Brand new R1S is DEAD

[Riv E In]

Picked up my R1S less than two weeks ago. 205 miles on it now. Battery was at 70%. Parked it at kids baseball game tonight. Came back an hour later. It wakes, but when I get in a chime is sounding. The car won’t fully turn on and won’t drive. I get out and get back in. Same thing. Try a reset. Same thing. Then got a CRITICAL BATTERY ISSUE message pop up on the display. Called Rivian and left the car. They tell me I need to leave a key there, so I go back. Now my phone says Replace 12v Battery when I open the app and the car is completely dead. Can’t unlock it or anything. It’s supposedly getting towed tonight to the service center.

I can’t tell you how disappointed and frustrated I am with this happening with a brand new (and very expensive) vehicle.

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[swhme]

Oof, that’s frustrating. Let us know how it goes!

 

[R1TS]

That sucks. Hope you get it back fixed quickly.

Consolation? Others have had the same issue, though maybe not as quick after delivery as in your case.

 

[Riv E In]

That sucks. Hope you get it back fixed quickly.

Consolation? Others have had the same issue, though maybe not as quick after delivery as in your case.

After posting I was just reading about this one: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/guess-it-was-my-time-12v-is-dead.26523/

Interestingly, I just did the new software update last night. Sounds like he had, too. Coincidence?

 

[R1TS]

After posting I was just reading about this one: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/guess-it-was-my-time-12v-is-dead.26523/

Interestingly, I just did the new software update last night. Sounds like he had, too. Coincidence?

Coincidence I think. People have had this issue long before.

 

[PsyTrance]

puts the adventure in adventure vehicle.

 

[Schneelafen]

The same happened to me three weeks ago. Turned out the 400v battery had a bad cell and it killed my 12v. Rivian replaced both the 400v and 12v batteries under warranty. I requested and received a loaner R1S for the two weeks.

 

[irvineboy]

@Riv E In I had some issue with my 2024 R1S dying after less than a week after delivery. Not sure what the issue is but it’s at the service center. 2023 R1S never had battery issues. I wonder how often the 400v battery is bad and if this id happening more to 2024 models?

Don’t they test these things prior to delivery? Super frustrating experience.

 

[240vPlug]

This sucks and it's not the experience you should be having. I'm sorry this happened to you but I'm confident Rivian will make this right.

The 12v batteries are pretty bad unfortunately. There have been a lot of reports of bricked trucks due to defective 12v batteries. The issue has lessened tremendously since the truck launched but still pops up unfortunately.

Rivian really needs to replace these 12v lead acid units with a lithium like Tesla puts in their vehicles. They have more energy density and a much longer service life

 

[Chrisy]

Seems to be a pattern with some R1S from the last few weeks deliveries.
Maybe Rivian got a bad batch of HV batteries or a bad runs of cells that got installed at about the same week in the factory?
Just guessing wildly...

 

[sub]

I'm pretty sure the root cause of your problem is the high voltage battery. The 12 volt battery going bad is just the result of the high voltage battery no longer being able to charge it.

However, I do think that using such a tiny 12-volt battery was a design mistake. It is also poor design decision to not have a lower power computer responsible for doors and other standby tasks.

Rivian should have designed the vehicle so that it can go several days or even months without topping off the 12-volt battery, like every ICE vehicle ever made. But that's not what we got. The 12 volt battery can't survive even a day without being topped off from the HV battery.

 

[SkiLizardHead2]

Sorry for the folks dealing with this design issue - For Rivian's sake let's hope this design issue is fixed with the refreshed R1s starting in May.

 

[Steve A.]

Welcome to the club. Many similar 12V threads here but I guess not enough for an actual recall. ;-)

 

[Redline]

Will be interesting to see if they have a different 12v solution with the refresh.

 

[philofilm]

I'm pretty sure the root cause of your problem is the high voltage battery. The 12 volt battery going bad is just the result of the high voltage battery no longer being able to charge it.

However, I do think that using such a tiny 12-volt battery was a design mistake. It is also poor design decision to not have a lower power computer responsible for doors and other standby tasks.

Rivian should have designed the vehicle so that it can go several days or even months without topping off the 12-volt battery, like every ICE vehicle ever made. But that's not what we got. The 12 volt battery can't survive even a day without being topped off from the HV battery.

Couldn’t agree more with this.

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