Man Leaves EV Charging for Entire Week, Comes Back to Find It Only Gained 8 Miles/Day of Range

The owner of an R1T, an electric truck manufactured by Rivian Automotive, Inc., wrote to electric vehicle website InsideEVs.com to share his experience, or rather his nightmare.

The Phoenix resident told InsideEvs he had left his truck plugged in for an entire week and found it had drawn only 32 kWh which means it only added 56 miles to its range. According to InsideEvs, “the vehicle had a 70 percent charging limit set, it was hooked up to a 240-volt 48-amp home charger, it had Gear Guard turned off, but it stayed connected to the WiFi network.”

This is known as “excessive drain” or “vampire drain,” the report said.

The owner contacted Rivian who recommended he bring the truck in for a service visit.

Electric vehicles have been known for losing battery in cold weather, but according to InsideEvs, they’ve heard numerous complaints from Rivian owners over the past few months who say their cars were losing substantial battery while parked – in moderate temperatures.

Another Rivian owner posted on RivianForums that the last update may be responsible for the increased drain. His “daily drain” increased from 1.8 percent to nearly 4 percent after the update. According to InsideEv’s, others have noticed this as well.

One owner on the forum wrote he’d been told by a Rivian technician that a “1 percent drain every 12 hours was acceptable and he also recommended that the vehicle be plugged in if it’s going to sit unused for a while.”

Each of the owners had a slightly different remedy for the excessively high drain. InsideEvs said that Rivian is aware of this issue and seems to be dealing with owners “on a case-by-case basis.”