New R1S bricked

[NY_Rob]

The Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped dead twice on the freeway in the middle of traffic in park. Yep, no fun at all!

And you could not shift it into neutral? it required a flatbed to physically remove it from the middle of the roadway?

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[Ducky]

And you could not shift it into neutral? it required a flatbed to physically remove it from the middle of the roadway?

It stopped, dead and would not restart. I tried to start it in neutral without success. I then put it in park to try again. It would not restart and would not return to neutral. Fortunately for me this happened both times while in the slow lane and in rush hour traffic in L.A. so the traffic was moving slowly. Not so fortunately for the 1000 or so unhappy folks behind me. And yes, it had to be flatbed away.

 

[Bruins06]

To add insult to injury, Rivian didn't have a R1S loaner, so they approved a rental from enterprise for the mean time. I went to enterprise today, Rivian only approved an equivalent to a "Toyota Corolla".
I didn't know there was a 7-passenger Toyota Corolla model.
Unbelievable....

 

[jimmyb2]

I agree that it's rare and that rare problems occur with all kinds of cars. But I still disagree with minimizing the problem here. It's a basic design problem that affects every Rivian. The Park/Neutral shift is dependent on a whole chain of software and hardware. Anything goes wrong, and this design potentially makes a bad situation much worse. It makes you wonder what other safety features are designed the same way.

So it was ultimately hauled to a Service Center. Apparently, the flatbed that hauled it was able to enable the vehicle to move unless they simply dragged it onto the flatbed with all wheels locked. I am thinking they followed these instructions out of the Rivian Owner's Guide:

If in fact, that is what was done then the owner could have also done that in order to move the vehicle out of the roadway.

 

[DaveA]

These cars seem to have a ton of issues. Anyone with another EV maker like Tesla have similar issues with those models? All I see are issues on this forum and I’m getting my R1S soon doesn’t really give me that warm and fuzzy ya know?

Well, seeing as how SCs are now scheduling service visits two months out +, I'd say its quite a few people having issues. Its a bit concerning.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Could use of snow mode in perfectly dry and high traction condition be the cause? hmm

My Bolt EV would brick in Sport mode if I jumped into the accelerator after shifting the vehicle while it was still traveling in the opposite direction at more than a few MPH. Stranger things could happen.

 

[Bruins06]

So it was ultimately hauled to a Service Center. Apparently, the flatbed that hauled it was able to enable the vehicle to move unless they simply dragged it onto the flatbed with all wheels locked. I am thinking they followed these instructions out of the Rivian Owner's Guide:

If in fact, that is what was done then the owner could have also done that in order to move the vehicle out of the roadway.

We called Rivian when the vehicle was stuck in the middle of the road, we were not given instructions how to put in into neutral and push it off the road.
The tow truck put two large metal pieces under the rear wheels so that the R1S would slide into the flat bed.

 

[SoCal Rob]

We called Rivian when the vehicle was stuck in the middle of the road, we were not given instructions how to put in into neutral and push it off the road.

If we think about this from Rivian’s perspective, giving drivers the ability to put a dead truck into neutral is potentially more dangerous than leaving it locked in place. I don’t know what you told them, but if you didn’t explain that you had another vehicle there and the Rivian was secured to it, how do they know your 7,000 pound Rivian isn’t going to start rolling away from you and into something or someone else or start rolling towards you, potentially squashing you?

Even with someone in the driver’s seat, if the vehicle is truly dead that means no power steering, no power brakes, and no way to reactive the parking brake.

Rivian’s official stance may be that in most cases an immobilized vehicle is less of a hazard than a 7,000 pound uncontrollable battering ram. If there are still people in the Rivian and it crashes into something when the vehicle is so crippled that the airbags don’t deploy it is a liability nightmare and PR disaster.

 

[Goose]

If we think about this from Rivian’s perspective, giving drivers the ability to put a dead truck into neutral is potentially more dangerous than leaving it locked in place. I don’t know what you told them, but if you didn’t explain that you had another vehicle there and the Rivian was secured to it, how do they know your 7,000 pound Rivian isn’t going to start rolling away from you and into something or someone else or start rolling towards you, potentially squashing you?

