2023 G1 R1T - 2nd 12v Battery issue after 14.5 months.

[Tlohrenz]

While sitting at the car wash, I got an alert my 12v lead acid battery needs attention. It said, I could not go over 60 mph's, there was a turtle picture and AWD was enabled. At least I was able to drive home. I bought this truck new June 1st, 2024 with a 3 year lease. In November 2024, it bricked in the garage because the 12v battery just died. Rivian sent a tow truck who took it to the SC and Rivian gave me a Suburban to drive for 3 weeks while they replaced the 12v battery. Absolutely nuts, it takes 3 weeks to replace a 12v battery.

Now, it's 14 - 15 months later and the dreaded 12v battery alert is back. So I guess it will be back to the SC for a new 12v what looks like a motorcycle battery. Since I have a 3 year lease ending in July 2027, I'm guessing it will be 50/50 if the new battery will last till then. I just hope the mobile unit can replace the 12v battery. The truck should never have to go to the SC for a 12v battery replacement.

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[eddysales001]

While sitting at the car wash, I got an alert my 12v lead acid battery needs attention. It said, I could not go over 60 mph's, there was a turtle picture and AWD was enabled. At least I was able to drive home. I bought this truck new June 1st, 2024 with a 3 year lease. In November 2024, it bricked in the garage because the 12v battery just died. Rivian sent a tow truck who took it to the SC and Rivian gave me a Suburban to drive for 3 weeks while they replaced the 12v battery. Absolutely nuts, it takes 3 weeks to replace a 12v battery.

Now, it's 14 - 15 months later and the dreaded 12v battery alert is back. So I guess it will be back to the SC for a new 12v what looks like a motorcycle battery. Since I have a 3 year lease ending in July 2027, I'm guessing it will be 50/50 if the new battery will last till then. I just hope the mobile unit can replace the 12v battery. The truck should never have to go to the SC for a 12v battery replacement.

While sitting at the car wash, I got an alert my 12v lead acid battery needs attention. It said, I could not go over 60 mph's, there was a turtle picture and AWD was enabled. At least I was able to drive home. I bought this truck new June 1st, 2024 with a 3 year lease. In November 2024, it bricked in the garage because the 12v battery just died. Rivian sent a tow truck who took it to the SC and Rivian gave me a Suburban to drive for 3 weeks while they replaced the 12v battery. Absolutely nuts, it takes 3 weeks to replace a 12v battery.

Now, it's 14 - 15 months later and the dreaded 12v battery alert is back. So I guess it will be back to the SC for a new 12v what looks like a motorcycle battery. Since I have a 3 year lease ending in July 2027, I'm guessing it will be 50/50 if the new battery will last till then. I just hope the mobile unit can replace the 12v battery. The truck should never have to go to the SC for a 12v battery replacement.

While I agree the vehicle should not need to go to the service center for a 12 v battery replacement the fact that you are now doing it twice where other s go 2-4 years without needing a replacement seems to indicate theee is an underlying problem somehwhwre that is taking the battery out. Overcharging? Undercharging? Charging circuit in general? Not sure but it appears to me that you need to ask them to dig deeper and not just replace the battery.

 

[Schaef]

I totally get your frustration, both with it happening twice and not getting a quick fix. Do you think it is something with your truck or a combination of that other factors? I’m curious how many miles you have and how frequently you charge. Not at all insinuating that you are doing anything wrong, it shouldn’t be an issue whether someone is using their car all the time or infrequently.

 

[Electron-NY2CA]

Reading several post on Rivian 12v batteries problems. Maybe the issue is the build quality of the 12v batteries. When many parts are outsourced, mainly from Southeast Asia. Quality is not all that great.

 

[Tlohrenz]

I totally get your frustration, both with it happening twice and not getting a quick fix. Do you think it is something with your truck or a combination of that other factors? I’m curious how many miles you have and how frequently you charge. Not at all insinuating that you are doing anything wrong, it shouldn’t be an issue whether someone is using their car all the time or infrequently.

I have about 16,000 miles, I change at home when it's under 30% and charge to 75%. Only charge above 80% if I go on a trip, which is very seldom. Back in 2020 when I bought a Tesla Model Y, the 12v gel cell battery had a problem. There fix was going with 12v Lithium batteries. My understanding is Rivian is using 100 year old technology batteries call Lead Acid batteries and only last about 3,000 to 4,000 charge cycles. I believe people have said Rivian will charge the 12v battery around every 4 hours from the High Voltage battery. That's a lot of wear & tear on a 12v battery, so no wonder they don't last long. I wonder if the 2026 models have lithium batteries. I have heard if other manufacturers are having 12v battery issues. But this design/manufacture issue is very expensive for Rivian and there share holders. When the tow truck came to pick it up last time, she said it was her 12 Rivian tow for dead 12v battery in 3 days.

