[Gytis]

Hello all,
We have a condo that the builder installed a 30amp NEMA 14-30 (before we were involved in the build). Because the garage is on the main floor and our condo is on the 3rd, it's impractical (if not impossible) to change the wires.

Anyone know if Rivian will have NEMA 14-30 adapters (our Tesla does)? Or, should we buy EVSE of some sort.
Thanks in advance,
Gytis

 

[Lyon]

They don't additional adaptors yet. There are physical adaptors you can get that will allow you to plug it in to that outlet. Just make sure to reduce the max amp draw (from the truck's UI) to 24 or less.

 

[Gytis]

Thanks! Any idea what kind of charge rate I could get out of a 24A draw?

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Thanks! Any idea what kind of charge rate I could get out of a 24A draw?

~12 miles/hour

 

[Lyon]

Thanks! Any idea what kind of charge rate I could get out of a 24A draw?

Just some quick calculations assuming 240v (sometimes it's more like 230v) and somewhere between 10% and 15% inefficiency in the system (it's probably less than that but I'm being conservative).

240v X 24amp = 5,760watts or 5.76kW. If we assume some losses in charging lets say you'll add about 5kWh/hr so charging from empty to full will take 27 hours. Realistically you're unlikely to go from empty to full all that often so getting home after work and plugging it in will almost certainly get you back up to where you want to be before you leave the next morning.

 

[Gytis]

Thank you all for your imput!!

 

[postcromag]

Do you always need to tell the truck's UI to limit amp draw? Like when visiting someone who only has a 120v outlet and you use the portable charger, do you need to let the truck know how you are charging it always? My truck will be here on Tuesday and the wall charger is back ordered, arriving later. In the meantime I have a 14-30 outlet available, which I have my Honda Clarity portable charger plugged into. Since the Clarity only gets about 45 mi all electric, I can charge that car from low to full in about 4 hours. Will I be able to just use the Honda charger in the meantime, but do I need to limit what the truck will try to pull from it, or does it sense what it's getting automatically. It sounds like the Rivian portable will be a bit faster if I get a 14-30 to 14-50 adapter. Should I get that adapter anyway, so when visiting family, I can plug into their dryer outlet, too?
Thanks,
s

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

If you use the Rivian Portable EVSE with the 120V pigtail it will automatically limit itself to ~12A.

 

[racekarl]

TLDR: Your Clarity EVSE should work "out of the box" with the Rivian and not require any adjustment, assuming it is using its own 14-30 plug. However, if you plug your Rivan EVSE with its 14-50 plug through an external adapter into a 14-30 outlet you will likely have to limit the amp draw from within the truck.

The EVSE and the vehicle negotiate a charge rate based on what the EVSE can supply and what the vehicle will accept. In the case of EVSEs that can plug into multiple receptacles, there is typically some sort of chip or resistor in the wall-side adaptor "dongle" of the EVSE to let it know what kind of receptacle it's plugged into (and hence what kind of power it's going to be able to deliver). What this means is that as long as you are plugging the EVSE into an outlet for which it has a native adapter, you likely do not need to change anything in the truck, and it will correctly negotiate with the EVSE. However, if you put an external adapter between the EVSE plug and the wall, the EVSE may not correctly detect the power it's being fed, in which case you may have to set limits from the truck.

 

[postcromag]

Thank you all for the great answers and help. Cheers!