Having a 12V Backup Plan-- need input....

[dradam]

Whether you have one or two 12v batteries it seems to me that eventually they will die ( like my ICE vehicles) and I want to have a backup plan when that happens to me.

I have an R1S with just one battery and the capacitor. If it dies in my garage I think I am good to go. Open the rear trailer hatch, pull out the wires, charge from my charger or use a donor vehicle. This would at least get me in the car to open the frunk if the battery could not be recharged and I had to replace it. (does rivian even sell a DIY replacement ?)

But what if I'm on the road, or at an airport after the car has been sitting for a week and the 12v is dead no donor vehicle? I want a plan.

I can't fit a 12v in the trailer hitch area -- not enough room. Can't use a small jumpstarter will only get me in the car but not start it from what I have learned on this forum.

So my current thinking---open to all your suggestions:

Keep an ohmmu (or other drop in) in the frunk-- but how do I get if the 12v is dead in you ask?

Keep a torx 20 and 25 driver in the trailer hitch compartment --- it should fit . I can access that compartment with a coin.

This gets me into the frunk using the wheel well ripcord where I then use my stored Ohmu and use small cables (which I will also store in the frunk) in parallel with my existing 12v to start her up.

Does this make sense?

TIA hopefully not TLDR

Comments and alternatives appreciated.

Sponsored

 

[Budman]

I have the same question and the same outline of a plan. Would like the thoughts of the community.

 

[EVTrukHog]

there's been much discussion about strategies for this... some of the prior comments are here:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/12v-battery-troubles.10470/#post-242175

 

[dradam]

there's been much discussion about strategies for this... some of the prior comments are here:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/12v-battery-troubles.10470/#post-242175

Thanks I will review this thread.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

There's at least one reference of the Ohmmu being not as good as they look. There's lots of talk of keeping a jump pack. However, the jump pack needs to supply a steady 13V at 30A. Most jump packs are made for cold cracking ICE and only divulge max peak current. When asked about ability to supply steady 30A, they don't respond. So, which pack to get is mostly a guessing game.

IMO, make sure you have roadside assistance coverage and a reliable way to call that number. 12V failures happen, even for ICE. But neither are terribly common. I know we read a lot about them. But keep in mind we also don't have context of what actual failure rate is. Jump pack is still good to have. Even if it doesn't successfully jump the 12V, you can use them to extend your phone's battery.

 

[R1Tom]

I hope the next gen R1 has the physical key fob with a pop out physical key that can be used to get into the cabin and then a physical release inside the cabin to open the frunk to get at battery.

 

[dradam]

Thanks for your input. Yes I have heard mixed things about the ommhu, but I think they might have been solved using their battery management system. I am mainly suggesting a backup battery stored in the frunk and a way to access it in the event of a 12v failure with no one around . Frankly if Rivian sold a 12v replacement I would just keep it in the frunk and check/charge it as needed.

 

[dradam]

I hope the next gen R1 has the physical key fob with a pop out physical key that can be used to get into the cabin and then a physical release inside the cabin to open the frunk to get at battery.

I like the idea

 

[dradam]

There's at least one reference of the Ohmmu being not as good as they look. There's lots of talk of keeping a jump pack. However, the jump pack needs to supply a steady 13V at 30A. Most jump packs are made for cold cracking ICE and only divulge max peak current. When asked about ability to supply steady 30A, they don't respond. So, which pack to get is mostly a guessing game.

IMO, make sure you have roadside assistance coverage and a reliable way to call that number. 12V failures happen, even for ICE. But neither are terribly common. I know we read a lot about them. But keep in mind we also don't have context of what actual failure rate is. Jump pack is still good to have. Even if it doesn't successfully jump the 12V, you can use them to extend your phone's battery.

