2025 R1S Battery Drain

[rjbsloth]

Hi All- First time posting and first time owning an EV. Hoping to get some guidance.
Leased a 2025 R1S Dual Motor Large on Dec 6th 2024. From the first drive till now, the battery is draining about 40-50% faster than expected. As an example, if we charge to 300 miles, we typically will get about 160-170 miles from that charge. Again, that is typical every time we drive. Short of long distances. Within the first week, I was down to 8 miles, drove about .2 miles and was at 6 miles charge. As I continued driving another single mile (w/ no heat and extremely cautious), I was at 0 miles left and had to drive 4.5 miles to a charge. So I went about 1.25 miles and drained the full 8 miles. Road trips, local drives...doesn't matter.

I have spoken to Rivian and a service manager at the Brooklyn Dealer, Jeff, about a total of 15-20 times. Initially I was told by reps at the 800# that it seemed something was wrong and the battery should not be draining that quickly. A friend of mine had his Rivian in for service at the Brooklyn dealership and told me all the guys there knew who I was and my story. That there were 4-5 others w/ the same issue and they are fairly certain it's the battery and is a software issue. (this was before I had actually gotten a call back from the BK dealership and only had been able to speak to reps at the 800# and I was waiting for the rep to call me back.)

I ran into a Rivian rep at a Tesla charging station and told him the deal. He also said it should absolutely not be draining any where near that rate. I was in upstate VT and it was snowing while I was having this convo....so he knew it was cold outside.

Once I finally talked to the Jeff, the Field Service Manager at Brooklyn, he asked me to send trip details. I did that twice and both calls back went the same....

This is totally normal. They ran diagnostics on the vehicle and fully analyze each of the trips. The Rivian is operating as expected. He told me b/c the temperature was at certain degrees' 25 and 35 or so, it drains faster. B/c I was using the heater in the car, I accelerated (normally) 3 times, the tires needed to be warmed up, I drove up a hill at 1 point, we had suitcases in the trunk, etc, the battery drains faster and it's normal to expect getting only 50-60% battery life. Both trips they analyzed were w/ my kids in the car so I was not driving erratically at all. The 2nd trip, I had the interior heat temp set on 70 so they could not blame "using the heater excessively", as he focused on the 1st trip.

I fully understand with different factors in play, I will not get 300 miles out of a 300 mile charge. I would expect to get a 10-15...maybe 20% loss. But losing 40-50 every single time I drive it completely unacceptable. I have spoke to 2 buddies that have the same vehicle, earlier years. Live in my neighborhood (same temps) and they both said the battery drains quicker when cold but they were not experiencing anything near the drain that I am.

I love everything else about the R1S but I am now stuck dealing w/ this issue for 34 more months. Stopping 2-3 times on road trips that I should be stopping 1 time. Wasting time, with 3 kids and 2 dogs in the car. Plus spending a lot more on charging than I anticipated...I'd be getter off buying gas w/ what I'm paying charging at home or on trips.

Jeff attempted to get a buy back approved but it was denied b/c the vehicle is operating normally. I don't understand how they are selling vehicles ($90K!) that "operate normally" and will drain at these rates. I feel something is wrong w/ my vehicle, as did the initial reps at Rivian. I filed a claim w/ the BBB Auto Line hoping they can help.

Please let me know if this is actually normal or if it seems like I have a lemon. Thanks! Sorry for the long post.

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[Jivian]

Curious, what is your Rivian reporting in terms of efficiency for one of these trips / charge cycles? Since the large pack is 108.5 kwh, the theoretical EPA efficiency is 3.04 mi/kwh. On my Tri, I can realistically get anywhere from low to high 2s. If I'm driving on a flat highway in conserve mode, I get about 2.5mi/kwh.

I'm wondering if your vehicle is reporting terrible efficiency (<1.5) and that's why it's "operating normally" or if it's reporting reasonable efficiency (in the 2s) and you have a battery capacity problem.

One thing you didn't mention was speed. If your driving in the 80mph+ range, that pretty much explains everything.

 

[rjbsloth]

Thank you! I will look into efficiency.

As for speed, I don't think that is the problem as it's on trips around my town or highway. Trips around town I'm going 30-45. One of the trips I sent him, he noted avg speed was 55mph and I lost 45% or battery.

thank you!

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Thank you! I will look into efficiency.

As for speed, I don't think that is the problem as it's on trips around my town or highway. Trips around town I'm going 30-45. One of the trips I sent him, he noted avg speed was 55mph and I lost 45% or battery.

thank you!

Short little trips are an efficiency killer.

You hop in, crank the heat, vehicle is cold (motors battery etc) things warm up and you stop and walk away, vehicle cools down cabin etc, you hop back in crank the heat and do another little stint.

The vehicles peak draw is going to be that initial 15-30 minutes of your drive before the cabin warms etc and things can run in a more efficient state.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Curious, what is your Rivian reporting in terms of efficiency for one of these trips / charge cycles? Since the large pack is 108.5 kwh, the theoretical EPA efficiency is 3.04 mi/kwh. On my Tri, I can realistically get anywhere from low to high 2s. If I'm driving on a flat highway in conserve mode, I get about 2.5mi/kwh.