Even with someone in the driver’s seat, if the vehicle is truly dead that means no power steering, no power brakes, and no way to reactive the parking brake.

Rivian’s official stance may be that in most cases an immobilized vehicle is less of a hazard than a 7,000 pound uncontrollable battering ram. If there are still people in the Rivian and it crashes into something when the vehicle is so crippled that the airbags don’t deploy it is a liability nightmare and PR disaster.

It doesn't matter about the "PR" Rivian may experience. OP owns the truck, that's the end of the story. They should be able to put the vehicle in park or neutral, even if it destroyed the drivetrain to get the passengers out of harms way.

 

[R1Tom]

If we think about this from Rivian’s perspective, giving drivers the ability to put a dead truck into neutral is potentially more dangerous than leaving it locked in place. I don’t know what you told them, but if you didn’t explain that you had another vehicle there and the Rivian was secured to it, how do they know your 7,000 pound Rivian isn’t going to start rolling away from you and into something or someone else or start rolling towards you, potentially squashing you?

Even with someone in the driver’s seat, if the vehicle is truly dead that means no power steering, no power brakes, and no way to reactive the parking brake.

Rivian’s official stance may be that in most cases an immobilized vehicle is less of a hazard than a 7,000 pound uncontrollable battering ram. If there are still people in the Rivian and it crashes into something when the vehicle is so crippled that the airbags don’t deploy it is a liability nightmare and PR disaster.

Makes sense in SoCal where everything is stop and go. Not so much where traffic is moving at 80mph with 80000# trucks moving all around you at same 80mph.

 

[Bruins06]

If we think about this from Rivian’s perspective, giving drivers the ability to put a dead truck into neutral is potentially more dangerous than leaving it locked in place. I don’t know what you told them, but if you didn’t explain that you had another vehicle there and the Rivian was secured to it, how do they know your 7,000 pound Rivian isn’t going to start rolling away from you and into something or someone else or start rolling towards you, potentially squashing you?

Even with someone in the driver’s seat, if the vehicle is truly dead that means no power steering, no power brakes, and no way to reactive the parking brake.

Rivian’s official stance may be that in most cases an immobilized vehicle is less of a hazard than a 7,000 pound uncontrollable battering ram. If there are still people in the Rivian and it crashes into something when the vehicle is so crippled that the airbags don’t deploy it is a liability nightmare and PR disaster.

I agree that it could be dangerous to try and move a 7K lbs SUV while trying to steer it with the power steering likely not working. I know my wife wouldn't be able to do it.
I'm grateful this malfunction occurred where it did, 30 ft from out driveway in a very wide street with very little traffic.
I'm concerned next time we won't be so lucky, it can happen in the freeway, and with less than 3 seconds warning before the vehicle completely locks is unacceptable to me. It should gradually slow down over 10-15 seconds and then enter turtle mode and be able to drive 5 mph so that we can pull over.

 

[SoCal Rob]

It doesn't matter about the "PR" Rivian may experience. OP owns the truck, that's the end of the story. They should be able to put the vehicle in park or neutral, even if it destroyed the drivetrain to get the passengers out of harms way.

I’m not sure what you read, but I didn’t write about protecting the drivetrain or even the vehicle. I wrote about protecting the driver and passengers of the vehicle and whoever/whatever could be injured or killed by that potentially-uncontrollable 7,000 pound vehicle.

The philosophy is probably related to why Rivian also places a fully-functioning vehicle in Park if certain conditions are met which could result in a runaway/unattended vehicle. Most manufacturers got REALLY conservative about this after Anton Yelchin (Checkov in the 3 latest Star Trek movies) got killed by his Jeep Grand Cherokee. Wikipedia link to his death

Even my 2017 Ford Fusion Energi, nowhere near the weight of a Rivian, would automatically place itself in Park if you tried to exit the driver’s seat in gear. I don’t think legal counsel for automobile manufacturers will allow anything which will make a situation worse, just so they don’t get sued.

