Had to replace 12v battery on Gen 1

[tmbm50]

It's interesting how much this varies by person or specific car. I have a friend with an X and zero work ever. I think it's around five years old now. But he drives little and it's on the EVSE at all times while at home.

I had one battery in my 2019 Model 3, which we had until 2024.

Also it's worth noting once again that there seems to have been a run of bad Rivian batteries around early-mid 2025. My replacement in September happened around six months into a replacement in March.

Some people turn off gearguard/tesla sentry at work and home. Its a huge drain. See my other thread about adding dual batteries to my 2026 R1T. With gearguard on, a 2026 R1T depletes the factory 12v in 3 hours. Thats 3 or 4 charge cycles over night alone, gear gaurd enabled at work??...you could deplete and charge the 12v a dozen times during the day.

Ain't not AGM battery gonna take that for very long.

Compare that to an ICE car (or EV not doing special cool things when its off) that gets topped off each drive but never really depleted low.

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[CharonPDX]

Mine is on the fourth set of 12v batteries. Early gen 1, VIN 10,000.

Sub-10K VIN, one 12V replacement.

I also had 12V replacements on a previous Tesla, and BMW i3.

 

[speedjunkie]

I was recently at the SC and specifically asked about the 12v battery warranty and post warranty repairs. Per the SA, they will cover the 12v battery replacement within the first 36 months, but any 12v battery replacement DOES NOT get an extended warranty past the initial 36 months UNLESS it’s a customer paid replacement.

While I disagree with Rivian’s 12v battery replacement warranty coverage, it does seem that we are SOL if the battery goes bad after the initial 36 months after delivery.

FWIW, I've had my 12v battery replaced 3x thus far, including the proactive replacement on Rivian’s part.

If anyone has gotten Rivian to cover the 12v battery replacement AFTER the initial 36 months has passed, please let us know.

 

[d15b7]

I have a '22 Gen 1 and have not had to replace my 12V. YMMV

Luckily, these vehicles have software that is able to monitor the voltage and capacity so if there is a need to replace the 12V, at least there is the possibility you will find out before it's dead via notification in the car. I've also heard of Rivian service proactively reaching out when they see a potential issue. I have not had that feature on a vehicle before, personally.

Hello there - I am the same experience so far as you - mine is a ‘22 R1T VIN 8xxx with about 54k miles and I am still on my original batteries. Just FYI

 

[tmbm50]

Hello there - I am the same experience so far as you - mine is a ‘22 R1T VIN 8xxx with about 54k miles and I am still on my original batteries. Just FYI

Are you running geargaurd ?

 

[SwampNut]

I was recently at the SC and specifically asked about the 12v battery warranty and post warranty repairs. Per the SA, they will cover the 12v battery replacement within the first 36 months, but any 12v battery replacement DOES NOT get an extended warranty past the initial 36 months UNLESS it’s a customer paid replacement.

This is a pretty standard warranty term, identical in past experiences with mainstream ICE. My next batteries will be on me, and will be Ohmmu sodium.

 

[d15b7]

Are you running geargaurd ?

I have GearGuard turned off at home but it’s on otherwise.

 

[technerd]

Hello there - I am the same experience so far as you - mine is a ‘22 R1T VIN 8xxx with about 54k miles and I am still on my original batteries. Just FYI

Same, 2022 15xxx VIN, 38 months in, but only 29k miles. Gear guard off at home, and I'm charging most of the time at work, so I guess I've babied the batteries. I do have a bluetooth monitor on them and generally get 10-12 hours between charge cycles.

 

[speedjunkie]

This is a pretty standard warranty term, identical in past experiences with mainstream ICE. My next batteries will be on me, and will be Ohmmu sodium.

Just wanted to clarify since someone mentioned their SA told them that the 12v battery got another 2 years of warranty from date of replacement, which is inaccurate.

 

[SwampNut]

Just wanted to clarify since someone mentioned their SA told them that the 12v battery got another 2 years of warranty from date of replacement, which is inaccurate.

Oh, totally get it, didn't mean to sound like I was correcting you. Info from SC people is wildly variable, which is crazy.

 

[godfodder0901]

There's a couple videos on YouTube for how to replace, and there's a service menu option to clear the 12V codes.

That service option is hit-or-miss on whether or not it works. Don't count on it clearing your code, especially if you install a 3rd party or non-OEM chemistry battery.

 

[CANCERDOC]

Some people turn off gearguard/tesla sentry at work and home. Its a huge drain. See my other thread about adding dual batteries to my 2026 R1T. With gearguard on, a 2026 R1T depletes the factory 12v in 3 hours. Thats 3 or 4 charge cycles over night alone, gear gaurd enabled at work??...you could deplete and charge the 12v a dozen times during the day.

Ain't not AGM battery gonna take that for very long.

Compare that to an ICE car (or EV not doing special cool things when its off) that gets topped off each drive but never really depleted low.

This. It is the small capacity of the 12V Rivian decided to use which leads to a high number of charge/discharge cycles. This leads to accelerated wear. There’s probably nothing wrong with the battery at all, it just uses up all its charge/discharge cycles and we need a new one. For a 7000lb vehicle not sure why they couldn’t find space for a regular size battery with 100Ah capacity instead of this tiny 18Ah weakling. That extra 40lbs won’t make any difference.

 

[RiverAtlanta]

Timely post... I have a new gen2 R1T I took delivery last May. 11k miles so far. I just got the 12v battery light last night and called the SC. They told me to come in right away and fit me in this morning to replace it. I was surprised such a sophisticated car like this can be in a situation where a 12v battery can leave you dead in the water. I suppose getting rid of the IC engine was step one. Maybe we can aspire to get rid of the 12v battery next .

 

[godfodder0901]

I was surprised such a sophisticated car like this can be in a situation where a 12v battery can leave you dead in the water.

This shouldn't be a surprise as the same can be said for literally any car sold today, from $15,000 to $4,000,000...

 

[SwampNut]

But there's the irony of having a nuclear power plant in the belly of the car but you can't make the car work because of a little motorcycle battery failing.

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