R1 G1 uses battery, not 240V charger, to precondition cabin

[DKM_R1S]

This is interesting. I wanted to Defrost the snow from the G1 R1S windows, so ran the heat for 30 minutes. I noticed the SOC dropped from 70% to 68% during that time and it started recharging to get it back to the 70% I have set as the default. Wouldn’t this mean that the gen 1 R1S is using its battery to heat the vehicle even when it has a steady stream of 11 kW plugged into it? I thought these vehicles were supposed to use land power when they’re plugged in.

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[VSG]

Well yes, this has always been the case. The charger charges the battery. The battery powers the car.

 

[Osyras]

I also think that it will only draw power from the charger if you set a schedule and tick the option to draw power from the charger. Otherwise it will always use battery.

That has been my understanding anyways.

 

[DeafPug]

People coming from Tesla vehicles (and possibly other manufacturers) are surprised by this behavior. At least on a Tesla, if you pre-condition the cabin and the vehicle is plugged in, it will draw enough power from the outlet to run the HVAC. Sort of annoying that Rivian doesn't do this as well, but there's a lot of things that the Rivian software does wrong - in my opinion at least.

I don't have a reliable enough schedule for leaving in the morning to use a pre-conditioning schedule, so that suggestion is a non-starter.

 

[DKM_R1S]

Well yes, this has always been the case. The charger charges the battery. The battery powers the car.

I’m referring specifically to preconditioning. I’m coming from Tesla, which do not use the battery for preconditioning the cabin if they’re plugged into the charger. I would prefer to minimize the use of the battery and limit charging cycles if it were possible.

 

[VSG]

The battery powers the car. That includes preconditioning.

There are pros and cons of pass-through power. Rivian made a choice, I'm just telling you what that was.

 

[Thedude]

I’m referring specifically to preconditioning. I’m coming from Tesla, which do not use the battery for preconditioning the cabin if they’re plugged into the charger. I would prefer to minimize the use of the battery and limit charging cycles if it were possible.

Tesla still uses the battery, it just tops it off at the same rate as it draws. There isn’t dedicated AC power from the charge port to the HVAC system.

 

[Riviot]

I’m referring specifically to preconditioning. I’m coming from Tesla, which do not use the battery for preconditioning the cabin if they’re plugged into the charger. I would prefer to minimize the use of the battery and limit charging cycles if it were possible.

As others point out, "preconditioning" is just simultaneously charging while expending electrons. They are independent functions programmed to occur simultaneously. All of the expending circuits are DC and, unless your at a DCFC, charging circuits are AC. So even if Teslas don't show the change because it nets zero, they still charge AC to replace the DC expenditures.

I like to think of it in accounting credit/debit terms ?

 

[Michal]

This is interesting. I wanted to Defrost the snow from the G1 R1S windows, so ran the heat for 30 minutes. I noticed the SOC dropped from 70% to 68% during that time and it started recharging to get it back to the 70% I have set as the default. Wouldn’t this mean that the gen 1 R1S is using its battery to heat the vehicle even when it has a steady stream of 11 kW plugged into it? I thought these vehicles were supposed to use land power when they’re plugged in.

If you schedule to warm up/precondition the car, there is an option to pull power from the charger instead of the battery. It can only be enabled while scheduling.

 

[srjordan7251]

You should read Rivian’s description of the feature. It says it will use wall power to maintain range if you precondition the cabin. As someone noted, technically that means it will charge the battery from the wall, not run wall power directly to the heater. So then the question is when does the Rivian SW decide it needs to start charging the battery. A couple of days ago my R1S ran the heater for 30 minutes and the never decided to start the charger. I lost maybe 2 kWh (one mile of range) to heat the cabin. I think the SW made the right decision. The OP lost maybe 2 miles of range. What’s the problem?!?!

 

[emoore]

Agree with most here, there is no such thing as pulling power directly from the EVSE. Power comes from the battery which is recharged by the EVSE.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I don't have a reliable enough schedule for leaving in the morning to use a pre-conditioning schedule, so that suggestion is a non-starter.

I've heard this many times, but you can set the schedule when you know what time you're going to leave. Set it an hour before you leave and it will still work. Just change the schedule daily, it's not much different than preconditioning it with your phone.

 

[emoore]

I've heard this many times, but you can set the schedule when you know what time you're going to leave. Set it an hour before you leave and it will still work. Just change the schedule daily, it's not much different than preconditioning it with your phone.

Yep that’s what I do. I do t always leave at the same time everyday but I know when I’m leaving the night before or the morning of and set the schedule. Works well.

 

[meshugy]

 

[SamDoe1]

The vehicle cannot run the HVAC (or really any main systems) on the AC power your wall delivers, it's impossible with the way it's made right now. Tesla is the same. Both would (and do) need to pull from the big battery and replenish that amount used with energy from the wall back into the battery.

If your Rivian has time of day charging scheduled, it won't replenish the battery from the wall outside of those hours unless you have the above option ticked. I do not use pre scheduling for mine and it will still replenish the battery from the wall while pre-heating provided it's within the scheduled charge window.

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