rpo
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- Ryan
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- Feb 28, 2023
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- #1
I drove Teslas for nearly 10 years and made quite a few adapters so I could charge at hotels, family/friend's homes, AirBNBs, etc. And since I just got my Rivian, I tested out the charger with some of my adapters to make sure it would accept 120v through the 14-50 240v connector since I saw some other posters asking if it was possible (and since that was the basis of my adapter collection).
I can confirm the Rivian WILL charge with just 120v through the 14-50 adapter. Obviously, if the source is not capable of 50 amps, you must dial down the amps in the Rivian the moment you plug it in or you'll flip a breaker or worse.
For anyone trying to charge where you have standard 15 amp 120v outlets but there's a higher amperage outlet available, being able to use that can greatly increase your charging speed. The charging overhead appears to be about 600w (meaning the first 600w does NOT make it into the battery). A 5-15 outlet (120v, 15 amps) will deliver about 1400w which means 800w goes to the battery.
But if you have a 5-20 outlet (120v, 20 amps), those numbers go up to 1800w and 1200w to the battery (50% faster charging).
If you come across a 5-30 outlet (120v @ 30 amps, RV parks sometimes have these), that'll get you 2700w and 2100w to the battery (260% faster than a standard outlet) and will actually give you about a 25% charge in 12 hours.
Dryer outlets are great too. You can usually get 40 to 50 amps from these (7500w to 9400w, and you can fully charge in roughly 12-16 hours. A 6-30, 6-50, 10-30, or 14-50 outlet can be found in most homes with an electric dryer.
I have also made a random collection of twistlock connector to 14-50 adapters that are sometimes found at the base of light poles in hotel parking lots. Definitely ask for permission before just plugging in, and I have always had to dial down the amps WAY below what the outlet was rated for (because the lights were running on the same circuit).
Only have standard 120v outlets? You *might* be able to combine two together and get 240v @ 12-16 amps using a Quick 220 box (quick220.com). The outlets have to be on different phases for this to work, and the Quick 220 will only turn on if they are, so it is safe to plug into various outlets until you find a combo that works. I have done this many times at AirBNBs testing out the various outdoor (and sometimes indoor) outlets. One note...this will NOT work if any outlet is on a GFCI since that will get triggered. But it is good for 2800w to 3700w when it works and is at least 2.6x faster than a regular outlet.
I also got a 75 foot, 10 gauge extension cord and put 6-20 plugs on each end (240v @ 20 amps) to reach to where the outlet(s) might be. My adapters can get from any outlet to a 6-20 and through the extension cord and then from the 6-20 on the other end to the 14-50 plug on the Rivian (or Tesla) charger on the other end. This way I can get nearly 4000w through a somewhat lightweight extension cord this way from dryer outlets, etc (instead of lugging around a 50 amp extension cord that weighs 100 lbs, and yes, I have that too).This cord also plugs right into the Quick 220's outlet.
And I advise against this, but I also had a few 50 amp breaker to 14-50 outlet adapters that I sometimes would pop right into the electric panel at an AirBNB. Yeah, shame on me, but I always offered to pay for my energy consumption with the host and never once had one accept payment.
Again, if anyone does this with adapters, you MUST dial down the amps in the Rivian to whatever the continuous load capacity of the source is capable of (80% of the rated capacity) or the lowest rated connection in between because otherwise the Rivian will try to pull 40 amps by default. If you are not familiar with electric outlets, you probably don't want to do any of this. But if you are experienced, feel free to ask me questions as I have tried nearly every combo over 200k miles of roadtripping Teslas into the middle of nowhere...and then trying to charge!
I can confirm the Rivian WILL charge with just 120v through the 14-50 adapter. Obviously, if the source is not capable of 50 amps, you must dial down the amps in the Rivian the moment you plug it in or you'll flip a breaker or worse.
For anyone trying to charge where you have standard 15 amp 120v outlets but there's a higher amperage outlet available, being able to use that can greatly increase your charging speed. The charging overhead appears to be about 600w (meaning the first 600w does NOT make it into the battery). A 5-15 outlet (120v, 15 amps) will deliver about 1400w which means 800w goes to the battery.
But if you have a 5-20 outlet (120v, 20 amps), those numbers go up to 1800w and 1200w to the battery (50% faster charging).
If you come across a 5-30 outlet (120v @ 30 amps, RV parks sometimes have these), that'll get you 2700w and 2100w to the battery (260% faster than a standard outlet) and will actually give you about a 25% charge in 12 hours.
Dryer outlets are great too. You can usually get 40 to 50 amps from these (7500w to 9400w, and you can fully charge in roughly 12-16 hours. A 6-30, 6-50, 10-30, or 14-50 outlet can be found in most homes with an electric dryer.
I have also made a random collection of twistlock connector to 14-50 adapters that are sometimes found at the base of light poles in hotel parking lots. Definitely ask for permission before just plugging in, and I have always had to dial down the amps WAY below what the outlet was rated for (because the lights were running on the same circuit).
Only have standard 120v outlets? You *might* be able to combine two together and get 240v @ 12-16 amps using a Quick 220 box (quick220.com). The outlets have to be on different phases for this to work, and the Quick 220 will only turn on if they are, so it is safe to plug into various outlets until you find a combo that works. I have done this many times at AirBNBs testing out the various outdoor (and sometimes indoor) outlets. One note...this will NOT work if any outlet is on a GFCI since that will get triggered. But it is good for 2800w to 3700w when it works and is at least 2.6x faster than a regular outlet.
I also got a 75 foot, 10 gauge extension cord and put 6-20 plugs on each end (240v @ 20 amps) to reach to where the outlet(s) might be. My adapters can get from any outlet to a 6-20 and through the extension cord and then from the 6-20 on the other end to the 14-50 plug on the Rivian (or Tesla) charger on the other end. This way I can get nearly 4000w through a somewhat lightweight extension cord this way from dryer outlets, etc (instead of lugging around a 50 amp extension cord that weighs 100 lbs, and yes, I have that too).This cord also plugs right into the Quick 220's outlet.
And I advise against this, but I also had a few 50 amp breaker to 14-50 outlet adapters that I sometimes would pop right into the electric panel at an AirBNB. Yeah, shame on me, but I always offered to pay for my energy consumption with the host and never once had one accept payment.
Again, if anyone does this with adapters, you MUST dial down the amps in the Rivian to whatever the continuous load capacity of the source is capable of (80% of the rated capacity) or the lowest rated connection in between because otherwise the Rivian will try to pull 40 amps by default. If you are not familiar with electric outlets, you probably don't want to do any of this. But if you are experienced, feel free to ask me questions as I have tried nearly every combo over 200k miles of roadtripping Teslas into the middle of nowhere...and then trying to charge!
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