Vampire Drain Relating to Frunk Trim -- my solution to reduce drain %

[jpa5635]

So @jpa5635 , should we call you “Blade”, “Daywalker”, or would you prefer “Whistler”?

Sponsored

 

[Marchin_MTB]

The name is jpa5635… de la Cruz

 

[aPOY]

Similar post is buried in one of the numerous vampire drain threads but it was suggested that this may merit a fresh thread so here goes...

I, like many have experienced pretty nasty vampire drain on my truck since taking delivery at the end of November. Initially I didn't think much of it and was just thrilled to have such a great vehicle but the longer I had it, the longer it bugged me. So I started watching things like how often the truck was already awake when I would open the app (pretty much every time). How often it was on the network (almost all the time). What was it doing on the network (periodically sending data to AWS).

The truck was on the network quite often but wasn't really sending much data (20MB or so at a time) and just about the time I thought it was going to go to sleep, it would send another chunk of logs. So I started believing that something was keeping the truck awake and started to look for sources. The best known of these sources that is well documented is the now famous frunk latch error documented on Reddit. Because I didn't have any plans to drive the truck for a few days I decided to start some experimenting with the frunk area, particularly around the latch. First I tried adjusting the loop that is connected to the hood to see if that made any change. That actually seemed to make it somewhat worse but was pretty close to statistically insignificant.

Next I tried removing the trim from the front of the frunk. Pics below for clarification on which trim piece I'm referring to. Within hours it was clear that my truck was going to sleep more often and staying asleep for longer periods of time. Prior to removing the trim piece I was losing 4-7% per day and after removing the trim piece I was seeing 1-2% per day loss and even 12 hour periods where I would lose 0% and in one 12 hour period I gained a percentage point. After 4-5 days I stopped monitoring the drain closely and just left the piece off. After seeing these results, I also reached out to @shrink who was reporting similar loss to what I had seen. It appears at least initially to have made a difference for him as well.

Removing the trim piece is easy and doesn't appear to have any effect on drivability or functionality. Simply pull up gently on the 5 clips that hold the trim piece in and lift slowly from the middle. There are tabs on each side that slide under the adjacent trim pieces but it all comes out fairly easily. Pics below of the trim piece. The piece is sitting across my frunk upside down as though I had pulled it straight off and rotated 180 degrees.

Please keep in mind that I did not get approval from Rivian to do this and I take no responsibility for any issues that may come up related to this mod. I put my trim piece back in yesterday as I dropped off my truck at the SC for other issues this morning. My hope is that the upcoming firmware release and it's frunk fix address the issue and I don't have to think about this again. As always, YM/kwMV and happy drain hunting to all.

Thanks for this information! By chance, have you shared this with your guide yet? I’m curious as to what would they say and if they would share this with their engineers for thorough testing.

Again, thanks for finding this out!

 

[AllInev]

Always in the driveway, always unplugged from charger, temp ranges 30s-50s.

Ambient temperature will affect the reported state of charge, so it would be good if someone could reproduce your experiment in a controlled environment.

 

[shrink]

The TLDR:
With trim piece installed overnight from 1/29 to 1/30/2023:
- lost 3% SOC overnight and 7 miles of rated range

With trim piece removed from 1/30 to 1/31/2023
- no overnight loss in SOC or rated range

Okay, here's some additional information and data. Screenshots will follow.

On Sunday, 1/29/2023 @ 8:32pm local time, my R1T was at 45% SOC and 126 miles of rated range. I left the truck unplugged overnight at my next door neighbors' house because I was waiting for some paver sealant to dry and cure in my driveway. Shout out to my awesome neighbors! Anyway, I noticed the rear tail lights would blink every few minutes while in my neighbors' driveway. I'll post of a video below of the blinking, which is not the actual video from 1/29/2023. Rivian service had previously told me such blinking is normal; however, I suspect the blinking means the truck is awake and not sleeping.

On Monday, 1/30/2023 @ 7:25am local time, the R1T was down to 42% SOC and 119 miles of rated range. So overnight loss of 3% and 7 miles of rated range.


On Monday 1/30/2023 @ 11:17pm local time, the R1T was parked back in my driveway and charged up to a 70% limit and 195 miles of rated range. I unplugged it AND removed the front frunk trim piece. I noticed the rear taillights were longer blinking and I assumed the vehicle went to sleep.

On 1/31/2023 @ 7:23am local time, the R1T was STILL at 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range.

I strongly suspect removing the frunk trim piece somehow allowed the truck to read a proper frunk closure and allow the vehicle to sleep.

However, this does need additional testing. I'm sorry to report this evening that the truck didn't seem to want to go to sleep. The truck is parked in its regular spot. Charge schedule is 12 am to 12 pm. So while sitting parked and plugged in this evening, I noticed the tail lights would do the dreaded blinking. I checked the app a couple times and did NOT see a "Wake vehicle" message in the upper right the first few times. I finally saw the "Wake vehicle" message a few hours later.

