A leap of faith that ends up with regret (Critical Battery).... by shipping R1T to Kuwait

Dear all,

im new to this forum my name is Mohammed from Kuwait, I bought a R1T second hand and shipped it to Kuwait but unfortunately the seller forgot to put the vehicle into shipping mode so when it arrived all of the batteries got drained so I swapped the 12 volt batteries with new ones and the infotainment got back to life but i simply couldn’t charge the vehicle’s large battery its showing a message stating (Critical battery) and i restarted the truck soft and hard restart for more that 10 times but the same issue comes up.

My wall charger shows that the charger is ready with a solid white light and the charging port on the vehicle shows a solid white light when plugged in but it doesn’t charge, i have tried the same with the portable charger and it shows a solid green when plugged in and a solid white light in the charging port but it doesn’t charge, so i called Rivian service center for a possible solution on the phone and all they say to me is to ship the car back to the US for service!!! They don’t realize that even if i do the batteries might also drain because it takes around 2 months to ship the truck due to the bureaucracy and paper work not mentioning the cost and insurance.

im assuming the large battery pack went to sleep and needs to be waken which I obviously dont know how to do, i also think that if i can force update the R1T it would solve the issue but it has to be above 35 miles and im at a flat 0.

i even tried tow charging the vehicle on neutral to wake up the main battery but unfortunately tow charge only works on drive gear and it refuses to go on drive because of the critical battery message.

please have a look at the attached video for more explanation.

i need advice big time even if it means getting a technician to Kuwait for a weekend to get it fixed with a high price.

All advice is welcomed and appreciated

I thank you upfront even if you do not suggest a solution to my ugly situation.

I have no advice other than to contact Rivian service (though being in Kuwait they might turn you away, but hopefully they can at least offer a few things to try), but I just wanted to say that bringing an R1T to Kuwait is pretty rad! I wonder if you have the first/only Rivian in the middle east.

Are there Teslas in your country? Maybe a local EV-focused mechanic/tech could help.

I don't know of a good solution for you without Rivian's help. Even if you were to drop the battery pack out of the truck, open it, and recharge it internally, the truck's software will likely still deny you being able to do anything with it as a safety measure. If you do go that route, I'd love to hear if it worked or not.

PastyPilgrim said:

I have no advice other than to contact Rivian service (though being in Kuwait they might turn you away, but hopefully they can at least offer a few things to try), but I just wanted to say that bringing an R1T to Kuwait is pretty rad! I wonder if you have the first/only Rivian in the middle east.

Are there Teslas in your country? Maybe a local EV-focused mechanic/tech could help.

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yes we do have some teslas in Kuwait but the closest
showroom/service center is
in Dubai which is very close compared to the US.

We do not have technicians for EV’s in the country but i wish if i can have some one visiting me in Kuwait to get it fixed.

do you know a reliable technician or garage i can contact?

Dark-Fx said:

I don't know of a good solution for you without Rivian's help. Even if you were to drop the battery pack out of the truck, open it, and recharge it internally, the truck's software will likely still deny you being able to do anything with it as a safety measure. If you do go that route, I'd love to hear if it worked or not.

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I agree but its worth trying

That really sucks. Rivian is new enough there don’t seem to be any non-Rivian experts offering services yet. In fact the only people I have seen actually take one apart and try to find out how it works inside are the Sandy Munro crew on Youtube. They are automotive engineers so they do understand vehicles but they are only reverse engineering everything when they try to understand it.

I agree with your idea though - it would be arguably cheaper and MUCH easier to hire a Tech to come to you rather than ship the truck back to the US and then home again. I just don’t know who that would be at this point.

myboodai said:

do you know a reliable technician or garage i can contact?

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The only reliable technicians for Rivians right now are those employed by Rivian. Your best bet is contacting Rivian to see what they can do.

As a last resort I suppose you could try directly contacting a service center in the US and seeing if any technicians would be up for a Kuwaiti vacation, lol. But, you'll run into trouble if they need any specialized equipment or parts to fix your vehicle. If it's not something that can be fixed over the phone by Rivian service, then it probably needs specialized equipment in the US.

Munro & Associates? But who knows if they can even help given their allegiance to Normal, now.

COdogman said:

That really sucks. Rivian is new enough there don’t seem to be any non-Rivian experts offering services yet. In fact the only people I have seen actually take one apart and try to find out how it works inside are the Sandy Munro crew on Youtube. They are automotive engineers so they do understand vehicles but they are only reverse engineering everything when they try to understand it.

I agree with your idea though - it would be arguably cheaper and MUCH easier to hire a Tech to come to you rather than ship the truck back to the US and then home again. I just don’t know who that would be at this point.

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im going to contact them right away thats how desperate i am, thank you

atebit said:

Munro & Associates? But who knows if they can even help given their allegiance to Normal, now.

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Munro's company is certainly an interesting idea. They seem like the kind of people that would take on a mercenary job like this, lol.

PastyPilgrim said:

The only reliable technicians for Rivians right now are those employed by Rivian. Your best bet is contacting Rivian to see what they can do.

As a last resort I suppose you could try directly contacting a service center in the US and seeing if any technicians would be up for a Kuwaiti vacation, lol. But, you'll run into trouble if they need any specialized equipment or parts to fix your vehicle. If it's not something that can be fixed over the phone by Rivian service, then it probably needs specialized equipment in the US.

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Lol!
I have tried reaching some Rivian technicians through linked but no reply even with a direct In-mail msg…

myboodai said:

im going to contact them right away thats how desperate i am, thank you

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I hope they can help you. I also wouldn’t give up on trying to convince Rivian to help you remotely. Maybe there is some steps they can walk you through to get it sorted out, assuming the truck is not In need of actual repairs.

COdogman said:

I hope they can help you. I also wouldn’t give up on trying to convince Rivian to help you remotely. Maybe there is some steps they can walk you through to get it sorted out, assuming the truck is not In need of actual repairs.

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Rivian should spend exactly zero time on this case, or they'd appear to be condoning the behavior.

COdogman said:

I hope they can help you. I also wouldn’t give up on trying to convince Rivian to help you remotely. Maybe there is some steps they can walk you through to get it sorted out, assuming the truck is not In need of actual repairs.

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It seems like their overloaded with repairs and production an outlier as myself that is in Kuwait is not in there interest at all.

i will keep insisting on a remote solution untill i find a technician that is willing to accept my offer.

if this doesn’t work out im going to ship it and sell it in the US market

myboodai said:

do you know a reliable technician or garage i can contact?

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At this point, nobody works on Rivian except for Rivian.

They are presumably supporting a few trucks in Kenya so nothing is impossible, definitely contact them. But yeah, shipping it back to the US and selling it would probably be the wisest thing as this won't be the last time you need support.