Fast Charging Broken

[BradSholl]

I mostly use my LE R1S locally or for short trips so I haven’t ever had the need to fast charge. But early July, I took it to the DE shore for a week. I level 1 charged a few nights but wasn’t too concerned because there was a bank of Rivian fast chargers at the Christiana Mall on the way home. I pulled in to them with 80 miles remaining range, about the exact distance to my home. Tried 5 chargers…no luck. They would not initiate charge, even with Rivian support on the phone. Moved on to a bank of EVGo chargers up the road. Same failure. Hypermiled it home and crawled into my garage with 5 miles remaining. Mobile service came out the following week and confirmed the vehicle was not acknowledging the fast charge connection. Vehicle needs to go in for service.

Ok. Nearest service center is either Brooklyn or Gaithersburg, 3+ hour drives one way. I’ve been to the Brooklyn center once, Worst 9 hours of my life. “I’m not willing to drive that far in a vehicle I can’t charge. Send a flat bed… “

After weeks of no response other than “We’re working on it”, I’m now being told the earliest they can work on my issue is November. So I guess until then, I can’t drive any farther from home than 140 miles, which will give me enough energy to return home, with a 10 mile cushion.

Not a happy camper!

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[Tango45]

I had a prolonged issue with fast charging that saw me back at the service center three times, but they fixed it the last time. The service team was great through all the interactions (except one online person who seemed to be on the B-team). Here's some threads that might help you:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/unable-to-fast-charge-anyone-seen-this-before.20114/

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-clicking-then-error-selling-r1t-sadly.17413/

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/issues-at-l3-chargers.23132/

In my case, it was the central gateway module and having the videos, timestamps, and, of course, having the vehicle display the behavior at the SC, were key in getting the problem addressed.

I hope that helps; follow up with any questions you might have!

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I would argue that the vehicle is undriveable on long trips, @BradSholl, requiring a MUCH sooner appointment.

Sometimes the first person you talk to doesn't have that authority. Consider escalating to management.

Best wishes!

 

[risingphoenix]

I had this exact issue and had scheduled central gateway module replacement. On a whim, I unplugged the OBDIi adapter I was using for power and there was a software update. That fixed it. I would unplug all peripherals and wait for the update this week or next. Might work!

 

[beatle]

Don't want to stump for Rivian too hard here, but will your truck make it to either SC without stopping to charge? If so, I'd just drive there. Definitely not ideal, and a bigger burden on you to drive out there and back, but it can be pretty burdensome to prove a point, and sometimes it's not worth the comparative amount of effort.

 

[COdogman]

Earlier this year I kept getting errors when attempting to fast charge and found by talking to service support it could be multiple things causing it. Level 1/2 use a different charging module than Level 3 so the good news is that you should be able to keep driving as long as you don't have a longer trip planned.

They initially thought that was my issue but it turned out my HV battery had to be replaced. The Denver SC was not as backed up as yours though so I wasn't worried about it. Once they had it a couple weeks later they had it back to me in 6 days.

I would definitely try to push for a sooner appointment if I were you. It may not be an emergency but they are essentially restricting how far you can drive your vehicle by pushing it out so far.

 

[joesimonsen]

Are you seeing an error when you do plug in? I had a specific issue with fast charging but it was isolated to the RAN network only. My issue turned out to be a mismatched chip that wasn't replaced right that caused a sync issue between charger and account. It would jsut tell me to "Update payment method in app". But not sure if this sounds like the same issue or not

 

[BradSholl]

Are you seeing an error when you do plug in? I had a specific issue with fast charging but it was isolated to the RAN network only. My issue turned out to be a mismatched chip that wasn't replaced right that caused a sync issue between charger and account. It would jsut tell me to "Update payment method in app". But not sure if this sounds like the same issue or not

It constantly tells me to unplug and try again. The mobile tech confirmed that the port is not recognizing the fast charge connection. Rivian is “working on a solution” which will undoubtedly require me to spend 2 entire days ferrying the vehicle to and from a service center as there are not any in my state.

 

[joesimonsen]

It constantly tells me to unplug and try again. The mobile tech confirmed that the port is not recognizing the fast charge connection. Rivian is “working on a solution” which will undoubtedly require me to spend 2 entire days ferrying the vehicle to and from a service center as there are not any in my state.

My issue was fixed by a software patch actually. I had to go nowhere in the end which was great.

 

[risingphoenix]

For me, the problem was a bad Charge Port and Harness Assembly. Replacing it fixed my DCFC problems.

