R1T bricked in my driveway

[ThirteenElectrics]

Well, it finally happened to me. Plugged the car in last night, it charged from 50% to 70%, came back out this morning and it was bricked (and still plugged in). I assume this is a 12V battery failure, something I've never had in 25 years of car ownership (across about seventeen cars). For all of Rivian's on-board monitoring, they were unable to proactively predict this or warn me. Now it's in my driveway blocking two other cars.

The truck is six months old and has about 4K miles on it. Before this, it suffered a faulty rear drive unit as well as a tailgate failure, delivered with a small dent, some trim misalignments, buzzy speaker, etc.

A tow truck driver is en route courtesy of Rivian roadside assistance. I'd try to jump it from my other EVs, but the R1T isn't easily accessible for jumping. Fun! I had some important meetings this morning, but I guess that will have to wait because Rivian hasn't worked out the bugs out of a car it designed seven years ago.

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[Osyras]

A tow truck driver is en route courtesy of Rivian roadside assistance. I'd try to jump it from my other EVs, but the R1T isn't easily accessible for jumping. Fun! I had some important meetings this morning, but I guess that will have to wait because Rivian hasn't worked out the bugs out of a car it designed seven years ago.

Is the jumper point not near the tow hitch like on the R1S's?

 

[R1TandMe]

Not sure what ev you can jump the Rivian with. Rivian specifically states not to jump a car with the Rivian.

 

[HyperionMark]

Mine just got bricked a few days ago as well. Thankfully the app gave me a warning (I was 500 miles away) and I got a mobile appointment set up ASAP. Definitely dead as a door nail when I got home but I have a very very flexible job and we have another vehicle too. Disappointing for sure but I trust them to do the right thing under warranty.

 

[greyboundary]

The thing that really gets me is that the 12v isn’t easily user serviceable. Even with sudden failures, it’s neither sustainable nor practical to have to get towed.

My Polestar 2 was also this way. Had a sudden 12v failure and it was dead in my garage. Figured I’d try to swap the battery, something basic I’ve done 1000 times in other cars, before realizing it’s buried in a ton of panels.

 

[Miketz]

No idea why car companies do not provide easy access to the 12V battery when the 12V goes dead. It will save a lot of headaches for owners and car companies alike. I understand the concern such a device will attract thieves like flies but it can easily be made active only when the 12V drops bellow a predetermined level. I do have an IP on the design/idea and am waiting for Elon to come knocking on my door.

 

[KBabione]

Rivian proactively reached out to us and is sending mobile service to replace our 12V battery in three weeks. I was nervous though - I had it in a parking garage in NYC for 3 days and was really afraid that it might decide to self-brick while it was there and then getting it out of the garage would have been a nightmare. Happily it got us home. Good luck - hopefully you're back on the road soon.

 

[bigsky]

Well, it finally happened to me. Plugged the car in last night, it charged from 50% to 70%, came back out this morning and it was bricked (and still plugged in). I assume this is a 12V battery failure, something I've never had in 25 years of car ownership (across about seventeen cars). For all of Rivian's on-board monitoring, they were unable to proactively predict this or warn me. Now it's in my driveway blocking two other cars.

The truck is six months old and has about 4K miles on it. Before this, it suffered a faulty rear drive unit as well as a tailgate failure, delivered with a small dent, some trim misalignments, buzzy speaker, etc.

A tow truck driver is en route courtesy of Rivian roadside assistance. I'd try to jump it from my other EVs, but the R1T isn't easily accessible for jumping. Fun! I had some important meetings this morning, but I guess that will have to wait because Rivian hasn't worked out the bugs out of a car it designed seven years ago.

You honestly never had a 12 V battery failure??
Wow, gazillions of them out there recycled daily because drum roll, wait for it...they died, failed and were replaced.
You should reach out to Guinness with your story!!! You have redefined "outlier."

 

[KBabione]

What's so frustrating about a 12V failure in the Rivian is that us mere mortals can't fix it ourselves. At least with my ICE I can, with my other ICE, go out and jump it when we get the dreaded "clicky-clicky" (although with push-button start we don't even get that).

My twins drive our 2019 Outback and I had to jump the battery (which I replaced in 2023) 4 or 5 times in the span of a couple of weeks. I blamed them for leaving a dome light on, not shutting the door completely, etc., only to have a recall notice from Subaru about the emergency cell phone module causing battery drain! I took it in for the recall and they fixed the issue AND gave me a new battery.

 

[freshpow]

Sorry for your trouble OP. The unexpected 12v failures are not a fun surprise to wake up to. I’m sure they’ll get you sorted in short order.

Rivian really should consider using you in their next ad campaign. You have a propensity for hyperbole and an uncanny ability to focus on the negatives and yet here you are with not one, but two Rivians. The vehicles are simply that amazing! ?

 

[Riviot]

Figured I’d try to swap the battery, something basic I’ve done 1000 times in other cars

You've swapped 1000+ batteries?! Is your last name O'Reilly?

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

You honestly never had a 12 V battery failure??
Wow, gazillions of them out there recycled daily because drum roll, wait for it...they died, failed and were replaced.
You should reach out to Guinness with your story!!! You have redefined "outlier."

Sadly, I don’t think owning three Rivians, each with serious service issues, is actually an outlier. Keep working on the trolling, though. Nothing comes without practice.

I am thankful this immediate and silent failure didn’t occur while I was in the backcountry. That would have been really bad.

 

[greyboundary]

You've swapped 1000+ batteries?! Is your last name O'Reilly?

Yes 1,000 was literal, believe it or not. I was recently at 999 waiting for that magic number to hit.

 

[goodoljake]

I had the battery failure, but did not brick. All will be fine with the swap out. Service did a great job on that for me.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Man this is super frustrating. You can jump it with the connection near the hitch but that will only get you in the doors. The battery or batteries need recharging after you get access back to the truck. It’s not a quick process by any means but might be quicker, if you have a battery charger and jump box, than waiting for a flat bed.

Rivian has been doing proactive replacements and they do have an algorithm that can alert on impending failure if the 12v. It sounds like yours is one of the cases where it doesn’t catch it…which still happens sometimes unfortunately.

Rivian should be able to get you back up fairly quickly. Still totally understandable that your frustrated.

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