Do you know if the leads in the trailer hitch simply go to the positive and negative terminals of the 12V battery? If so I was thinking of making a dumb jump pack with one Ohmmu. That should not only open the car but allow it to run as normal until the 12V can be replaced. TIA

 

[Zoidz]

Do you know if the leads in the trailer hitch simply go to the positive and negative terminals of the 12V battery? If so I was thinking of making a dumb jump pack with one Ohmmu. That should not only open the car but allow it to run as normal until the 12V can be replaced. TIA

There were some previous discussions about this. Not confirmed, but it appears there may be a reverse polarity prevention diode or other device in series that prevents the terminals from being used as a power source, and protects the system if you hook up the external battery backwards. So you should be able to connect a battery and "send" power to the vehicle, but cannot use these terminals as a power source from the vehicle.

Assuming there is a reverse polarity diode, there will be a voltage drop across it, presumably 0.7 volts, so the voltage to the vehicle will be 0.7 volts lower. You would think that would not be signficant, but we don't really know.

 

[dradam]

There were some previous discussions about this. Not confirmed, but it appears there may be a reverse polarity prevention diode or other device in series that prevents the terminals from being used as a power source, and protects the system if you hook up the external battery backwards. So you should be able to connect a battery and "send" power to the vehicle, but cannot use these terminals as a power source from the vehicle.

Assuming there is a reverse polarity diode, there will be a voltage drop across it, presumably 0.7 volts, so the voltage to the vehicle will be 0.7 volts lower. You would think that would not be signficant, but we don't really know.

Thank you, would be nice if we knew more. Hope rivian is watching.

 

[R1Thor]

Wasn't this just an update or so ago that Rivian is monitoring the condition of the 12V battery and should be able to (preemptively) alert us if there's an issue through the app?

That was my understanding.. maybe I missed something?

My broad assumption is that these things will go bad over time (assuming we're not leaving front seatbelts plugged in and walking away from the vehicle); so it shouldn't be a sudden 'gotcha,' when you walk out to the vehicle one day (anymore).

Are we still seeing surprise battery drain since 2023.10.0 (March 2023)?

 

[SoCal Rob]

Whether you have one or two 12v batteries it seems to me that eventually they will die ( like my ICE vehicles) and I want to have a backup plan when that happens to me.

I have an R1S with just one battery and the capacitor. If it dies in my garage I think I am good to go. Open the rear trailer hatch, pull out the wires, charge from my charger or use a donor vehicle. This would at least get me in the car to open the frunk if the battery could not be recharged and I had to replace it. (does rivian even sell a DIY replacement ?)

But what if I'm on the road, or at an airport after the car has been sitting for a week and the 12v is dead no donor vehicle? I want a plan.

I can't fit a 12v in the trailer hitch area -- not enough room. Can't use a small jumpstarter will only get me in the car but not start it from what I have learned on this forum.

So my current thinking---open to all your suggestions:

Keep an ohmmu (or other drop in) in the frunk-- but how do I get if the 12v is dead in you ask?

Keep a torx 20 and 25 driver in the trailer hitch compartment --- it should fit . I can access that compartment with a coin.

This gets me into the frunk using the wheel well ripcord where I then use my stored Ohmu and use small cables (which I will also store in the frunk) in parallel with my existing 12v to start her up.

Does this make sense?

TIA hopefully not TLDR

Comments and alternatives appreciated.

I was thinking about something like this https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-process-update-from-rivian.17701/post-375368
I want to be able to flip a switch or turn a key to quickly get going again.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Wasn't this just an update or so ago that Rivian is monitoring the condition of the 12V battery and should be able to (preemptively) alert us if there's an issue through the app?

That was my understanding.. maybe I missed something?

My broad assumption is that these things will go bad over time (assuming we're not leaving front seatbelts plugged in and walking away from the vehicle); so it shouldn't be a sudden 'gotcha,' when you walk out to the vehicle one day (anymore).

Are we still seeing surprise battery drain since 2023.10.0 (March 2023)?

Worked in my case. Vehicle was still drivable but I opted to take something else until I drove my R1T to service later that week.

 

[dradam]

I was thinking about something like this https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-process-update-from-rivian.17701/post-375368
I want to be able to flip a switch or turn a key to quickly get going again.

Worked in my case. Vehicle was still drivable but I opted to take something else until I drove my R1T to service later that week.

Glad to see it is being monitored-- I did not know that was in the app. I wish the status was shown in the car image on the vehicle dash screen as well.

Sponsored