Is the 12V battery issue really a issue?

[good2go]

I think there are plenty of threads that document the potential issue, but I do think its a fairly significant issue. I know there are a lot of us that have had 12v failures with no warnings. Just a brick in the garage or driveway. Mine was even plugged in to my L2 charger when it did.

I still love my truck, but I do think it shook my confidence in the truck and that has been 6 months ago that it happened. I dont think I will keep the truck out of the warranty period, but will buy another or possibly the Scout before 2028.

Which generation

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[ChadS]

Which generation

Gen 1, Dual Battery.

 

[Meltdwn]

I'm picking up my R1T this weekend and I'm getting nervous about all the 12v horror stories, including 2025 gen2s. I have read a lot of reddit posts, Facebook posts, and watched you tube channels about having dead 12v that left them stranded. Some are folks that picked up their Gen2 R1 the same day. Is this really that big of a problem? Is there a lithium battery option or another option to try to hedge my bets it wont happen to me? I understand people come on the web to complain more than people come on the web to praise a product but the anxiety is real for me on this one.

I’ve had my T since May of ‘22. VIN 49xx. Still have the original double 12v batteries and no issues yet. I am likely due soon, but almost 3 years isn’t a bad run. I may just be lucky, but I do follow the ABC philosophy when possible (Always be charging) and keep it plugged in when home.

 

[Badtoro]

I understand ice cars have 12v issues as well. As a old fart that has been on this dirtball for a long time with many car purchases under my belt, I never had a new car have 12v issues, so when I am reading that even Gen 2's are dying with 20 miles on the odometer, yikes. Thanks for all the feedback and I will just plan accordingly.

 

[TSK]

Yes, it is an issue. My 8 months old R1T failed in our garage on our L2 charger, 3 weeks. It was still drivable but was towed in by Rivian to the Portland SC anyway. They said that they did replace with a new designed lithium battery.

Love the truck.

 

[portdirect]

Yes, it is an issue. My 8 months old R1T failed in our garage on our L2 charger, 3 weeks. It was still drivable but was towed in by Rivian to the Portland SC anyway. They said that they did replace with a new designed lithium battery.

Love the truck.

Do you have a copy of the job sheet? - would be rather big news if they now have a 1st party lithium option.

 

[Rivianero]

The Lithium option is widely non-recommended around this forum with very strong arguments against it. I haven't seen many (just remember reading one) who have it installed it and it's still happy about it long-term, but even with that it's Gen1, not Gen2 that I'm aware.

I have the Ohmmu lithium battery in my gen 1 R1T and have been quite happy with it. Not saying that @mudito is incorrect; just another data point. I would clarify that there is apprehension among owners about it due to fears over warranty impacts.

In any event, I agree that this is something Rivian is in top of and not a reason to avoid purchase.

(Got a laugh the other day because Rivian reached out via email last week to replace my 12v under warranty.)

 

[shandel]

Mine is in getting the 12v replaced right now (went in for other warranty stuff, and this showed up) - tech noted that when they made some changes to the 12v charging protocol last year, they went a bit too aggressive which was killing 12v a bit sooner than needed (though at least you would get warned about it properly!). He indicated they've tweaked it since then.

This is exactly what I heard also. They had a software update that caused the batteries to be charged a little too agressively for a period so they are just replacing all of the ones affected fleet-wide just to be safe. Probably not a lot to actually worry about. Fresh battery for those affected, which is nice.

 

[SwampNut]

The answer is no.

 

[mudito]

I have the Ohmmu lithium battery in my gen 1 R1T and have been quite happy with it. Not saying that @mudito is incorrect; just another data point. I would clarify that there is apprehension among owners about it due to fears over warranty impacts.

In any event, I agree that this is something Rivian is in top of and not a reason to avoid purchase.

(Got a laugh the other day because Rivian reached out via email last week to replace my 12v under warranty.)

Great to have another datapoint!

I've seen several non-recommendations from former Tesla ohmmu owners with concerns about Quality. How long has it being since you installed it?

I see you're too from TX, people from much colder climates are more concerned about the behavior of the battery chemistry in those climates.

 

[Dave Bratton]

Mine is a Gen 1 with 2 12 volt batteries. It was recently in for other service items and they changed both batteries for free to avoid the future issues that they said would happen.

 

[FraserC]

The Lithium option is widely non-recommended around this forum with very strong arguments against it. I haven't seen many (just remember reading one) who have it installed it and it's still happy about it long-term, but even with that it's Gen1, not Gen2 that I'm aware.

@Badtoro While YES it's an issue on G1 vehicles and might be for Gen2, this is something that Rivian is definitely on top of. I would not stress myself out about it specifically, if you charge daily or very often it should be less of an issue to you.

I have a Gen 2, and it is an issue with mine. Only 1,800 miles and losing as much as 25 KWh's in a week, with everything switched off. I have an appt tomorrow at the service center to test the 12V battery. Sometimes even new batteries can be bad.

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