USB-C ports limited to 15 watts in R2?

[Jeremy3292]

25w is a huge upgrade from 15. My day to day road kit has a MacBook Neo, which I use in the Rivian and at places I go to. The stock charger brick is 20w, it can intake up to 30w, but at 15 may not get much charge. The iPad is rather similar (actually may consume more power, not sure).

During a busy field work day, many people want to put a FAST 15 minute charge into a device, so yes, it does very much matter that at 15w you can barely charge a modern phone that is also doing nav and media, all the common usage. Just one week ago today I found myself with a super low charge out doing work (yes, my fault) and needed a fast boost on the laptop.

Because I live in a super hot place, my iPhone charger in the car has a cooling element, which itself consumes power, so I need a minimum of 27w for it.



No, there are Apple stores and resellers just about everywhere, so it's easy to find.

If you have the 12v outlet at least you can buy a plug for it with 100w+, and if you don't, it's not rocket surgery to wire in a power station. I'm probably going to add one since between the two of us we may need a bunch of devices on a trip.

Outlet in cargo area solves all problems and actually allows for much faster charging bc it’s an actual outlet.

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[SwampNut]

Outlet in cargo area solves all problems and actually allows for much faster charging bc it’s an actual outlet.

You mean, the outlet in the bed of my truck?

I already use a 12v to USB 140w adapter in the dash. It's still stupid that this is necessary on a $100k vehicle in 2026.

 

[Jeremy3292]

You mean, the outlet in the bed of my truck?

I already use a 12v to USB 140w adapter in the dash. It's still stupid that this is necessary on a $100k vehicle in 2026.

This is an R2 forum and discussion?

 

[SwampNut]

This is an R2 forum and discussion?

Yes, the R2 that stupidly still has low-spec USB ports.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Yes, the R2 that stupidly still has low-spec USB ports.

That you can charge with faster than USB-C with the outlet in the cargo area lol. 100W if you want. Or 200W. Or 300W. Hell even 1900W! Haha

 

[bobdod]

That you can charge with faster than USB-C with the outlet in the cargo area lol. 100W if you want. Or 200W. Or 300W. Hell even 1900W! Haha

Typical Apple to force me to buy an adapter to charge my iPhone over NACS

 

[a9967]

I expect this was done for two reasons. The first and most obvious is cost control. 15w non-pd chargers are much cheaper, and most people will never know the difference.

Second is compatibility. There is a whole lot of stuff out there that has a USB-C port on it but won't negotiate with a PD charger. I've tried to explain to my SO multiple time why she needs to use one charger for her laptop, but a different one for her usb-c rechargable lights and other accessories. She glazes over every time, and says "that's dumb, it should all just work."

These ports will "just work", even if they are slow.

 

[coney129]

I can confirm the Gen 2 R1S is much better in this regard. Rivian rates the two USB-C ports inside the center console at up to 60W from a single port, or 67.5W combined across both ports. In actual use, I have seen my iPhone 17 Pro Max pull roughly 45W from the console.

That higher output is especially useful in the Gen 2 R1 because the factory wireless charging pad is basically nonfunctional. That said, if the new R2 charging pad actually works reliably and delivers 15W, then I am fine with the console ports being limited to 15W. The important thing is having at least one dependable charging option up front.

 

[SwampNut]

Second is compatibility. There is a whole lot of stuff out there that has a USB-C port on it but won't negotiate with a PD charger.

We need to stop dumbing down everything to make up for stupidity and junk Chinesium products. I'v run into this of course, and I send the crap back to Amazon with a low review and comment. If you advertise USB-C, be USB-C.

You can also cobble force a PD port to run straight 5v if you really need to, by chaining USB-C to USB-A to USB-C.

 

[VSG]

You mean, the outlet in the bed of my truck?

You have a 120V outlet on the backside of your center console. Plug in and leave the laptop on the rear seat while you drive - by the time you get there it's charged. And you're not using the laptop while driving, right? Right?

Yeah it would be nice to have PD on the USB, but frankly I don't get PD in my other cars or anywhere else I go unless I use my own 120V charger, so *my* road kit includes both the charger and a fully-charged power bank that I can use even if I'm not in the car. My habits work well with my R1T and will continue to work well with my future R2.

 

[SwampNut]

Yes, we all know 20 workarounds for Rivians stupidity on many things. That’s why I also added CarPlay and Comma. So it can drive while I use my laptop powered from the 12v outlet and shave with my NACS to Norelco adapter.

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