I'm not sure if some Wi-Fi data transmission was happening or if the truck remains awake while plugged in and awaiting a scheduled charge to start? It certainly seems to fall asleep at some point after completed a charge, but I was disappointed the truck did not fall asleep right away this evening. Anyway, like I said, more testing and data would be helpful, but and hopefully the OTA just fixes this.

I'd say removing the frunk trim piece certainly does something and it least makes it more likely the truck will sleep, but I'm not entirely convinced it's the be all end all solution as much as I hope it is. Again, we can all hope the imminent OTA works as promised.

Some photos and data are below. I included the photo timestamps.

1/29/2023 8:32 pm:

1/30/2023 7:27 am: 3% SOC loss and 7 mile loss of rated range:

1/30/2023 11:17 pm: 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range

1/31/2023 @ 7:23 am: Screenshot of vehicle sleeping, waking up, and showing no apparent loss upon fully waking.

Vehicle Sleeping:

Waking:

Fully awake and no apparent overnight loss:

Video of annoying taillight blinking, which I think means vehicle is awake.

Rivian's response when I asked them the address the blinking during an 11/8/2022 service appointment:

They actually told me if a key fob is within a whopping 100 feet of the vehicle, the blinking can occur. FWIW, I took out the key fob battery and would still see the blinking.

The blinking did appear to stop when the vehicle was finally asleep.

 

[krockett]

Past 4 hrs. Spotify and Rivian app were not running on my phone. Vehicle has been sitting.

 

[Zoidz]

Past 4 hrs. Spotify and Rivian app were not running on my phone. Vehicle has been sitting.

What the heck could Spotify possibly need to do while the truck is idle? And mapbox? Other than an update, why so much activity?. It sure seems like little regard was given to phantom drain concerns during architecture and design.

 

[toade]

I just received my truck last week, and I'm losing about 7 to 8 mi per night to vampire drain. Parked outside, temperatures dropping to the low 40s. I'll try removing the frunk trim tonight and see if there's any difference.

My rear lights also blink. I thought I had read that happens when it senses paak (BLE) from a distance (too far to justify fully unlocking). But I've also read conflicting stories, so who knows.

 

[NY_Rob]

Just

Man... Really want to tear off the trim piece on mine, but I know the day after I do (and break something) the Ota will come out that fixes this!

It pops off super easy... wedge your fingers in between the Frunk tub and the fascia piece and pull up on the fascia gently.. you will then be able to determine where the fasteners are.. just gently apply upward force near those points and the trim piece comes right off. The whole procedure takes under 60 seconds to complete and doesn't do any damage to the trim piece.

 

[PappaBolt]

Past 4 hrs. Spotify and Rivian app were not running on my phone. Vehicle has been sitting.

What’s this app? What app/router combo are you running that shows you the breakdown by device (mac address)?

 

[Mysta]

Okay, here's some additional information and data. Screenshots will follow.

On Sunday, 1/29/2023 @ 8:32pm local time, my R1T was at 45% SOC and 126 miles of rated range. I left the truck unplugged overnight at my next door neighbors' house because I was waiting for some paver sealant to dry and cure in my driveway. Shout out to my awesome neighbors! Anyway, I noticed the rear tail lights would blink every few minutes while in my neighbors' driveway. I'll post of a video below of the blinking, which is not the actual video from 1/29/2023. Rivian service had previously told me such blinking is normal; however, I suspect the blinking means the truck is awake and not sleeping.

On Monday, 1/30/2023 @ 7:25am local time, the R1T was down to 42% SOC and 119 miles of rated range. So overnight loss of 3% and 7 miles of rated range.


On Monday 1/30/2023 @ 11:17pm local time, the R1T was parked back in my driveway and charged up to a 70% limit and 195 miles of rated range. I unplugged it AND removed the front frunk trim piece. I noticed the rear taillights were longer blinking and I assumed the vehicle went to sleep.

On 1/31/2023 @ 7:23am local time, the R1T was STILL at 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range.

I strongly suspect removing the frunk trim piece somehow allowed the truck to read a proper frunk closure and allow the vehicle to sleep.

However, this does need additional testing. I'm sorry to report this evening that the truck didn't seem to want to go to sleep. The truck is parked in its regular spot. Charge schedule is 12 am to 12 pm. So while sitting parked and plugged in this evening, I noticed the tail lights would do the dreaded blinking. I checked the app a couple times and did NOT see a "Wake vehicle" message in the upper right the first few times. I finally saw the "Wake vehicle" message a few hours later.

I'm not sure if some Wi-Fi data transmission was happening or if the truck remains awake while plugged in and awaiting a scheduled charge to start? It certainly seems to fall asleep at some point after completed a charge, but I was disappointed the truck did not fall asleep right away this evening. Anyway, like I said, more testing and data would be helpful, but and hopefully the OTA just fixes this.

I'd say removing the frunk trim piece certainly does something and it least makes it more likely the truck will sleep, but I'm not entirely convinced it's the be all end all solution as much as I hope it is. Again, we can all hope the imminent OTA works as promised.

Some photos and data are below. I included the photo timestamps.

