[hkb261]

I was reading this interesting article from Jalopnik about why EVs still often have a lead acid battery in them and it got me wondering if Rivian is using a 12V or 48V sub system to power the electronics on the car. Anyone know?

Why Electric Cars Still Use Ordinary 12-Volt Batteries

Your gas car uses an alternator to charge its 12-volt battery. An electric car uses a device called a "DC-DC Converter." Here's how that works.

jalopnik.com

 

[Oxonium]

I was reading this interesting article from Jalopnik about why EVs still often have a lead acid battery in them and it got me wondering if Rivian is using a 12V or 48V sub system to power the electronics on the car. Anyone know?

Why Electric Cars Still Use Ordinary 12-Volt Batteries

Your gas car uses an alternator to charge its 12-volt battery. An electric car uses a device called a "DC-DC Converter." Here's how that works.

jalopnik.com

I'm not aware of any vehicle that is using a 48V subsystem for the vehicle electronics. There are a number of vehicles that use 48V as a "mild hybrid" to boost engine output, for start/stop systems, and for electric turbochargers. But everything else, from the radio to safety systems to headlights, is on a 12V system. The big problem is that all of these components come from OEMs that supply to multiple automakers. Since all automakers are already using 12V, it is more cost effective to design components around that voltage standard. Designing 48V components for Rivian would likely be cost-prohibitive given that they haven't shipped any consumer vehicles yet (and even when they do, the volumes will still be pretty low for many years).

 

[TT97]

I'm not aware of any vehicle that is using a 48V subsystem for the vehicle electronics. There are a number of vehicles that use 48V as a "mild hybrid" to boost engine output, for start/stop systems, and for electric turbochargers. But everything else, from the radio to safety systems to headlights, is on a 12V system. The big problem is that all of these components come from OEMs that supply to multiple automakers. Since all automakers are already using 12V, it is more cost effective to design components around that voltage standard. Designing 48V components for Rivian would likely be cost-prohibitive given that they haven't shipped any consumer vehicles yet (and even when they do, the volumes will still be pretty low for many years).

I watched an interview with Elon Musk and he discussed why Tesla doesn't use a 48V system. His reply was they wanted to but they couldn't get any suppliers to do 48V components. He called 12V a "vestigial" voltage.