I'm wondering if your vehicle is reporting terrible efficiency (<1.5) and that's why it's "operating normally" or if it's reporting reasonable efficiency (in the 2s) and you have a battery capacity problem.

One thing you didn't mention was speed. If your driving in the 80mph+ range, that pretty much explains everything.

That wood dash.... oooo eeee that's nice.

 

[Tucker74]

Change your cluster to the view posted above with the efficiency graph, it will show real time for you to track. Are you able to pre-condition with your truck plugged in (scheduled departure feature)? Sometimes that helps get better range in the cold,

 

[Skysurfer]

I wish the EPA ratings were communicated more clearly. The EPA range is a combined rating of city+highway test cycles. EV's are very efficient at converting energy into motion, so at low speeds where aerodynamic drag is minimal, most of the energy goes it to motion. At high speeds, aerodynamic drag is the predominate force and uses most of the energy. This works out with the city range rating being higher than the highway rating and when you combine those, the combined number is less than the city range but higher than the highway range. This is also compounded by the fact that less aerodynamic vehicles such as large trucks/SUVs take a much bigger hit at higher speeds so they will be further off the combined rating at highway speeds versus something like a small sedan.

TLDR; The combined range rating for an EV is not a rating for steady state driving at highway speeds, you will always get less than the combined rating on the highway and faster you go, the further off the rating you will be. Slower you go, closer to the rating you will be.

 

[rjbsloth]

Thx all.
Shorter trips….makes sense.
We are preconditioning almost every time.
My efficient is only 1.67 since we’ve had it. 3600 miles. See attached.
And yes, that dash is fire!

 

[FooF]

Tire pressure is supposed to be 48psi cold.

 

[HaveBlue]

Preconditioning

Thx all.
Shorter trips….makes sense.
We are preconditioning almost every time.
My efficient is only 1.67 since we’ve had it. 3600 miles. See attached.
And yes, that dash is fire!

Preconditioning every time? What do you mean by that? You mean leaving the heater running while the car is parked in 25 degree temps? Yea that's going to eat battery.

 

[Mljmam]

Yes, that range of cold temps steal about 30% of the average range. This shocked me during a recent trip we have made several times before during "normal" 70-90 degree days, running the A/C. It seems odd/annoying that they can't program the dash range estimator to be more accurate based upon actual conditions and consumption. You end up having to watch everything like a hawk yourself, and then react as your battery level and timing allow. It's frustratingly contrary to the operation of a traditional vehicle. But, they're a nice ride. Hopefully they will address the range estimator in an update soon; along with the vampire battery drain between uses. I estimate it costs me $3-4 worth of power daily for it to sit between uses. That is NOT satisfactory. These types of inefficient power usage and high costs of operation/ownership have been my only disappointments with my R1S. So, I'm hanging on, hoping it will get better as they keep updating. I hate having to weigh privilege vs function for the ownership of this vehicle. It often leaves me feeling wasteful and frivolous in more ways than I like to consider myself.

 

[SkyDave]

What you are describing sounds like similar concerns I had since taking possession of my R1S in November. First time EV owner…taking possession of an EV just as weather turns very cold and not experiencing the vehicle in warm weather, meanwhile learning that the guess-o-meter is incredibly unreliable. The few days weather got into the 40’s in Illinois, I noticed efficiency and range improved significantly. When temp is in the teens-to 30’s, I typically see efficiency around 1.6 miles/kwh. When it’s in the 40’s, efficiency jump up to around 2.2. I think you’ll find looking at other forums or talking to other EV owners living in cold climates, that this cold weather efficiency is very much to be expected, and becomes a non-issue as expectations and habits are adjusted. When at home, the car is always on the charger, and I pre-heat the cabin and seats before I go out.

Regarding the guess-o-mileage-meter, I don‘t rely on it anymore. It’s off by 30-40% in the cold There might be a setting that displays percentages rather than miles and cut down on the misinformation.

The good news is this spring or whenever you get some warm days, you’ll likely be amazed at how much more efficient the car is.

 

[Seano]

Yes: you can set batt display to show %, mi or both on the dash.

One thing that I’ve found helpful is using ABRP - you can adjust load settings; it can use current weather and live settings from your vehicle.

I can’t wait to see the whole ABRP baked into the nav (hopefully)!

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Hey there! Well, right now its Winter time in the northeast. Its been pretty cold on LI and so you will see your worst efficiency this time of year due to the cold. This will be especially noticeable if you don't park in a climate controlled garage as the truck will be cold soaked every night and using extra energy to get the battery up to temp. I am not sure if the battery scheduled departure is available on Gen 2 (2025+) yet but it really helps this time of year.

 

[Budman]

This has been my observations of range/efficiency vs temperature. 35% loss at 0deg F. This is on a 3 hr trip. Short trips can have much worse efficiency.

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