How a 2023 Rivian Lost so Much Range
Recently an owner lamented the loss of range from his 2023 Rivian R1. And while range loss does not accurately reflect EV battery SoH, it does signify battery degradation. Here’s how that happens.
Rivian Gen 1 R1’s have an NMC battery.
In an NMC/NCM/NMCA battery, degradation happens faster for people who charge beyond 70% and store the battery below 20% State of Charge, SoC. This model applies to all EVs that have this battery chemistry.
How to Slow EV Battery Degradation
Here are a few steps on how to slow degradation of your high-voltage EV battery:
1. Do the math on your daily commute
2. Keep your battery in the middle at 40-60% as often as possible.
3. Plug in daily to connect the vehicle with the cloud whether or not it needs a charge.
4. Avoid charging to 70-80% or more every day. The maximum recommended is the MAXIMUM recommended. Not the regular daily charging recommendation.
5. Look at your EV more as a smartphone than a traditional ICE vehicle.
More Important Information
A few more things to keep in mind:
1. The battery chemistry for your battery under normal load will degrade faster at first then stabilize and then fall off a cliff at 70% SoH.
2. You cannot measure degradation from range loss although it is an indicator.
3. True battery SoH is not shared freely by the OEMs.
4. If manufacturers consider a battery under 70% SoH then your battery is 50% done at 85%. A used EV with a SoH of 90% could be seen as having 33% SoH.
5. Our tests of G1 Rivian R1s find that vehicles with around 100,000 miles average around 90% SoH with the best batteries coming in at 95%.