Advantages of Rivian Wall Charger?

[GrokTime]

Hi,

I recently got a Ford F150 Lightning and my wife is patiently waiting for an R1S. Believe it or not I still have not installed the Ford Charge Station Pro that came with my truck because I am still trying to figure out the best charging setup for us.

I am considering getting two of the recently released Tesla J1772 wall connectors. They load share and that would make installation a bit easier/cheaper.

However, I have no idea what benefits my wife might be giving up if we don't get the the Rivian Wall Charger. Are are there any specific benefits to using the Rivian Wall Charger other than appearance etc?

Also, I assume her R1S will not come with the Wall Charger and that I would have to buy it separately?

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[CommodoreAmiga]

The two benefits of the Rivian Wall EVSE:

1. It looks nice (subjective).
2. If purchased with the vehicle, it gains a longer warranty (among best in industry).

You will need to decide if those reasons are sufficient for you.

 

[tosehee]

Practically none. You get 11.7kw charging, but most chargers do that too..

It's interested with Rivian App, but it's mostly buggy and doesn't provide tremendously benefit over others..

Other than "Rivian" logo on the charger, I don't see any benefits..

But who knows what will happen in the future with firmware upgrade?

 

[joelster]

I went with the Wallbox charger because I thought we would need load balancing. It is also a little cheaper than the Rivian charger. In the end, I don’t think we will be installing a second charger. Maybe if we were both commuting for work but we don’t.

The Rivian charger might be more integrated into the Rivian app but in the end, it’s a charger. You plug it in and it charges. I can check in either the Wallbox app or the Rivian app to see charging rates if I want to. That was cool when it was first installed. At this point it’s just like, “Green lights? Cool. It’s charging.” That’s all I need to know.

 

[joelster]

FYI, my R1T came with a level one / level two charger that will run at 32 amps when plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet. If I ever felt like my wife and I needed to charge simultaneously, I might just use that.

Is this charger still included with new Rivians? I feel like I read that that had changed…

 

[GrokTime]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Mathme]

Agree here.

Two Wallboxes off the same outlet (need to be hard wired) will load share which is a benefit if you're charging two EVs. This may be nice if you want to charge one and the immediately switch over to the other once the first is complete.

At the end of the day, they all pretty much do the same thing...it's just a matter of the adapter and how much juice they can deliver.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Is this charger still included with new Rivians? I feel like I read that that had changed…

Still standard equipment, afaik.

 

[Gamma rays]

I asked a similar question before on a different thread and someone had previously mentioned that the old pricing is one advantage for the Rivian charger. I am still deciding whether I should go through with it when my number is called, especially since I will need to charge 2 BEVs down the road.

GR

 

[atlastracer]

Doesn't the Ford EVSE also provide V2H charging? That seems like a pretty good bonus feature to use that charger over the Rivian one. Rivian said they will release an EVSE "later" that will provide V2H capabilities too. But for now - the Rivian EVSE is just a basic (but good looking) EVSE that integrates with the app.

Just depends if you need the load balanced charging or V2H. We will have 2 EVs (when the R1S arrives) - but we plan to just use a single charger as we don't drive enough to ever end up with both vehicles requiring a charge at the same time. But if you drive a lot - that may be a compelling feature. Not sure what other units do that (I *think* Flo does) I know my ChagePoint Flex doesn't, and neither will Rivian's EVSE.

 

[Firewired]

I have two of the Tesla chargers hooked to a 100 amp line for our two EVs. I got the line initially installed because my first Model S had dual chargers onboard and could charge at 80 up to amps. When they came out with their newer generation that could load share, I switched to two of those. Being able to plug both EVs and let them load share is nice. They charge up to 48 amps each. As an aside, it's amazing how much the cost of the wall chargers has come down. In 2014, they were charging $1500 for one.

 

[sk00pie]

Silly question, but is an app/wifi required to charge? My goal is to keep charging as simple as possible. I'm going to be doing the initial setup / pairing for my father in law. After that I don't want him to ever need to open an apps on his phone. Let's say his house wifi goes out, will the charge port not open? Can these 3rd party chargers simply plug and play?

 

[tosehee]

Silly question, but is an app/wifi required to charge? My goal is to keep charging as simple as possible. I'm going to be doing the initial setup / pairing for my father in law. After that I don't want him to ever need to open an apps on his phone. Let's say his house wifi goes out, will the charge port not open? Can these 3rd party chargers simply plug and play?

Nope. Not needed for charging.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Doesn't the Ford EVSE also provide V2H charging?

I think the EVSE they're currently shipping does not. A future version will.

 

[dp351]

I‘ve been looking at the ChargePoint Home Flex, because it seems to be the most powerful one on the market, at 50 amps vs 48 for the Rivian & other chargers. According to this website, that translates to charging speed of 36 mph for the ChargePoint vs 25 for the Rivian charger (no idea if this is accurate).

The ChargePoint charger costs $700-$750 vs $500 for the Rivian. (Assuming that’s still the cost, the Rivian Gear Shop doesn’t show a price for it, and I’m not going into the configurator to check, for fear of accidentally making a change that’ll reset my delivery timing)

I see this as a home improvement, especially since I plan to hard wire it for maximum performance. So if one is clearly superior to another but costs $200 more, that’s easily justified.

Because my delivery est is Feb-March 2023, I think I’ll wait a few more months before buying a charger, in case something new & better comes out. I might get the wiring ready in the meantime.

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