Rivian Preheating for Planned Drives - Does NOT Precondition The Battery (Update it does if plugged in?)

[Millertimr]

It may just be me, but I was under the understanding that with the latest update it was preconditioning the battery and the cabin. It turns out that is NOT the case, I confirmed this with multiple Rivian service advisors today and it explains why my battery is at 37 degrees after completing a preheating session.

Maybe it's just me - hopefully y'all don't kill me if you guys already knew this - but I was generally curious. I recommended they be clearer in their communication - "to precondition the vehicle cabin and the high-voltage battery before planned drives" is pretty cut and dry the high-voltage battery is preconditioned. However it seems like that is NOT happening in this software update.

Hopefully this helps some of y'all if you're still wondering why the preheating isn't changing the temperature of the battery.

See the attachment for the full chat - I removed the names from the file.

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[DuoRivians]

Was your car plugged in to the charger? AFAIK, it’ll precondition only when plugged in, otherwise just does the climate part

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Was your car plugged in to the charger? AFAIK, it’ll precondition only when plugged in, otherwise just does the climate part

Only conditioning the battery when plugged in and opting to use wall power makes sense from an efficiency perspective. Conditioning the battery without being plugged in won't really have any benefit, since you're just robbing Peter to pay Paul by heating the battery with battery power.

 

[sub]

Was your car plugged in to the charger? AFAIK, it’ll precondition only when plugged in, otherwise just does the climate part

My Vehicle doesn't reliably warm the battery when plugged in with preconditioning scheduled. Perhaps if warming the cabin drains the battery enough that it needs to recharge the battery, then it will warm the battery so that it can charge. But just being plugged in doesn't change anything.

I have occasionally seen preconditioning do as I expected, but it doesn't most of the time. I haven't yet figured out when it will and will not work.

The feature (or the description of it) clearly still needs work.

 

[VSG]

I don't see any mention either here on in the chat of which firmware version you have installed. "Latest" means different things to different people at different times since these releases are frequent and aren't rolled out to everyone simultaneously. But the firmware version is a pretty vital piece of information in this case.

 

[TollKeeper]

When my pre-conditioning works, my batteries are always in the 50-57* range when I get in my truck. Although I park in a garage, garage temps are usually in the mid 30's lately

 

[Millertimr]

I am chatting with them now to see if plugged in is the solution. It isn't called out in the release notes as only if it's plugged in but I see it reported .

This is all very confusing and it shouldn't be this difficult.

I talked to three agents separately this morning and all confirmed it does not precondition the battery.

 

[Millertimr]

I don't see any mention either here on in the chat of which firmware version you have installed. "Latest" means different things to different people at different times since these releases are frequent and aren't rolled out to everyone simultaneously. But the firmware version is a pretty vital piece of information in this case.

I had it day 1

 

[VSG]

Had what?

 

[Millertimr]

The latest software update - the day it came out.

Had what?

 

[Millertimr]

Here is the tl;dr confirmed by a third rep -

A different customer service agent has confirmed it will only precondition the battery if it is plugged in. The climate on the inside is preconditioned regardless.

The tl;dr multiple reps were incorrect and the release notes aren't descriptive enough.

 

[dleepnw]

ive tested this multiple times both plugged in and not plugged in. sometimes the schedule doesnt trigger at all (plugged in or not). sometimes only the cabin preconditions (plugged in or not). sometimes both happen (plugged in or not). sometimes it turns on again by itself - i'll set the schedule, it will turn on, i'll drive somewhere, turn off climate control and when i get back its preconditioning again (has happened multiple times).

all that to say its inconsistent and buggy. i take what a service rep says with a grain of salt unless i hear it from Wassym, RJ or its confirmed by the masses.

 

[VSG]

The latest software update - the day it came out.

 

[COdogman]

ive tested this multiple times both plugged in and not plugged in. sometimes the schedule doesnt trigger at all (plugged in or not). sometimes only the cabin preconditions (plugged in or not). sometimes both happen (plugged in or not). sometimes it turns on again by itself - i'll set the schedule, it will turn on, i'll drive somewhere, turn off climate control and when i get back its preconditioning again (has happened multiple times).

all that to say its inconsistent and buggy. i take what a service rep says with a grain of salt unless i hear it from Wassym, RJ or its confirmed by the masses.

I have noticed that when I open the app to see if it has turned the HVAC on per schedule, it doesn't show that it's on in the app the same as if I had manually done it. Yet when I get in the truck it is warm. ?‍

 

[dleepnw]

I have noticed that when I open the app to see if it has turned the HVAC on per schedule, it doesn't show that it's on in the app the same as if I had manually done it. Yet when I get in the truck it is warm. ?‍

yes, i noticed that too. and there were times it didnt show on the app and it never tuned on in the truck (it was cold). so again inconsistency.

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