Climate pre-conditioning from the app

[SmoreRangePlease]

Hey R1S family. I took delivery of a gen2 R1S in April 2025. Consistently since delivery, if I use the in-app climate preconditioning feature to turn on the heat, I see the following behavior, and I'm curious if others see it too, or if it's just me.

Assume an outdoor/ambient temp of like 55F degrees (i.e. pretty mild). If I set the cabin target temp to ~70F, then watch the interior temp as reported by the app, it pretty quickly increases to around 61F < 5 minutes and 63F over the course of 10 minutes. 30 minutes later, it'll still be at 63F-64F. It never gets anywhere near 70F, as reported by the app.

It's totally possible the actual interior temp is 70F though. It just seems... suspicious... that the in-app temp shows such a low value. That can't be normal/expected/right. It's certainly not true in other comparable cars. Would love to hear others' experiences.

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[SwampNut]

I only pre-cool the car, not pre-heat, in summer. It seems to also report slightly higher than set temp (always 73), but I don't watch it closely. I guess I'll try pre-heating some day when it's cold.

 

[SwampNut]

Well here we are, I tried it. There's a huge delay in the temp display in the app. Probably some attempt to minimize power/cellular usage. About 8 minutes after remote starting it, the display is showing low temp, but I walked out and it was warm in the car.

 

[mudito]

Hey R1S family. I took delivery of a gen2 R1S in April 2025. Consistently since delivery, if I use the in-app climate preconditioning feature to turn on the heat, I see the following behavior, and I'm curious if others see it too, or if it's just me.

Assume an outdoor/ambient temp of like 55F degrees (i.e. pretty mild). If I set the cabin target temp to ~70F, then watch the interior temp as reported by the app, it pretty quickly increases to around 61F < 5 minutes and 63F over the course of 10 minutes. 30 minutes later, it'll still be at 63F-64F. It never gets anywhere near 70F, as reported by the app.

It's totally possible the actual interior temp is 70F though. It just seems... suspicious... that the in-app temp shows such a low value. That can't be normal/expected/right. It's certainly not true in other comparable cars. Would love to hear others' experiences.

This is a known issue, we have been discussing this quite a lot at Twitter (X) and I personally reported this to Rivian through the official app feedback (I encourage you to do the same).

Personally what I do Is to set the cabin temp +5F or (if it's REALLY cold out there) just put it in HIGH, with a 2hour timer. And after 15/20mins the cabin is at 100F+ (if you have a Gen1, Gen2 might top off at mid 90s)

 

[lefkonj]

I precondition in the winter often but I never really monitor the temps. I turn it on 10 minutes prior to leaving so the car isn't as cold when I get in. I understand people's concern about the temp but to me it is almost like when you first get in any car the outside temp is off because it is really meant to monitor when the vehicle is moving not standing still in either the cold or the sun.

 

[savethemanual]

Who pre heats their vehicle when it's only 55 degrees out, that's a small delta T .

Sorry, I realize there are various needs and standards out there and we're all different....but that just struck me as funny to hear. I'm used to pre heating my vehicle when it's 20 or below. My primary vehicle isn't an EV yet (soon) so I know warming the battery is important too but that didn't seem to be the issue of the OP.

 

[mudito]

Who pre heats their vehicle when it's only 55 degrees out, that's a small delta T .

Sorry, I realize there are various needs and standards out there and we're all different....but that just struck me as funny to hear. I'm used to pre heating my vehicle when it's 20 or below. My primary vehicle isn't an EV yet (soon) so I know warming the battery is important too but that didn't seem to be the issue of the OP.

Once I told my best friend "Heated seats are for old people"... Guess what now... I'm old, I love them

-Aldo, 45 years old with a 65y/o lower back that needs heat in the mornings

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Who pre heats their vehicle when it's only 55 degrees out, that's a small delta T .

Sorry, I realize there are various needs and standards out there and we're all different....but that just struck me as funny to hear. I'm used to pre heating my vehicle when it's 20 or below. My primary vehicle isn't an EV yet (soon) so I know warming the battery is important too but that didn't seem to be the issue of the OP.

If the car doesn’t preheat to 72 every morning, even if it’s 60 out, my soft kids say it’s “freezing”

 

[SwampNut]

60 is definitely freezing.

 

[savethemanual]

60 is definitely freezing.

