[Michael]

I

Don’t let your system drain completely I was traveling through WV a dead zone for EVs and drove around 10 miles after it told me I had 0 miles left and had to get towed to my dads house 10 min away and the vehicle would not wake up or be jump started because it had been over 3 hours a very small window before the deep cycle batteries were garbage, and waiting on AAA for a tow I missed the opportunity to recharge those batteries that allows the truck to be recharged. This should be explained up front or a warning from the guide or something to warn about these two very fragile batteries that I didn’t even know about. (Not included in the cool number of 7777 battery cells. Actually 7779 batteries. The tech did a great job showing up on a Saturday and replacing the two batteries under the hood. I have learned the hard way that discharging those two batteries would disable a 75k truck! Please learn from me dont drive too much past the 0 miles mark, yes you can (about 10 mi but speed was reduced to around 50mph and very dangerous on a interstate. Have it towed around the 5 miles left mark to allow some charge to be left. You might say what a dummy I read my owners manual cover to cover and this would never happen to me! Well not all of us read are owners manual cover to cover 10x. I thought and the Rivian service person on the phone thought I could just plug back in and be fine until the tech explained the two small 12v batteries can be locked once discharged for more than about 3 hours and will not be able to be jumped or wake the truck up from its discharge nap! Something to keep in mind. 👍

 

[Branch]

Thanks for the heads-up. Even if you read the manual cover to cover, that doesn't mean you'll memorize the manual cover to cover.

The best part of this article is that you took your experience to help others avoid it. Thanks x1000!

 

[Riviano]

Those are lead-acid 12V batteries and it should be possible to recharge them just like any other lead-acid battery by removing the cover panel in the frunk area and connecting a 12V charger directly to them. That is in case the 12V recharging port adjacent to the tow hitch in the rear of the truck is not operational for some reason.

 

[ERivTruck]

Sounds to me, owners need to pay more attention to the range numbers and NOT gamble with those numbers being incorrect. Its kinda like an ICE vehicle, when the see the little fuel light come on, its time to get gas. Not time to "start to think about maybe getting gas".

 

[vetmann]

I agree, it seems odd that a 12v battery would have a disabling chip or other mechanism that kills them at the 3 hour mark. A lot of the Tesla YouTube guys do milage testing until the car just stops. I never heard anything about this happening with Tesla.

Sorry to hear but thanks for sharing, very valuable information

 

[racekarl]

I agree, it seems odd that a 12v battery would have a disabling chip or other mechanism that kills them at the 3 hour mark.

The OP is hard to follow, but it seems like perhaps this was a natural consequence and not any sort of "disabling" chip. It seems like what happened is the BEV equivalent of an ICE with a dead alternator.

If the traction battery is at a very low state of charge, it's reasonable to assume that the charging circuit for the 12v system is disabled to reduce drain on the traction battery. With no incoming charge, but continued drain on the 12v system to keep the car's systems running, it's possible that the 12v deep cycle batteries were over-discharged. When a lead-acid battery gets over-discharged, crystals can build up on the plates to the extent that they cannot be removed by charging and the battery is ruined and must be replaced.

It's a bit surprising that they would be dead after only 3 or so hours of running the truck's systems on their own, but that sort of jives with the complaints people have made about phantom drain, which you would expect if the traction battery was being called on frequently to keep the 12v system charged while the car sits.

 

[thebishman]

Sorry you went through this, and the cost seems ridiculously high. However I would have attempted to charge them as I’m not sure that I would have trusted the word of the tech that it was somehow impossible to recharge them when fully discharged. Maybe that’s just me being cheap.

 

[bigwatch]

@Michael

As suggested in a previous post these batteries should be able to be recharged without a problem. The issue is that recharging will take time and with a dead traction battery you have no recharge source. To get on the road NOW the batteries need to be replaced. If you bought new ones then you should get the old ones. I can help you recharge them f you need help.

 

[Cactus]

Sounds to me, owners need to pay more attention to the range numbers and NOT gamble with those numbers being incorrect. Its kinda like an ICE vehicle, when the see the little fuel light come on, its time to get gas. Not time to "start to think about maybe getting gas".

OP said he was traveling in a dead zone for charging EVs. I guess that's the risk we take as early adopters. Charging stations are not nearly as ubiquitous as petrol stations...yet.

 

[Bike123.com]

I View attachment 8929 View attachment 8930 View attachment 8931 Don’t let your system drain completely I was traveling through WV a dead zone for EVs and drove around 10 miles after it told me I had 0 miles left and had to get towed to my dads house 10 min away and the vehicle would not wake up or be jump started because it had been over 3 hours a very small window before the deep cycle batteries were garbage, and waiting on AAA for a tow I missed the opportunity to recharge those batteries that allows the truck to be recharged. This should be explained up front or a warning from the guide or something to warn about these two very fragile batteries that I didn’t even know about. (Not included in the cool number of 7777 battery cells. Actually 7779 batteries. The tech did a great job showing up on a Saturday and replacing the two batteries under the hood. I have learned the hard way that discharging those two batteries would disable a 75k truck! Please learn from me dont drive too much past the 0 miles mark, yes you can (about 10 mi but speed was reduced to around 50mph and very dangerous on a interstate. Have it towed around the 5 miles left mark to allow some charge to be left. You might say what a dummy I read my owners manual cover to cover and this would never happen to me! Well not all of us read are owners manual cover to cover 10x. I thought and the Rivian service person on the phone thought I could just plug back in and be fine until the tech explained the two small 12v batteries can be locked once discharged for more than about 3 hours and will not be able to be jumped or wake the truck up from its discharge nap! Something to keep in mind. 👍

