Vampire drain vs Lightning (& EV6)

[ajdelange]

...this power efficiency and waste issue is a huge problem that will be exploited by the many competitors that got it right.

The main competitor is clearly Tesla who didn't get it right as their phantom drain is about the same and who are currently outselling the other competition (who did get it right) by orders of magnitude (but who knows what the future holds). It's hardly a huge problem as most drivers are fine with a percent or 2 per day if they are even aware of it.

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[MoreTrout]

I only got my truck a few days ago, but just wanted to chime in with a positive data point:

Only lost an average of one or two miles of range each of the last 3 nights. Of note, I had Gear Guard toggle off.

Same here. I got my truck on Aug 2nd. My vampire drain has been pretty minimal, especially since the update. Charged it 2 days ago, and in about the last 41 hours I have only lost 1% / 3 miles in range while it sat in the garage. Outlets and gear guard are off.

I also noticed that my charging sessions in my garage are going almost entirely to the battery. Only a tiny fraction of any charge goes to the low voltage systems which is much lower than what I have seen posted here.

My take, either the latest update made a dramatic difference or something in the settings they are shipping the trucks with now are making a difference.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Same here. I got my truck on Aug 2nd. My vampire drain has been pretty minimal, especially since the update. Charged it 2 days ago, and in about the last 41 hours I have only lost 1% / 3 miles in range while it sat in the garage. Outlets and gear guard are off.

I also noticed that my charging sessions in my garage are going almost entirely to the battery. Only a tiny fraction of any charge goes to the low voltage systems which is much lower than what I have seen posted here.

My take, either the latest update made a dramatic difference or something in the settings they are shipping the trucks with now are making a difference.

That’s a significant improvement. Huh. I measure approx. 2% per day which is consistent with Alex results.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

The main competitor is clearly Tesla who didn't get it right as their phantom drain is about the same and who are currently outselling the other competition (who did get it right) by orders of magnitude (but who knows what the future holds). It's hardly a huge problem as most drivers are fine with a percent or 2 per day if they are even aware of it.

that’s a good point. However 2% of a 40-60kWh capacity may be easier to swallow than 2% of 125kWh in an R1T.

 

[Longreach]

The main competitor is clearly Tesla who didn't get it right as their phantom drain is about the same and who are currently outselling the other competition (who did get it right) by orders of magnitude (but who knows what the future holds). It's hardly a huge problem as most drivers are fine with a percent or 2 per day if they are even aware of it.

That argument really isn’t different from the old argument to stick with home incandescent bulbs over LED because “it’s only a few kWh a day”. Surely you cannot endorse such an argument against efficiency.

The cumulative effect will be enormous as EV penetration increases, probably worth quite a few power stations. And completely counter to the EV environmental ethic.

Maybe it was acceptable when there were no EV choices (not wanting perfection to be the enemy of good in the early Tesla days), but clearly there are many new choices that don’t waste energy when not being used.

 

[Hindley_Milner]

As far as I can tell, the option to turn off Gear Guard at home has the same power usage as having Gear Guard on. It just doesn't save videos. Seems like a fixable bug.

 

[EV Buyers Guide]

So I just spoke with one of Rivian's communications guys and they suggested putting the vehicle in shipping mode for longer term parking. This is something we'll have to check out.

 

[DaveA]

Took mine on a 100 mile drive yesterday…came home charged up to 70%…nothing on, locked. 26 hours later no range loss. ?‍ Maybe Rivian saw this video and said “stop pinging the trucks so much” and now we’re good?

 

[Aardvark]

I have an early 2016 Model X and it came with a user-selectable option of Energy Saving Mode (Tesla stopped including this starting in 2017). I use this feature all the time. The trade-off is getting very low vampire drain but with a longer (approx 10 sec) wake up time from deep sleep. Since I don't rob banks for a living and need instant startup for a getaway, I just keep it in Energy Saving Mode.

I would like to see something similar in the Rivian: A user option to be able to select either Instant-On, or Deep Sleep. Gear Guard would only be available in the former and turned off in the latter.

 

[DaveA]

I have an early 2016 Model X and it came with a user-selectable option of Energy Saving Mode (Tesla stopped including this starting in 2017). I use this feature all the time. The trade-off is getting very low vampire drain but with a longer (approx 10 sec) wake up time from deep sleep. Since I don't rob banks for a living and need instant startup for a getaway, I just keep it in Energy Saving Mode.

I would like to see something similar in the Rivian: A user option to be able to select either Instant-On, or Deep Sleep. Gear Guard would only be available in the former and turned off in the latter.

There is a “Shipping Mode” option that is probably similar, but I don’t think anyone has tried it since a few updates back. Not sure if it’s been improved.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Looking at the manual there is a bit of a procedure to put the truck into shipping mode: go into conserve, select lowest ride height, go to settings etc…

It is interesting that this mode requires lowest ride height, perhaps this lets the air suspension “rest” more without all the minute adjustments? I think someone here already pointed that out as a possible source of power usage. I do wonder if the response time of the app connection and vehicle startup is also made longer in shipping mode.

 

[Zybane]

Per their VP in charge of vehicle software, the power steering pump issue was because the owner left the 120V outlets on, which keeps the vehicle energized. Not saying that isn't still an issue, but it shouldn't be typical of standby.

WTF, that is ridiculous. What a terrible decision for an "Adventure" vehicle. So basically if I go camping and want to run a fridge or charge a laptop, I have to waste a ton of energy with the Rivian doing nothing and the 120v outlet on...

The Rivian is looking less and less like an acceptable option for an overland vehicle.

 

[ads75]

WTF, that is ridiculous. What a terrible decision for an "Adventure" vehicle. So basically if I go camping and want to run a fridge or charge a laptop, I have to waste a ton of energy with the Rivian doing nothing and the 120v outlet on...

The Rivian is looking less and less like an acceptable option for an overland vehicle.

If only Rivian had a way to do over the air software updates to improve it...

That being said, I don't think an electric vehicle with 300 mile range would make a true overland vehicle until charging infrastructure greatly improves.

 

[Zybane]

If only Rivian had a way to do over the air software updates to improve it...

That being said, I don't think an electric vehicle with 300 mile range would make a true overland vehicle until charging infrastructure greatly improves.

Could very likely be a hardware limitation. That 120v 1,500 watt inverter is likely a totally separate unit that may need other electrical components to function that needs the truck to be "Awake" the whole time.

 

[emoore]

WTF, that is ridiculous. What a terrible decision for an "Adventure" vehicle. So basically if I go camping and want to run a fridge or charge a laptop, I have to waste a ton of energy with the Rivian doing nothing and the 120v outlet on...

The Rivian is looking less and less like an acceptable option for an overland vehicle.

Hmmmm then maybe the rivian isn’t right for you.

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