Flashlight tip

[Cletts]

If you are like me you may only very rarely use the flashlight. It’s probably not good to leave it plugged in 100% of the time while never pulling it from the door. I leave the flashlight in my underseat compartment. I dropped something on the floor while driving in the dark. It was great to quickly grab the light and find the card I dropped. I can put it back in the charge compartment whenever it needs it…

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[Marchin_MTB]

I like the idea of having it accessible from the cabin. What is the concern with leaving it plugged in all the time?

 

[R1TCA]

I like the idea of having it accessible from the cabin. What is the concern with leaving it plugged in all the time?

I may be wrong but I’ve heard it’s like having a rubber band stretched fully, all the time, which leads to less capacity/flexibility. So in the case of the batteries it’s good to have them not sit at 100% all the time and better to have the cells of the battery activate(discharge then charge back) on a regular basis. This way their full capacity isn’t dormant for too long whereas a full battery may lose some of its capacity if it’s unused for long periods of time.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

I may be wrong but I’ve heard it’s like having a rubber band stretched fully, all the time, which leads to less capacity/flexibility. So in the case of the batteries it’s good to have them not sit at 100% all the time and better to have the cells of the battery activate(discharge then charge back) on a regular basis. This way their full capacity isn’t dormant for too long whereas a full battery may lose some of its capacity if it’s unused for long periods of time.

Yes. Ive heard this argument for phones etc. and it does make sense if one is aware of the reserve margin designed in at the top of the SOC. Then I suppose I could prevent my laptop or roomba, from charging to 100% but at some point I feel like these devices should be smart enough to manage their own battery health... In principle I dont disagree, but in practice I may be too lazy

 

[rkalbiar]

Do we know Rivian did not design this, with that in mind?
Also, would it not be under warranty?

 

[Dark-Fx]

The cell is LFP, it's fine to have it charged to 100% all the time.

 

[COdogman]

If the flashlight uses the same type of cell as the battery pack and they recommend not keeping your Rivian charged to 100% all the time, wouldn’t the same apply to the flashlight? Obviously the stakes are lower, but…

 

[MoreTrout]

The cell is LFP, it's fine to have it charged to 100% all the time.

Not saying you're wrong, but where did you find this information? In two years of pre-production show and tell events every Rivian employee talked about this being the 7777th battery and identical to the 7776 in the truck's battery packs. Those aren't LFP. Maybe I missed when they slipped in an announcement that the flashlight was no longer the same as the cells in the truck.

Even if leaving the flashlight charged to 100% isn't the best for its long term health I seriously doubt it would ever have any practical change in the life and usability of the flashlight. I have no idea how long it would take the light to be on to run it to 0%, but I bet it's 100s of times longer than I or most people would ever need to use it as a light source. Heck, if after 5 years it was only at 50% capacity it would still probably last way longer than I would need to use it.

 

[Autolycus]

Not saying you're wrong, but where did you find this information? In two years of pre-production show and tell events every Rivian employee talked about this being the 7777th battery and identical to the 7776 in the truck's battery packs. Those aren't LFP. Maybe I missed when they slipped in an announcement that the flashlight was no longer the same as the cells in the truck.

Cleverly, I don’t think they ever said it was the same cell. I think they just said it was the 7,777 cell in the truck.

Here’a a Reddit thread discussing the battery in the flashlight. It’s a different size than 21700 and since it’s a 3.2V cell, it’s almost certainly LFP.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Not saying you're wrong, but where did you find this information? In two years of pre-production show and tell events every Rivian employee talked about this being the 7777th battery and identical to the 7776 in the truck's battery packs. Those aren't LFP. Maybe I missed when they slipped in an announcement that the flashlight was no longer the same as the cells in the truck.

Even if leaving the flashlight charged to 100% isn't the best for its long term health I seriously doubt it would ever have any practical change in the life and usability of the flashlight. I have no idea how long it would take the light to be on to run it to 0%, but I bet it's 100s of times longer than I or most people would ever need to use it as a light source. Heck, if after 5 years it was only at 50% capacity it would still probably last way longer than I would need to use it.

I took mine apart. It's not even the same size cell as the ones in the truck battery. 3.2V nominal makes it LFP.

 

[Gshenderson]

If it’s anything like the truck battery, phantom drain will make sure it’s not at 100% all the time ?

 

[Zoidz]

Two points to consider:
1. This is a single cell, not a pack. Some of the full charging concerns are related to variances in the cells in a pack, that is not an issue here.

2. We don’t know if they use a smart charger or not. If it’s a smart charger, it reduces the charging level after achieving a full charge to optimize cell life.

I would not worry about it.

 

[NY_Rob]

Well one great feature of LifePO4 cells is that they only experience between 1-3% drop per month so even if you kept it out of the door socket for 6 months you'd still have over 80% capacity remaining energy.

 

[madgrey]

I got used to keeping a compact flashlight in my center console on all my vehicles, e.g.: an Olight S1 or something similar that uses a single CR123 to keep it small. Cell phone LED works o.k. too, unless you need the light to find your phone after dropping down a between the seat crevasse.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

The cell is LFP, it's fine to have it charged to 100% all the time.

But..but this is cell 7777th cell in the vehicle and identical to the ones in the pack. Right? Right?

And if not identical, are there 7777 cells in the truck? What about the camp speaker?

They didn’t like me at the Venice hub…

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