Our midnight zero had no mercy -PA is a desert too. 14 on the range finder and 6 miles to the PA TPK Donegal exit - uphill 3 miles sucked down 12. Coasted thru the gate and 500 yard downhill to Sheetz ( new station no EV but open 24h and food.) No speed limiter activated.just enough to creep to rear lot leaving room for rollback 29F - crawled into a down bag Big concern was how to make sure no myster power drains went in so all displays I could control went as off as possible. AAA said they’d rush as I played the stranded senior card. Agent called back said 7 am - Pa is a crane desert too. Called riv to see what to do to allow winching if all died fully. Crane came 0730 and dropped me at a 350 3 exits east. Driver said IF I CRAPPED OUT on the pike police tow is several hundred and tgg n ey dump you first spot out of harms way. AAA can’t work turnpikes. Your 12v story is scary. Where are the jumper terminals exactly?

 

[Louisdeg]

Owners manual p169. Right of the tow hitch receiver.

 

[Bike123.com]

Thanks Louis!

 

[Bike123.com]

When we get dead golf cart batteries the mobile kart aide guy says they can ‘wake them up’ with some special gizmo

 

[Jakelake1]

The battery is lead acid. If the charge state is less than 6 volts, a new type digital battery charger will not charge the battery, it needs to see about 9 or 10 volts or it shuts down automatically. Find an old charger, like 30 years old and it will charger it up. Or connect a good battery to the bad battery, you can use jumper cables, and then connect to a new charger. The charger will see 12 volts and it will not shut off automatically. It will charge the bad battery. Disconnect the good battery after 10 minutes or so of charging or there is potential to ruin the good battery. That sould be enough time to get the voltage up on the bad battery. My daughters Prius had problems years ago due to her draining the small battery to 0 volts by leaving the lights on. I figured out how to charge the small battery and get everything to work but a few months later the battery died and had to be replaced. These small stay alive batteries were low capacity and easily damaged when abused. The original Toyota replacement was about $300 but there are after market batteries available now for a third of the price. This happened twice with my daughter when she was in college. The second time she bought the new battery with her hard earned money and she never left the lights and radio on again. You would think there would be a timer switch on the Prius, but there was not.

 

[rnurse]

I've never heard of 12V batteries being used in EV's. I'm still a mere reservation holder. So, this is yet another question to pose to Rivian.

 

[Bike123.com]

wife found out the aard way
her battery kona needed a towm- blown tire or something
The (!?) tow operatorm put on her flashers when he put it on the rollback
whenn he rolled it off at home crazy lights came on and the lil rollerskate of a car was inoperable
She asked the question as did I
I knew there was a 12 on board and this is a great explanation:

Why Do Fully Electric Vehicles Still Have a 12V Battery in Them?

It’s not very common to hear about a 12-volt battery and electric car. Most have one, but it begs the question: why?

www.midtronics.com

one of these days these smart manufacturers will find a way to bleed some juice from the skateboard below

I View attachment 8929

View attachment 8930
View attachment 8931
Don’t let your system drain completely I was traveling through WV a dead zone for EVs and drove around 10 miles after it told me I had 0 miles left and had to get towed to my dads house 10 min away and the vehicle would not wake up or be jump started because it had been over 3 hours a very small window before the deep cycle batteries were garbage, and waiting on AAA for a tow I missed the opportunity to recharge those batteries that allows the truck to be recharged. This should be explained up front or a warning from the guide or something to warn about these two very fragile batteries that I didn’t even know about. (Not included in the cool number of 7777 battery cells. Actually 7779 batteries. The tech did a great job showing up on a Saturday and replacing the two batteries under the hood. I have learned the hard way that discharging those two batteries would disable a 75k truck! Please learn from me dont drive too much past the 0 miles mark, yes you can (about 10 mi but speed was reduced to around 50mph and very dangerous on a interstate. Have it towed around the 5 miles left mark to allow some charge to be left. You might say what a dummy I read my owners manual cover to cover and this would never happen to me! Well not all of us read are owners manual cover to cover 10x. I thought and the Rivian service person on the phone thought I could just plug back in and be fine until the tech explained the two small 12v batteries can be locked once discharged for more than about 3 hours and will not be able to be jumped or wake the truck up from its discharge nap! Something to keep in mind. 👍

 

[Bike123.com]

wife found out the aard way
her battery kona needed a towm- blown tire or something
The (!?) tow operatorm put on her flashers when he put it on the rollback
whenn he rolled it off at home crazy lights came on and the lil rollerskate of a car was inoperable
She asked the question as did I
I knew there was a 12 on board and this is a great explanation:

Why Do Fully Electric Vehicles Still Have a 12V Battery in Them?

It’s not very common to hear about a 12-volt battery and electric car. Most have one, but it begs the question: why?

www.midtronics.com

 

[joshtish]

I've never heard of 12V batteries being used in EV's. I'm still a mere reservation holder. So, this is yet another question to pose to Rivian.

All EVs have a 12v system and a high-voltage system. I don’t know of any that don’t.

 

[EaglesPDX]

I never heard anything about this happening with Tesla.

Got warned by our Tesla owners group to change my 12V battery as when it goes there is no warning. Asked Tesla to change it with upcoming service visit and they said no need, I'd get a warning in time to change. Going with Tesla on it.

On the Rivian, if I understand correctly, it destroyed the batteries on the Rivian. I've run the Tesla with 0 left for about 8 miles to make it to charger and no issues with the 12Vs in over 100k miles.

Hopefully you kept the 12V batteries that came out of the Rivian. Be interesting to see if you could recharge and use on other equipment.