Battery problem - R2 died.

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Roadside assistance and SOS are just call centers. And may not even be actual Rivian employees, but a contract vendor. This sort of arrangement is not unique to Rivian. Other brands work the same way. You have warranty and Rivian will investigate and make you whole. They will give you a loaner or put you in a paid rental if loaner is not available. If indeed battery failure, it is possible. Battery manufacturers (LG in this case) do not QC every single cell produced. Instead random cells are selected from each batch for testing. This is true of just about everything that is mass produced. On the bright side, according to a engineer I know at Rivian, they have diagnostic abilities to locate and pin point exactly which cell has failed—a gen 2 architecture capability.

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[VSG]

If true, that's a terrible way to respond to what may or may not be a fault in the airbag system

It's a hypothetical fault used as an example. It could have been something else that came unplugged, so criticizing the vehicle's response to the fault without knowing what the fault is is pointless.

Regardless, @electruck said what I was also thinking - an electrical connector which hadn't been snapped in all the way or had its latch broken could easily pop loose after a few hours of driving, and there have been similar cases with the R1. I'm sure the circuit tested good at the factory. Which connector that might be and what the side effects are I don't know, but these sorts of things happen especially in a new manufacturing process. The good news is that something like this is most likely to show up very early in your ownership, and once it's corrected won't happen again. Also, this experience will feed back to the manufacturing team to figure out why it happened and how to prevent it from happening on other vehicles.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Is this even a real owner? Story sounds odd.

Agreed this sounds like one of those “Grok, make up a horror story about an R2 experience to post as FUD in a forum” type posts. These do exist in Facebook forums. They all have a few things in common: First-time poster, and no follow-up.

This type of response to a post does the community a disservice. It leads to the speculation that accounts, like yours, are fake accounts intended to prop up Rivian. Also likely untrue.

If you have a legitimate concern with a post, report it. But making these statements dilutes the forum and, ironically, makes posts by Rivian supporters look suspicious.

 

[BarbaraG]

We picked up our R2 yesterday and all was good. Drove 150 miles this morning to a weekend getaway - fine, nice trip although developed a rattle behind the front panel. This afternoon drove 2 miles locally and the car literally died. I was barely able to pull over. Fortunately it was a local road, not a highway. The car said Ready but could not put it in gear. The initial message said something was wrong with the airbags, then nothing. Called SOS, and after many minutes of confirming our account finally got a technician.

Meanwhile an R1 happened to be driving by (this in a small tourist town of less than 3,000!). The driver happened to be a Rivian technician vacationing here. He tried the hard reset, then unplugged the 12 volt battery. He also had his work laptop so was able to somehow get the car restarted. The Rivian technician was not helpful, ready to call a tow if our young friend could not solve the problem.

We have a service appointment Tuesday morning and I am terrified to drive the car back the 150 miles on highway. I am ready to ditch this thing!

Another note: the SOS call was from somewhere, not our phone, and kept asking us to press 1 for English. There was no keypad display connected to this phone call so it kept repeating the request, further delaying the response.

Thanks all for the comments. I am indeed a real live owner. SOS transferred us to Rivian tech, who offered to call for a tow. Meanwhile the young man who stopped to help us was a tech from another state who happened to be staying nearby. He had his work laptop and was able to restart the car. Towing would have left us stranded 150 miles from home.

The comment about airbags seems to be the most likely answer. The initial SOS call asked if we had been in a rear end collision - car image on the monitor showed red on the rear.

General question: even if Rivian gives us a good to go after service, do you think this vehicle is safe to drive?

 

[Thedude]

General question: even if Rivian gives us a good to go after service, do you think this vehicle is safe to drive?

Yes, otherwise they wouldn’t say you’re good to go.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

General question: even if Rivian gives us a good to go after service, do you think this vehicle is safe to drive?

Why not?

 

[mkhuffman]

Yes, otherwise they wouldn’t say you’re good to go.

I agree. If Rivian gives the thumbs up, I would trust driving it. That said, human beings make mistakes and I have had to come back to my Service Center to fix a faulty repair. Grace is warranted in that case, IMO, as frustrating as it is to have to return for another try.

 

[sparked]

The comment about airbags seems to be the most likely answer. The initial SOS call asked if we had been in a rear end collision - car image on the monitor showed red on the rear.

General question: even if Rivian gives us a good to go after service, do you think this vehicle is safe to drive?

If it's just a defective rear crash sensor, could be as simple as replacing a part.

 

[electruck]

General question: even if Rivian gives us a good to go after service, do you think this vehicle is safe to drive?

Absolutely. At that point you stand a far greater chance of encountering other road hazards that have nothing to do with the vehicle.

 

[I95 Nightmares]

This type of response to a post does the community a disservice. It leads to the speculation that accounts, like yours, are fake accounts intended to prop up Rivian. Also likely untrue.

If you have a legitimate concern with a post, report it. But making these statements dilutes the forum and, ironically, makes posts by Rivian supporters look suspicious.

Mea Culpa. I retract my accusation. Just skeptical after seeing all the Facebook Tesla bots which are a legitimate problem. Guess that means I need to spend more time here, and less there

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Yes, otherwise they wouldn’t say you’re good to go.

Agree. If Rivian says it’s good to go, then that’s all I would need. If you get to the point where you don’t trust Rivian, that’s something else.

I had an issue with my Bronco 300mi after pickup. Turns out that they hadn’t properly connected the turbo exhaust. They promised that no damage was done and all would be good. 4 years later, no problems.

 

[NY_Rob]

It's a hypothetical fault used as an example. It could have been something else that came unplugged, so criticizing the vehicle's response to the fault without knowing what the fault is is pointless.

Of course, and not throwing shade at @electruck, I was merely expressing my opinion that if there was an airbag system disconnect, bricking the vehicle while it's driving is not the way to handle that situation.

 

[sparked]

if there was an airbag system disconnect, bricking the vehicle while it's driving is not the way to handle that situation.

It may not be a failure mode that they observed in the last 2 years of testing. But now that they know, they can push out software to address it.

 

[Snakedoc]

Is this even a real owner? Story sounds odd.

Totally agree....

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