Any tests done on Vampire battery drain?

[staples]

Looks like the battery loss is not a slow continuous loss but rather comes in big sudden losses about 16 hours apart. Not obvious related to temperature but we would really need to look at battery temperature not ambient temperature to know if it is going to battery cooling.

It's not large drops. That's just the reported percentage of battery. I'll pull the estimated range from that timeframe which will be slightly more granular.

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[staples]

 

[DJG]

My understanding is that Rivian is a noisy little beast and if it is using the juice to cool the battery, it should be detectable. Some reports of power loss has been at perfect temperatures so I hold judgment on that.

I agree with you that we shouldn't have to guess. If Bolt at third of the price can tell it's owner how it is using the energy, R1 should be able to do that too. Rivian minimalist mode of communication on it's interface is not my thing. I like to see battery and motor temps. If Rivian chooses not to tell me how my energy is being used (assuming it is intentional use not a waste due to bad design), as a cynic, it is my duty to assume the worse. If they don't have anything to hide, they can simply tell me what they are doing with it. Until then a leak or a use I wouldn't approve of is my default assumption. The reason I feel justified to go with the leak assumption is their recent update that improved the leak. If they were using that energy for something vital, they would not be making that compromise. If it was for something nice but unimportant , they would tell us what it was. A booboo that was fixed is my best guess. That is what I call a leak (electrons traveling with a passport which do not have my stamp of approval) If there was a booboo there, there could be a fixable booboo somewhere else too.

I perfectly respect your choice as an optimist to assume it is all for the good of the battery and to believe other manufactures just don't care about their batteries (original leaf didn't so you are justified). I will keep poking until they tell me what they are doing with my energy and give me the option to opt out at my own risk or fix it if it is unintentional. Someone has to be annoying, it may as well be me.

I'm not saying it's all battery health related, or even majority. It just made me wonder if my Audi only using 1% over a month is really the optimal goal or not. I'm sure there are processes that could be further optimized to make incremental improvements. Perhaps they are pulling data every 12 hours right now, and eventually they decide they have enough and pull back to every few days. Who knows. I've said before though, we're already approaching the realm of diminishing returns with a heap of other things still on the software team's plate. A 0.5% reduction in drain per 24 hours will not be significant to daily life for the vast majority of owners. Is that a few weeks of the team's time, or several months?

 

[Max]

I'm not saying it's all battery health related, or even majority. It just made me wonder if my Audi only using 1% over a month is really the optimal goal or not. I'm sure there are processes that could be further optimized to make incremental improvements. Perhaps they are pulling data every 12 hours right now, and eventually they decide they have enough and pull back to every few days. Who knows. I've said before though, we're already approaching the realm of diminishing returns with a heap of other things still on the software team's plate. A 0.5% reduction in drain per 24 hours will not be significant to daily life for the vast majority of owners. Is that a few weeks of the team's time, or several months?

Got it. I think one of the guys was going to check the network traffic to see if that is what is happening but I don’t recall if any results were shared. I don’t believe in the a absence of strict regulation, their thirst for free information will ever be completely eliminated. But as you said, it may be curbed. Audi probably shares resources with Porsche and VW and can afford doing most of their Research and development on their own and off of their user’s back. Tesla opened the door to using owners and their cars for data collection and development and who can say no to that. Frankly if Rivian asked, I would volunteer my info to help for an initial period knowing that is where the energy goes. Not knowing that is what is happening and not having a say just rubs me the wrong way. I guess you could say, I am pro choice.

One of us just have to corner one of their engineers in a bar when he/she is tipsy and get the scoop.

 

[DJG]

Got it. I think one of the guys was going to check the network traffic to see if that is what is happening but I don’t recall if any results were shared. I don’t believe in the a absence of strict regulation, their thirst for free information will ever be completely eliminated. But as you said, it may be curbed. Audi probably shares resources with Porsche and VW and can afford doing most of their Research and development on their own and off of their user’s back. Tesla opened the door to using owners and their cars for data collection and development and who can say no to that. Frankly if Rivian asked, I would volunteer my info to help for an initial period knowing that is where the energy goes. Not knowing that is what is happening and not having a say just rubs me the wrong way. I guess you could say, I am pro choice.

One of us just have to corner one of their engineers in a bar when he/she is tipsy and get the scoop.

Yeah, and I think a lot of it, for this topic and in general, is that pre-launch the goal is to make it work. After launch, it's make it work better.

 

[DaveA]

Anyone notice any additional improvement in drain since the latest update?

 

[staples]

Anyone notice any additional improvement in drain since the latest update?

I haven't noticed any major change with the latest update.

