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Existing 50Amp circuit and scheduled charging

8K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  racekarl 
#1 ·
We already have an existing 50 amp service to our garage. Anyone have a suggestion as to a charging system to use with it?

Also, can you set the Rivian to start and stop charging at a particular time? Living in CA I don’t want to have to go outside each night after peak hours to plug in.

Thx!
 
#2 · (Edited)
Hit that lighting bolt image on the center dash screen and play with the charging schedule. YES, you can schedule timing of the charge and rate of amps via your Rivian center screen. You might also have a call and chat with your local power supplier because some have special programs for owners of EV with extra low rates in the middle of the night so you can schedule to charge at absolute lowest rate while you sleep and grid demand is super low. Use the mobile charger that came in the 'Frunk' of your Rivan, for many folks that is more than enough to charge back to 70 percent 'full' overnight on 50amp service. You might need adapter plug for whatever variation of 50amp receptacle you have but that's easy to find on Amazon, I have several because my 50 amp plugs at work are not NEMA 14-50 (mostly 6-50 at my shop).

I am in San Diego but I charge our Rivian in the middle of the day because we have big surplus solar power right in the middle of the day. At home as much as 6k surplus in the middle of the day, at my shop it can be 15k+ surplus in the middle of the day. Since the power company is paying/crediting us nearly squat for that surplus it makes sense for us to top up the battery in middle of the day. Thus, your best strategy may be different than mine and depend on the structure of your current rate plan (or optional rate plans you have yet to ask about) with your local utility. And perhaps time to consider solar? I have not paid any residential power bill whatsoever in more than 15 years here in California, and getting close to zero power bill at my commercial building as we near 100 panels installed (despite hundreds of light fixtures, and lots of big 240v 50 amp power eating equipment).
 
#3 ·
We already have an existing 50 amp service to our garage. Anyone have a suggestion as to a charging system to use with it?

Also, can you set the Rivian to start and stop charging at a particular time? Living in CA I don’t want to have to go outside each night after peak hours to plug in.

Thx!
Yes it will work fine. You can schedule charging time window. Mine shut down few times and gave charging error. Reset truck and since then no issues charging at scheduled time frame.
 
#4 ·
I just installed a 50 amp line to my garage with a 6-50 NEMA plug. I bought a Chargepoint Home Flex to go with it. It won't charge as fast as the Rivian charger but its close enough for me. I like it because I can use the same Chargepoint app for my home charger and the Chargepoint networks. Do I like it? Beats me. My truck hasn't been delivered yet.
 
#6 ·
That's a bit outrageous for a swap from the NEMA to the charger unless they are pulling new wire... Its about as simple a changeover as its gets, turn off breaker, remove 14-50 receptacle, install Rivian wall charger, fish wires into charge and install 2 powers and a ground (2mins), turn on breaker and setup charger...
 
#16 ·
I've received my R1T and have charged it twice using the ChargePoint flex (50 amp breaker/40 amp charger). I'm not sure whether my vehicle is charging normally. After two charges (midnight to 2:30 am) I gained about 40 miles on one session and 50 miles on another. Charge limit is set at 85% but the vehicle charged up to approximately 65%. I'm not sure if this is a normal rate of charge or not. Anyone know?
 
#18 ·
Your charge rate seems about what I would expect for a 2.5 hour session. Temperature can play a roll in charge rate. I have learned that miles gained is not easily compared from one person to another. With the vehicle constantly adjusting range based on your driving style as well as drive mode and the wheels you have installed, the miles gained in a charge session are not an apples to apples comparison from one owner to another. The rate of charge is. For instance, when I set my R1T to 40 amps I get a 9-10kw rate at 90 degree ambient temp. My R1T equates that to about 19-20 miles per hour in conserve mode with 20" AT tires.

Did the vehicle stop charging at 65% or did you end the charge session (either manually, or using the charging schedule feature)?
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#19 ·
Thanks for the informative responses. From what I can tell the vehicle stopped the charging per the schedule I set (I set the schedule with the vehicle, not the charger, although that is available). However, it turns out my schedule was 12-4 am, not 12-2:30. I checked with ChargePoint and they said that the charger was working fine. This equates to about ten miles per hour, so I'm still a bit concerned.
 
#20 ·
My Flex is running at 32 Amps continuous and I’m getting about 14-15 miles/hour range added to my etron’s battery. 10 miles/hour at 40 Amps seems very low.
Look within the Chargepoint app under ’Charging Activity’ and you can see Cost; Energy and Distance added per charging session.
 
#22 ·
"Miles per hour" is not a great metric for measuring charging and this post is pointing out part of the reason why. Good move to switch over to kWh, which will let you measure the actual power delivered.

Your EVSE on a 50 amp circuit (40 amp limit set in the EVSE) should be able to deliver 9.6 kw (240v*40a/1000).

Your first charge looks like it delivered an approximate average rate of 7.2 kw (18kWh/2.5h) while your second was 5.75 kw (23kWh/4h).

In both cases it looks like the truck was probably limiting the charge rate. It might do this due to battery temperature, for example.

The ChargePoint app should give you a graph of the charge rate over time for each session. If you post those here maybe we can see the behavior of each session a little more clearly. I've posted one of mine below. In it you can see that my I-pace tops out at 7.7 kw (the max its charger can accept), then drops once the battery is full, then tops it off a little later.

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#23 ·
I agree with everything racekarl said. In particular, look at the kWh numbers, and look at the kWh the charger is reporting and the vehicle is reporting. Make a test during the day when you can watch it to see if it turns off sooner than you expected.

Your EVSE on a 50 amp circuit (40 amp limit set in the EVSE) should be able to deliver 9.6 kw (240v*40a/1000).
Also, be aware that this is the theoretical number. Your voltage at the charger might not be 240 - if it's 220 then you will get ~10% less. This could be because the line voltage is low (but still within allowed values) or that you have a long run from your panel to your charger, with accompanying voltage drop. Or both. Likewise, your charger might have an internal setting that limits the current - if the charger is set to less than 40 amp then it won't deliver the theoretical number. Your Rivian can also limit the current.
 
#25 ·
It looks to me like your charger is providing about 9kW for about 2 - 2.5 hours. The scale on the graph kind of sucks. But it doesn't look like the charger is running for 4 hours like you said. The Rivian lets you set a charging schedule, but the charger does also. You should make sure only one of these is switching the charging. The time limit overrides the %charge limit - if you're not up to your % when the end time is reached the charging is going to stop anyway.

18kWh delivered is about right for 2 hours at 9kWh.
 
#27 ·
I have my Chargepoint Flex set to operate between 00:00-07:00 which is when my TOU price per kWh is extremely cheap.
I then program my etron to finish charging and condition the cabin right before I head off to work; most days that being 06:15. In this way not only is the battery topped off to 90% the minute I start the car, but the battery is warm as is the cabin. This pre-conditioning is the most efficient for range.
 
#28 ·
Your first graph looks like what you would expect and the numbers line up for a 2 hour charge. The second chart seems to show the truck ramping up the charge rate for whatever reason. It’s almost certainly the truck controlling the ramp, not the Flex. There could be a variety of reasons like temperature or some fancy battery life logic, or it could just be a bug.
 
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