Rivian Gear Guard Set-up: SanDisk 1TB USB Type C Doesn't Work, Samsung SSD T7 1TB Works

Rivian Blue · 2025-04-01T08:59:34+00:00

Ever since I got my R1S, I've noticed that the battery range estimation hasn't been the best. Driving a Tesla for the last 3 years, it never had this kind of issue. During my last trip, the driver display shows 255mi remaining. My total trip (including 2 destinations) is 160mi so I believed I should be able to make it easily with a nice cushion. But the center display showed that I would arrive at first destination with 4mi remaining, and run out before the second destination! I knew this was false so I made the drive anyway, and arrived at second destination with 50mi remaining. If I understand correctly, the driver display range is simply the total rated range multiplied by SOC. That makes sense here, since my vehicle is rated for 370mi, 255mi is 68.9%. Coming from Tesla, I expect the number shown in the center display should account for factors like elevation, wind, traffic speed, etc. It's sad that my own mental estimation is better than Rivian's.

Rivian Mom

Active Wheeler

Feb 17, 2025

On Sunday, I tried to help a friend with her Gear Guard set-up, we tried for an hour to get the SanDisk 1TB USB Type C stick to work and the screen kept stating 'not fast enough', no matter which console port and with both types of re-booting. It is rated much higher than the Rivian requirements, including speed. Rivian telephone troubleshooting didn't help.

We went online and saw a post that said SanDisk was having some issues with their larger storage units. So we returned the SanDisk to Amazon ($85) and ordered the blue Samsung SSD T7 1TB from Walmart ($89). Plugged it in and it fired up without a hitch. The Samsung comes with a short cord so the unit doesn't stick out like the thumb drive.

There was no need to buy a C Port to C Port cord as the Samsung is larger, but no big deal in the console area. The blue color stands out in the dark console hole. The screen automatically showed clips from earlier in the day when we hadn't added the Samsung storage. Hope this saves someone from this same time drain. I hope maybe Rivian can start posting which storage units work and which don't.

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