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Generator to charge R1T when extra range needed

Jafresh

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R1T LG LE reservation holder here and first time post!
Like others, some disappointment came when learning that the Max pack would not be available first. I decided to go with large pack as I can’t wait, and I like the performance of the large pack. Further disappointment came on learning the 20” tires have slightly reduced the range, I’m concerned as I tow a heavy equipment trailer on rare occasion for work. Here’s my idea I’m sure someone has thought of….How much sense does it make for me to throw a gas generator in the bed and charge while I am at work all day? I know some will cringe at the idea.

I also stumbled upon this electric generator I find interesting.

Any thoughts on this?
I know at one point we were hoping we could have an additional battery add on but we learned that’s not happening.
it seems tome this is a solution as I would say only 5% of my driving is towing.
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Babbuino

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R1T LG LE reservation holder here and first time post!
Like others, some disappointment came when learning that the Max pack would not be available first. I decided to go with large pack as I can’t wait, and I like the performance of the large pack. Further disappointment came on learning the 20” tires have slightly reduced the range, I’m concerned as I tow a heavy equipment trailer on rare occasion for work. Here’s my idea I’m sure someone has thought of….How much sense does it make for me to throw a gas generator in the bed and charge while I am at work all day? I know some will cringe at the idea.

I also stumbled upon this electric generator I find interesting.

Any thoughts on this?
I know at one point we were hoping we could have an additional battery add on but we learned that’s not happening.
it seems tome this is a solution as I would say only 5% of my driving is towing.
Becareful since I've seen videos of people trying to charge their evs with generators and having to tweak the connection due to grounding
 

Autolycus

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R1T LG LE reservation holder here and first time post!
Like others, some disappointment came when learning that the Max pack would not be available first. I decided to go with large pack as I can’t wait, and I like the performance of the large pack. Further disappointment came on learning the 20” tires have slightly reduced the range, I’m concerned as I tow a heavy equipment trailer on rare occasion for work. Here’s my idea I’m sure someone has thought of….How much sense does it make for me to throw a gas generator in the bed and charge while I am at work all day? I know some will cringe at the idea.

I also stumbled upon this electric generator I find interesting.

Any thoughts on this?
I know at one point we were hoping we could have an additional battery add on but we learned that’s not happening.
it seems tome this is a solution as I would say only 5% of my driving is towing.
Going off the EPA numbers, the EcoFlow Pro would add 7-7.5 miles of range at most. By the time you factor in the extra weight of the "battery generator", the losses from towing a trailer, etc., you're looking at 3-4 miles extra range for almost $3k.

"Battery generators" are amazing tools for certain purposes. Providing extra range to an EV is not. really one of them except in an emergency situation like for roadside assistance services to give you a charge to limp somewhere else.
 

ajdelange

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Becareful since I've seen videos of people trying to charge their evs with generators and having to tweak the connection due to grounding
The chargers check to see if there is 120 V between one of the "Hot" (red and black) wires and the protective ground wire (bare, green, green with yellow stripe). If there isn't they won't charge.

A generator connected into premises wiring must not have neutral and protective ground bonded at the generator. Because of this most of them are shipped with them disconnected. Things are better than they used to be and often you will find placard, stencil or a tag indicating that the generator has "isolated neutral". To make the charger work you must, thus, interconnect the neutral and the protective earth pins/wires. You should also drive a ground rod into the earth and tie that to the common point but most don't bother to do that.

Yes, carrying a generator to charge a BEV does seem to fly in the face of the whole BEV concept.

The other thing to keep in mind is that any generator you can carry will be at best Level 2.
 
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I don't know much about generators and their output, but i remember reading somewhere someone with a Tesla that tried this and you can't use just any generator. Needs to output Pure Sine wave current. Not all generators do this and the ones that do are expensive. Also read that some of the ones that claim they are Pure sine wave are not real pure sine wave, so the charger won't work.

Like i said, not very knowledgeable in this, so please someone else chime in...
 

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ajdelange

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I don't know much about generators and their output, but i remember reading somewhere someone with a Tesla that tried this and you can't use just any generator. Needs to output Pure Sine wave current.
I'll only chime in to say that this isn't true and to request that we do not have another round of arguments as to whether it is true.

And I'll never miss an opportunity to point out that the only admonition Tesla seems to offer against generators is that one shouldn't charge from a "privately owned" one.

I guess I should add that it is probably possible to buy a generator so poorly designed and built that it would be unable to charge a Tesla but I wouldn't know where to go to try to find such a generator (Ebay?).
 
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Jafresh

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The chargers check to see if there is 120 V between one of the "Hot" (red and black) wires and the protective ground wire (bare, green, green with yellow stripe). If there isn't they won't charge.

A generator connected into premises wiring must not have neutral and protective ground bonded at the generator. Because of this most of them are shipped with them disconnected. Things are better than they used to be and often you will find placard, stencil or a tag indicating that the generator has "isolated neutral". To make the charger work you must, thus, interconnect the neutral and the protective earth pins/wires. You should also drive a ground rod into the earth and tie that to the common point but most don't bother to do that.

Yes, carrying a generator to charge a BEV does seem to fly in the face of the whole BEV concept.

The other thing to keep in mind is that any generator you can carry will be at best Level 2.
This is interesting. I would consider the ability to use a gas generator for Level 2 charging a success, if there is a safe way of doing so.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of a generator available that would meet these requirements. Otherwise, I use a Generac 8000Watt portable generator that perhaps could be modified without to much difficulty.
 

ajdelange

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This is interesting. I would consider the ability to use a gas generator for Level 2 charging a success, if there is a safe way of doing so.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of a generator available that would meet these requirements. Otherwise, I use a Generac 8000Watt portable generator that perhaps could be modified without to much difficulty.
The Generac should be fine. Let's say you dial the charge rate back to 7 kW to not fully load the generator. You should be able to charge 7000/480 = 14.6 miles per hour. There should be no need to "modify" the generator. If it is newer there will be a terminal marked as ground and instructions as to how to connect that to the generator's neutral. If these are not there this can be done inside the plug on a custom adapter (short extension cord) easily put together. This may be necessary anyway but at this point we don't know what "adapters" will come with the Rivian portable charger.

For maximum safety a ground rod should be driven and wired to the ground teminal (generator frame).
 

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Going off the EPA numbers, the EcoFlow Pro would add 7-7.5 miles of range at most. By the time you factor in the extra weight of the "battery generator", the losses from towing a trailer, etc., you're looking at 3-4 miles extra range for almost $3k.

"Battery generators" are amazing tools for certain purposes. Providing extra range to an EV is not. really one of them except in an emergency situation like for roadside assistance services to give you a charge to limp somewhere else.
I'd also been planning to get a couple of these, till I did the range calculation and came to the same conclusion as you, very little bang for the buck.
 

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Don't eliminate the add-on battery possibility. Rivian received a patent for it...
I’m sure they’ll pull that one out of a back pocket at some later date. Have them available at off-road destinations, etc.
 

ajdelange

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As I rule of thumb I'd say that if you can lift it into a truck bed it doesn't have enough capacity to move you more than a few miles.
 

crashmtb

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As I rule of thumb I'd say that if you can lift it into a truck bed it doesn't have enough capacity to move you more than a few miles.
A Nissan leaf’s 40kwh pack weighs ~300kg.

figure rivian’s bed mounted one is similar, nothing that can’t be put in place by an engine hoist or other lifting device. No reason it has to be lifted by hand.
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