Had to replace 12v battery on Gen 1

[wavrdn]

That service option is hit-or-miss on whether or not it works. Don't count on it clearing your code, especially if you install a 3rd party or non-OEM chemistry battery.

That's fair, they claim to have an easier option in the works in a software update so hopefully that takes care of it completely.

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[epowermarine]

That service option is hit-or-miss on whether or not it works. Don't count on it clearing your code, especially if you install a 3rd party or non-OEM chemistry battery.

Correct, clearing the code is hit-or-miss. I know all the tricks and can't get it cleared, have an appointment at the SC in a few weeks for a few items and this is one of them.

 

[beatle]

This. It is the small capacity of the 12V Rivian decided to use which leads to a high number of charge/discharge cycles. This leads to accelerated wear. There’s probably nothing wrong with the battery at all, it just uses up all its charge/discharge cycles and we need a new one. For a 7000lb vehicle not sure why they couldn’t find space for a regular size battery with 100Ah capacity instead of this tiny 18Ah weakling. That extra 40lbs won’t make any difference.

I can see a smaller capacity battery taking more of a beating on cycles, but it also sounds like the battery is being cycled unnecessarily for it to be failing in such a short amount of time. It's like the DC/DC converter isn't actually doing a proper job in powering the vehicle while it's on. The truck instead continues to draw down the 12v battery while the truck is powered up which does a real number on it.

 

[LivingInKaos]

I just had this done yesterday via mobile service. I have a sub 5k vin Gen 1 with 84k miles on it and this was the first time for battery swap. I looked at doing it myself, but being dual battery, by the time I bought all the components (2 batteries, s00nish adapters, hardware, etc) it was in the $300 range. Rivian has started discounting the second battery to $0 , so my total was $475. For me, the $175 difference wasn't enough to cover my time in getting the parts and making the swap really- PLUS it puts the warranty back in Rivian's lap for 2 years rather than having to deal with a 3rd party if something happened. Also, I would have had to spend 2-3hrs driving to/fro the SC to get them to clear the code since they still haven't gotten the self-swap reset to function properly in RiDE.

If you do plan to do this yourself - be sure to use deep cycle batteries otherwise you may be bumping into that 3rd party warranty sooner rather than later. Don't go cheap with a non-deep cycle - could cost you more in the long term.

 

[ksujeff99]

Rivian has started discounting the second battery to $0 , so my total was $475.

Did you have to do anything special to get them to discount the 2nd battery to zero? When I inquired a month ago, my SC didn't know anything about this.

Also, FWIW, the new Ohmmu sodium batteries still do not solve the problem. I've held on since the Halloween update (when Rivian stopped playing nice with the Ohmmu lithium batteries) with the 12v error in hopes that the sodium battery would play nice. Sadly the Rivian BMS still doesn't like it.

 

[LivingInKaos]

Did you have to do anything special to get them to discount the 2nd battery to zero? When I inquired a month ago, my SC didn't know anything about this.

Also, FWIW, the new Ohmmu sodium batteries still do not solve the problem. I've held on since the Halloween update (when Rivian stopped playing nice with the Ohmmu lithium batteries) with the 12v error in hopes that the sodium battery would play nice. Sadly the Rivian BMS still doesn't like it.

NO, the SC is the one that told me about it. Seems like different SC's know and others don't. Apparently it's been the case in the Bay Area for a few months at least.

 

[Mousetrap]

Thanks for the discussion & info! I've been following along very quietly since I really, really don't want to jinx it with my May '22 R1T on original [dual] batteries. So far, they haven't given me any trouble, but who knows now that I've posted about them.

I wouldn't say I'm superstitious, necessarily, but I'm at least a little bit stitious.

 

[bfilippo]

Thanks for the discussion & info! I've been following along very quietly since I really, really don't want to jinx it with my May '22 R1T on original [dual] batteries. So far, they haven't given me any trouble, but who knows now that I've posted about them.

I wouldn't say I'm superstitious, necessarily, but I'm at least a little bit stitious.

haha same, our Gen1 ‘22 R1S has not had any issues with 12v’s, with 82k miles. Did have to replace front passenger brake last week though. Mobile came and did it.

 

[MTVhike]

I have a Gen1 '23 R1T with 37000 miles on it. All this discussion about the 12V has me worried. I have had no problems so far, but my nearest SC is 4 hours away; I live in northern NY (unless the one in Montreal counts!). Is this something a mobile technician can take care of? Is it worth replacing that battery in advance?

 

[SwampNut]

I had one of my replacements done by a mobile tech.

 

[KBabione]

And one of my two replacements was done by a mobile tech - proactively by Rivian without me noticing anything. Hopefully their monitoring of the 12V systems will catch it before you have an issue.

 

[Singletracker]

I have a Gen1 '23 R1T with 37000 miles on it. All this discussion about the 12V has me worried. I have had no problems so far, but my nearest SC is 4 hours away; I live in northern NY (unless the one in Montreal counts!). Is this something a mobile technician can take care of? Is it worth replacing that battery in advance?

I have a ‘23 R1T (9/23 delivery). I never have had any issues with my 12v. However, in January of last year, when there seemed to be a lot battery issues running around, I called my SC to inquire as to whether I qualified for a battery replacement. After doing some checking, it was determined that I qualified. Not sure what the criteria for that decision was. My battery was then replaced by mobile service. The moral of the story is - it‘s probably a good idea to reach out your SC and see what they can do. If you do nothing, it will eventually fail. It’s just a matter of when. That’s just what batteries do.

 

[tate16t]

Great thread!

I received a proactive text just yesterday to have my 12v battery replaced for the first time, ‘23 R1S Gen 1. A mobile tech is scheduled to replace it this coming Friday.

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