12V battery dead after 8 days at 71% charge

[AlanP]

Arrived home from an 8 day trip and 2023 R!S wouldn't wake. Was at 71% when I left. I've been on 15+ weeklong trips without a problem. SC says since it wasn't plugged in Rivian will not provide warranty, tow or rental car. Is this the new normal? Is it due to a recent OTA upgrade? I typically lose 1-2% daily at the most .

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[CANCERDOC]

Factory battery warrantied for 3/36 whichever comes first. Once it starts to go, plugging in might not save it. They just don’t last very long because the vehicle uses a lot of power and cycles too much so the 12V has a short life.

 

[godfodder0901]

Arrived home from an 8 day trip and 2023 R!S wouldn't wake. Was at 71% when I left. I've been on 15+ weeklong trips without a problem. SC says since it wasn't plugged in Rivian will not provide warranty, tow or rental car. Is this the new normal? Is it due to a recent OTA upgrade? I typically lose 1-2% daily at the most .

The 12v and traction batteries are not the same. 71% traction battery charge has zero bearing on the state of charge or health of the 12v battery.

 

[AlanP]

The 12v and traction batteries are not the same. 71% traction battery charge has zero bearing on the state of charge or health of the 12v battery.

owner manual says traction battery provides a steady state of charge to maintain the 12V

 

[mkg3]

The 12v and traction batteries are not the same. 71% traction battery charge has zero bearing on the state of charge or health of the 12v battery.

I don't believe this statement is quite correct. The HV battery charges the 12v battery; hence, there is no alternator on board.

As/when the 12V drains, HV battery charges it. I have read in one of the post on this forum that when the vehicle goes to sleep, it can neglect 12V battery SOC and as the 12V gets down to 20% (I think the number is correct but not certain) it wakes the vehicle up to recharge.

My guess is that the 12V was at the point of no return due to its age or the chemical condition and would not recharge,

 

[godfodder0901]

owner manual says traction battery provides a steady state of charge to maintain the 12V

I don't believe this statement is quite correct. The HV battery charges the 12v battery; hence, there is no alternator on board.

As/when the 12V drains, HV battery charges it. I have read in one of the post on this forum that when the vehicle goes to sleep, it can neglect 12V battery SOC and as the 12V gets down to 20% (I think the number is correct but not certain) it wakes the vehicle up to recharge.

My guess is that the 12V was at the point of no return due to its age or the chemical condition and would not recharge,

Of course the traction battery charges the 12v. OP made it sound like he thought the 71% charge was for the 12v battery. The 71% state of charge applies only to the traction battery, not the 12v. Just like I said.

 

[DuoRivians]

That’s BS. It should be covered under warranty

 

[AlanP]

The fun is just beginning. The tow company spent three hours trying to get it out of my garage. They finally dropped the front carrier to reposition it and the car rolled back into my carport , taking out my carport column. I guess it’s time to try a mobile service.

 

[CANCERDOC]

The fun is just beginning. The tow company spent three hours trying to get it out of my garage. They finally dropped the front carrier to reposition it and the car rolled back into my carport , taking out my carport column. I guess it’s time to try a mobile service.

did the tow company try jumping it with the leads near the tow hitch to release the parking brake?

 

[AlanP]

did the tow company try jumping it with the leads near the tow hitch to release the parking brake?

Yes, that was the first thing they did to unlock the doors so that the wheel could be straightened to pull it out of the garage. My charger was plugged in, but nothing happened. The car now sits unlocked in the middle of an alley.

 

[Megaman0025]

I don't believe this statement is quite correct. The HV battery charges the 12v battery; hence, there is no alternator on board.

As/when the 12V drains, HV battery charges it. I have read in one of the post on this forum that when the vehicle goes to sleep, it can neglect 12V battery SOC and as the 12V gets down to 20% (I think the number is correct but not certain) it wakes the vehicle up to recharge.

My guess is that the 12V was at the point of no return due to its age or the chemical condition and would not recharge,

Does anyone know why this keeps happening aside from the 12 volt being cycled so much? Did Rivina just happen to buy a really bad batch of 12volt batteries for the last 5 years. I'm still on my original 12v in my Model 3 for 5 years now, not a peep of issues.

 

[ENVErider]

I don't believe this statement is quite correct. The HV battery charges the 12v battery; hence, there is no alternator on board.

As/when the 12V drains, HV battery charges it. I have read in one of the post on this forum that when the vehicle goes to sleep, it can neglect 12V battery SOC and as the 12V gets down to 20% (I think the number is correct but not certain) it wakes the vehicle up to recharge.

My guess is that the 12V was at the point of no return due to its age or the chemical condition and would not recharge,

I second this, at least for the Gen 1 vehicles. The HV batteries don't have a direct voltage reduced "trickle charge" going to the 12V, they wake up in cycles to charge the 12V battery and then go back to sleep.
@AlanP there have been previous posts where something unique causes the vehicle from going to sleep which will turn a normally <1%/day vampire loss to somehting quite a bit more becuase the vehicle stays in wake mode. Seat belts left buckled in to say hold a baby or bumper seat were one example, but honestly, at 1%/day, 71% should have lasted two weeks easily, and there may be an issue with your batteries. Best of luck resolving it quickly and getting back on the road.

 

[Zoidz]

Arrived home from an 8 day trip and 2023 R!S wouldn't wake. Was at 71% when I left. I've been on 15+ weeklong trips without a problem. SC says since it wasn't plugged in Rivian will not provide warranty, tow or rental car. Is this the new normal? Is it due to a recent OTA upgrade? I typically lose 1-2% daily at the most .

Does anyone know why this keeps happening aside from the 12 volt being cycled so much? Did Rivina just happen to buy a really bad batch of 12volt batteries for the last 5 years. I'm still on my original 12v in my Model 3 for 5 years now, not a peep of issues.

@AlanP - You mention it is a 2023 - was the 12v battery proactively replaced previously under warranty, or is this the original battery? Some 2022 and 2023 batteries (including mine) were replaced under warranty via a proactive Service Bulletin (I don't think it was labeled as a "recall") in 2024 and early 2025. There are two unconfirmed reasons for this - some techs told people it was a defective battery, other techs told people that an OTA had a bad charging algorithm and damaged the batteries.

 

[AlanP]

@AlanP - You mention it is a 2023 - was the 12v battery proactively replaced previously under warranty, or is this the original battery? Some 2022 and 2023 batteries (including mine) were replaced under warranty via a proactive Service Bulletin (I don't think it was labeled as a "recall") in 2024 and early 2025. There are two unconfirmed reasons for this - some techs told people it was a defective battery, other techs told people that an OTA had a bad charging algorithm and damaged the batteries.

It’s the original 12 V battery. It sounds like the GEN 2 vehicles get early battery failure alerts, but I certainly didn’t get anything nor have I had any prior problems..

 

[ENVErider]

Does anyone know why this keeps happening aside from the 12 volt being cycled so much? Did Rivina just happen to buy a really bad batch of 12volt batteries for the last 5 years. I'm still on my original 12v in my Model 3 for 5 years now, not a peep of issues.

It's a known issue for gen1, supposedly fixed in gen2. I suspect it is a design flaw; this guy presented a compelling case that excessive cycling and selection of an undersized lead acid battery is part of the issue. Some have posted better experience with the lithium 3rd party placements.

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