1/29/2023 8:32 pm:

1/30/2023 7:27 am: 3% SOC loss and 7 mile loss of rated range:

1/30/2023 11:17 pm: 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range

1/31/2023 @ 7:23 am: Screenshot of vehicle sleeping, waking up, and showing no apparent loss upon fully waking.

Vehicle Sleeping:

Waking:

Fully awake and no apparent overnight loss:

Video of annoying taillight blinking, which I think means vehicle is awake.

Rivian's response when I asked them the address the blinking during an 11/8/2022 service appointment:

They actually told me if a key fob is within a whopping 100 feet of the vehicle, the blinking can occur. FWIW, I took out the key fob battery and would still see the blinking.

The blinking did appear to stop when the vehicle was finally asleep.

Have you tried just adjusting the latch length?

 

[NY_Rob]

I removed my trim piece at 5pm last night.. had 146mi range.
Not using the truck today.. Gary turned off, no PAAK or Spotify acct, my fob is in a Faraday box.
Will report my range at 5PM tonight.

 

[krockett]

What’s this app? What app/router combo are you running that shows you the breakdown by device (mac address)?

Deco TP-link mesh, and yes it’s filtering on the MAC address of the R1T’s witless nic.

 

[PappaBolt]

Deco TP-link mesh, and yes it’s filtering on the MAC address of the R1T’s witless nic.

Score for TP-Link. My Eero mesh won’t give me this level of granularity.

 

[SEARivian]

Okay, here's some additional information and data. Screenshots will follow.

On Sunday, 1/29/2023 @ 8:32pm local time, my R1T was at 45% SOC and 126 miles of rated range. I left the truck unplugged overnight at my next door neighbors' house because I was waiting for some paver sealant to dry and cure in my driveway. Shout out to my awesome neighbors! Anyway, I noticed the rear tail lights would blink every few minutes while in my neighbors' driveway. I'll post of a video below of the blinking, which is not the actual video from 1/29/2023. Rivian service had previously told me such blinking is normal; however, I suspect the blinking means the truck is awake and not sleeping.

On Monday, 1/30/2023 @ 7:25am local time, the R1T was down to 42% SOC and 119 miles of rated range. So overnight loss of 3% and 7 miles of rated range.


On Monday 1/30/2023 @ 11:17pm local time, the R1T was parked back in my driveway and charged up to a 70% limit and 195 miles of rated range. I unplugged it AND removed the front frunk trim piece. I noticed the rear taillights were longer blinking and I assumed the vehicle went to sleep.

On 1/31/2023 @ 7:23am local time, the R1T was STILL at 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range.

I strongly suspect removing the frunk trim piece somehow allowed the truck to read a proper frunk closure and allow the vehicle to sleep.

However, this does need additional testing. I'm sorry to report this evening that the truck didn't seem to want to go to sleep. The truck is parked in its regular spot. Charge schedule is 12 am to 12 pm. So while sitting parked and plugged in this evening, I noticed the tail lights would do the dreaded blinking. I checked the app a couple times and did NOT see a "Wake vehicle" message in the upper right the first few times. I finally saw the "Wake vehicle" message a few hours later.

I'm not sure if some Wi-Fi data transmission was happening or if the truck remains awake while plugged in and awaiting a scheduled charge to start? It certainly seems to fall asleep at some point after completed a charge, but I was disappointed the truck did not fall asleep right away this evening. Anyway, like I said, more testing and data would be helpful, but and hopefully the OTA just fixes this.

I'd say removing the frunk trim piece certainly does something and it least makes it more likely the truck will sleep, but I'm not entirely convinced it's the be all end all solution as much as I hope it is. Again, we can all hope the imminent OTA works as promised.

Some photos and data are below. I included the photo timestamps.

1/29/2023 8:32 pm:

1/30/2023 7:27 am: 3% SOC loss and 7 mile loss of rated range:

1/30/2023 11:17 pm: 70% SOC and 195 miles of rated range

1/31/2023 @ 7:23 am: Screenshot of vehicle sleeping, waking up, and showing no apparent loss upon fully waking.

Vehicle Sleeping:

Waking:

Fully awake and no apparent overnight loss:

Video of annoying taillight blinking, which I think means vehicle is awake.

Rivian's response when I asked them the address the blinking during an 11/8/2022 service appointment:

They actually told me if a key fob is within a whopping 100 feet of the vehicle, the blinking can occur. FWIW, I took out the key fob battery and would still see the blinking.

The blinking did appear to stop when the vehicle was finally asleep.

I don't want to be a party pooper (hope I'm wrong), but I think the problem with your test is you plugged the truck in before testing it on night two. I've had a number of nights where I've charged the truck at the grocery store, then drove it home and left unplugged that night and the next morning saw no loss in range. The vampire drain I notice seems to be less impactful at times when it's soon after finishing charging. The nights I don't charge the drain is normal.

I think you've got to possibly go two consecutive nights don't plug it in at all in that 48 hour window and see what happens each night. It seems like the truck is calculating SOC differently over time following charges and I've noticed it finds and extra mile or two sometimes after I've finished charging it compared to what I used to see. Again, could be wrong but I would recommend going two nights without plugging in to get a true apples to apples comparison.

Sponsored