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Charging with a generator

Voronbrg

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I tested using my HF 9000 watt (peak) generator with an adapter and it did not work. Even lowering the amps, the truck would not charge. The generator already has neutral and ground bonded together.


Has anyone attempted this? Figured I would try it out now incase of a power outage later on.
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blturner

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I am curious about this as well. I would want any generator that I buy to be able to do this. Sometimes I go places way off the beaten path.
 
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Voronbrg

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I am curious about this as well. I would want any generator that I buy to be able to do this. Sometimes I go places way off the beaten path.

You definitely need a fancier invertor generator to make it work.
 

Lips2000

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This guy walks through it:

What you are missing, most likely, is the a ground jumper. You can find one on Amazon. Something like this:
 

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moosetags

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We have a 3,000 watt Honda Inverter Generator. it is of the super quiet type. We carry it in the bed of our Silverado 2500. We use it to power our Airstream Travel Trailer when we go off grid. Do any of you experienced EVers know if this type of generator will charge a Rivian?

Brian
 

kneebuster

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This guy walks through it:

What you are missing, most likely, is the a ground jumper. You can find one on Amazon. Something like this:
Just found that Costco has the Delta Pro with EV charging adapter and remote display for $3k ($3,800 direct from Ecoflow). You don't need to be a member from what I can tell. Still expensive, but versatile.
 

NY_Rob

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That 9,000 watt HF generator is a conventional design (vs. inverter generator) which probably has up to 20% THD and an atrocious looking waveform which could easily damage the electronics in your Rivian.

If you are set on using a generator to charge your EV, at least make sure it's an inverter type generator.
 

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kylealden

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To the electricians (armchair or otherwise) in this thread, would something like this work? Generac Power Systems - 3500iO watt GP Series Portable Generator - 5982

Seems to have a sweet spot of clean power (brochure says <3% THD), high-ish output (3kw), and compactness (the only one I could find with a 30a outlet that fits under the R1T tonneau cover). With a few jerry cans this could be a good overnight charging option for more remote camping, as long as you have realistic expectations - probably only about 25mi range per 2.37 gallon fill @ 50% load, or only about 5kWh/gal of gas. Which isn't abysmal, but not exactly L3 charging either.
 
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NY_Rob

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^ any inverter generator should be safe, but if you're using it's 120v outlets you still may need the neutral/ground bonding adapter depending on how it's wired internally.

Below is the waveform from my little 2,000 watt inverter generator under full load, it's as clean as what I get from my power utility co.

Rivian R1T R1S Charging with a generator 1649273457815
 
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kylealden

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ben sullins on youtube has something about using a generator to recharge his tesla.
This technically works but you're talking about lugging around a 100lb battery to get a 7-8 mile charge for your Rivian, which will take an hour or so, best-case. I'd bet the extra weight would probably close to cancel out the added range anyway.

The gas generator approach is also pretty silly, but at least there's a reasonable case that you can bring an awful lot of gas somewhere to top off while boondocking somewhere remote. With the generator I posted above you'd have enough weight left over for 15-ish kWh (say 30-35 miles) or so worth of gas before you hit 100lbs, and you can top off at any gas station.
 

JeremyP

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If you do use a generator for charging (or just camping in general) please consider adding a quiet box over it to reduce the noise (and don't run it at night). Here's some basic instructions to build one: https://soundproofguide.com/diy-generator-quiet-box/amp/

I mention this because I was camping in a fairly remote area outside of Moab last weekend and I could literally hear generators from morning to night. If you want to use a generator to extend your range, maybe consider it as emergency backup if you can't make it back to a charge. I think I would sooner have a friend or passerby give a tow charge for a couple miles if possible.
 

ajdelange

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That 9,000 watt HF generator is a conventional design (vs. inverter generator) which probably has up to 20% THD and an atrocious looking waveform which could easily damage the electronics in your Rivian.
That seems to be a common misconception on these fora. Why do we think that?

I have a real cheapie Home Despot generator that will do THD as bad as 14% but it's usually more like 6-8%.

The usual issue is that the "charger" checks for 120V between earth (ground, the round pin/green/bare wire) and if it doesn't see it won't pass juice. It, or the car may do additional monitoring looking for things like voltage drop under load which it interprets as a high connection impedance and potetial fire hazzard.

Now I don't have an R1T so I really don't know what additional checks they may do - including THD but the cheapied generators will charge a Tesla if the ground wire is properly connected.
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