience, and of trust in the vehicle and the company.

Same thing happened to me.
1 month and about 1,200mi since our R1S was delivered; suddenly started beeping and flashing "critical battery issue, electrical hazard possible, drive to service center immediately, avoid driving through water" message. I am hoping to get an answer from the guide soon. Honestly disappointed and shocked that these are happening to brand new vehicles.

 

[DaveA]

Same thing happened to me.
1 month and about 1,200mi since our R1S was delivered; suddenly started beeping and flashing "critical battery issue, electrical hazard possible, drive to service center immediately, avoid driving through water" message. I am hoping to get an answer from the guide soon. Honestly disappointed and shocked that these are happening to brand new vehicles.

1 bad battery cell in a batch of 7,776 would probably be enough to throw this issue.

 

[hydrossos]

I’m one week and about 400 miles into ownership of 2024 R1T dual motor standard pack. Today when I entered the car it was incessantly beeping at me and letting me know there was a critical battery issue and to call for service immediately. It showed a 70% charge and was able to enter in and out of drive/reverse. Rivian let me know it would have to be towed back to the Brooklyn service center. I’m pretty upset and hoping it’s not a multi-week fix but will try to post back once they report back to me on what the issue is. Sounds like it’s not all that uncommon and an issue that’s been around for over a year based on the posts here.

 

[hydrossos]

I’m one week and about 400 miles into ownership of 2024 R1T dual motor standard pack. Today when I entered the car it was incessantly beeping at me and letting me know there was a critical battery issue and to call for service immediately. It showed a 70% charge and was able to enter in and out of drive/reverse. Rivian let me know it would have to be towed back to the Brooklyn service center. I’m pretty upset and hoping it’s not a multi-week fix but will try to post back once they report back to me on what the issue is. Sounds like it’s not all that uncommon and an issue that’s been around for over a year based on the posts here.

Update: Rivian is taking good care of me while truck is in service. Ride share credits and a loaner. Update today is they are installing a new battery pack, harnesses and charge port items. About two a week fix.

 

[JamesTiberius]

Wife drove home last night, pulled in garage with no R1S issues. Plugged into Rivian wall charger and went about our evening. She is off on Fridays and I was working from home, was going to pull R1S out of garage. Disconnected wall charger. Jumped in and “critical battery issue, drive immediately to Rivian service center, do not drive in water” started flashing on screen and beeping. Service center is getting me in Monday will keep you all posted. FYI…2024 R1S Dual Motor Max Battery Pack. 2500 miles and wife literally drives to and from work…no off roading or anything other than Ohio highways and streets all paved. I am feeling like this should not be happening with a car I spent over $100k for and especially just a couple of months into owning it. Thoughts??

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