Driver+ and Cruise Control Unsafe Motor Temps?

[SoCal Rob]

Here it is again, when the motor Temps were available I knew the chicken little's would be up Rivians backside. This feature will be going away, guaranteed, and I don't blame them.
If there was an issue with the temperatures, I'm sure the truck would send out a warning on the display.
You people should be paying attention to the road and stop complaining for no reason.

I think Rivian just needs to remove the warning coloring from the temperature gauges and motor graphics when the vehicle is calling for the higher temps intentionally. The coloring should stay neutral unless the vehicle is showing an error condition in the driver’s display.

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[LL75]

That would cause even more angy calls. Some of us very much want to see actual data, and understand that if the gage is at/below the red line then all is normal. Enjoy watching your systems at work people, and stop freaking out already.

why? they never see it before the update and it was fine. The more they let customers see things that they don't understand, the worse it will be for rivian with unnecessary phone calls.

 

[R.I.P.]

why? they never see it before the update and it was fine. The more they let customers see things that they don't understand, the worse it will be for rivian with unnecessary phone calls.

Because truck drivers coming from Ford/Chevy/Dodge want gages, we want to see engine/motor temps when we tow, wheel etc. it is a truck guy thing, and we pushed Rivian hard to add them.

 

[zefram47]

Now yall know why this data wasn't provided before, they should lie about temps the way Porsche does for all the neurotic people out there. All late model porsches do a dance of running the engine coolant temp between 190f and 230f but the gauge stays at 194f of 200f depending on year and model. My biggest question since the battery doesn't have its own dedicated heater is why they aren't circulating the coolant through the motors when they are warm like that to bring the battery and keep it around 85f, that's where it's the most efficient. All it would take is a 12v coolant pump running. Seems like a waste to not have the battery at the optimum temp for basically free

100% No. Many of us want the data displayed and if it's displayed it better damn well be accurate. If anything they should change from orange to yellow and put up a message saying why the motors are getting warmer than normal if it's part of the vehicle's programming to warm/condition the battery or another component.

 

[Nsblifer]

At least this guy didn’t ditch his vehicle on the side of the highway with his family in tow for no reason like the other dude did.

 

[Grogu]

Rivian really should publish something to keep folks from being concerned over this. Saying its expected without any explanation isn't helpful on Rivian's part.

In colder temps the motors (apparently the front motors) will create waste heat to condition the battery. This is more efficient than using resistive heating. A lot of folks have posted about this. Tesla does this with their vehicles as well. Nobody really knows all the details of this function as Rivian hasn't publicly disclosed it....but basically the coolant is heated in the motors and then sent along to the battery to warm it up. What we see, now that we can see motor temps, is a rapid rise in temps in front motors, then a rapid decline as the heated coolant is moved into the battery.

Just swipe the screen so you don’t see the temps out of site out of mind. And just wait for a warning to show on drivers screen

 

[biglet]

How much did you worry about this before you could see the motor temps? Then I'd say worry the same amount now as you did then.

Well next time I'm on a road trip I'm going to let it run and see how high it goes. If the temps get to 400 degrees, should I still worry since I wouldn't have known that without a temp gauge? Not worrying about a problem because you don't have the instruments to measure it is moronic.

 

[SparkyR1t]

Not sure how it applies to specially designed EV motors but an industrial electric motor with the highest insulation class I have seen which is a class H is rated for a max of 360 degrees F. And if we are looking at oil or coolant temps they are typically rated at a max of around 300 degrees F. 400 degrees seems extreme but maybe within the design parameters of the trucks. We really need some manufacturers data to make sense of the temperatures

 

[R.I.P.]

Well next time I'm on a road trip I'm going to let it run and see how high it goes. If the temps get to 400 degrees, should I still worry since I wouldn't have known that without a temp gauge? Not worrying about a problem because you don't have the instruments to measure it is moronic.

Yes. If something _actually_ overheats, it will not only notify you, but it will log it for Rivian to troubleshoot.

That said, the behavior you're describing is 100% normal, and absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Just swipe the screen so you don’t see the temps out of site out of mind. And just wait for a warning to show on drivers screen

Sounds like a nice low tech solution to a high tech problem. Rivian hire this man! ?

 

[Throwdown]

100% No. Many of us want the data displayed and if it's displayed it better damn well be accurate. If anything they should change from orange to yellow and put up a message saying why the motors are getting warmer than normal if it's part of the vehicle's programming to warm/condition the battery or another component.

Don't buy a porsche then, cuz they are lying about temps ALL.DAY.LONG for the exact reason of this discussion. Doesn't matter what the temps are, you can't change it. And if it's erroneous readings or legit readings and there's a problem that's what the warranty is for. When it comes to thermal management there should be nothing you can do to make operate outside of its parameters under normal use

 

[Singletracker]

Happened to me today. The only context given was the map told me the truck was preconditioning the battery for DC charging. It raised the battery a full 20 degrees from 56 to 76.

But ORANGE sure does raise some anxiety.

I had this exact thing happen to me. As I always considered RED a warning color, I was very concerned with motor temps in the 270+ range. I spoke with a Rivian rep and was told that it was normal as long as the bar graph didn’t cross the red vertical line. My advice to Rivian would be to not use RED, unless it‘s a serious situation. Maybe YELLOW would be a better choice of colors with this scenario.

 

[elektrode]

I agree the coloring makes this look like a warning. Also the “preconditioning battery notice” was not visually correlated. If the motor temps used the top right corner to indicating preconditioning battery, drivers would be more informed.

I don’t think this is an issue of “dumb drivers gonna be dumb if Rivian shows them numbers”. It’s an issue of signaling a warning condition (or caution) when such a condition is not warranted.

I had this exact thing happen to me. As I always considered RED a warning color, I was very concerned with motor temps in the 270+ range. I spoke with a Rivian rep and was told that it was normal as long as the bar graph didn’t cross the red vertical line. My advice to Rivian would be to not use RED, unless it‘s a serious situation. Maybe YELLOW would be a better choice of colors with this scenario.

 

[godfodder0901]

I had this exact thing happen to me. As I always considered RED a warning color, I was very concerned with motor temps in the 270+ range. I spoke with a Rivian rep and was told that it was normal as long as the bar graph didn’t cross the red vertical line. My advice to Rivian would be to not use RED, unless it‘s a serious situation. Maybe YELLOW would be a better choice of colors with this scenario.

I agree the coloring makes this look like a warning. Also the “preconditioning battery notice” was not visually correlated. If the motor temps used the top right corner to indicating preconditioning battery, drivers would be more informed.

I don’t think this is an issue of “dumb drivers gonna be dumb if Rivian shows them numbers”. It’s an issue of signaling a warning condition (or caution) when such a condition is not warranted.

I know it's a little hard to tell, but the motor color in OP's photo is orange, not red.

 

[Singletracker]

Exactly. It’s hard to tell whether it’s reddish orange or orangish red. In either case, if it’s not supposed to indicate a serious situation, it should not be an ambiguous color that is bound to confuse people. Make it clearly yellow, or no color at all, and call it a day ?

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