 

[Schaef]

I have about 16,000 miles, I change at home when it's under 30% and charge to 75%. Only charge above 80% if I go on a trip, which is very seldom. Back in 2020 when I bought a Tesla Model Y, the 12v gel cell battery had a problem. There fix was going with 12v Lithium batteries. My understanding is Rivian is using 100 year old technology batteries call Lead Acid batteries and only last about 3,000 to 4,000 charge cycles. I believe people have said Rivian will charge the 12v battery around every 4 hours from the High Voltage battery. That's a lot of wear & tear on a 12v battery, so no wonder they don't last long. I wonder if the 2026 models have lithium batteries. I have heard if other manufacturers are having 12v battery issues. But this design/manufacture issue is very expensive for Rivian and there share holders. When the tow truck came to pick it up last time, she said it was her 12 Rivian tow for dead 12v battery in 3 days.

Your charging habits are pretty similar to mine. I picked up my R1T in March 2023 and had 39,000 miles. So I might be charging a little more frequently, but also might be road tripping a little more than you so in general our usage is probably about the same. I’ve been lucky enough to not have any battery issues yet. Probably just a matter of time though. Hope you get a quick fix and you make it though the rest of the lease.

 

[VSG]

Absolutely nuts, it takes 3 weeks to replace a 12v battery.

Can you explain a little more about this? It obviously does not take 3 weeks to just replace a 12V battery - that's not what anyone else is experiencing, so I'm sure there are something more to this story. Did they perhaps spend the time doing diagnostics and not finding anything before giving up and returning it to you? What does your service invoice say?

 

[Tlohrenz]

It sat in the parking lot for over two weeks. The Denver SC was all backed up. Today, there's a second SC about 15 miles south of Denver. So I'm hoping it's not a long wait. I can say, Rivian did get me a SUV from enterprise for the 3 weeks. If you book an appointment today, there's a two week lead time. Hopefully there's exceptions.

 

[Thedude]

Rivian really needs to sort out their 12v problems before the R2 or they’re screwed. The yearly production goal for R2s is the same as the total of all R1s sold to date. It will be hard to survive the bad press and service costs if the 12v system is as unreliable as it’s proven to be on the R1 line.

 

[kenyee]

other manufacturers are having 12v battery issues.

Yes, this isn't a Rivian only issue. Similar issues with Kia etc.
The 12V is used to boot the HV controller.
Tesla actually uses a small LFP battery because it's needed for Gear Guard recording... Hopefully other manufacturers will do the same...

 

[KBabione]

I've got a R1S that we picked up in August '23. In January '25 mobile service proactively replaced our 12V battery. In December we had a couple of incidents where we had to pull off the road and do a hard reset. On the 4th incident I saw a 12V warning so it went to the SC (happily I only had to wait 2 days for a SC appointment in Malvern). They kept it two weeks and I was lucky enough to get a R1S loaner in the same color.

They ended up replacing a control module and the 12V and then I had an infotainment reboot on the way home while driving. Apparently it generated enough data that they were able to diagnose that I needed something else replaced - it's scheduled for next week and then, hopefully, we'll be through this.

We bought ours and are hoping to keep it for a long time so I hope this doesn't recur. The SC guide did tell me that the battery comes with a new 2-year warranty so I'm covered (for this) until January 2028.

 

[Bob S]

I wonder if weather plays a role. Cold weather is a lot harder on a battery. I bought my 2023 in late October. According to the service records the battery was replaced April 2025. Been using the truck 200+ miles every weekend skiing the NE. My biggest fear is being bricked up north

 

[KBabione]

I wonder if weather plays a role. Cold weather is a lot harder on a battery. I bought my 2023 in late October. According to the service records the battery was replaced April 2025. Been using the truck 200+ miles every weekend skiing the NE. My biggest fear is being bricked up north

Amen to that...Fortunately we were never bricked. Pay attention to the warning signs, like frequent reboots required or the less subtle:

 

[tmbm50]

Yes, this isn't a Rivian only issue. Similar issues with Kia etc.
The 12V is used to boot the HV controller.
Tesla actually uses a small LFP battery because it's needed for Gear Guard recording... Hopefully other manufacturers will do the same...

My 2019 X went thru its 12v every. single. year. That was before they moved to a small lithium. So its not just a Rivian issue but its a shame they didnt learn from Tesla's earlier mistake sooner. The Ohmu battery has gotten quite good. For my X, I installed the Ohmu, and kept the factory AGM on a battery tinder in case I need a quick swap before warranty call.

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