DucRider
Well-Known Member
To even need to do this at home, you would have to regularly do back-to-back 400 mile days while returning home in between. This would be a rare case and not likely something Rivian would design for.I wrote that in December 2019 and only a bit more than a month has passed but in that time I have learned that Tesla does exactly that with the Semi (more than two chargers though) and, as they are now producing less capable EVSE (48 A max) it seems that they will almost have to offer dual charge ports on the CyberTruck (or the 3 motor long ranfge version at least) given its high energy utilization. As its consumption and battery size are similar to the Rivians' it would make sense for Rivian to do this too and I wouldn't be surprised if they did this or at least offered it as an option. Thinking further about the kluge aspect: it really wouldn't be so bad. Just a couple of contactors or solid state relays (and some software, of course). One would need two EVSE to support this but as homes are going to have multiple BEVs in the near future mutiple EVSE are going to be commonplace.
And it is much more than relays, it would require two EVSE's, two charging ports, two chargers (or at least 2 inverters). Not likely something Rivian would design for. you would also have the potential added expense of sufficient electrical service to the home. Tyical new homes generally have 200A service (older homes often have 100A). Adding 2 60A EVSE circuits would likley require a serious upgrade to the homes electrical system. And all this would get you to about 22 kW charging.
The Rivians will DCFC at 160 kW, and the thousands of dollars required to equip the Rivian with dual charging systems would pay for a lot of public DCFC sessions.
If you are consistently driving 200 miles a day, you will easily be able to easily leave every morning with a full "tank" with a single 48A EVSE.
Tesla discontinued dual chargers (this used to be an option n the S/X). The Semi example is charging about a 1 MW pack in a DCFC application while on the road. When charging from DC, the charger is in the service equipment and not built into the vehicle. Rivian has filed a patent to take advantage of 800V DCFC equipment by essentially splitting the pack into two and then splitting the 800V into 2 400V circuits internally. This will effectively double their DCFC rate by "adding a couple of contacotors or relays", but won't do anything for home charging (unless you happen to have 3-phase 480 V service at your house and want to drop as much on a DCFC unit as you spent on the Rivian)
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