When spring comes, first 60 degree day I'm in shorts and a T-shirt

 

[Dasoss]

Hey R1S family. I took delivery of a gen2 R1S in April 2025. Consistently since delivery, if I use the in-app climate preconditioning feature to turn on the heat, I see the following behavior, and I'm curious if others see it too, or if it's just me.

Assume an outdoor/ambient temp of like 55F degrees (i.e. pretty mild). If I set the cabin target temp to ~70F, then watch the interior temp as reported by the app, it pretty quickly increases to around 61F < 5 minutes and 63F over the course of 10 minutes. 30 minutes later, it'll still be at 63F-64F. It never gets anywhere near 70F, as reported by the app.

It's totally possible the actual interior temp is 70F though. It just seems... suspicious... that the in-app temp shows such a low value. That can't be normal/expected/right. It's certainly not true in other comparable cars. Would love to hear others' experiences.

I'm guessing that the internet connection goes to sleep after a while so the cabin temperature is not being updated. You can try waking the car. That usually fixes it for me.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Never had any issues with mine. I will tell mine to warm the cabin when I sit down to lace up my boots, and by the time I walk outside the cabin is warm enough.

And no, my boots aren't like this to lace.

 

[jrmbadger]

I'm having the same issue OP. I'm also having an issue where my climate WILL NOT precondition on a schedule. If I set a schedule in either the car or app, as long as the schedule is set to more than an hour in the future, the car will not wake up and precondition. My app and car schedules are also out-of-synch where setting a schedule in the app won't show in the car and vice versa.

I have a service appointment in March and have tried hard resets and soft resets.

 

[SmoreRangePlease]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I tried it. There's a huge delay in the temp display in the app. Probably some attempt to minimize power/cellular usage. About 8 minutes after remote starting it, the display is showing low temp, but I walked out and it was warm in the car.

Nope, not a power/cellular thing. Persists across pull-to-refresh, app re-opens, waiting many 10s of minutes, opening the car door, etc.

it is really meant to monitor when the vehicle is moving not standing still in either the cold or the sun.

Why not monitor in both conditions? It's absolutely doable. Tesla handles it just fine.

Who pre heats their vehicle when it's only 55 degrees out, that's a small delta T .

Sorry, I realize there are various needs and standards out there and we're all different....but that just struck me as funny to hear.

55F ambient temp was to illustrate how even in the gentlest conditions, it couldn't hit 70F. What do you think happens with 20F ambient temp? lmk if you need a hint, smart guy

I'm guessing that the internet connection goes to sleep after a while so the cabin temperature is not being updated. You can try waking the car. That usually fixes it for me.

Nope. Car is awake the entire time. As above, persists across pull-to-refresh, app restarts, 10s of minutes, car plugged in, opening car door, etc.

Never had any issues with mine. I will tell mine to warm the cabin when I sit down to lace up my boots, and by the time I walk outside the cabin is warm enough.

I'm specifically referring to the temp as reported by the app, not how it feels in the car. More on that below...

This is a known issue, we have been discussing this quite a lot at Twitter (X) and I personally reported this to Rivian through the official app feedback (I encourage you to do the same).

Thanks for this, glad to know I'm not alone. See below for my attempt at feedback...

I have a service appointment in March and have tried hard resets and soft resets.

You might want to skip it and save yourself the trouble. I've actually brought my car in 3 times now, each time reporting this issue (among other things), complete with very clear data included in the service request etc.

The first two times, they pretty much just ignored this problem. They dealt with the other stuff in my request, did some completely irrelevant HVAC test, and said it was fine.

The last time was this past week+ (got my vehicle back today), explicitly for this problem, which the service manager acknowledged as something they would look into prior to my bringing it in. They spent a week trying to troubleshoot it. They easily reproduced it. Then eventually, they decided it was expected behavior after consulting whoever they consult on the inside. They measured the actual in-cabin temp, and it was the expected 70F (or whatever). So the app just reports some imperfect temp for various reasons. Basically: SW bug.

Which is fine. As long as the vehicle is actually getting to the expected temp, I'm content. They should probably improve it (again, Tesla handles this just fine), but just wanted to let folks know this info for their own sanity.

As for feedback, I use the in-app feedback liberally (I'm probably blacklisted). Also, my $800 loaner rental plus paying service techs for the all the troubleshooting also might start to grab their attention.

Thanks again everyone for humoring me. Hopefully this info from my service visit helps.

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