Conserve Mode: $125 a month tire cost!

[RTChiro]

I have not seen much on how much driving in conserve mode costs or otherwise the cost of tire usage with R1T.

Back in December 2022 after driving my truck for just under 10,000 miles over 8 months, normal roads, normal driving habits (i.e. no crazy accelerations or stops) including 2 road trips of about 1500 miles each, I had to changed my front tires as they were totally worn out! It was so bad that I could not risk a short trip. So I took it to our local service center thinking it would be covered under warrantee. It was not. I paid just over $1000. I was told there is nothing wrong with the tires or the car. It was my fault for driving in 'conserve mode'. Consequently I have contacted Rivian on a number of occasions and got nowhere.

I wish I was told this when I had about an hour, test driving and talking to a rep prior to purchasing, as well as another hour when the car was delivered. I guess after driving multiple cars over 30 years, I some how missed the opportunity to learn this, what appears to be a simple fact that driving a heavy truck in 'conserve mode' which means front wheel drive, means frequent change of tires.

But perhaps, Rivian should explain to buyers either in person by reps, or by means of the display info for each driving mode that driving in conserve mode will lead to faster tire wear, much faster tire wear. Perhaps Rivian should choose more appropriate tires to manage the weight and acceleration of the car. One rep over the phone told informed me that I should not expect more performance from the tires since I chose to purchase a heavy truck with sport like acceleration.
I love my R1T. I have invested in Rivian stocks too. I think this is the best car I have ever owned. But I am disappointed as an early adopter, I had to pay the price for what I see as a design fault and lack of appropriate communication. I am totally aware of the savings I made on purchasing the car prior to the price hike.

I see a lot of posts about range and costs these days but there is not much about this rather hidden issue affecting range and running cost of the truck.

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[jjswan33]

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.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I had to pay the price for what I see as a design fault

How is it a design fault exactly? How many other high horsepower FWD heavy vehicles have you driven? They will chew through tires too.

 

[Zoidz]

I don't know if they have officially said anything about this. I did a First Mile Drive in January in Brooklyn. The Guide that I spent an hour with told me about conserve mode and did explain the tire wear issue. Only use conserve mode at crusing speed on extended highway drives. It's not a design fault...

 

[RTChiro]

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.

I think that is a good point but both front tires were worn out - could that still be an alignment issue?

 

[Dark-Fx]

I have my doubts that conserve use alone would wear through tires at 10k miles

It's easy to feel like you aren't driving aggressively in conserve when you have the normal AWD modes to compare to, but you are still putting a lot of stress on just two tires. There's not a big difference between mild acceleration and full throttle in conserve.

Last week when I drove my Volt to work, I thought I was driving economically, but it was using 80kW of the total 120kW the car will put down. Still driving easier than I typically would be in conserve in my R1T.

 

[COdogman]

I asked about tire wear during my first mile last year and was given an honest answer comparing 2 employees of the Denver SC. 1 drives like a grandma and uses conserve 80% of the time and saw normal wear at 16k miles. The other also used conserve the majority of the time but drove more aggressively and his tires were very worn at 18k miles.

You didn’t mention which tires you have. Also, I doubt that Rivian will warranty tires - too many variables. Pirelli does have a treadwear warranty that you can look into that might get you a credit towards a new set. If it were me I would just buy a different set that are proven to last longer on other heavy trucks.

 

[BigE]

I have not seen much on how much driving in conserve mode costs or otherwise the cost of tire usage with R1T.
Back in December 2022 after driving my truck for just under 10,000 miles over 8 months, normal roads, normal driving habits (i.e. no crazy accelerations or stops) including 2 road trips of about 1500 miles each, I had to changed my front tires as they were totally worn out! It was so bad that I could not risk a short trip. So I took it to our local service center thinking it would be covered under warrantee. It was not. I paid just over $1000. I was told there is nothing wrong with the tires or the car. It was my fault for driving in 'conserve mode'. Consequently I have contacted Rivian on a number of occasions and got nowhere.
I wish I was told this when I had about an hour, test driving and talking to a rep prior to purchasing, as well as another hour when the car was delivered. I guess after driving multiple cars over 30 years, I some how missed the opportunity to learn this, what appears to be a simple fact that driving a heavy truck in 'conserve mode' which means front wheel drive, means frequent change of tires.
But perhaps, Rivian should explain to buyers either in person by reps, or by means of the display info for each driving mode that driving in conserve mode will lead to faster tire wear, much faster tire wear. Perhaps Rivian should choose more appropriate tires to manage the weight and acceleration of the car. One rep over the phone told informed me that I should not expect more performance from the tires since I chose to purchase a heavy truck with sport like acceleration.
I love my R1T. I have invested in Rivian stocks too. I think this is the best car I have ever owned. But I am disappointed as an early adopter, I had to pay the price for what I see as a design fault and lack of appropriate communication. I am totally aware of the savings I made on purchasing the car prior to the price hike.
I see a lot of posts about range and costs these days but there is not much about this rather hidden issue affecting range and running cost of the truck.

