Rivian has been forced to pull their latest software update 2023.02.03 from vehicles that had yet to install it after several hundred owners were locked out of their R1T and R1S. The software update promised increased range, and a number of addition improvements, including an update to the key fob which appears to have caused the problem.
Rivian began sending out the update yesterday, February 7, after several weeks of internal testing with employees. According to the release notes published on the automaker’s website one of the improvements was to the key fob to increase reliability and battery life, and also to decrease latency for “faster locking and unlocking.”
Unfortunately the internal testing did not detect a major bug which resulted in about 200 owners being locked out of the vehicles, according to a Rivian support agent that spoke with an owner who was notified that an update was available, but found no such update when he went to install it several hours later. (via Reddit)
As a result the update has been pulled from all vehicles where the owner had not installed it, and there is no estimate for when it will be made available again.
When it does reappear R1T and R1S owners will be able to enjoy an increase in the estimated range of their electric vehicles, although the automaker didn’t specify how much of a range increase in the release notes.
“Thanks to various incremental improvements over previous software updates, this update includes updated EPA-estimated range. The update also increases the depth of discharge, which increases the usable battery energy. You will not see higher available miles at the top of charge,” the release notes read.
However, reports from owners who were able to install the update before it was pulled are reporting anywhere from as little as a 5 mile (8km) range increase up to a 15 mile (24km) increase.
https://twitter.com/klwtts/status/1623111664567726081
Other features in the Rivian 2023.02.03 software update include a new door ajar notification, and a large number of “additional improvements. You can read the full R1T release notes here and the R1S release notes here.
Here is how the update to the key fob was supposed to work.
Here’s how you can perform your Key Fob update. Took less than a minute and super easy. pic.twitter.com/S5wBx4ghTU
— RivianTrackr (@RivianSoftware) February 7, 2023
