Photo: Rivian
Idle losses, which people started calling vampire or phantom drain, affected Rivian vehicles from the get-go. Now, several owners reported on social media that the drain appears to have finally subsided. Rivian's software chief Wassym Bensaid confirmed that the team "convinced" the vehicles to sleep better, conserving more energy.
Energy management is a delicate issue that EV startups are still trying to master. Like smartphones, the trick is to get the car to enter a deep sleep state, where all the functions except those absolutely necessary are shut down. That's where the sweet spot of energy conservation happens. Still, because electric vehicles are always connected, communicating with the network or the owner's mobile app can ruin the battery.
All EV models suffered from these issues, although some carmakers mastered the deep sleep state better than others. Tesla solved the "vampire drain" issue, as it was called, years ago, and there haven't been complaints about it recently. Rivian owners, on the other hand, are still baffled to see the vampire losses draining the battery while the vehicle is doing nothing. One Rivian owner calculated that the entire Rivian fleet wastes more than 100,000 kWh per day in vampire losses.
Most Rivian owners report about 1-3 percent of the battery SoC lost per day when the vehicle is parked, even with Gear Guard turned off. Turning this safety feature on worsens the situation, making it impractical for long-term parking. The good news is that the issue appeared to have improved with the latest updates. One Rivian owner who left his vehicle at the airport for six days was scared that he'd find the battery depleted. Still, upon return, he was surprised to see it lost 0% during that time.
The story sounds incredible, so other Rivian owners rebutted his claims. Most attributed the result to a battery management issue, not an actual improvement. Still, another owner confirmed that his truck sleeps much more than before. In fact, it sleeps so deep that waking it up when using the app takes longer than usual. To add weight to these peoples' claims, Rivian's software chief Wassym Bensaid confirmed that the EV startup worked hard to squash the battery-drain issues.
Bensaid replied to the Reddit post and confirmed that his team addressed "some of the major outliers in the current drain." Depending on specific vehicles, this could result in up to 30% improvement in battery drain, thanks to the vehicle systems sleeping better. Wassym confirmed that an even deeper sleep state similar to computers' hibernation mode is in the pipeline.
Wassym Bensaid also announced improvements to the proximity lock, making the Rivian vehicles respond faster. This comes with the following software update, which is now in internal testing at Rivian. Some users complained that their trucks sometimes take up to ten seconds to respond to an unlock from the key fob. I know I would smash the key to the ground if that happened to me, so I have to admire the calm some early adopters display.
All EV models suffered from these issues, although some carmakers mastered the deep sleep state better than others. Tesla solved the "vampire drain" issue, as it was called, years ago, and there haven't been complaints about it recently. Rivian owners, on the other hand, are still baffled to see the vampire losses draining the battery while the vehicle is doing nothing. One Rivian owner calculated that the entire Rivian fleet wastes more than 100,000 kWh per day in vampire losses.
Most Rivian owners report about 1-3 percent of the battery SoC lost per day when the vehicle is parked, even with Gear Guard turned off. Turning this safety feature on worsens the situation, making it impractical for long-term parking. The good news is that the issue appeared to have improved with the latest updates. One Rivian owner who left his vehicle at the airport for six days was scared that he'd find the battery depleted. Still, upon return, he was surprised to see it lost 0% during that time.
The story sounds incredible, so other Rivian owners rebutted his claims. Most attributed the result to a battery management issue, not an actual improvement. Still, another owner confirmed that his truck sleeps much more than before. In fact, it sleeps so deep that waking it up when using the app takes longer than usual. To add weight to these peoples' claims, Rivian's software chief Wassym Bensaid confirmed that the EV startup worked hard to squash the battery-drain issues.
Bensaid replied to the Reddit post and confirmed that his team addressed "some of the major outliers in the current drain." Depending on specific vehicles, this could result in up to 30% improvement in battery drain, thanks to the vehicle systems sleeping better. Wassym confirmed that an even deeper sleep state similar to computers' hibernation mode is in the pipeline.
Wassym Bensaid also announced improvements to the proximity lock, making the Rivian vehicles respond faster. This comes with the following software update, which is now in internal testing at Rivian. Some users complained that their trucks sometimes take up to ten seconds to respond to an unlock from the key fob. I know I would smash the key to the ground if that happened to me, so I have to admire the calm some early adopters display.
Google News