Electri-fry America... results in Critical Battery Error message and my R1T bricked

[DRIVIAN]

This morning, I was driving down from Vermont to pick my Dad up in Manchester, NH, and take him down to Mass General for an appointment. I drove down to Manchester early so I could charge to be able to get him down to Boston and back without needing to stop. At the Electrify America charging station at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, I plugged into kiosk 1 and had my first two sessions error out within the first few seconds. I moved over to kiosk 4, and started a charging session. For the first six minutes, it charged at about 178 kW, then a sudden loud bang and a white flash from the upper right-hand side of the kiosk, near where the cable is attached. I got a Critical Battery Error, message, and the truck bricked. It wound up being towed to Chelsea, where it is #51 in line for service. I was told they wouldn't be likely to pull it in to look at for 7 to 10 days. Seems like they're a little out in front of their skis. This EA station in Manchester is one to avoid.

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[NDallasR1S]

This morning, I was driving down from Vermont to pick my Dad up in Manchester, NH, and take him down to Mass General for an appointment. I drove down to Manchester early so I could charge to be able to get him down to Boston and back without needing to stop. At the Electrify America charging station at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, I plugged into kiosk 1 and had my first two sessions error out within the first few seconds. I moved over to kiosk 4, and started a charging session. For the first six minutes, it charged at about 178 kW, then a sudden loud bang and a white flash from the upper right-hand side of the kiosk, near where the cable is attached. I got a Critical Battery Error, message, and the truck bricked. It wound up being towed to Chelsea, where it is #51 in line for service. I was told they wouldn't be likely to pull it in to look at for 7 to 10 days. Seems like they're a little out in front of their skis. This EA station in Manchester is one to avoid.

Sorry, this has happened.

I’d be interested in hearing what happened once you get some feedback. Has EA offered to cover any costs associated with the repair?

 

[Marchin_MTB]

That is a real disappointment but I’m glad nothing worse happened. Hope you were able to get a loaner and get your dad to his appointment. Did you speak with anyone at EA about this? If so what did they say?

We have had reports of several “anomalies” at EA stations including both Rivian and other vehicles. I wish someone would share some failure mode analysis about what went wrong in those cases.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

This is horrible! I'm very sorry this happened. 51st in line? Rivian needs to use some of the $1.5B to double up on service centers that are challenged with backlogs.....

 

[connoisseurr]

This is horrible! I'm very sorry this happened. 51st in line? Rivian needs to use some of the $1.5B to double up on service centers that are challenged with backlogs.....

Or start working 3 shifts at service centers.

 

[ads75]

That really sucks. I was thinking about using spot for an upcoming road trip, if I take the R1T over my Wrangler. Hopefully they get it settled, but I’d be worried about EA and Rivian blaming each other.

 

[fromSf]

Or start working 3 shifts at service centers.

Agreed, wait time to get an appointment sucks.

 

[jollyroger]

Just to clarify, the bang was on the EA station itself?

 

[240vPlug]

Oh wow... I've never heard a story like this before. Im sorry you experienced this. Unfortunately the service centers are at the bottom of the slope and the skis are still on the lift .

Tesla worked multiple shifts at their SC. I know this because the one in Sterling had windows. Thry were tinted so you couldn't see in during the day but at night you could. I picked up after 9pm one night and there was a guy in there still working on a car. Rivian needs to do something about the backup and soon.

 

[LivingInKaos]

So sorry to hear. These things never seen to happen when you have nothing but time on your hands. Hope you were able to get your dad's appointment taken care of without too much hassle. Hopefully it's just a hv fuse in the R1 and they can get it on the road quickly once the wait is over. I think everyone would love some feedback once you're all done. Very rarely do we hear how these things end up. It's almost like everyone has to sign an NDA or something.....

 

[DRIVIAN]

That is a real disappointment but I’m glad nothing worse happened. Hope you were able to get a loaner and get your dad to his appointment. Did you speak with anyone at EA about this? If so what did they say?

We have had reports of several “anomalies” at EA stations including both Rivian and other vehicles. I wish someone would share some failure mode analysis about what went wrong in those cases.

When I was on the phone with the EA support line, the person I was speaking with basically described to me what I had experienced, leaving me with the feeling that it was a thing. No offer to help, but I'm hoping that Rivian and EA sort it out. I'll keep you posted.

 

[DRIVIAN]

Just to clarify, the bang was on the EA station itself?

I can't swear where the bang was from. I was sitting in the car practicing German on my phone. All I know for sure is the first place my eyes were drawn to was the charging kiosk, which is where I saw the flash.

 

[DRIVIAN]

This morning, I was driving down from Vermont to pick my Dad up in Manchester, NH, and take him down to Mass General for an appointment. I drove down to Manchester early so I could charge to be able to get him down to Boston and back without needing to stop. At the Electrify America charging station at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, I plugged into kiosk 1 and had my first two sessions error out within the first few seconds. I moved over to kiosk 4, and started a charging session. For the first six minutes, it charged at about 178 kW, then a sudden loud bang and a white flash from the upper right-hand side of the kiosk, near where the cable is attached. I got a Critical Battery Error, message, and the truck bricked. It wound up being towed to Chelsea, where it is #51 in line for service. I was told they wouldn't be likely to pull it in to look at for 7 to 10 days. Seems like they're a little out in front of their skis. This EA station in Manchester is one to avoid.

I just want to add that the Rivian support person who picked up when I called in with the app was fantastic. Abby got me sorted with Uber credits so I could pick up my dad, Uber to Mass General, then Uber to the service center after his appointment. He was only a few minutes late and no one even noticed. I wound up with a fully charged R1T loaner and was headed for home only a little later than if the day had gone normally. I'm very happy with the support I received and continue to be impressed with both my wonderful truck and the team at Rivian.

 

[JGard18]

man, I feel you on the crappy Service Center lead times. I have booked and canceled too many appointments there. I just rebooked, and it's three months out until the earliest appointment. We need another service center for New England.

 

[Zoidz]

Or start working 3 shifts at service centers.

... Rivian needs to do something about the backup and soon.

My October response to this ongoing discussion about service backlog (same as the September response, lol):

As of right now, Rivian has 208 job openings posted for Service Technicians of various grades. I didn't go through all of the postings, but it appears 15% - 20% of them are for "Night Shift". Rivian knows the problem and the solution, but finding qualified applicants is the fairly obvious road block.

Throughout the country, electromechanical service technicians are in high demand and scarce supply. It's a highly skilled, technical position and requires a different knowledgebase, skill set and attitude than an general auto mechanic. Our school systems and PARENTS need to do a better job evaluating and encouraging some (many?) high school students to go to tech schools instead of getting a 4 year degree in Art History. No offense meant to Liberal Arts degrees, it's just that the job market is small and pays at the low end. Not everyone should to spend $60k - $200k on a 4 year degree when these well paying, valuable careers exist and will exist in the future.

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