First charge using the A2Z adapter

[defcon888]

I agree. CYA.

There is no way Rivian can know what sort of cheap, poorly designed adaptor one might use. Saying that “Use of unapproved adapters CAN result in damage to your vehicle.” is not the same as saying that such use WILL result in damage. It’s entirely possible that perfectly good third party adaptors are/will be on the market. Rivian is just not in the position to be testing them all. Therefore, it’s perfectly reasonable that they can’t stand behind them. Ergo, they absolutely had to put out a blanket disclaimer statement to cover their ass.

I guess time will tell, as more people start using A2Z and other adaptors. So far, I have not heard of any issues with the A2Z adaptors.

While they can't tell what brand you used, but if something happens to your Rivian and they look up your VIN number and find out that for example, they sent you the adapter on May 1st and the damage to your truck was April 25th.......they will question your claim I would think. I suppose you can say you used a fellow Rivian owner adapter from Rivian.

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[akc5247]

Just tried charging successfully at Tela supercharger here at Union NJ.

Observed peak of ~180kW which is not great (as I have gotten 215kW at the RANs), but acceptable.

Plus I had to use Tesla app to charge.i think due to the other OTA issues on my vehicle (no networkz telematics etc) my Rivian app does not recognize the vehicle and my profile essentially.

I had to park weirdly though.

@A2ZEV - A2Z have been great to work with. They shipped me second adapter when we confirmed (via video call) that the first one didn't work for some reason. Great team there.

 

[HaveBlue]

I mean I have an order on an A2Z too and will use it this summer, but it makes me wonder if they've already seen something in the field.

Well the defective lectron adapters surely surely prompted this. I can't see as I blame Rivian.

 

[Joseph D]

Got back from a 1300 mi road trip, used the adapter 8 total times, every time worked great. Even got hot enough in direct sunlight to cause the adapter to heat up enough to trigger the charger to de rate the dispenser. De rated to around 40-45KW, and caused the truck to think that the supercharger was de rating which made sense as the adapter talks to the dispenser. So can confirm that the safety precautions do work as intended. Temperature was mid 80s with direct afternoon sunlight. I was able to use one of my window shades to shade the adapter and it went right back to full output. The physical temp of the adapter was very warm, not enough to not be able to grab it, but definitely not super comfortable. In the future I am going to keep a microfiber cloth with me to do the ol' v2 supercharger trick of putting a damp cloth over the adapter to keep the temps in check.

Keep in mind this happened one time during the whole trip, other times when it was cooler, not 3pm with direct sunlight, or any breeze and it worked great. More summer testing will need to be done, and will update as it gets hotter here in the CA valley.

 

[Redline]

My adapter is in NY State!

 

[FooF]

My adapter is in NY State!

Mine too can’t wait

 

[DrewT]

Used my A2Z for the first time yesterday . Just plugged it in and worked fine at 633Km/hr .
Billed thru Rivian who emailed receipt . Used a Fluke IR thermometer to monitor temperature and the T was 59-60 F for the Tesla connector and the A2Z never exceeded that . Wanted to FLIR video but app couldn't locate camera (a first ) .This a very solidly built unit .

 

[Singletracker]

Got my A2Z adaptor two days ago. It certainly appears to be a very solid piece of kit. I’m impressed! Yesterday, I had to track down a Tesla SC to give it a try. Wow! Charging was such a seamless experience. Just plugged in and away it went. I did not use the Tesla app. It recognized my R1T. All real time charging data appeared on the vehicle display. After about 10 minutes, I was satisfied that it worked and unplugged. Got a nice email receipt from Rivian detailing all the charging session stats. How cool was that?! Even had a friendly conversation with an adjacent Tesla owner The only issue I had with the A2Z was that it was pretty difficult to attach to the Tesla plug. It took some persuasion to get it to seat all the way on. Hopefully, that will ease with time. Overall, a fantastic experience!!!!

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Got back from a 1300 mi road trip, used the adapter 8 total times, every time worked great. Even got hot enough in direct sunlight to cause the adapter to heat up enough to trigger the charger to de rate the dispenser. De rated to around 40-45KW, and caused the truck to think that the supercharger was de rating which made sense as the adapter talks to the dispenser. So can confirm that the safety precautions do work as intended. Temperature was mid 80s with direct afternoon sunlight. I was able to use one of my window shades to shade the adapter and it went right back to full output. The physical temp of the adapter was very warm, not enough to not be able to grab it, but definitely not super comfortable. In the future I am going to keep a microfiber cloth with me to do the ol' v2 supercharger trick of putting a damp cloth over the adapter to keep the temps in check.

