Received 12V Battery Warning - Looking for some advice

[SteveInBend]

Last Friday I received the 12V battery warning on my '22 R1T. I am already scheduled for the FSAM-1794 recall service at the Tualatin SC on 3/17. Although the 12V battery replacement can be done via mobile service, Rivian has decided to suspend mobile service to Central Oregon while a local technician is being trained. As I understand it, this individual will be working out of Redmond, OR.

So my only options are to drive 3.5 hours to Tualatin (about 160 miles over mainly 2-lane highways and driving across the Cascades) or waiting until I can get a mobile service appointment in April.

I was advised that there should not be a problem driving the truck as long as the SoC doesn't fall below 20% but I'm not all that confident in their assessment.

Has anyone had experience driving for an extended period after having received the 12V battery warning? Am I being overly cautious about driving that distance through almost entirely rural areas and having the R1T die in the middle of nowhere?

I also let Rivian know that I am extremely unhappy with its decision to pause mobile service in the Bend area until the technician is up-to-speed. There is a large concentration of Rivians in our area and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, IMO, for Rivian to pull the plug on local service for a whole month.

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[impulsoren]

You are going to Tualitin 3/17 anyway? I think once you are driving it shouldnt be a problem; drive straight through without stopping if possible. If it were me I would hook up a battery tender/maintainer, that might help keep it full enough in the next two weeks to not completely fail. Maybe even put a full-size car battery and jumper cables in the frunk and carry a bit driver to emergency open it in your pocket (but I also have that kind of stuff laying around my garage, I recognize it’s not free).

 

[HighDesertCoug]

I’ll be curious to see what you hear on a mobile technician. I also live in Bend and the lack of a local service option is a huge drawback to owning a Rivian. I’m an R2 reservation holder and the service problem is giving me a huge pause.

 

[SteveInBend]

You are going to Tualitin 3/17 anyway? I think once you are driving it shouldnt be a problem; drive straight through without stopping if possible. If it were me I would hook up a battery tender/maintainer, that might help keep it full enough in the next two weeks to not completely fail. Maybe even put a full-size car battery and jumper cables in the frunk and carry a bit driver to emergency open it in your pocket (but I also have that kind of stuff laying around my garage, I recognize it’s not free).

Well, that is the question. Put off the service scheduled for 3/17 until after mobile service can replace the failing 12V sometime in April or take my chances on a drive to Tualatin and have the battery replaced at the same time as the recall service?

 

[mkg3]

Two things to keep in mind.

Since your have a 2022, I believe it has two 12V batteries. Not sure if both needs to be replaced or not but both failing at the same time during your drive on 3/17 is probably not great.

The other is you can change the battery yourself, if you cannot wait.


While I appreciate your frustration of mobile service being suspended, it they have no qualified mechanics to work on the vehicles, its better that they stop and get qualified workers in place before resuming. Sort of like parts shortage. If there is none, then there is none.

Of course if you have other vehicles, you can always just not use R1T and drive the other.

Good luck

 

[SteveInBend]

Two things to keep in mind.

Since your have a 2022, I believe it has two 12V batteries. Not sure if both needs to be replaced or not but both failing at the same time during your drive on 3/17 is probably not great.

The other is you can change the battery yourself, if you cannot wait.


While I appreciate your frustration of mobile service being suspended, it they have no qualified mechanics to work on the vehicles, its better that they stop and get qualified workers in place before resuming. Sort of like parts shortage. If there is none, then there is none.

Of course if you have other vehicles, you can always just not use R1T and drive the other.

Good luck

Regarding mobile service - We have had mobile service in the past. They've been to my house around 4-5 times already. Can't speak to the current situation.

I only have the one car. If it wasn't winter I would just ride my bike more!

 

[KBabione]

We had a 12V issue and drove for a month before we took it in for service. In our case it manifested itself by giving us a "Coming to an emergency stop - Pull Over" message. We did so, did a full reset, and were on our way. It was really only after the 4th time that happened that I saw the 12V battery symbol and realized what it was doing. Keep it above 50% SOC as much as you can and drive it to your service appointment in two weeks.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

If it was me, I'd follow their recommendation to keep it plugged when not driving. Plus, brush up on how to access and jump 12V (the tools needed, including the jump pack needed, with adequate specifications). 3/17 isn't that far away. And I'd even ask Rivian what contingency they might be willing to offer you, as a courtesy, if the 12V acts against their faith and actually does fail before your appointment date.

 

[tate16t]

What can I expect after my 12v battery is replaced on an Gen 1? Are settings lost?

 

[Nixapatfan]

Run a desulphation cycle with a good battery charger on both batteries and if it successfully completes you should be OK. I easily ran it for a couple of months after doing that without issues.

 

[ndmiller]

Run a desulphation cycle with a good battery charger on both batteries and if it successfully completes you should be OK. I easily ran it for a couple of months after doing that without issues.

Yep. Porsche recommends CTEK and I've used Optimate on all my Motorcycle/Auto batteries for as long as I remember. The higher end ones do this automatically and one overnight should fix you up or let you know your battery is 0Dead0.

The sell them on amazon and last essentially forever for ~$100 or less. I have one for AGM/Wet and one for Li I bought many years ago (Motorcycle had Li battery).

 

[CO-Ed]

Had this happen to me last year (also a 2022 R1T), followed the advice to keep it plugged in and was no problem for 10 days when both 12v batteries were replaced. I did see more phantom drain as it seemed like the truck didnt go to sleep much.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...able-after-first-dashboard-12v-warming.51438/

 

[Greg Chick]

What can I expect after my 12v battery is replaced on an Gen 1? Are settings lost?

Done correctly, all settings are saved.

 

[sherold]

Last Friday I received the 12V battery warning on my '22 R1T.

Was this before or after the 2026.03 update was installed on your truck?

I am curious what the 12V failure situation looks like after the changes in the recent update:

• Improved the ability for the vehicle to power on when the 12 V battery voltage is low.
• Improved control of the 12 V battery depth of discharge.
• Improved 12 V battery health diagnostics by checking battery state of power when the vehicle wakes up.

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