Photo: sdiaz6115 via Reddit
One of the biggest blunders Rivian made with the R1 vehicles (besides the powered tonneau cover) was the faulty wireless charging pad. Rivian's CEO promised that an updated phone charger would come with the R1 refresh, and it could also be retrofitted to the first-generation models.
Rivian achieved what no American carmaker could do by launching the first electric pickup truck. Not only that, but most people praised the R1T as one of the best luxury vehicles you can buy, an incredible feat for a startup's first product. However, despite nailing it in car manufacturing, it failed in two areas that should've been much easier to master. Specifically, the R1T's powered tonneau cover and the wireless charging pad proved unable to fulfill their roles.
Should Rivian have fixed these quickly, nobody cared. However, it didn't, despite none of them being rocket science. Rivian still hasn't replaced the failed powered tonneau cover on all the affected trucks two years after the problems surfaced. As for the wireless charging pads, they never worked for most owners, and Rivian kept mum about the possibility of replacing the faulty chargers free of charge.
This doesn't mean that Rivian hasn't acknowledged the problem. There are countless complaints, and the company's executives are active on social media, gathering feedback from owners and potential customers. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently discussed the refreshed R1 vehicles, saying they will come with a functional phone charger. More than that, Scaringe said that the updated pad would be retrofittable to older cars, although he didn't say whether this means free of charge.
Less than a week after the refreshed R1 vehicles were announced, Rivian appeared to have started replacing the faulty charging pads on older vehicles. At least that's what happened to one owner who shared his story on Reddit. According to sdiaz6115, he scheduled a mobile service a month ago to fix his charging pad as it came loose in the center. To his surprise, the Rivian employee replaced the faulty wireless charger with a Gen-2 unit.
If you were wondering, the new part is working as intended. The owner reported that it charges his phone from almost any location on the pad. This clearly wasn't the case before, as most Rivian owners complain. People hoping Rivian will start replacing the faulty charging pads for existing users might be disappointed, though. So far, this is an isolated case, and Rivian replaced it because it became loose, not because it wasn't charging.
Indeed, other Rivian owners weren't so lucky in convincing Rivian to upgrade their chargers. To be fair, Rivian told them they didn't have the parts to replace them, not that they didn't want to. Meanwhile, many Rivian owners bought aftermarket replacements that function a lot better. Hopefully, Rivian will make it right and replace the faulty chargers on all first-generation R1S and R1T free of charge.
Should Rivian have fixed these quickly, nobody cared. However, it didn't, despite none of them being rocket science. Rivian still hasn't replaced the failed powered tonneau cover on all the affected trucks two years after the problems surfaced. As for the wireless charging pads, they never worked for most owners, and Rivian kept mum about the possibility of replacing the faulty chargers free of charge.
This doesn't mean that Rivian hasn't acknowledged the problem. There are countless complaints, and the company's executives are active on social media, gathering feedback from owners and potential customers. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently discussed the refreshed R1 vehicles, saying they will come with a functional phone charger. More than that, Scaringe said that the updated pad would be retrofittable to older cars, although he didn't say whether this means free of charge.
Less than a week after the refreshed R1 vehicles were announced, Rivian appeared to have started replacing the faulty charging pads on older vehicles. At least that's what happened to one owner who shared his story on Reddit. According to sdiaz6115, he scheduled a mobile service a month ago to fix his charging pad as it came loose in the center. To his surprise, the Rivian employee replaced the faulty wireless charger with a Gen-2 unit.
If you were wondering, the new part is working as intended. The owner reported that it charges his phone from almost any location on the pad. This clearly wasn't the case before, as most Rivian owners complain. People hoping Rivian will start replacing the faulty charging pads for existing users might be disappointed, though. So far, this is an isolated case, and Rivian replaced it because it became loose, not because it wasn't charging.
Indeed, other Rivian owners weren't so lucky in convincing Rivian to upgrade their chargers. To be fair, Rivian told them they didn't have the parts to replace them, not that they didn't want to. Meanwhile, many Rivian owners bought aftermarket replacements that function a lot better. Hopefully, Rivian will make it right and replace the faulty chargers on all first-generation R1S and R1T free of charge.
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