R1 Switched from NMC to NCA?

[dleepnw]

I just learned that Rivian switched its battery chemistry (non-LFP) from NMC to NCA? Did anyone else know this? I recall them mentioning a change in packaging some time ago that helped improve range but had no idea it was more than that. Does the higher energy density explain the performance bump in the Gen2 Tri/Quad or the motors? Maybe its a combination of both. It'll be interesting to see long term the battery degradation on R1S/R1T with NMC vs those with NCA.

https://rivian.com/support/article/what-are-the-battery-specifications-on-rivian-vehicles

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[smashweights]

My understanding is the early models, like my 5xxx vin 22 Launch Edition, were all NCA as well.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

My understanding is the early models, like my 5xxx vin 22 Launch Edition, were all NCA as well.

We know they did it with the inroduction of the Max Pack to retain the same packaging/form factor while improving the energy density of the cells. This likely filtered to all packs to bring down the supplier cost, and part standardization

I had thought the only chemistry change was with the Max Pack, but this confirms otherwise.

Each chemistry has its pros and cons, as you touched on, but here's the old AI overview.

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

I just learned that Rivian switched its battery chemistry (non-LFP) from NMC to NCA? Did anyone else know this? I recall them mentioning a change in packaging some time ago that helped improve range but had no idea it was more than that. Does the higher energy density explain the performance bump in the Gen2 Tri/Quad or the motors? Maybe its a combination of both. It'll be interesting to see long term the battery degradation on R1S/R1T with NMC vs those with NCA.

https://rivian.com/support/article/what-are-the-battery-specifications-on-rivian-vehicles

So switching chemistries from nickel, manganese, and cobalt to nickel, cobalt, and aluminum. Interesting…

 

[Mos Eisley]

There are a few videos with RJ where he discusses the different chemistries, their applications and the economics.

 

[HaveBlue]

I believe the R2 was announced as NCA

 

[Megaman0025]

I believe the R2 was announced as NCA

I believe R2 will actually be NCMA - this has been stated with the new form factor.

 

[portdirect]

I just learned that Rivian switched its battery chemistry (non-LFP) from NMC to NCA? Did anyone else know this? I recall them mentioning a change in packaging some time ago that helped improve range but had no idea it was more than that. Does the higher energy density explain the performance bump in the Gen2 Tri/Quad or the motors? Maybe its a combination of both. It'll be interesting to see long term the battery degradation on R1S/R1T with NMC vs those with NCA.

https://rivian.com/support/article/what-are-the-battery-specifications-on-rivian-vehicles

It's interesting that the values here don't align with the specs on the packs themselves. `Rated Capacity` in the tables matches the capacity that Rivian market the usable capacity at - which is lower than the rated capacity printed on the actual packs. Also weird that they have not specified model year at all - leading me to suspect this is all preparing for 'how do we deal with folks being upset that their SOH is not 100%`.

I was also surprised to see these are all NCA - all media has talked about these as being NMC forever AFAIK.

Edit: added image to show label from PT01244230-A - which in the table shows a `rated capacity` of 109.8 kWh.

 

[Jonger1150]

2024 Large pack is NCM right?

 

[portdirect]

I asked one of my GPU buddies to help, and it looks like NCA has been there since the very beginning - with the media consistently at odds with Rivian's own reporting, the report produced is around 30 pages, but the following timeline probably summarizes it best:

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