Conserve Mode: $125 a month tire cost!

[frostbit3]

This is somewhat "normal", as I had the same outcome. Drove around in Conserve a lot as most of my miles have been road trip miles and ended up putting new tires on the front at around 11K miles. I've stopped using conserve at all now since it doesn't really give that much more range compared to all purpose, so it's no longer an issue for me.

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[NineElectrics]

Fwiw, I just got a nail puncture repaired last week at 11.5k miles. OEM 20” ATs, rotated once, by Rivian SC. Suburban warrior, no offroad, about 50/50 Conserve vs AP.

I live in a pretty clean residential neighborhood and I’ve been hit with EV flat about once a year for the last ten years, mostly on Teslas. That said, my one Rivian flat was on a rural mountain pass.

None of these tires were even close to being worn out. I maintain this is not a coincidence, and that EVs stress tires to the point where they get many more flats than other types of vehicles. It’s some combination of extreme weight, under spec’d tires, low rolling resistance optimizations/high PSI, and high torque.

 

[zipzag]

Doug Demuro said that clutch replacement on his Porsche GT4 is about every 10K miles and $40-50K.

The issue with higher mileage is also running through the warranty and then having repairs that likely can only be done at Rivian for the foreseeable future.

Although Rivian's full warranty is a year better than Tesla.

Edit: OT, if Doug doesn't annoy you this is worth watching. Some people have the job they were made for:

I live in a pretty clean residential neighborhood and I’ve been hit with EV flat about once a year for the last ten years, mostly on Teslas. That said, my one Rivian flat was on a rural mountain pass.

None of these tires were even close to being worn out. I maintain this is not a coincidence, and that EVs stress tires to the point where they get many more flats than other types of vehicles. It’s some combination of extreme weight, under spec’d tires, low rolling resistance optimizations/high PSI, and high torque.

I've had the same experience with Tesla and agree with your conclusion. Prior to Tesla not even one flat every five years.

 

[Inhisname]

How is your alignment? I have my doubts that conserve use alone would wear through tires at 10k miles. I did wear through a set at about 16k miles, with some conserve use, but my alignment was not good for most of those miles.

Is alignment covered under that vehicle warranty as that's not a lot of mileage for the alignment to already need to be adjusted

 

[jjswan33]

Is alignment covered under that vehicle warranty as that's not a lot of mileage for the alignment to already need to be adjusted

A lot of early trucks came off the line with bad alignment. Peoples success in getting it fixed has been mixed but I don't think any (at least most) are getting charged for the repair.

 

[Thud]

Is that 10k miles without rotating the tires?

 

[Dublin ‘Eer]

So here’s an idea—I’m not sure if it’s even feasible but thought I’d throw it out there. Are the motors identical on the front and rear? If so, could Rivian push an OTA update which would give the driver the option of FWD or RWD in conserve mode with a resettable trip odometer so you could keep the conserve mode mileage roughly equivalent in FWD and RWD after each rotation?

 

[the long way downunder]

The way I understand the technology, the rear wheels are completely disconnected via an axle disconnect and are free-wheeling only, and neither contribute to drive nor regain when in Conserve mode.

the rears will engage for power if you accelerate hard enough

 

[the long way downunder]

Is there a photo of the worn front tires?

 

[Rivianation]

My test drive guy (actually a tech filling in due to huge amount of deliveries) told me that using conserve mode puts extra strain on the front motors. If it were some random person or owner telling me this, I would think nothing of it. But this guy works for Rivian (and owns an R1T), so maybe he has access to info others don't.

His implication was don't use conserve mode unless you are steady wheeling on the highway, and not tooling around town.

 

[Zoidz]

So here’s an idea—I’m not sure if it’s even feasible but thought I’d throw it out there. Are the motors identical on the front and rear? If so, could Rivian push an OTA update which would give the driver the option of FWD or RWD in conserve mode with a resettable trip odometer so you could keep the conserve mode mileage roughly equivalent in FWD and RWD after each rotation?

Conserve mode physically decouples the rear shafts/wheels from the motors.. This mechanism does not exist on the front motors. So no, your idea is not possible. There is no way to make it RWD.

 

[Kacey3]

the rears will engage for power if you accelerate hard enough

Unexpected, but not surprising.

 

[VenturaLuke]

I have 20k miles on my truck, probably 85% in conserve mode on the highway, have rotated once at 11k miles and will do so again this week. Very little difference in tire wear front to back and still plenty of life left. 20" wheels with AT's. YMMV.

 

[Bmitch24]

There is a prorated warranty on the tires. Pirelli just won't warranty the first set from the manufacturer. All other sets you get will have a tread wear warranty. Tire cost due to excessive wear is not a real thing right now. Just expect to pony up for the first replacement set and replace frequently under warranty.

Need to correct this. No tread wear warranty on any of the riv-elect tires.

 

[Brewbud]

I was warned about excessive tire wear from conserve mode when mine was delivered last May. It should be put in writing somewhere IMO.

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