 

[BradSholl]

For me, the problem was a bad Charge Port and Harness Assembly. Replacing it fixed my DCFC problems.

They did replace the harness, but it didn’t resolve the issue. Based on info from this site, I pushed for replacement of the Central Gateway Module and that fixed all charging issues.

 

[diabolik]

I have had similar experiences with a small twist. Back in February I did a three hour road trip to the miami airport. Couldn’t get the R1S to fast charge at any brand chargers (pre Supercharger access) before I got to the airport and after I returned a few days later. Ended up having to get a hotel room and do a slow level 2 on a ChargePoint for a solid day to get home.

I took it in to the Tampa SC and they did some tests and then got it to charge on a level 3. I got it back and have since charged on level 3 chargers all the time when I need to. No long trips just local (+\- 30-60 min drives) charging at mostly EA and Tesla Superchargers. No isssues.

I decide to risk taking the Rivian for a 12 hour trip (including charge stops) to north Georgia leaving this morning. I tested a Tesla station again yesterday to be sure there were no issues. I charged to 100% overnight at home and started the journey. my first stop was planned about 3 hours after departure. Luckily my son got hungry and we stopped about two hours into the trip to charge and eat. Went to a supercharger and nothing. Same issue as miami. Unable to connect and unplug and try again. I tried three posts with the same results and did a hard reset. I assume it’s the charge station and I get back on the interstate to continue to the original planned stop to see if it will work. I get nervous as soon as my wheels hit I75 and decide to stop at the next exit and try an EA station. Same results. I try a few posts, call Rivian tech support and no dice.

I go to a RV resort across the street and plug in my mobile charger and all is good. (I know the level 2 and level 3 chargers use different modules and are completely different charging approaches). I hope that charging with a level two charger may reset something so I go back to the EA station and try again. Nope. At this point service asks me where I am and if I am near a service center. Luckily I was an hour from the Tampa SC and I had just enough charge (with conservative driving) to make it. So I drove it to Tampa and dropped it off.

I was supposed swing through the Atlanta airport to pick up my wife and daughter on the way and now this whole ordeal put me hours behind schedule. And to top it off the SC couldn’t get me a rental car that could accommodate all the luggage I was hauling for the whole family. My back up plan was to get airline tickets from Tampa to Atlanta with an arrival about the same time as my girls and rent a car in Atlanta to complete the vacation.

Sorry for long post, very frustrated right now. I love my R1S but i now
Have zero faith in it for road trips. I may not even keep it as it is too much money to be used only around town. I do not plan on taking it back until they can assure me they solved the issue. Even then I am hesitant to risk getting stranded again.

I will reference this post and the solutions presented as I work with the service team. I just find it odd that level 3 works all the time except when I travel…

 

[BradSholl]

I’d strongly recommend they replace your central gateway module.

 

[diabolik]

Sounds like I will “insist” on the CGM and the charge port and harness being replaced…

still don’t understand why it only happens when I am on a trip. Never an issue to DCFC near home. I started wondering if it is a software glitch related to the navigation being engaged.

Thanks all!

 

[diabolik]

Just a quick update…

After waiting four weeks for the SC to start on my vehicle they finally “completed“ the repairs today. When I asked what they did to address the charging issue outlined above, their response was that all the logs indicated it was a problem with the stations and not the Rivian. I do not seem to understand this…I tried several posts at a tesla Supercharger and then a few posts at an EA charging station. I did a hard reset in the middle of all of this and that changed nothing.

I did ask the tech to change the CGM and the port and wire harness but they indicated my CGM was not in the production range of trouble units. They will not replace it for “no reason.” I have asked for the problem to be escalated and they have had the regionals service technician in to look at it. I have also asked for them to get someone on the engineering team involved.

I am not trying to be an alarmist but I really have no confidence in taking my vehicle on any trips outside of my Immediate area. The first time this happened I had to sleep in my car of a few hours because it was the middle of the night and I couldn’t get a hotel room and this last time has cost me $3k for airline tickets and a rental car…

The only thing left for me to consider Is that the first charger I plugged into had a heavily used NACS handle…could it have sent the Rivian into some kind of protection mode and would a hard reset not take it out of it? I have read here that a sleep cycle can reset the charging software. If it happens again, I could try that but the last time this happened I had to leave the vehicle at an airport and when I got back a few days later it still wouldn’t L3 charge and I am sure it went to sleep while i was gone…

Anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed? I really think I have some kind of problem and I do not want to pick up the vehicle until all attempts are made.

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