My AC temp and fan fluctuates on hot days. Is this a common problem?

[Rivianready]

I have a Gen1 R1S. Recently it has been really hot here in Virginia and my AC has been acting up. When it is over 90, the AC takes a long time to cool down and sometimes the temp will go up and down randomly and the fan speed will go up and down randomly. I never set my AC to automatic and always set the temp to low. Anyone having these problems? If so, is it a Rivian thing at certain high outdoor temps? Any ideas why the car is doing this? I just wanted to find out before taking it in for service because getting a service appt takes a long time.

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[MountainBikeDude]

I have a Gen1 R1S. Recently it has been really hot here in Virginia and my AC has been acting up. When it is over 90, the AC takes a long time to cool down and sometimes the temp will go up and down randomly and the fan speed will go up and down randomly. I never set my AC to automatic and always set the temp to low. Anyone having these problems? If so, is it a Rivian thing at certain high outdoor temps? Any ideas why the car is doing this? I just wanted to find out before taking it in for service because getting a service appt takes a long time.

I think what you might be noticing is when it switches between recirculating, and drawing air from outside. The temp coming from the vents will somewhat fluctuate between the two modes.

Unfortunately, even in the manual setting, it will still go back and forth automatically between recirc, and drawing in outside air. I think it's meant to be both more efficient, but could also be a way for it to divert some of the cooling power to other areas like motors and battery in between cabin conditioning.

 

[virgnia_rivian]

I think what you might be noticing is when it switches between recirculating, and drawing air from outside. The temp coming from the vents will somewhat fluctuate between the two modes.

Unfortunately, even in the manual setting, it will still go back and forth automatically between recirc, and drawing in outside air. I think it's meant to be both more efficient, but could also be a way for it to divert some of the cooling power to other areas like motors and battery in between cabin conditioning.

This. I think this is actually relatively new from a software update as our R1T did not used to do this.
We just go in and turn the re-circulation back on and this fixes the problem.

 

[mrodriguez]

So I posted in another post today on this issue. I have a 2023 Gen 1 R1S Quad and have experienced cooling issues that I had not experienced in the prior two summers with it. Normally I run 69-71 on auto and never have an issue. Anything above 80 now and the Rivian cannot cool. I'd say even between 75-80 is tough. In fact the cabin temperature will RISE even when running it on recirculate and at 63. I noticed the software trying to switch to outside air as well and flip it back to recirculate but it doesn't matter. The cabin temperature will continue to rise regardless, its just slower to do so. Right now we cannot take the Rivian on long trips because of the issue. Even on shorter trips I leave it in pet mode or start cooling the cabin down at least 30 minutes before leaving somewhere. Interestingly on pet mode it does seem to cool better, so I'm not sure what's going on with that. I actually drop mine of for service on this and the seat belt recall tomorrow. I literally just got done speaking with the team and they indicated they would need it for a few days because there were enough areas they would need to check on to determine what is going on. I'm hoping its a relatively obvious thing, but the fact that more people are noticing this same exact issue also makes me wonder if there is a software bug which is not something the service center is going to be able to fix. I haven't really had any issues in the 2+ years of ownership, so this is the first actual problem I've encountered short of small software bugs that get fixed.

 

[truckie6606]

I have the same issue on a 2025 Gen 2 R1T, but it's also been accompanied by a very loud heat pump compressor which transmits a strong vibration through the dash, steering wheel, and pedal area. You can feel the temp swings as others describe, but I'd say I've not experienced full on loss of cooling capacity unless the OAT is over 95 and the vehicle is heat soaked from sitting in a parking lot. Usually it maintains a comfortable temp other than feeling the several degree temp swings an maybe needing to set the temp a degree or two cooler.

I've been on the fence on submitting a ticket as the noise/vibration is intermittent as are the cooling struggles, but now that DFW is facing prolonged 95+ degree temps for the near future, I may regret that hesitance on getting in the service queue. Time will tell.

 

[MightyJawa]

I have the same issue on a 2025 Gen 2 R1T, but it's also been accompanied by a very loud heat pump compressor which transmits a strong vibration through the dash, steering wheel, and pedal area. You can feel the temp swings as others describe, but I'd say I've not experienced full on loss of cooling capacity unless the OAT is over 95 and the vehicle is heat soaked from sitting in a parking lot. Usually it maintains a comfortable temp other than feeling the several degree temp swings an maybe needing to set the temp a degree or two cooler.

I've been on the fence on submitting a ticket as the noise/vibration is intermittent as are the cooling struggles, but now that DFW is facing prolonged 95+ degree temps for the near future, I may regret that hesitance on getting in the service queue. Time will tell.

Can you report back how it handles the next few days? I live in the DFW area and I’m considering purchasing an R1S.

 

[iansriv]

'23 R1S with about 16k miles. No issues at all with cooling in 90+ degrees. It's been consistent for the 2 years I've had it. If you're experiencing issues, I would get it in to the SC asap.

 

[iansriv]

Can you report back how it handles the next few days? I live in the DFW area and I’m considering purchasing an R1S.

Why not do some test drives while the weather is hot and see for yourself.

 

[350Industrial]

So I posted in another post today on this issue. I have a 2023 Gen 1 R1S Quad and have experienced cooling issues that I had not experienced in the prior two summers with it. Normally I run 69-71 on auto and never have an issue. Anything above 80 now and the Rivian cannot cool. I'd say even between 75-80 is tough. In fact the cabin temperature will RISE even when running it on recirculate and at 63. I noticed the software trying to switch to outside air as well and flip it back to recirculate but it doesn't matter. The cabin temperature will continue to rise regardless, its just slower to do so. Right now we cannot take the Rivian on long trips because of the issue. Even on shorter trips I leave it in pet mode or start cooling the cabin down at least 30 minutes before leaving somewhere. Interestingly on pet mode it does seem to cool better, so I'm not sure what's going on with that. I actually drop mine of for service on this and the seat belt recall tomorrow. I literally just got done speaking with the team and they indicated they would need it for a few days because there were enough areas they would need to check on to determine what is going on. I'm hoping its a relatively obvious thing, but the fact that more people are noticing this same exact issue also makes me wonder if there is a software bug which is not something the service center is going to be able to fix. I haven't really had any issues in the 2+ years of ownership, so this is the first actual problem I've encountered short of small software bugs that get fixed.

I have a service visit scheduled for this exact issue on my 2024 R1T. It's very obvious due to the high humidity in Chicago this summer- all of a sudden the vents blow very hot, humid air when clearly it should be still in recirc. This was not an issue last summer- seems to have gotten this way from one of the OTA updates over the last 8 months. Please keep us posted of the outcome of your service visit.

 

[Mathme]

I've had the same experience on my Gen 1 R1t this summer. I had it at the SC last month and they said it's operating as designed. My belief is that SOMETHING has changed as for the past two summers I could set it at 71 and forget it until fall. Mine seems to run at a slow fan speed (even when the fan is set to high) for about 10 minutes, then the speed will go faster and the cabin will start to cool down. When it's been hot out, I've had to start the AC before getting into the truck, then set the temp to Lo when I get in and then slowly raise the temp to 71 as it finally cools off.

I truly believe this is a change in the software as I never had this issue in the past.

 

[mrodriguez]

UPDATE: Per SC today, the technician found a leak in the condenser. They are replacing the condenser and the lines. I have plenty of questions still but am hopeful. Parts in tomorrow, should have back by mid-next week apparently.

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