This is why McDonalds has to tell people their coffee is hot. So you drove your R1T in front wheel drive for 10,000 miles and never rotated your tires? Yes, I would expect exactly what you have discovered, front wore out and your rear tires most likely still have a lot of life. I have 22’s, I’ll be rotating every 5k and I’m not expecting more than 20k from these Pirelli’s.

No OEM tires have a warranty that I know of unless they do a good Will replacement.

 

[RTChiro]

How is it a design fault exactly? How many other high horsepower FWD heavy vehicles have you driven? They will chew through tires too.

It's easy to feel like you aren't driving aggressively in conserve when you have the normal AWD modes to compare to, but you are still putting a lot of stress on just two tires. There's not a big difference between mild acceleration and full throttle in conserve.

Last week when I drove my Volt to work, I thought I was driving economically, but it was using 80kW of the total 120kW the car will put down. Still driving easier than I typically would be in conserve in my R1T.

This is what I mean by design fault or to be more positive appropriate design measure. We know this is a new concept and design all together, an EV truck, very powerful and very heavy which requires a much stronger tougher tire design.. perhaps that is yet to come..

 

[JEV]

I assume you didn't rotate the tires. Pirelli recommends rotating the tires every 5000-7000 miles.

 

[RTChiro]

This is why McDonalds has to tell people their coffee is hot. So you drove your R1T in front wheel drive for 10,000 miles and never rotated your tires? Yes, I would expect exactly what you have discovered, front wore out and your rear tires most likely still have a lot of life. I have 22’s, I’ll be rotating every 5k and I’m not expecting more than 20k from these Pirelli’s.

No OEM tires have a warranty that I know of unless they do a good Will replacement.

You seem very knowledgeable but there are many who are in my shoes and will learn the hard way. I posted to make those unaware, learn and save while we wait to have better tires available. I also have 22's BTW.

 

[kizamybute']

If you also allow it to run the lower suspension rating, which is what it naturally wants to do in Conserve mode, then you're adding camber to the front wheels. With it being front wheel drive in conserve mode, it would wear out the inner edge of the tires much faster if running that full time. If you want to run conserve mode, at least reset the ride height to its normal setting. Also, should rotate the tires at least every 5,000 miles on a 7,000 lb vehicle

 

[Jack Smoke]

Thank you to the OP for bringing this up and to the responses. I drive in conserve most of the time. I have never really thought about tire wear. But considering all the factors, weight, camber, acceleration and one that hasn’t been mentioned yet Regen. All that energy being created when that little green bar is pegged has got to be close to the same amount as a spirited launch going into 2 tires. I think I”ll run in All Purpose or Conserve + Normal Regen (instead of High) + High ride. I don’t do a lot of highway.

Edit: I’ll be sure to rotate tires at 5K as well

 

[SANZC02]

This is what I mean by design fault or to be more positive appropriate design measure. We know this is a new concept and design all together, an EV truck, very powerful and very heavy which requires a much stronger tougher tire design.. perhaps that is yet to come..

I did a 5k mile trip, was using conserve mode on the highway portion, probably 4300 miles of the trip and my wear is pretty even. I would use all purpose getting on the highway, shift to conserve once on, and shift back to all purpose before getting off. I have not used conserve when not on the highway at all. I have 5800 on it now and tires are all around 9/32, they are the 22s, I will rotate them at 6k but using this method it does not seem like conserve is hurting the tires on the R1S.

 

[RTChiro]

Thank you to the OP for bringing this up and to the responses. I drive in conserve most of the time. I have never really thought about tire wear. But considering all the factors, weight, camber, acceleration and one that hasn’t been mentioned yet Regen. All that energy being created when that little green bar is pegged has got to be close to the same amount as a spirited launch going into 2 tires. I think I”ll run in All Purpose or Conserve + Normal Regen (instead of High) + High ride. I don’t do a lot of highway.

Edit: I’ll be sure to rotate tires at 5K as well

Rotating tires is a very good idea, with all 4 having similar wear, .. changing all 4 tires gets us better deal ...
I have now learned driving conserve mode should be reserved for when we are low on juice and need to go distance before the next charge station, on road trips! All Purpose, normal height, normal regen seem to be the best combination for average use

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