Motor Fault Detected - Error after 5 days away not charging / driving

[pangpang77]

I went away for about 5 days and didn't charge or drive the R1S. When I came home and tried to start the car, it gave me a Motor Fault Detected, unable to drive, and told me to call a tow truck.

I did a hard reset to try to get rid of the message by holding the left button on the steering wheel and hazard lights for 15 seconds. Once the car restarted, the message went away and I was able to drive.

I created a service ticket and they sent it to the diagnostics team. It took them a few days to get back to me, but they told me that what happened was the 12V battery's charge reduced to below 12V and that triggered the message.

Solution:
Their recommendation in the future when going for extended time without charging was to 1) Put it in Vehicle Shipping mode and 2) to keep the car plugged in to charge, but change the max charge to 70%.

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[Guy]

Sorry you had this. I went away for 8 days over Christmas, starting at 80% charge and did not plug in. There should be no need for relatively short trips to do this.

 

[R1Tom]

There should be no need even on long trips. By long I mean if I leave and have let's say 80% SOC and length of trip causes main traction battery to drop to 20% from various vampire drains, the 12v system should still be 100% functional when I get in it....simply how it should work....

 

[pangpang77]

There should be no need even on long trips. By long I mean if I leave and have let's say 80% SOC and length of trip causes main traction battery to drop to 20% from various vampire drains, the 12v system should still be 100% functional when I get in it....simply how it should work....

Agreed, however, this recommendation coming from the Rivian Diagnostics team, tells me, for one reason or another it doesn't behave/perform that way. To be safe, I'll do the recommended practice just in case I come back to an undrivable car and cause me the potential headache to have it towed or jumped or taking it to the service center and not have access to the car for a few weeks.

 

[R1Tom]

Agreed, however, this recommendation coming from the Rivian Diagnostics team, tells me, for one reason or another it doesn't behave/perform that way. To be safe, I'll do the recommended practice just in case I come back to an undrivable car and cause me the potential headache to have it towed or jumped or taking it to the service center and not have access to the car for a few weeks.

I agree that is best approach. Just that if the diagnostics team is correct, then hopefully they correct the situation in a future update.

 

[pangpang77]

Unfortunately, I've been getting the "Motor Fault Detected" everyday. I have an appointment set for two weeks out. Meanwhile, Rivian has set me up with a rental car until they are able to bring me in. Will keep everyone posted on what the problem is.

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