Let’s say Rivian allowed it…
Owner: You let me put it in neutral and my foot/dog/kid got run over by the truck!
Rivian: But the truck was on a slope, you should’ve known it was going to roll.
Owner: I expect the vehicle to prevent me from doing anything dangerous!
Rivian: There were multiple system faults in the vehicle at that time. It clearly wasn’t working right.
Owner: I don’t care!

 

[SoCal Rob]

I agree that it could be dangerous to try and move a 7K lbs SUV while trying to steer it with the power steering likely not working. I know my wife wouldn't be able to do it.
I'm grateful this malfunction occurred where it did, 30 ft from out driveway in a very wide street with very little traffic.
I'm concerned next time we won't be so lucky, it can happen in the freeway, and with less than 3 seconds warning before the vehicle completely locks is unacceptable to me. It should gradually slow down over 10-15 seconds and then enter turtle mode and be able to drive 5 mph so that we can pull over.

It could be that this was the best the vehicle could do. There was clearly something major wrong and the way systems are interrelated in modern vehicles, it may be that there is no better/safer option.

Look at it this way, if this were an old truck from the 1960s with no electronics for the drivetrain, brakes, etc. and the entire rear axle broke away from the vehicle so the tail was dragging on the ground and it came to a stop in 3 seconds we wouldn’t be surprised because the fault is so obviously catastrophic that we wouldn’t question it. Today’s vehicles can have catastrophic faults which render the vehicle every bit as immobile, but without the drama and obvious cause.

 

[Bruins06]

It could be that this was the best the vehicle could do. There was clearly something major wrong and the way systems are interrelated in modern vehicles, it may be that there is no better/safer option.

Look at it this way, if this were an old truck from the 1960s with no electronics for the drivetrain, brakes, etc. and the entire rear axle broke away from the vehicle so the tail was dragging on the ground and it came to a stop in 3 seconds we wouldn’t be surprised because the fault is so obviously catastrophic that we wouldn’t question it. Today’s vehicles can have catastrophic faults which render the vehicle every bit as immobile, but without the drama and obvious cause.

I think your comparison to a truck from the 1960s is ridiculous. So that's our benchmark now?
I would not have my wife drive my 9 month old son in a 1960s truck that was in such bad shape that the rear axle could completely break off by simply driving it 15 mph.

 

[Goose]

I’m not sure what you read, but I didn’t write about protecting the drivetrain or even the vehicle. I wrote about protecting the driver and passengers of the vehicle and whoever/whatever could be injured or killed by that potentially-uncontrollable 7,000 pound vehicle.

The philosophy is probably related to why Rivian also places a fully-functioning vehicle in Park if certain conditions are met which could result in a runaway/unattended vehicle. Most manufacturers got REALLY conservative about this after Anton Yelchin (Checkov in the 3 latest Star Trek movies) got killed by his Jeep Grand Cherokee. Wikipedia link to his death

Even my 2017 Ford Fusion Energi, nowhere near the weight of a Rivian, would automatically place itself in Park if you tried to exit the driver’s seat in gear. I don’t think legal counsel for automobile manufacturers will allow anything which will make a situation worse, just so they don’t get sued.

Let’s say Rivian allowed it…
Owner: You let me put it in neutral and my foot/dog/kid got run over by the truck!
Rivian: But the truck was on a slope, you should’ve known it was going to roll.
Owner: I expect the vehicle to prevent me from doing anything dangerous!
Rivian: There were multiple system faults in the vehicle at that time. It clearly wasn’t working right.
Owner: I don’t care!

You're thinking about this from a technological stand point, I'm talking from an Owner stand point. Right now you don't own your vehicle, Rivian has complete control over it, you have to trust them.

As far as your analogy, that's just one of the many reasons I can't stand the trend of modern vehicles. They are making people too reliant of driver assist nannies.
"look John I don't have to put my vehicle in park, I can save .15 seconds by just getting out"
Stuff like this is probably why pedestrian deaths are at a 40 year high.

I want a R1T, but they are too reliant on software right now.

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