Keep in mind this happened one time during the whole trip, other times when it was cooler, not 3pm with direct sunlight, or any breeze and it worked great. More summer testing will need to be done, and will update as it gets hotter here in the CA valley.

I’m not certain covering the adapter is ideal because that hinders its ability to dissipate heat. While it may never get hot enough to burn a towel, doesn’t make sense to increase your odds of mishap. For handling though, I’d suggest keeping a pair of mechanic’s gloves on the vehicle. Ideally, to shield it from sun, you want something that doesn’t require direct contact (and is flammable). Not sure what the solution would be though.

 

[RivianRunner]

My guess this stems from the guy that tried to use a J1772 adapter at a SC.

No. It stems from the fact that Rivian will not be testing all third-party adapters and that they know there are some questionable ones out there. It may not be rocket science, but there is some real materials engineering and tolerance specs that go into these things for them to be safe and reliable (and durable).

 

[RivianRunner]

Got back from a 1300 mi road trip, used the adapter 8 total times, every time worked great. Even got hot enough in direct sunlight to cause the adapter to heat up enough to trigger the charger to de rate the dispenser. De rated to around 40-45KW, and caused the truck to think that the supercharger was de rating which made sense as the adapter talks to the dispenser. So can confirm that the safety precautions do work as intended. Temperature was mid 80s with direct afternoon sunlight. I was able to use one of my window shades to shade the adapter and it went right back to full output. The physical temp of the adapter was very warm, not enough to not be able to grab it, but definitely not super comfortable. In the future I am going to keep a microfiber cloth with me to do the ol' v2 supercharger trick of putting a damp cloth over the adapter to keep the temps in check.

It's not clear to me how you confirmed it was the adapter that derated the charging power, and not the Supercharger that sensed high temperatures at the end of the charging cable and derated the charging power.

 

[Mobius1]

Is there a markup on the per kWh rate for non-Teslas?

 

[Joseph D]

It's not clear to me how you confirmed it was the adapter that derated the charging power, and not the Supercharger that sensed high temperatures at the end of the charging cable and derated the charging power.

Here is the thought process on how I figured it was the adapter:

1: The supercharger was had 52 stalls and was empty.
2: The cable and handle were in check for temp.
3: The adapter was much hotter then it was the other times I used it.
4: The truck was telling me that the charger was de rating and not the truck.
5: When I put shade over the adapter within 1 min it went back to normal speeds and cooled down significantly when I unplugged.

I agree this is not the most scientific measurement, however knowing how v3 superchargers work, the only logical explanation I can come up with is that it was the adapter that was correctly sending the temp info to the dispenser and properly de rating.

 

[Joseph D]

I’m not certain covering the adapter is ideal because that hinders its ability to dissipate heat. While it may never get hot enough to burn a towel, doesn’t make sense to increase your odds of mishap. For handling though, I’d suggest keeping a pair of mechanic’s gloves on the vehicle. Ideally, to shield it from sun, you want something that doesn’t require direct contact (and is flammable). Not sure what the solution would be though.

Notice the "damp cloth". The old supercharger v2 strategy was because the handles did not get cooled well enough in direct sunlight and would de rate the charging session as they were not liquid cooled at the time, so the old strategy was to get some sort of microfiber cloth, soak it in water, and cover the handle. The cloth would not dry out over the 30 min session it would keep the temp in check, and you would soak it again after for the next charge.

 

[RivianRunner]

Here is the thought process on how I figured it was the adapter:

1: The supercharger was had 52 stalls and was empty.
2: The cable and handle were in check for temp.
3: The adapter was much hotter then it was the other times I used it.
4: The truck was telling me that the charger was de rating and not the truck.
5: When I put shade over the adapter within 1 min it went back to normal speeds and cooled down significantly when I unplugged.

I agree this is not the most scientific measurement, however knowing how v3 superchargers work, the only logical explanation I can come up with is that it was the adapter that was correctly sending the temp info to the dispenser and properly de rating.

I see. I would avoid jumping to conclusions. If the adapter DIDN'T report the high temperatures and restrict charging power, then it's not much of a leap to think the Supercharger handle may have sensed high temperatures at the business end and the results whould have been what you saw.

Therefore, we don't know if the adapter did what you think it did.

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