Concerns on center console charging pad repair

[seanman236]

Confident this is a Champagne Problem but diving in…

Picked up my R1T about 4 months ago. Love it. Named her Mercury (as in the “Witch From Mercury” for any Animé fans out there..) Absolutely favorite purchase I can recall - possibly ever. Find excuses to go drive it.

Writing here because I’m just not satisfied with a recent Service Center experience for my center console charging pad (first generation w/ divider).

In my experience the Charging Pad leaves some performance to be desired both as a charger and as a pad for your stuff. I read on a post elsewhere in this forum someone had a retrofit performed to the 2nd generation pad and made an appointment with the Tualatin Oregon Service Center after speaking with support. The invoice I signed was for a 2nd generation retrofit.


After going to the Tualatin Oregon Rivian Service Center - I simply have to say I’m not satisfied with their work on replacing my center console Charging Pad. Rather than do a retrofit, they did a repair and replaced it with the existing charging pad.
They didn’t speak to me about this change, thesimply did it and let me know when the car was finished.

In my 1 hour drive home from Tualatin Oregon to Vancouver Washington, my phone did not charge a single percent. Additionally, the replacement pad was not installed correctly and now creeks in one corner and is visibly not sealed properly to the center console with visible movement of the pad.

What am I asking for? Guidance on setting realistic expectations for fair reactions. My R1T was an aspirational purchase -but I don’t think the repairs done by a service center should result in the car being put back together worse than when it came in. Am I expecting too much of the Service Center folks - is this really the best this can be repaired by Rivian?

They scheduled me for a follow up in a week and guided I’ll need to leave the vehicle for an entire day (which seems punitive given they did the prior repair in one and a half hours?). I can post back here how well they resolve the issue if at all.

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[jrmbadger]

Can you clarify a bit? You asked for the upgraded wireless charging pad and they "repaired" something on the existing one?

I ask, because if my understanding is correct, there is nothing to "repair" on the existing one - it's a sealed unit - at least it was on Gen 1.

 

[VSG]

I read on a post elsewhere in this forum someone had a retrofit performed to the 2nd generation pad and made an appointment with the Tualatin Oregon Service Center after speaking with support. The invoice I signed was for a 2nd generation retrofit.

I believe your 2026 R1T already has the 2nd gen charging pad, so I'm not sure what you thought they were going to do?

There are now three different charging pad designs:

1. Gen 1 design was the original, with no divider. (Mine still works great on every phone ...)
2. Gen 2 design was essentially the same as Gen 1 but it has a divider to keep your phone from slipping sideways and has an NFC reader embedded in it.
3. R2 design is a Qi2 charger (think MagSafe if you're an iPhone user) that uses magnets to keep your phone in position. This also has an NFC reader but no divider.

My understanding is that some people have had the R2 Qi2 charger retrofitted to their Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles, and that it works (although there have been a few reports of problems retrofitting on a Gen 2 vehicle).

What is it you asked the service center to do?

 

[seanman236]

@jrmbadger When the technician ran a diagnostic and looked at the vehicle, the charging pad "passed the first of three tests but failed the second and third tests" I was then told because of this they would initiate a repair. @VSG This is helpful - I must admit I perhaps didn't communicate what I had intended to the service center as I did request a "Gen 2 retrofit (item 2 on your list) but what I had INTENDED to request was to go from a 2. (on your list) to a 3. (on your list).

The initial invoice had documented a "retrofit" in the language but the final invoice makes no mention of a retrofit.

At this point I simply want the center charger pad to not make any noises or display obvious movement when in use. After the repair/retrofit, it clearly has gaps/displays movement where the pad meets the console body. Previously, the charger pad was in their tight/perfectly, it simply did not charge properly.

Post Service Center Experience, the charger still continues to not charge properly and now is also not properly set in the console. So....feeling a bit foolish ever reaching out at all to the SC....

 

[VSG]

Work to fix your existing pad should be covered by the warranty, but if you want the R2 pad you will have to pay at least the cost of a new pad plus their usual hourly rate. If your work order estimate didn't show any charge to you, then it seems they had a different understanding of what you wanted them to do.

There is a forum member @breeves002 who is selling official OEM R2 charging pads, with instructions for installing yourself. See https://oemplusupgrades.com/products/rivian-qi2-wireless-charger
Also see https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/gen-1-with-qi2-wireless-charger-installed.59627/ for more background on why/how he is selling these.

It's not clear to me whether you can get the service center to replace your pad with an R2 pad - there have been mixed answers about that. See https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/gen2-retrofit-with-qi2-charging-pad-does-not-work.61503

 

[dradam]

I am a little bit confused by your first post. But if you have a GEN 1 R1S or R1T I would just ditch the charging pad altogether and go to adventure high-tech stow n charge.

It will not work on Gen 2 . It was the first accessory I purchased and the best.

Hope this helps.

 

[seanman236]

I think at this point I am simply going to ask them to reassess their repair work to ensure the charger is attached properly and completely and simply be done from there. While the r2 charger would be nice - simply knowing what I have is behaving as intended is sufficient. These folks have more important problems to solve for other customers than my champagne problems with a charging pad x_x

Thanks all!

 

[Weck]

I have a gen 2 old style with the divider and NFC reader that worked with my old phone, but doesn't work at all with my Qi2 spec new phone. This also happened with other wireless chargers I had, so it's not a Rivian thing.

I want to upgrade the pad, but not go aftermarket because I do use the NFC on occasion (dual profile phone and whenever work pushes a new certificate it kills paak until I restart the phone).

Has anyone had luck just ordering the parts from the SC and installing it themselves?

 

[RivAW]

Save yourself the money and frustration. Just buy an alternative replacement pad like the MagSafe one from TWRAPS for $99. You can get it from their website or from amazon. I did this nearly immediately with my 2023 R!T and have had zero issues with charging....

 

[VSG]

Has anyone had luck just ordering the parts from the SC and installing it themselves?

See #5 above.

 

[Weck]

See #5 above.

Ahh, missed that. I was curious if I could just get the parts from the service center.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Ahh, missed that. I was curious if I could just get the parts from the service center.

You can, drop by one and ask. But they will likely try to get you in and charge you for the part plus labor to install.... when it literally takes 5 minutes or less DIY, if you are not completely useless when it comes to DIYs. You'll need to use a thin shim (like a plastic membership card or expired driver's license) to insert and unclip the plastic clips at the front, then lift and pivot the charging pad up, slide the pad forward to disengage the tabs at its rear, then disconnect harnesses for the charging pad and keycard reader (for gen2). Installation is the reverse.

 

[seanman236]

Dropped my vehicle off this morning at the Tualatin Service Center. Quick check in and a decent loaner. The up to date manual for the R1T (pg. 154) documents the updated charging pad. According to Rivian this is NOT AVAILABLE outside of the production line. If they offer it as a paid retrofit it doesn’t seem widespread. Bummer.

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