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12V Battery Replacement Bricked My R1T

TheLTrain

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Started getting intermittent messages about getting 12V service after the .10 update. That was about a month ago, nothing that affected vehicle performance.

Just had the 12V batteries replaced by mobile service and now the car is bricked. Something about the software being too old and the car is now draining the 12V system. I guess I should’ve left well enough alone 🙁
Rivian R1T R1S 12V Battery Replacement Bricked My R1T IMG_4594
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Oldsmobile_Mike

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I think that was a known bug that was fixed a couple updates ago? 😢 Let us know what the resolution is!
 

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Not your fault @TheLTrain ..... software should never brick the vehicle period. Even $200 PC Motherboards have BIOS recovery images built in a backup EEPEOM nowadays in case the BIOS crashes. Makes recovery very simple and quick.
If that can be done on a $200 motherboard, it should be baked in the OS of a $90K vehicle.
 

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The guy that replaced my batteries said when new batteries are installed, a jumper wire between the two has to be added so that when they are plugged in the vehicle boots correctly and then the jumper cable is removed.

He said if you just plug in the batteries without the jumper then only 1/2 the vehicle will boot and then you immediately plug the next battery in the other half of the vehicle won't boot. He said one battery powers the left and one battery powers the right side of the vehicle.

Looks like only half your vehicle booted up!

He also said the newer vehicles only have one larger battery instead of 2.
 
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TheLTrain

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Yeah I’m amazed that Rivian doesn’t have a contingency for this. There should be a way for the tech to somehow bypass the 12V system with a jump box so that the OTA could be applied. Poor girl has been towed away :(

Rivian R1T R1S 12V Battery Replacement Bricked My R1T IMG_4607
 

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The guy that replaced my batteries said when new batteries are installed, a jumper wire between the two has to be added so that when they are plugged in the vehicle boots correctly and then the jumper cable is removed.
... Why not leave the jumper installed? Worst case: load balancing?
 

Craigins

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They made me take mine into the service center for this.

They replaced the 12v and updated firmware and then made sure the truck updated to the latest software update.

Are you far from a service center? Wonder why they opted for mobile in your case.
 

suprteck

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The guy that replaced my batteries said when new batteries are installed, a jumper wire between the two has to be added so that when they are plugged in the vehicle boots correctly and then the jumper cable is removed.

He said if you just plug in the batteries without the jumper then only 1/2 the vehicle will boot and then you immediately plug the next battery in the other half of the vehicle won't boot. He said one battery powers the left and one battery powers the right side of the vehicle.

Looks like only half your vehicle booted up!

He also said the newer vehicles only have one larger battery instead of 2.
Tech who replaced my batteries said jumper not needed just do a hard reset after changing out the batteries on at a time.
 

NY_Rob

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... Why not leave the jumper installed? Worst case: load balancing?
Yeah, it seems incredibly shortsighted to split the vehicle in half and have separate 12V batts for each half.
I understand they most like had available physical space restrictions when hastily building the system (including the ridiculous separate fuse box needed for each half of the vehicle), but now you see the consequences of not considering the implications of making hasty decisions.
It's not like 12 volt battery systems are new to motor vehicles or even EV's... we've been using 12V batts for 100+ years now, there's a reason mainstream manufacturers use a single 12V primary battery. Seems like another case of Rivian hubris coupled with junior designers being tasked with building something real for the first time.. just like the NAV system, the infotainment system, the tonneau cover, etc.. Hopefully someone at Rivian is taking notes and learning how to make better systems.
 

NY_Rob

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Tech who replaced my battery said jumper not needed just do a hard reset after changing out the batteries on at a time.
Makes sense as It's always tricky when you attempt to jumper two batts in parallel due to potential differences in voltage between the two sources. Enough potential difference between the two batts and a large current flow with sparks flying or even a battery explosion could occur. Going forward, if they indeed go with a single 12V battery, there should be no reason the two vehicle half's can't be connected via a positive bridge cable or terminal block connection (and they already share a common negative ground circuit).
 

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Going forward, if they indeed go with a single 12V battery, there should be no reason the two vehicle half's can't be connected
Rivian R1T R1S 12V Battery Replacement Bricked My R1T IMG_20230601_075019
 

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Makes sense as It's always tricky when you attempt to jumper two batts in parallel due to potential differences in voltage between the two sources. Enough potential difference between the two batts and a large current flow with sparks flying or even a battery explosion could occur. Going forward, if they indeed go with a single 12V battery, there should be no reason the two vehicle half's can't be connected via a positive bridge cable or terminal block connection (and they already share a common negative ground circuit).
Our EEs always make us add diodes when connecting batteries in parallel. So you'd probably need something a little more complex than just a copper cable.
 

NY_Rob

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Our EEs always make us add diodes when connecting batteries in parallel. So you'd probably need something a little more complex than just a copper cable.
Hopefully, the plan going forward from Rivian is to use/retrofit a single 12V battery in their vehicles as the puny 12V batts they use now are undersized and die too easily. If they go that route, a single bridge cable that combines the left and right side circuits should be all that's needed with a single pos and neg cable going to the single 12V primary battery.

Using two small 12V batts with each powering one half of the vehicle has proved to be a poor design choice.
 

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How can I determine if my R1T has the two 12v batteries or the single 12v battery? My R1T is a late March, 2023 production with VIN 224xx.

Brian
 

electruck

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Using two small 12V batts with each powering one half of the vehicle has proved to be a poor design choice.
May have been a decision forced by supply chain, we'll likely never know.
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