 

[Lsthrz]

I think the drain is no better, and possibly worse, since the last update. The R1T sat recently while I was away for a week - nothing turned on and lost about 8-9 miles/day. Last night, with the AC plugs ‘on’ but nothing plugged into them, 12 miles lost. Sorry this is in miles, but these numbers are some of the worst in the 4 months of ownership. I had thought this was improving but not any more or still, not yet.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I think the drain is no better, and possibly worse, since the last update. The R1T sat recently while I was away for a week - nothing turned on and lost about 8-9 miles/day. Last night, with the AC plugs ‘on’ but nothing plugged into them, 12 miles lost. Sorry this is in miles, but these numbers are some of the worst in the 4 months of ownership. I had thought this was improving but not any more or still, not yet.

To be fair, Rivian warns you that leaving the AC inverter on -- even with nothing connected -- will cause range loss.

 

[NY_Rob]

My Bolt used to indicate how many kW were being consumed or were being pumped in the the vehicle. Turn the heater on in Park and it would indicate 7.X kW draw, plug in it would indicate 7.X kW charge.
Does the R1T have a similar feature where you can view real-time current flow data?

 

[bhopkins]

I recently did a test while I was on vacation. Truck was parked, Gear Guard was on, not connected to WiFi nor connected to a charger.

July 13 at 4:17 pm - truck reporting 256 miles/85% battery and cabin temp of 109 degrees.
July 14 at 8:13 pm - truck reporting 254 miles/85% battery and cabin temp of 93 degrees. 28 hours difference.
July 16 at 5:33 am - truck reporting 246 miles/82% battery. No cabin temp reported so "normal". 33 hours from July 14 check.

So, over 61 hours (2.5 days) I lost 10 miles/3% of battery. This would include the occasional unlock as I walked past the truck with the phone in my pocket. Otherwise, no other activity other than Gear Guard running. At no time did I hear any fans running or anything like that, even when it was reporting high temps. The truck was in sleep mode when I pinged the app and got the range and temp.

 

[JoelD]

I recently did a test while I was on vacation. Truck was parked, Gear Guard was on, not connected to WiFi nor connected to a charger.

July 13 at 4:17 pm - truck reporting 256 miles/85% battery and cabin temp of 109 degrees.
July 14 at 8:13 pm - truck reporting 254 miles/85% battery and cabin temp of 93 degrees. 28 hours difference.
July 16 at 5:33 am - truck reporting 246 miles/82% battery. No cabin temp reported so "normal". 33 hours from July 14 check.

So, over 61 hours (2.5 days) I lost 10 miles/3% of battery. This would include the occasional unlock as I walked past the truck with the phone in my pocket. Otherwise, no other activity other than Gear Guard running. At no time did I hear any fans running or anything like that, even when it was reporting high temps. The truck was in sleep mode when I pinged the app and got the range and temp.

I wonder how much of it (the loss) is attributable to communications over wifi to the mothership? (Noting you had wifi off)

It’s very chatty; see this from my router/firewall…a sample of the 1,349 network flows in the last 24 hours, then top downloads and top uploads…

 

[Lsthrz]

To be fair, Rivian warns you that leaving the AC inverter on -- even with nothing connected -- will cause range loss.

Yes, agreed on this. I had not used it (ac plugs) much and never left it on overnight before but the the week it sat, there was nothing engaged that should have increased drain.

I’m just a little surprised because I had thought drain had been improving and expected it to be a little better with the last firmware release.

Rivian has stated that vampire drain is a top priority of theirs so expect it will improve.

 

[Max]

I think the drain is no better, and possibly worse, since the last update. The R1T sat recently while I was away for a week - nothing turned on and lost about 8-9 miles/day. Last night, with the AC plugs ‘on’ but nothing plugged into them, 12 miles lost. Sorry this is in miles, but these numbers are some of the worst in the 4 months of ownership. I had thought this was improving but not any more or still, not yet.

If I am not mistaking, 9 miles is around 4 KWh/day which is a deal breaker for me. My understanding is that your AC plug was not on for this one. Man, I thought they were moving forward with this. I definitely don’t want to be in a position that the thing is leaking electrons in my driveway and I have to hope they will find a solution. The good news for me is that I am probably more than a year down the road for delivery. If they have not fixed it by then, they probably won’t.

 

[Lsthrz]

If I am not mistaking, 9 miles is around 4 KWh/day which is a deal breaker for me. My understanding is that your AC plug was not on for this one. Man, I thought they were moving forward with this. I definitely don’t want to be in a position that the thing is leaking electrons in my driveway and I have to hope they will find a solution. The good news for me is that I am probably more than a year down the road for delivery. If they have not fixed it by then, they probably won’t.

Yes, I’d say it was about 4 kWh/day and I was shocked, but I’ve seen much less drain day to day in normal use so I’m a bit unsure of what to expect which is an issue in itself.

I went through this with our Model S as well, and it definitely improved over time as I’m sure the R1T will, but it doesn’t seem to be happening in a linear fashion.

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